OER KNOWLEDGE BITES Developing the School Library Collection For Adolescents - NIE Digital Repository
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OER KNOWLEDGE
BITES
by Office of Education Research
Developing the School Library
Collection For Adolescents
by Theresa Belmonte & Loh Chin Ee
V OLU M E 11
J an u ary 202 0
OER Knowledge Bites
Launched in May 2016 by the Office of Education About this Volume
Research at the National Institute of Education, On 15 January 2019, a roundtable was co-organised by
Singapore, OER Knowledge Bites aims to share the Building a Reading Culture project team and Office of
education research discussions and issues as seen Education Research at Queensway Secondary School. The
in the Singapore context. It also serves as a platform roundtable brought together educators and experts in the
for researchers to share thoughts and concepts of field to discuss how to better develop and maintain a book
education research with policymakers, educators and collection that is relevant and attractive to adolescents for
the public. reading and learning. This volume of OER Knowledge Bites
provides a summary of the talks.
For enquiries pertaining to this publication, e-mail
Nur Haryanti Sazali: haryanti.sazali@nie.edu.sg
CONTENTS
Developing the Non-Fiction Collection in School Libraries 04
by Jane Hayes
Trends in Print and E-Book Publishing and Collection Development 05
by Jenna Emmerson
Developing a Future-Ready School Library Collection for Adolescents 06
by Loh Chin Ee
Developing the Non-Fiction Collection in School Libraries
By Jane Hayes favourite books in four different Young Adult Library Services
categories. Association Award for Excellence
Dedicated to life-long learning and in Non-fiction).
bringing stories, books and people 2. The school librarians jointly select
together, Jane Hayes has worked for good quality books for the Dulwich 9. Pay particular attention to graphic
more than four decades as a teacher, College International Information non-fiction book titles which are
librarian and senior education officer Book Award and promote them for growing in popularity, especially
in Australia, the USA and the UAE. She one month. with boys. These also teach visual
joined Dulwich College, Singapore
literacy and sequencing skills
as Senior School Teacher librarian in 3. Reference to “The Nonfiction
August 2016.
Family Tree”, a way of categorising 10. Use online databases such as
both commercial and literary non- Library–EBSCO host and Library–
fiction books into five different Jstor Research.
M
types, namely browsable, active,
s Jane Hayes highlighted that traditional, expository literature and 11. Improve the effectiveness of library
non-fiction reading ability was an narrative. (originally from Melissa signage and increase the number
Stewart’s 2018 article in the School of front-facing shelves in the library.
important indicator of students’ college-
Library Journal).
readiness. Unfortunately, there was also 12. Ensure that the library collection
evidence that students tended to read 4. Tap on the school’s library collection is reviewed and refreshed from
less in secondary school than they did in development policy which refers to time to time, keeping in mind the
curriculum requirements, the use Continuous Review Evaluation
primary school. Hence, it is crucial for a
of technology and certain diversity Weeding acronym or CREW.
secondary school library to develop and “Weeding” refers to the removal
principles.
maintain a relevant non-fiction collection of books which are “misleading,
and engage students. 5. Work with the school’s department ugly, superseded, irrelevant or are
heads to ensure that books available elsewhere”. These are
She shared the ways which Dulwich acquired for the collection are ongoing processes which help to
College (Singapore)’s school library had relevant to the pedagogical interpret and continually reshape
sought to achieve this: requirements of various subjects. the library’s collection so it always
remains relevant to users’ needs.
6. Tap on book suggestions from
1. The school library is part of the students collected via an app and
International School Libraries the library’s front desk.
Network (ISLN) in Singapore.
Every year, a committee of teacher- 7. Look at review magazines such as How to Cite
librarians shortlists children’s The School Librarian.
Hayes, J. (2020). Developing the non-
literature published in English
8. Consult non-fiction online book fiction collection in school libraries.
within the past four years and host
lists which have been compiled OER Knowledge Bites Volume 11
the Red Dot student’s choice book
by school library journals (SLJ),
awards. The school libraries stock (p. 4). Singapore: National Institute
reading foundations and public
copies of the shortlisted books of Education.
libraries from various countries
and invite students to vote for their
(e.g., the SLJ Book Lists and the
4 | OER Kno wle dg e Bit e sTr e n d s i n P r i n t a n d E - B o o k P u b l i s h i n g a n d C o l l e c t i o n
Development
By Jenna Emerson the content. Armed with such information, In terms of space utilisation, libraries have
publishers forge ahead to adapt their seen a need to create more makerspaces,
content and presentation to promote especially to assist in STEM/STEAM
Jenna Emerson feels very lucky to
support (and learn from) educators in
student-centred learning. Nevertheless, learning. More library spaces have also
Southeast Asia and around the world in the question of whether the print or been adapted as learning commons (or
her role as an educational consultant. e-version is better should be subservient environments for collaborative learning).
She holds a Masters Degree in
to the need to have students reading.
Information and Library Science. Jenna concluded her presentation by
With regards to library collections, Follett introducing the Follett “Future Ready
has seen more requests for print over Librarians” Framework designed to
digital materials and digital non-fiction support schools by providing suggestions
M
(including curricular) over fiction (e.g., to support student-centred future
s Jenna Emerson from Follett, digital textbooks). They saw a decline learning.
which provides educational for print references which was likely
technology and services, began by a consequence of increased reliance
assuring the audience that in the United on databases. However, demand for
States (US) and the United Kingdom dictionaries and thesauruses was not
(UK), print books continued to remain How to Cite
affected.
more popular than electronic versions. Emerson, J. (2020). Trends in print and
This was probably due to relatively more There was also a noticeable trend towards e-book publicshing and collection
immediate access to physical books, lack collection genrefication, involving both development. OER Knowledge Bites
of device availability and the complexities fiction and non-fiction and even picture Volume 11 (p. 5). Singapore: National
involved in navigating different types of books. Genrefication for non-fiction titles Institute of Education.
electronic platforms. involves moving away from the standard
Dewey classification.
Publishers have been experimenting with
interactive elements in their materials Some current “hot” topics for library
(e.g., combinations of print and e-books collections include STEM, engineering,
as well as audio and video). They have makerspaces, coding, activism, young
also collected data such as the amount adult reader versions of adult books,
of time users spend on an e-book page mindfulness, gaming, critical thinking and
to analyse if and how users engaged with graphic novels.
Vo lume 11 | 2019 | 5Developing a Future-Ready School Library Collection for
Adolescents
By Loh Chin Ee
Loh Chin Ee is Assistant Professor at
the English Language and Literature
Academic Group at the National Institute
of Education. Her research focuses
on literacy and literature education
at the intersection of social class and
globalisation.
More about her research on reading
and school libraries can be found on
the Building a Reading Culture website:
https://www.readingculturesg.org/
F ollowing the earlier two roundtable
discussions on designing library
spaces and reading, Dr Loh’s presentation
Federation of Library Associations
and Institutions (“IFLA”) recommends
that school library collections should
3. how to inspire independent
learning. The school library could
provide more physical (eg. space)
and technological (eg. specialised
focused on the unique role of secondary “complement and enrich textbooks, computers) resources as well as
school libraries and the challenges faced teaching materials, and methodologies”. beef up research capacity through
by library staff and teachers in developing The school library can also aid in the non-fiction and e-resources.
book and materials collections for the teaching of information literacy and
The roundtable participants raised
future. research skills to students.
several related issues. These were on
how to ascertain students’ needs and
From her research findings, it was evident Citing the IFLA Guidelines for Collection
Policy, Dr Loh highlighted that with wants for the library collection, clearer
that students, regardless of socio-
guidelines on sensitive topics and age-
economic status, language proficiency developments in technology, libraries
have seen the need to move away from appropriate material, how often to review
level and gender, were more likely to
merely archiving information which its and refresh the library collection and the
visit their school library than a public
allocation of funds.
library due to proximity. Lower proficiency users may want (‘just in case’) to ensuring
students were also less intimidated by the that its users always have access to
Dr Loh also queried about the types of
school library given the smaller size of information they need (‘just in time’).
collections (e.g., audio, online, magazines)
its collection. This was also the case for the school library should have, the roles
Dr Loh suggested that there was a unique
reading in mother tongues (Chinese and of physical books versus e-books, the
role for school libraries and put forward
Malay). In fact, some students never go space and furniture needed to move
three challenges when thinking about
to the public libraries and are reliant on books, and the kinds of technology and
collection policies:
the school library. The results of an earlier partnerships needed to support library
survey carried out by Dr Loh showed that collection policies.
1. how to encourage engaged (i.e.,
students wanted to see more books in
independent and self-motivated)
their school libraries as well as improved She encouraged the participants to
reading through the collection. This
accessibility to books they wanted to could be achieved by concentrating continue to reflect and discuss the issues
read. on the quality, quantity, variety put forward in order to develop future-
and appropriate advertising of the ready school libraries.
School libraries also need to support the materials in the collection;
school’s pedagogical requirements and
2. how to provide pedagogical
cater to the specific learning needs of support to teachers and students. How to Cite
various communities and profiles of its The school library could, after
Loh, C. E. (2020). Developing a future-
users (e.g., some schools may want to consultation with teachers,
expand teachers’ resources and ready school library collection for
promote STEM and robotics). The School
support niche learning by creating adolescents. OER Knowledge Bites
Library Guidelines of the International
specialised collections; and Volume 11 (p. 6). Singapore: National
Institute of Education.
6 | OER K no wle dg e Bit esA publication of the
Office of Education Research
National Institute of Education,
Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore © 2020You can also read
