Standard 2.3 Respect for Diversity
Candidates demonstrate the ability to develop a collection of reading and information materials in print and digital formats that support the diverse developmental, cultural, social, and linguistic needs of P-12 students and their communities. |
Reflection
“It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations—something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own.” —Katherine Patterson
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I created my first purchase order during SLM506 Collection Development. I quickly learned that creating a purchase order that balances the needs of the curriculum, students, and teachers is a true art form. Before making the purchase order, I had to gather information about my school’s current collection and areas of need. It was also important to use professional book reviews with my school’s specific population in mind so I could find books to support the diverse developmental, cultural, social, and linguistic needs of my community.
During my analysis, I identified several areas of need within the library collection. My first priority was to find quality resources to highlight specific populations within our school community so they would feel represented by the library collection. For example, my school has a Learning and Academic Disabilities program but I could not find any books in our collection featuring characters with learning disabilities. I used professional reviews to find books like Rain Reign by Ann Martin, which tells a story from the perspective of a child with Asperger’s Syndrome. I also selected multiple digital resources to support students’ diverse developmental and linguistic needs. For example, I found apps to reinforce the content students learn in various grades. I was careful to consider accessibility features such as read aloud when purchasing these resources to ensure every student could use the resources to support their specific learning needs.
During my analysis, I identified several areas of need within the library collection. My first priority was to find quality resources to highlight specific populations within our school community so they would feel represented by the library collection. For example, my school has a Learning and Academic Disabilities program but I could not find any books in our collection featuring characters with learning disabilities. I used professional reviews to find books like Rain Reign by Ann Martin, which tells a story from the perspective of a child with Asperger’s Syndrome. I also selected multiple digital resources to support students’ diverse developmental and linguistic needs. For example, I found apps to reinforce the content students learn in various grades. I was careful to consider accessibility features such as read aloud when purchasing these resources to ensure every student could use the resources to support their specific learning needs.
![Picture](/uploads/5/1/0/1/51013159/passport-to-reading.png?177)
I believe that a library collection should be representative of the patrons it serves while also purposefully highlighting additional cultures to broaden students’ understanding of the world. Therefore, I found books like The Turtle of Oman: A Novel by Naomi Shihab Nye, which provides insight into the feelings and lives of recent immigrants and their children. I also purposefully selected books set in different countries around the world to expose students to other ways of life.
This project reinforced the importance of creating a long-range plan for my collection to ensure I am addressing different needs each year. In my order, this meant that I placed a greater emphasis on certain nonfiction sections of the library while neglecting others. In future years, I would need to go back and address the areas I left out of this order. Creating purchase orders each year will be a challenge, but I now know that balancing the needs of multiple areas of the library collection is possible!
This project reinforced the importance of creating a long-range plan for my collection to ensure I am addressing different needs each year. In my order, this meant that I placed a greater emphasis on certain nonfiction sections of the library while neglecting others. In future years, I would need to go back and address the areas I left out of this order. Creating purchase orders each year will be a challenge, but I now know that balancing the needs of multiple areas of the library collection is possible!