Collection Development in School Library Media Centers: National Recommendation and Reality

Abstract

The school library media center materials collection has evolved dramatically in the past sixty years from book‐centered collections of “the best reference books and…literature that has a natural appeal to young people” to “media collection(s) which represent the essential informational base of the instructional program.” The purposes of this discussion are: to trace the evolution of four specific aspects of collection development as found in national standards for school library media programs, 1918–1975; to review some of the research of the sixties and seventies that indicates some of the successes, problems, and trends involved in implementing professional guidelines on collection development; and to provide two case studies of organized evaluation and selection programs that serve as examples of an organized cooperative approach to collection development.

Citation

Miller, M.L. (1978), "Collection Development in School Library Media Centers: National Recommendation and Reality", Collection Building, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 25-48. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb023015