Melinda Weatherford CEDP FRIT 7134 Fall 2012

1
Collection Evaluation and Development Plan
Melinda Weatherford - FRIT 7134 Fall 2012


Description of Site and Learners:
I am focusing my Collection Development and Evaluation Plan on Union Ridge
Elementary in Ridgefield, Washington. Ridgefield is a small town with a population of
just over 4,800 and is located in Clark County in the southwest corner of Washington
State near Vancouver. Ridgefield is a port city with access to the Columbia River. Most
residents commute to work in larger areas like Vancouver, WA, Portland, OR and
Longview, WA. Ridgefield is one of the better-rated school districts in the area, so it is
experiencing some growth and housing development.

Union Ridge Elementary has a total enrollment of 635 students and serves kindergarten
through sixth grade. The school was built in 1952 and underwent a remodel in 1992. A
bond was recently passed for future facility improvements. There are 27 full time
teachers and a student teacher ratio of approximately 23. There are four schools in the
Ridgefield School District: two elementary schools (K-6); one middle school (7-8); and
one high school (9-12). There is one media specialist managing the media centers in all
four schools, and there are full-time paraprofessionals in each media center.

My project focuses on the fifth grade. There are 87 fifth grade students and four teachers.
Thirteen fifth graders participate in an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Twenty-
three students in grades 3-6 participate in the Highly Capable (HiCap) gifted program.
Two of the students are fifth graders. They are bussed once a week to South Ridge
Elementary to spend half the day with the programs teacher. There are no special needs
students or English language learners in the fifth grade class. I understand that the
reading levels of the students are varied. I am not employed by the school, so I was
unable to get exact data on this.



Melinda Weatherford CEDP FRIT 7134 Fall 2012
2
School Demographics:
White 90.88%
Hispanic 5.92%
Asian/Pacific Islander 1.76%
American Indian .80%
African American .64%

The school does not subscribe to a literary criticism database. The media center staff use
Titlewave for reviews. The library only has six computers. Their catalog is not available
online, and there is no wireless internet connection. They are planning to get it soon.
There are 11,850 books in the collection, giving an average of 18 books per student.

Curriculum Review:
I have chosen to focus on the following fifth grade Washington State GLEs (Grade Level
Expectations) Standards:
4.1.2 Understands how the following themes and developments help to define eras in
U.S. history from immemorial to 1791:
Development of indigenous societies in North America (time immemorial to
1791).
Encounter, colonization, and devastation (1492-1763).
Revolution and the Constitution (1763-1791).

2.2.2 Understands how trade affected the economy of the thirteen colonies.

3.1.2 Understands the physical and cultural characteristics of the thirteen colonies.

3.2.3 Understands and analyzes the impact of the European colonists movement to the
Americas on the land and the indigenous peoples.

2.3.1 Understands the impact of the British government on the economy of the thirteen
colonies.
Melinda Weatherford CEDP FRIT 7134 Fall 2012
3

1.1.1 Understands the key ideals of liberty and patriotism as outlines in the Declaration
of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and other fundamental documents.


The fifth grade teachers at Union Ridge incorporate several activities into their social
studies curriculum. The students are each assigned a specific battle or event to research
and present to the class. The class creates a huge timeline where each student, after
presenting their topic, posts it in the appropriate place on the timeline. The Presidents of
the United States are also covered, and as part of a language arts assignment they are
required to select a biography on a president or first lady to read and research. They are
then required to dress up as that person and present their biography in character.

Collection Evaluation:
The first step I took when evaluating the collection was to search the catalog and print
out a list of all the books I could find related to my topic area. I used the following key
words and subjects for my search: American Revolution; Revolutionary War; Declaration
of Independence; Constitution; Native Americans; American Indians; Pilgrims; Colonial
America; British Colonies; Battles of the American Revolution; U.S. Presidents; First
Ladies; George Washington. Based on my search, I found approximately 122 books
related to these topics, including fiction.

I did an age analysis on 60 of the books and came up with an average copyright year of
1991. I noticed there were an inordinate amount of books from the 1950s and 60s. I
imagine many of the books are still here from when the school was first built in 1952.
The newest book in the group was from 2007 and the oldest was from 1943. I also asked
the paraprofessional if she could pull circulation data. She was able to print a record for
the 973s. I found it very helpful in determining which books are being used most
frequently and which are not. Of course, this doesnt mean that books that dont circulate
are not being used in the media center. At the college library where I work, we do an in-
Melinda Weatherford CEDP FRIT 7134 Fall 2012
4
house checkout on any books that are left on tables to get a more accurate record of
what the students are using.



Based on the record we pulled at the Union Ridge media center, I was surprised to find
that there were very few books specifically on the American Revolution (only 4), and that
the most highly circulated book in the entire report was a book called American
Revolution (not the one pictured below) with a circulation of more than three times as
high as any of the other books in the report. Several of the books showed a circulation of
zero. I think part of the lack of circulation of books is due to the fact that the library is
under-utilized and not viewed as a highly valuable resource by the principal.

In my physical examination of the media center and the collection, I noticed it was
extremely cluttered with over-filled bookshelves and audio-visual equipment. There is
no storage room, so they keep the A.V. equipment in the corner near the non-fiction 001-
300s. It was difficult to maneuver around this area. I tried to help re-shelve some books
while I was there, and it was tough to squeeze them in. Most of the books are extremely
old and many are in bad shape. In fact, I noticed several books that were exactly the
same (publication/print dates) as books I have from when I was a child in the 1970s.
0 5 10 15 20
0 check-outs
1 check-out
2 checkouts
3 check-outs
4 check-outs
5 check-outs
6 chek-outs
8 check-outs
9 check-outs
10 check-outs
11 check-outs
17 check-outs
35-36 check-outs
Circulation History of Books on Topic
Circulation History of Books
on Topic
Melinda Weatherford CEDP FRIT 7134 Fall 2012
5
Many of the books were not in proper order on the shelves, so it was difficult to find
specific titles. I spoke to the media specialist about my project and she made it a point to
tell me that history books usually dont need to be updated because the information stays
the same. That probably explains all the books from the 1940s-1970s. I would love to
have an opportunity to weed that library!




As far as the standards are concerned, the materials fell far short of meeting them. In
fact, the teachers use their own personal collections of books for the students to do
research, and they encourage them to use the public library when they cant find what
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Copyright Dates
Copyright Dates
Here are a couple of the worst
examples: An American
ABC was published in 1941
and American Revolution in
1958. Both look like
something you would find in
an antique store.
Melinda Weatherford CEDP FRIT 7134 Fall 2012
6
they need in the school library. There are simply not enough materials on these topics to
go around. There are 87 fifth grade students, and an average of 0-4 books on each topic
covered under the standards. There are no other media formats. There is a very small
collection of books in Spanish, and none on my topic. I believe this is due to the fact that
there are no non-English speaking students enrolled at this time. As you can see from the
demographics I listed, there is not much diversity in this school or in this school district.
I did select two books in Spanish for my Consideration File. They may not get used, but
I felt there should at least a couple available on the topic. If there is a demand for them, I
would know I might need to order more.

Budget Summary:
I went ahead and exceeded the $4000 budget with the idea that this is a consideration file,
and I would be able to include a do not exceed $4,000 directive in an actual order.
While building my file I focused on reading / interest levels for grades 3-8. I felt higher
grade levels were appropriate for DVD formats. I think material covered in a video
format, if done interestingly, has a more universal appeal. I covered all bases of the
standards and curriculum with the materials I selected. I felt the existing collection was
extremely lacking, and at least 50% of the books in the small collection needed to be
weeded. When choosing eBooks, I always selected unlimited access books, so
multiple students could have access to the same material at the same time. I also made
sure to include a variety of fiction titles. See the Excel document
(WeatherfordM_CEDP2.xlsx) for my Consideration File. Materials listed are broken
down by format with cost subtotals at the bottom of each section.

I created a Sqworl site featuring topic-related web resources specifically for this
assignment, but I also wanted to include a Live Binder I created for a different class last
semester. I spent weeks putting it together and think its an excellent resource.

http://sqworl.com/xziafo

http://www.livebinders.com/play/present?id=332453