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ROSE HILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LIBRAY

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT/NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Emily Bunch, Librarian

Section 1

INTRODUCTION

School Profile

Rose Hill Elementary is located in the urban area of Alexandria, VA. The school serves students in
Pre-K through 6th Grade. Current population is 750 students.

Rose Hill has been identified as Title 1, a federal program whose goal is to help the neediest schools
and students reach the same challenging standards expected of all children (FCPS, 2015). The
school is receiving federal grant money to promote language arts skills, with the library being the
center of this initiative.

For the past two years the school has not meet state testing standards. The school is operating under a
state mandated School Improvement Plan, which requires faculty to direct instruction to learning
objectives where the data shows student deficiencies.

Collection Development Project

A new librarian has been hired for school year 2016-2017. The principal is dedicating $5000 of Title
1 grant funds to the library for purchase of books that will assist in the development of academic
goals. This study is designed to find the most widely beneficial use of these funds.

Section 2

NEEDS ASSESSMENT

2.1 Purpose

The intent of this assessment is to provide the librarian with information to use the allocated library
budget of $5000 in a manner that will best contribute to student achievement. Because of Rose Hills
Title 1 and School Improvement status, all purchases must be directly linked to student outcome
objectives.
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2.2 Methodologies

Faculty Input/Survey. Supporting classroom instruction is the main goal of the library. The librarian
is reaching out to faculty to find out if the library collection includes materials that support grade level
curriculum. This is done in the following two ways.

Librarian attends grade level PLC (Professional Learning Community) meetings to discuss how the
library supports the classroom curriculum. Teachers have the opportunity to voice concerns and make
recommendations regarding acquisitions. The librarian finds resources that enrich the lessons taught
in the classroom. Open lines of communication are essential to coordinating spending and optimizing
the availability of resource.

Teachers respond to written surveys to recommend specific titles and voice their needs regarding
availability of materials. Once the results are calculated, the librarian will attend PLC meetings to
review the results before purchasing decisions are made. See Appendix A.

Historical Records. Circulation data is analyzed to find which resources are most important to
students and teachers.

If teachers are competing for the same resources, it might be necessary to duplicate resources in order
to meet the needs of all teachers. Rose Hill has four classes at each grade level. With the timeframe
each class has to cover curriculum, duplication of resources is a viable option.

A search for high demand literature is conducted. Specific genres or authors that contribute to
students literacy are identified and cultivated. Students

Demographic Data. The collection is analyzed to ensure that culturally appropriate material is
available for all students. The school serves a high ESL population as well as serving as a Spanish
Immersion Center for neighboring schools. A thorough analysis of the collection is necessary to
ensure all student needs are being met.

2.3 Results

Faculty Input/Survey

Eighty percent of teachers responded to the survey. Of the respondents, ninety percent suggested
areas of the library where that do not sufficiently meet their curriculum needs. The survey uncovered
the following areas were teachers believed there is a deficiency in the library collection

a. Science was the highest area of deficiency, with the highest percentage of teachers
submitting an area as deficient
a. Weather 25% of teachers noted deficiency
b. Ecosystems 10% of teachers noted deficiency
c. Plant Life 10% of teachers noted deficiency
d. Seasons 5% of teachers noted deficiency
e. Volcanoes 5% of teachers noted deficiency
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b. Literature from the curriculum was the second highest area of deficiency.
a. Fairy Tales 15% of teachers noted deficiency
b. Poetry 10% of teachers noted deficiency
c. Biography was reported by 15% of teachers as a deficiency.

Teacher Survey Results

Reported Collection Deficiencies

Biography
15%
Weather
25%

Ecosystems
10%

Volcanoes
5%
Poetry
10%
Other
5%

Seasons
5%
Fairy Tales
Plant Life 15%
10%

Weather Poetry Fairy Tales Plant Life Seasons

Other Volcanoes Ecosystems Biography

Historical Records

An analysis was conducted to find out which books were most popular and circulated frequently. The
importance of this is to find which books students prefer so that the library can foster a love of reading
by providing books that students want to read. A collection analysis highlighted the following points:

a. Book series were in high demand & students must often wait for books. This
disrupted a students reading experience.
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b. Science fiction books had the longest wait lists. This problem could be
alleviated by purchasing additional copies of popular books.
c. Hi-Lo books were frequently at 100% check out. This left few alternate
options for this at risk population, which meant they were not getting the
books they needed to improve their reading skills.
d. Realistic fiction was the highest circulating among lower elementary.

Demographic Data

Defining the user population is the crucial in a school library. Rose Hill is a neighborhood school that
serves a geographic area covering approximately 3 square miles. Below is a breakdown of the student
population in recent years.

a. Almost half (47%) of the student population is Hispanic.

b. One third of students (34%) at the school are limited English speakers.

Rose Hill Student Demographic

400

350
362 364 365
300

250

200
210 205
193
150

100
85 87
50 71 70 70
56 43 38 44
0
Asian Black Hispanic White Other

2012-13 2013-14 2014-15

Limited
English
Proficient
34%
English
Proficient
66%
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2.4 Discussions and Conclusion

The library does not currently have the resources to fully support teachers and the curriculum they are
required to teach. With Rose Hill being in its third year of School Improvement Status, it is
imperative that purchases address these large holes in our library collection. Teachers identified areas
that they felt were deficient.

Circulation data provided information regarding what our students like to read and what the library
could purchase in order to serve a population of student readers.

By identifying the demographic of our student population, the library can make better purchasing
decision so support student learning.

Priorities

Purchase books that support curriculum and will help teachers in the classroom
o Research non-fiction books that support the science curriculum
o Purchase in the area of teacher requests: weather, plant life, seasons,
ecosystems and volcanoes

Develop recreational reading by purchasing books that students love to read.

o Carry multiple copies of popular science fiction books with high circulation
o Enhance the Hi-lo collection to better serve limited English proficient
readers
o Research realistic fictions series for lower elementary students

Support a diverse community of learners by purchasing books that are culturally

reflective of the student population
o Acquire science books that are written in Spanish
o Research Hispanic fairy tales to support the curriculum and honor the
heritage of our students
o Research which Asian countries are represented in our student population,
and find fairy tales to supplement the classroom curriculum
o Purchase books that have side-by-side English/Spanish text for our large
population of ESL students.
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APPENDIX A

Teacher Survey Library Resources

Your responses will be used to make purchasing decisions for our library.

Thank you for your time.

1. What grade do you teach? K 1 2 3 4 5 6

2. What subject area do you teach?

3. The library currently meets your curriculum needs.

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree I Dont use the library

4. What, if any, areas of your curriculum is the library deficient?

5. Are there specific titles that you would like to see in our library?

Comments?
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References

(2015, August 31). Retrieved from http://www.fcps.edu/is/titlei/infcps.shtml