1 Melissa Brown Collection Development Assignment FRIT 7134 March 4, 2012

DESCRIPTION OF SITE AND LEARNERS

The school I chose as the focus for this project is McBean Elementary School, located in Hephzibah, Georgia. Hephzibah schools fall under the jurisdiction of the Richmond County School System in Augusta, Georgia. Augusta is also known as the CSRA, which stands for Central Savannah River Area, since it is located on the Savannah River. A fairly large school system, Richmond County has fifty-eight schools. Of that number, there are eight High Schools, eight Middle Schools, thirty-four Elementary schools, three Magnet schools, and five labeled as Special or Charter. The student population consists of 76% African American, 22% White, and 2% labeled Asian or Other. Roughly 50% of schools in Richmond County meet AYP, and graduation rates have reached almost 78%. This school system is considered to have mainly low income families, with 72% of students receiving free or reduced lunch, and almost half of the schools being recognized as being Title 1 by the Georgia Department of Education. The highest percentages of students that meet or exceed standards are from the School Systems Magnet schools. (Information obtained from rcboe.org) As for McBean Elementary, this school is a predominately white school that is considered low income since most of the schools 500+ students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Most of these students are from low income, single-parent homes and many have special needs. (Information obtained from School Improvement Plan, and School Website) The 3rd Grade classrooms have a total of about eighty students, distributed among four teachers. Of those eighty students, six are SPED students. One classroom is designated as EIP,

2 with two of the six SPED students in that class. There is one SPED teacher for these students, and they report to her classroom at designated times for instruction. The skill level varies widely among the students, with the lowest CRCT test scores being in the areas of Reading, Math, and Science. To combat low scores in Reading, the school participates in the AR Reading Program that rewards students for reading books and taking comprehension tests. The library clearly rates books for this purpose, so students can easily see if a book falls within their skill level.

CURRICULUM REVIEW
For this assignment, I have chosen the area of 3rd grade Science that focuses on the regions of Georgia. The Climate, landscape, and organisms of Georgia are all covered comprehensively during 3rd grade. The standards are as follows:
Major Concepts/Skills: Earth Science : o Rocks and minerals of Georgia o Soils o Weathering Life Science: o Habitats o Features of organisms of Georgia

Earth Science S3E1. Students will investigate the physical attributes of rocks and soils. a. Explain the difference between a rock and a mineral. b. Recognize the physical attributes of rocks and minerals using observation (shape, color, texture), measurement, and simple tests (hardness).

3 c. Use observation to compare the similarities and differences of texture, particle size, and color in top soils (such as clay, loam or potting soil, and sand). d. Determine how water and wind can change rocks and soil over time using observation and research. Life Science S3L1. Students will investigate the habitats of different organisms and the dependence of organisms on their habitat. a. Differentiate between habitats of Georgia (mountains, marsh/swamp, coast, Piedmont, Atlantic Ocean) and the organisms that live there. b. Identify features of green plants that allow them to live and thrive in different regions of Georgia. c. Identify features of animals that allow them to live and thrive in different regions of Georgia. d. Explain what will happen to an organism if the habitat is changed.

COLLECTION REVIEW
Since I am not currently teaching, my first means of evaluating the collection was to conduct interviews with the 3rd grade teachers. I have done many assignments with these teachers in the past, so I was very comfortable collecting information from them. I asked them what subject area presents the most difficulty in locating resources within the library. All of the 3rd grade teachers reported that there is little information on the regions of Georgia, the climate, or the organisms that reside here. Some even reported not being able to find any! Since this is one of the major skills and concepts expected to be covered in the 3rd grade Science, this is very concerning. The next thing I did to evaluate the schools collection was to go to the library and visually evaluate the set-up. Each section is visibly labeled to help students identify how the

4 books are categorized. Shelving was all within eye level of a small child, with the exception of the non-fiction books. Books on the higher shelves may require assistance for the 3rd graders to reach. Many tables are located throughout the Media Center for student use. There is also a comfy area set up for students to read, equipped with reading stairs near a large window. Technology is also present within the library. There are six computers for student use, as well as a smart board for presentations. Each area of the curriculum also has a room of resources that teachers may check out to use within the classroom. It is within these rooms that teachers can find audio and video materials related to their area of the curriculum. Other items, such as posters, globes, planetary models, etc., are also located within these Resource rooms. Students do not have access to these areas. Finally, there is a room specifically for conducting the schools Morning News. Next, I chose to do my own search to determine how many books are actually in the library that focuses on the chosen curriculum. In the non-fiction category, I was able to locate a total of five books on the regions of Georgia. I used the key words such as regions of Georgia and animals of Georgia. I also tried plants in Georgia. I still only had the five sources come up. These books were located in the non-fiction section, with the exception of one book that was located in the front of the library. This particular book had thirty copies and is designated as a class set, only to be checked out by teachers. There were no fiction books on this topic, and no audio or video resources. To continue my evaluation, I decided to determine circulation of the few books within this area of the curriculum. First, I asked the Media Specialist for a breakdown of the collection, which she gave me in the form of a Title Wise report. According to this data, 13% of the librarys collection is devoted to Natural Science and Mathematics. This means of the 17210

5 books located within the library, that roughly 2100 are focused in the general content area of my chosen curriculum. Based on these numbers, materials focused specifically on the Regions of Georgia represent less than .05% of the books in the content area of Science and Math. Though the Media Specialist could not give exact information on how many times the books the few books on Georgia have been checked out, she was able to say that they are most always gone from the shelves. Records do show that teachers check these resources out much more than students. I discovered the reason behind this is due to the fact that teachers have no other sources (besides textbooks) to present the material to students, and there are very few videos through the streaming service the school subscribes to.

Summary of Collection Needs: Find books that were published in the 2000s, preferably 2008 or later. Locate books that specifically target the regions, plants, and animals of Georgia. Find sources that are Multicultural, as there are none within this content area. Find as many audio/video materials as budget allows, since none currently exist.

BUDGET SUMMARY
This particular area of the curriculum proved to be tricky on many book vendor sites. Amazon was the first major source of books for this project, but lacked Multicultural aspects. I was pointed towards Title Wave, and I found an amazing assortment of books for this area of the curriculum. Some of the books I have chosen have the same title, Georgia. I chose many of these for my list because the reviews described various aspects in each book that I thought would

6 add nicely to the collection. Upon completion, I came in right under budget at $3,998.39. I chose titles that were mostly related specifically to Georgia and its plants, animals, climate, and habitats. Some collections with books on every state were chosen, since in most cases, that was the only way to acquire the information on my chosen curriculum. I have added all useful links I have discovered to my portfolio wiki in the useful links section located in the sidebar. (http://mbrow120.pbworks.com/w/page/45842900/FrontPage). Please see the attached spreadsheet for a detailed review of the items I have chosen.