COLLECT + CONNECT

Check out this go-to resource from the Young Adult Library Services Association. YALSA has a free Teen Book Finder Database  to support collection development and literacy programming at the middle school and high school levels. This database provides access to all of YALSA's annual selected book and media lists, awards, and honorees. It replaces individual award lists formerly on the YALSA site. S earch 4,000+ books, audiobooks, and films and filter  by author, list, genre, theme, and year. Plus, download, print, and share lists. Technology at work for you! ala.org/yalsa/ And, of course, there's an app for that!  Teen Book Finder App . ala.org/yalsa/ Bonus! Additional award books focusing on diversity have been recently added to the database. Those include books from  Amelia Bloomer Book List ,  American Indian Library Association ,  Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association ,  Association of Jewish Libraries ,  ...

Weeding or deselection of materials is a part of collection maintenance. It should be tied to the goals and mission of the library and the district. An optimal library collection is reviewed consistently for accuracy, currency, usage, diversity, and subject area gaps. Space limitations, edition, format, physical condition, and number of copies are also considerations. Districts, with school librarians leading the charge, should develop district policies to guide collection maintenance. This policy could be called a collection development policy (a more comprehensive term) or a weeding policy. The policy should not only provide considerations for the development of the collection, it should also specify who repairs materials and is responsible for ordering, weeding, and inventory. Lastly, policies may also provide guidance about the disposal of weeded items. Conducting regular inventories are a very important part of collection development. Inventories don't necessarily need to be ...