2.3 Respect for diversity
Candidates demonstrate the ability to develop a collection of reading and information materials in print and digital formats that support the diverse developmental, cultural, social, and linguistic needs of P-12 students and their communities.
2010 ALA/AASL Standards for Initial Preparation of School Librarians
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“Seek first to understand…” – Stephen Covey
Collection and Development, SLM 506, was my first course in the School Library Media program. These two assignments – a community school analysis and a curriculum map, taught me more about my school than my six years of teaching experience combined. The analysis took into account the demographics, unique programs, and stakeholders of the school community I was serving. The curriculum map listed all the offered courses and outlined the major topics covered. These documents are vital to clearly understand the needs of the collection. I will create versions for my school library media center in order to develop the most appropriate collection for that school. |
Photos by Pam Altman, 2011.
The school I was teaching in at the time was an extremely diverse middle school. Located in a lower socio-economic neighborhood with at least twelve languages spoken in the homes, the school drew in children from the county at-large for the visual and performing arts. The unique arts program included many topics not covered in a traditional middle school setting like ceramics, jazz dance, advanced orchestra, and competitive choral groups, as well as an integration of these topics into the traditional core subjects. As a core content teacher, I had not previously understood the vast amount of topics taught within the school. The combination of the community school analysis and the curriculum map allowed me to visualize the diverse areas that the media center collection needed to address, spanning both demographic and curriculum needs. I was able to then discuss with the current school library media specialist the strategies she used to consider all of these needs as she selected and purchased for her collection. The unique arts program came with supplemental funding for the collection, but she also emphasized the attention paid to the diverse linguistic needs and vast reading ability span that was present in the magnet school. The school library media specialist needs to be a vocal advocate for this supplemental funding to appropriately meet the diverse resource needs of specialty programs.
I shared the curriculum map with the principal at the time, and she also was fascinated by the richness of our curriculum. When she left for a new school, she asked me to share the process with her new staff. I learned that every school is unique and that an analysis and map such as these should be the first thing a school library media specialist does when he or she enters a new school. The development of the curriculum map naturally opens collaborative conversations with the staff as the school library media specialists learns about each teacher’s curriculum standards. It leads to a greater understanding of the needs his or her collection must serve. It also gives the school library media specialist the background knowledge and the ability to make suggestions that connect the curriculum across classes and have the overarching view to lead collaboration in the school and help the school function harmoniously.
I shared the curriculum map with the principal at the time, and she also was fascinated by the richness of our curriculum. When she left for a new school, she asked me to share the process with her new staff. I learned that every school is unique and that an analysis and map such as these should be the first thing a school library media specialist does when he or she enters a new school. The development of the curriculum map naturally opens collaborative conversations with the staff as the school library media specialists learns about each teacher’s curriculum standards. It leads to a greater understanding of the needs his or her collection must serve. It also gives the school library media specialist the background knowledge and the ability to make suggestions that connect the curriculum across classes and have the overarching view to lead collaboration in the school and help the school function harmoniously.
This portfolio and the artifacts contained herein by Amy Soldavini are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License |
Revised July 2013
