What formats will library include?

In my ideal library, books will continue to have a place in the library collection. But even there, “books” are not limited to the physical-codex format: eBooks, audio books, read-along story videos — all can all fall within the auspices of a library collection, as can DVDs, CDs, and research databases.

I do not want to follow the example of the Minnesota high school principal who removed nearly all physical books from the school library (Barack, 2013). But I feel that digital can and should be included in a library collection, especially to safeguard continuing access in the event of library closures.

“With each school closure, whether because of COVID-19 or through smoke- or fire-related incidents, our students and staff lose their access to the physical library collection. A digital collection would help mitigate the loss of that physical access — while allowing us to curate digital resources that specifically support our school community” (Parkhill, 2020).

Important to note: effective Jan. 27, 2019, the AASL Board of Directors sunsetted its position statement concerning Digital Content & Ebooks in School Library Collection, “because it is no longer relevant to the current school library landscape and current best practice” (AASL Board of Directors, 2019).

There was a subsequent motion to approve that the AASL website have links to an ALA interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights, “Access to Digital Information, Services, and Networks” (ibid).

This interpretation states in part, “The fundamental mission of libraries is to provide access to information, regardless of content or format, to everyone,” and “Digital resources and services, or resources and services made primarily available online or on digital devices, are integral to libraries’ mission in the twenty-first century” (ALA, 2019).

References:

American Association of School Librarians, Board of Directors. (2019.) Meeting minutes, April 18, 2019. https://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/about/board/docs/19_mw_bd.pdf

American Library Association. (2019). Access to digital resources and services: An interpretation of the library bill of rights. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/digital

Barack, L. (2013, Jan. 8). School library thrives after ditching print collection. The Digital Shift. http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2013/01/k-12/school-library-thrives-after-ditching-print-collection/

Parkhill, C.M. (2020, May 14). School library reopening during COVID-19: My thoughts. Cynthia Parkhill. https://cynthiaparkhill.blogspot.com/2020/05/school-library-reopening-during-covid.html


Author’s note: This post is the last of four that were originally one longer essay. I have broken it up into four separate pieces for the convenience of readers.

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Library collections reflect diversity of people and ideas