Bobbie Keenan Collection Development Assignment FRIT 7134 - Spring 2009 February 22, 2009 Description of School and

Students Cornerstone Schools was established in 1999. Cornerstone Schools is plural because Cornerstone is an independent, secular, community of schools. While three buildings are currently in use on the campus (the original building houses a daycare and Pre-K classrooms), three more will be built in the near future. Cornerstone Schools is located in Forsyth County, in North Georgia, a suburban area of Metro Atlanta. The Cornerstone Schools campus has been planned to utilize its 32 acres to the best advantage of its students. The current elementary school building opened in 2003. This two story building includes school offices, classrooms, a library, cafeteria, gym, health clinic, teacher's lounge, elevator, three playgrounds, and an athletic field. In October of 2005, the third building opened. It presently houses classrooms for 3rd-7th grades, a computer lab, art & science rooms, an auditorium, music room, spanish class, a second library, and cafeteria. Each cafeteria is also outfitted with mounted TV screens for the sole purpose of curriculum based DVD or VHS viewing. The fourth building which will eventually house the 6th-9th graders and is on schedule to open at the end of 2009, along with an additional full-sized auditorium and gymnasium. The high school is slated to open in early 2011. The interior and exterior of each building was designed to maximize successful learning. Classrooms and hallways are carpeted to minimize noise. Each classroom is equipped with three computer stations. Natural light is available in each classroom by means of banks of windows and skylights to help minimize eye strain associated with florescent lighting. Trees surround the buildings to provide a bird's eye view of nature from the classroom. There are 20 certified teachers (10 hold masters degrees), three administrators, and five additional staff members serving 155 students grades K-7th. Of the 155 students currently enrolled at Cornerstone Schools, 149 are caucasian, three are Latino, two are Indian (India), and one is African-American. The school currently has no ESOL students. The classes at Cornerstone are differentiated with the curriculum focusing on mastering the fundamentals of reading, writing, and math processes. There are no more than 15 students in a classroom. As stated before, each of the primary buildings houses its own library. There is one librarian that operates both of these centers. The 3rd - 7th grade library also includes a computer lab with 16 stations. Teachers at Cornerstone are certified and experienced so that they can customize the curriculum to meet the needs of each student without taking away from the class as a whole. For example, students that are stronger in a particular subject than other students in the class, will be allowed to advance in the curriculum to the level that challenges them without frustrating them. In addition if a student requires reinforcement in a given subject, the teacher will reteach the curriculum in a manner that they best understand. I've decided to assess the Plants and Animals or Life Science section of my library for two reasons. The first reason is that the topic of Plants and Animals/Life Science is part the science curriculum in every grade currently represented at the school. The second reason is that the plant and animal sections of both libraries are some of the most visited by the students of all grades regardless of the curriculum. Even though all the current grades study plants and animals in science, I'm only going to focus my assignment on the third, fourth and fifth grades. There are two third and fourth grade classes, and one fifth grade class that is working on the fifth grade science curriculum. There are six other fifth graders that are in a combined 5th/6th grade classroom, but they are all working on the sixth grade curriculum in all subjects. There are two third grade classes. Each class is comprised of 10 students and one teacher. Both classrooms are differentiated with all but four students reading above grade level. There are also two fourth grade classes. One class is comprised of 15 students and one teacher. Seven of the students in the first class are reading above grade level. Of the remaining eight, four are reading at grade level and four are below grade level. The second fourth grade class is a 4th/5th grade combination class. There are 15 students and one teacher, with six of the students being 5th graders. All of the students in this class are reading at or above their grade level. As stated before, there are also six other fifth graders that are in a 5th/6th grade combination class, but they are

working on the sixth grade curriculum. I did not include them in my project since they have already completed the fifth grade curriculum.

Cornerstone Schools Third Grade Students Girls Boys African American Caucasian Indian (India) Latino Curriculum Review 20 9 11 1 18 0 1

Fourth Grade 25 12 13 0 24 1 0

Fifth Grade 6 4 2 0 6 0 0

The owner and administration at Cornerstone Schools considers Georgia's State standards to be the minimum standard, therefore, Cornerstone's curriculum is based on the National Standards. While our curriculum includes what is covered in the Georgia curriculum, we are not restricted to it. The National Standards for Science for grades K-4.3 regarding Life Science are as follows: NS.K-4.3 Life Science - As a result of activities in grades K-4, all students should develop understanding of: The characteristics of organisms Life cycles of organisms Organisms and environments

The National Standards of Science for grades 5-8 (with grade 5 being of interest in this project) regarding Life Science are as follows: NS.5-8.3 Life Science - As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop understanding of: Grade Third Grade Structure and function in living systems Reproduction and heredity Regulation and behavior Populations and ecosystems Diversity and adaptations of organisms National Standards Concepts and Objectives Code NS.3 - Life Science Habitats of Organisms explain what an environment is. give examples of what a habitat is. explain how living things get what they need. describe what Resources Books about different ecosystems such as deserts, swamps, rain forests, oceans, and suburban areas. Books about rain forests and how the different layers of the forests work together and individually.

makes up an ecosystem. explain what communities and populations are.

Poster of the layers of the rain forest. Books about animals and plants living in various extreme conditions and how they have adapted to their environments. Library links to PBS Teachers, The National Wildlife Federation, and National Geographic for Kids. All are accessible via the computers in classrooms and posted on the schools library page. DVDs - Blue Planet, Planet Earth, and Discovery's Animal Habitats. Annual field trip to the Chattahoochee Nature Center.

Plants and Animals Depend on Each Other explain how some animals hunt other animals for food. gives examples of what a food chain is and describes how energy passes through a food chain. explain how producers differ from consumers.

Organisms Adapt explain what an adaptation is. give examples of adaptations organisms have for meeting needs. distinguish between inherited and learned characteristics.

Fourth Grade

NS.4.3 - Life Science

Plants Inside and Out describe functions of different plant structures. distinguish types of reproduction. explain different ways plants are classified.

Books about plants, their parts and functions. DVDs Blue Planet, Planet Earth, and Discovery's Animal Habitats. Library links to PBS Teachers, The National Wildlife Federation, and National Geographic for Kids. All are accessible via the computers in classrooms and posted on the schools library page.

Classifying Animals identify differences between invertebrates and vertebrates. identify differences

between coldblooded and warmblooded vertebrates. distinguish between herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.

Adaptations of Plants and Annual field trip to the Animals Chattahoochee Nature Center. define what a species is. explain how adaptations can help a species survive. distinguish between learned and inherited behaviors. Fifth Grade NS.5 - Life Science Looking at Cells recognize how the invention of the microscope helped people study cells. explain how cells are alike and different. identify some unicellular animals. Seven microscopes and an assortment of 48 slides that include samples of plant and animal cells. Materials to create wet and dry slides for observation.

Library links to PBS Teachers, The National Wildlife Federation, and Cell Structure National Geographic for Kids. All are identify the parts all accessible via the computers in cells have. classrooms and define organelles posted on the schools and explain what library page. they do. distinguish between plant cells and animal cells.

Cell Processes explain why cells need energy. diagram how materials move into and out of a cell. explore how cells

 Collection Evaluation

get energy from food. explain how some cells make food.

I began my assessment from a collection centered perspecitive. Both of the Cornerstone libraries are clearly marked with signage indicating which sections are fiction, non-fiction, and reference areas. Within the non-fiction section of both libraries, additional signage marks each Dewey section, along with book displays that provide another visual guide for users. All items are individually labeled along the spine with the appropriate Dewey numbers, author name, and building location. For example, if the book's shelf home is in the K-2 library, it's labeled with a "B", for the B-Library. If it belongs in the 3rd-7th library or C-Library, it's labeled with a C. The Reference Section includes seven sets of encyclopedias. Three sets are shelved in B-Library, and the remaining sets are shelved in C-Library. The newest set encyclopedia set is a Grolier Student set from 2003. The oldest set is an Encyclopedia Britannica set from 1984. A visual inspection of the libraries suggests that, overall, the collection is in good condition. There are signs of wear in parts of the collection, primarily due to the fact that the shelves are overloaded. This could be remedied with a thorough weeding that, I believe, would greatly improve the quality and appearance of the collection as a whole. Weeding has proved to be problematic in the past. The school is independently owned, and the owner hasn't liked the idea of weeding, due to her being the sole financier of the school. She wanted to retain all available resources for the seeable future. However, recent developments, including the hiring of a new and progressive principal, leads me to believe that weeding will not be an issue in the future. A quantitative assessment tells me that the collection, as a whole, is comprised of 14,532 books. With a current enrollment of 155 students, that makes the ratio of books to students around 90:1. The focus of this assessment is on the Natural Science Section, specifically the Dewey Section 570-590 or Plants and Animals. The Plants and Animals section ties in directly with the Life Science units taught in the third, fourth, and fifth grades. There are 477 books in this section. That makes up only 3% of the entire collection. Despite the fact that it makes up only 3% of the entire collection, it is still the largest non-fiction section. In addition to being the largest non-fiction section, it is also the oldest, with the mean age of 10 years. The mean age of the collection, as a whole, is six years. From the user centered approach of assessing the section, I discovered that out of the 477 books, only 160 of them are relevant in regards to the third, fourth, and fifth grade Life Science curriculum. Speaking to the fourth grade teachers, I learned that they don't venture outside of the textbook activities in teaching the Life Science unit, with the one exception of the annual field trip to the Chattahoochee Nature Center. Fifth grade also doesn't use the library for Life Science unit activities. The primary reason for that, is because there currently aren't that many resources for that unit in the library. Except for the encyclopedia sets, there are only four books in the current collection that discuss the cellular world, none of which are on the appropriate grade level. Fifth grade, instead, relies heavily on the use of the seven microscopes, 48 prepared slides, and gathered samples from home as well the school's wooded grounds for their Life Science unit. I should mention, that all slides and microscopes remain in the science lab at all times and are not part of the library's inventory. Third grade gets the most use of the library when it comes to the Life Science. They do a large project every year where the teachers direct students to the library to research various animal and plant habitats, food chains, food webs, and predator and prey relationships. As a direct result of repetitive use due to this particular project, the books that cover those topics, have far more wear than others in that section. The fact that the mean age of this section being 10 years old does not get the qualitative assessment off to a good start. Last year, 23 new books were added to 570-599 Dewey section at the request of the first grade teachers to supplement their science curriculum. I only added five new books to that section that are age and curriculum appropriate for the grades I have focused on in this assignment. As far as the multicultural aspect in this section, there are more than a few multicultural references in the the books with copyright dates from 2003 to the present. This includes seven Spanish language books in this content area. These books with various multicultural references represent 101 books in the 570-590 Dewey section. I believe that our collection is quite developed in regards multicultural representation. I should say that while the Spanish books are part of the

library's inventory, they are shelved in the Spanish teacher's classroom. I purchased them at her request last spring, and she uses them in her Spanish curriculum. There are 48 audiovisual items in the collection, and three of them could be used in teaching the Life Science units for these grade levels. All three have been purchased within the past year by the owner of the school. No requests were made for them, they were just purchased and are available for check out. Currently, there are no magazine subscriptions or e-Books in the collection. I have recently learned, that multimedia projectors are being installed in the middle school classrooms over the summer. This will undoubtedly open up a whole new area for the media center, that hopefully will include e-Books. In my opinion, e-Books are a practical resource for our school to invest in, mainly because of our limited space. Budget Summary Out of the $4,000.00 theoretical dollars given for this assignment, I spent $3,361.65. The focus of my purchases were on updating the content area, with the idea that weeding will be done to remove many of the books that brought the mean age of my 570 - 590 Dewey section to 10 years. I made purchases that would literally create a section that provides useful resources and supplements the 5th grade (and 6th-8th) science curriculum. I also chose to purchase models of cells for the fifth grade (and beyond) curriculum. Materials that were purchased for the third and fourth grade curriculums update, increase, and enhance the current materials that were already available to them. Since, I was recently informed that multimedia projectors have been purchased and will be installed this summer, I selected quite a few audiovisual items, as well as eBooks. I think eBooks are very practical for our libraries, because of space limitations. I realize that eBooks currently are just not as attractive to some, because they don't actually take up shelf space. It's just another adjustment that educators, parents, students, and librarians are going to have to embrace as education evolves. Not only do I believe that what I purchased will greatly enhance our current collection by curriculum standards, I also believe that what I purchased would be generally appealing to the students. I sought materials that were informative and attractive. Books that students would check out whether they have an assignment on that topic or not.