Jodi Wortsman

LIS 773
Action Plan
August 9, 2012

Westfield Middle School

Collection Development Action Plan
Religion and Mythology
School Background
Westfield Middle School serves sixth, seventh and eighth grade students in the western suburb
of Bloomingdale. It is the only middle school in School District 13, and has two elementary feeder
schools. Westfield serves approximately 435 students. The school is academically sound, with 96
percent of students meeting or exceeding ISAT standards.
The mission of Westfield Middle School to create a safe and productive learning environment
that offers a wide variety of classroom experiences, enrichment opportunities and extra-curricular
activities. Westfield Middle School will:

provide a challenging curriculum

establish high student expectations
encourage the qualities of honesty, respect and responsibility
empower students to become lifelong learners
promote a bond among staff, students, parents and community.
The Westfield IMC (Information Media Center) and fully supports this mission. The IMC is
staffed by a full time librarian and a part time library assistant. Parent volunteers also help the IMC run
smoothly.
In preparation for creating a collection development action plan for the library at Westfield
Middle School, I spoke with the librarian, Mariela Siegert, and asked her what area of her collection she
would like to enhance. She recently weeded the 900 section and I thought she might want to work on
building it back up with more up-to-date, relevant texts. Surprisingly, she said that she really needed to
look at the religion books, including mythology. She is planning to weed that section next, and could use
help determining which books to weed and which should be replaced. She asked that I focus on print
materials, since we have access to numerous on-line databases and encyclopedias.
One thing we discussed was how this material is used in the schools curriculum. The seventh
grade teams teach a unit on mythology every year, and will continue to do so. I had a conversation with
a seventh grade social studies teacher about the topic, and he said that this year they are going to
revamp the project and focus on either Roman or Greek mythology. It will likely be a more in-depth
project than in past years. This is important to keep in mind while reviewing the collection.
From my conversations and experience, there have not been units taught about religion
specifically, but many classes study different cultural groups. Religion is an important part of culture,
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Jodi Wortsman
LIS 773
Action Plan
August 9, 2012
and I think it is important to carry some religion books as reference for these units of study. Additionally,
these books fill a need for students seeking personal growth and enlightenment.
I approached this project in four steps. First, I reviewed the current collection to determine what
the library has and how the materials are being utilized. Second, I analyzed the collection using the
MUSTIE weeding tool to determine which items could be purged. Third, I looked for more up-to-date,
relevant materials using the Wilson Core Curriculum database and Folletts TitleWave software. Finally,
I made a recommendation on how many books to purchase for our collection and an estimated budget
requirement.
Step 1: Current collection
The first thing I did was to run a report from the Destiny catalog system that lists all the religion
books held in the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) 200s and the mythology books in the folklore
section (DDC 398). In total our library holds 56 nonfiction texts on religion and mythology. I also found
we have 9 graphic novels and 8 picture books on mythology. Based on school curriculum and physical
space in the library, we do not necessarily want to increase the size of this collection. Rather, we would
like to keep it the same or smaller, but with more valuable and relevant titles.
Following are some interesting facts about the collection:

Twenty-nine of the books in this section were published prior to 2000, the oldest dating
back to 1984.
Fifteen books have never been checked out.
All of the graphic novels and picture books have been checked out.
Step 2: Weeding
I evaluated the books in the collection using a visual inspection, and a review of circulation and
publications statistics. Using the MUSTIE weeding criteria, I recommend the library withdraw 33 books
from the collection (See Attachment A). Following is a summary of what I found.
M = Misleading, inaccurate

Given the nature religion and mythology, information does not change rapidly. Therefore,
these books are assumed to be accurate.
U = Ugly

Due to minimal circulation, none of the books are worn or beyond repair. Many, however,
are not attractive in terms of format and presentation. Middle school students expect a
dynamic presentation to catch their interest. Text- heavy books are not going to be utilized
by students. Even if the books have valuable information in them, if they are not picked up
and read, the information is reaching no one. Based on this criterion, I recommend the
withdrawal of nine books.
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Jodi Wortsman
LIS 773
Action Plan
August 9, 2012
S = Superseded

Many items were published in the 1980s, so I checked to see if a newer version is available. I
found that four items should be weeded and replaced with a new edition.
T = Trivial

No items were determined to be trivial or lacking in educational value.

I = Irrelevant to the needs of this library community

There are many books that are interesting, but are not relevant to our student population
and are not utilized as a part of the curriculum. These may belong in a public library where
they will reach a more general audience. Five books should be weeded based on this
criterion.
E = Elsewhere

Information in many books, such as mythology encyclopedias, is easily accessible on line or

through the World Book database, which the school owns. Also, the information in some
books is duplicated in other books owned by the Westfield IMC. I recommend that we weed
twelve books based on their availability elsewhere.
After analyzing the current collection, the next step would be to determine what should be
added to the collection.
Step 3: Collection Development
I looked at the Middle and Junior High Core Collection (H.W.Wilson) to get an idea of what titles
are recommended on this topic for these grade levels. To get an idea of what kind of materials are
included in this Core Collection, I went to the Wilson web site
(http://www.ebscohost.com/academic/middle-and-junior-high-core-collection). Note: EBSCO acquired
the H.W. Wilson Company in June of 2011.
According to the website, the Middle and Junior High Core Collection is selected by specialists in
library service to young people and contains over 9,000 entries for nonfiction works, fiction and
collections for children and adolescents, plus review sources and other professional aids for librarians
and school media specialists. Entries provide complete bibliographic data, price, subject headings, a
descriptive annotation and evaluative quotations from a review when available Among nonfiction
entries, special importance is given to works devoted to technology, personal values, and current social
and political issues, with special emphasis on ethnic diversity.
I searched for titles in this Core Collection, and then cross-referenced them in TitleWave, an
online collection development and purchasing system provided by Follett. I created an account with
TitleWave and was able to keep a centralized list of potential titles, along with summaries, reviews and
costs of each item
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Jodi Wortsman
LIS 773
Action Plan
August 9, 2012
Step 4: Recommendations and Budget
Based on my reviews and the items Ive recommend weeding, I propose the library purchase 20
new items for their religion and mythology collection. I have chosen 13 books as a starting point (see
Attachment B.) The total cost of these books is estimated to be $303.55. With a nonfiction books costing
an average of $26, I feel the library would likely spend an additional $182.00 for a total budget of $485.
This is a fairly low cost project that could enhance an important part of the librarys nonfiction
print collection.

Jodi Wortsman
LIS 773
Action Plan
August 9, 2012

References
Illinois Interactive Report Card. Northern Illinois University, 2012. Web. 08 August 2012.
http://iirc.niu.edu
Middle and Junior High Core Collection. EBSCO Publishing, 2012. Web. 06 August 2012.
http://www.ebscohost.com/academic/middle-and-junior-high-core-collection
TitleWave. Follett Library Resources, Inc., 2012. Web. 06 August 2012. http://www.titlewave.com
Westfield Middle School. Bloomingdale School District 13, 2012. Web. 07 August 2012.
http://www.sd13.org
Wyatt, Erin. Budget. Dominican University. River Forest, Illinois. 31 July 2012. Lecture.
Wyatt, Erin. Collection Development. Dominican University. River Forest, Illinois. 24 July 2012. Lecture.