Collecting for the Curriculum

Book excerpt: If you're a librarian charged with collecting curriculum materials and children's literature to support the Common Core State Standards, then this book—the only one that offers explicit advice on collection development in curriculum collections—is for you. While there are many publications on the Common Core for school librarians and K–12 educators, no such literature exists for curriculum librarians at the post-secondary level. This book fills that gap, standing alone as a guide to collection development for curriculum librarians independent of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The book provides instruction and guidance to curriculum librarians who acquire and manage collections so you can develop a collection based on best practices. The book begins with a primer on the CCSS and how curriculum librarians can support them. Discussion of the Standards is then woven through chapters, arranged by content area, that share research-based practices in curriculum development and instruction to guide you in curriculum selection. Material types covered include games, textbooks, children's literature, primary sources, counseling, and nonfiction. Additional chapters cover the management of curriculum collections, testing collections, and instruction and reference, as well as how to support and collect for special needs learners. Current practices in collection development for curriculum materials librarians are also reviewed. The book closes with a discussion of the future of curriculum materials.