How are we managing to stay afloat?: A.I.L. Standards

I must say I was pretty disheartened when I read the Canadian Association of School Libraries' Achieving Information Literacy standards. From reading the postings of my fellow classmates I gather I am not alone in my dismay. While I am a TOC and not affiliated with any one library, I draw my comparison from the two schools I have spent a great deal of time at, in particular the libraries.

 While the library's collection size is acceptable, with an average of 30 items per student, the ratio of fiction to non-fiction including reference does not align with the A.I.L. recommendations. They state "for both primary and high school grades, the ratio of fiction to nonfiction including reference should range from 15-30% fiction and 70-85% nonfiction/reference" (p. 28). I would say the ratio of these particular libraries is 50-50. Some of the rationales I came to for this difference are: these are elementary schools, so the picture book section alone is a large contributor to the fiction percentage; the schools have turned to electronic reference sources, so the demand for print nonfiction by students and teachers is less; and more likely, the budget is only $13.50 per student/per year. When taking into consideration that the average price of a hardcover nonfiction book is around $30.00, soft cover fiction books are considerably cheaper. More bang for the buck?

 On the topic of budget, it did surprise me to see the acceptable funding standard for school libraries is $26.00-$35.00 per student/per year and below standard is anything below $25.00. Well that being said, $13.50 per student/per year seems disgraceful and almost unmanageable. I was than surprised again when Joanne mentioned she "got $1000 for 130 kids this year - that's less than $10 per kid" (June 11, 2011). How does a library and its collection flourish with such a low level of funds? 


When it comes to weeding resources, the TL uses the California Department of Education's Weeding the School Library pamphlet for her guidelines.

Dewey Classifications
000      2-10 years         500      5-10 years
100      10 years            600      5-10 years
200      2-10 years         700      5-15 years
300      5-10 years         800      flexible
400      10 years            900      15 years

Biographies                  flexible
Fiction                          10 years
Encyclopedia                5-7 years
Reference:                    evaluate on individual basis
Periodicals                    5 years
Almanacs/Yearbooks    3 years in reference, 3 additional years in circulation

While the A.I.L. explicitly states encyclopedias should be no older than 5 years. This has of course become a lot easier to maintain with the online versions being continuously updated. But what about the printed versions? My TL stated she would never consider spending "half her budget" on a set of printed encyclopedias.With a budget such as hers, I really don't blame her.

 I think Hilary made an interesting point when she said "I also think that many of the standards in AIL are rather high. I’m wondering if it needs to be updated to reflect some of the changes that have occurred in libraries since its last printing in 2006" (June 4, 2011). With district budgets being cut, teacher-librarians' FTE being lessened as well, and print resources being replaced with electronic resources are these numbers actually realistic and obtainable anymore?


Works Cited:

California Department of Education. "Weeding the School Library." California Department of 
                          Education Library. 27 Apr. 2009. Web. 11 June 2011. <http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr
                          /lb/documents/schoollibweedng.pdf>.

Canadian Association for School Libraries. Achieving Information Literacy Standards for School 
                          Library Programs in Canada. Ottawa: Canadian Association for School Libraries,
                          2003.