Hi Michele,
My initial thought was to make sure you fit any NEASC requirements. I work at a middle school so maybe someone from the high school level could speak more to their requirements. If you go to page 20 on this document https://cihe.neasc.org/downloads/Standards/Standards_for_Accreditation.pdf , it mentions that students have to have access to available sources but doesn't mention a number of books per student.
This is an interesting resource from ALA:
http://wikis.ala.org/professionaltips/index.php?title=Collection_Development
Books Per Student
There are no longer ALA standards in this area; rather, benchmark your collection against current national school library surveys, such as:
Annual (previously biennial) survey which appears in the magazine, School Library Journal; the last installment of the survey with a number of books per student is in the April 2009 issue, titled "School Library Journal's Spending Survey," by Lesley Farmer and Marilyn Shontz. For books per student, view Table 4. The survey indicates an average 27 books per pupil for elementary schools, 19 books per pupil for middle/junior high schools, and 16 books per pupil for (senior) high schools.
The 2011 edition of the survey in the March 2011 issue, as SLJ's Spending Survey by Lesley Farmer, does not present a similar benchmark of a number of books per student. Instead, Table 2: Student Enrollment, Median Library Books, Acquisitions, and Budgets 2009-2010 reports the median for books added in that time period. The survey indicates a median of 400 books added for Elementary school, K-8; 414 books for Middle school; and 421 books for High school, K-12.
The 2012 edition of the survey in the March 2012 issue, titled, Brace Yourself: SLJ's school library spending survey shows the hard times aren't over, and better advocacy is needed, by Lesley Farmer, indicates not a median but a net number of books added to collections, in the chart The State of Book Collections, and stated: "Historically, the size of a school library’s book collection has correlated positively with grade level and student enrollment. Elementary school LMCs have roughly 12,000 books on their shelves, middle schools offer around 13,000 titles, and high schools weigh in with 13,636 titles. Public school libraries edged out private, with an average of 12,500 volumes to 11,000, respectively. On the whole, book collections grew slightly, with a net increase of 200 titles each."
The newest installment of the survey appears in the April 2014 issue, titled, Spending Smarter, Stretching Further: Savvy librarians are doing more with less, particularly when it comes to tech, according to SLJ’s 2014 Spending Survey, by Lauren Barack, dispenses with the question of number of books on the shelves entirely, and instead focuses on the current issue of budget shortfalls interfering with school libraries being able to purchase ebooks and other electronic resources, especially the new digital reference materials, for their students.
The School Libraries Count! 2012 Full Report, AASL's national longitudinal study on school libraries, has detailed findings on Collection Size on pages 8-9:
The average number of books in school library collections increased significantly from 2011 to 2012 (2011: 12,989; 2012: 13,517).
The Characteristics of Public Elementary and Secondary School Library Media Centers in the United States: Results From the 2011–12 Schools and Staffing Survey published August 2013 by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) includes Table 4. Average number of holdings, additions, and expenditures in library media centers during 2010–11 for various kinds of materials, by selected school characteristics: 2011–12, which indicated an average number of holdings of 12,930 for the Primary School Level; 12,410 for the Middle School Level; 13,350 for the High School Level, and 12,490 for Combined.
-----Original Message-----
From: CASL-L [mailto:casl-l-bounces@mylist.net] On Behalf Of Michele Eligio
Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2015 1:53 PM
To: CASL-L@mylist.net
Subject: [CASL-L] Holdings Question
Hi,
I want to dismantle reference and weed our collection which I know many of you have already done; however, we are a very small HS library. I am wondering if there is still a Connecticut requirement regarding the number of print books per student where I will get in hot water for reducing our overall holdings. Can anyone help?
Sincerely,
Michele Eligio
Library Media Specialist
North Branford High School
49 Caputo Road
North Branford, CT 06471
203-484-1465
“Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life. Libraries change lives for the better.”
Sidney Sheldon
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