The eBook Option: What to do When Advocating for Your School Library Doesn’t Work

Photo by UNESCO

     BCTF’s website states that “many of our public school libraries in British Columbia are closed or only open part of the day.” For schools that have lost their library, or have received severe cuts to it, what do you do?

     I would say, right now in my studies, that the first step for a school-librarian would be to advocate for their school library (and if a school loses their school-librarian, then any teachers, parents, admin, students, or community members could do this). Briefly, this entails: a) making a case as to why the school library needs funding (including making a maintenance and growth budget), b) proposing to shift school budget funds away from specified, less urgently in need, areas and into the school library, and c) seeking elsewhere for funding (fundraisers, grants, foundations, organizations).

     If that first step doesn’t work, or yields insufficient funds, some developing countries (and likely rural communities as well) have come up with, through necessity, another option: eBooks on mobile devices.

     Around 67% or the world’s population own a cell phone (Statistica). For libraries that are insufficiently stocked, no longer current, inappropriately stocked (from donated books that don’t necessarily match the students’ reading levels, interests, or curricular needs), or non-existent(!), allowing students to bring their own devices, or stocking a library with a class’s worth of mobile devices (affordable, donated, or used cellphones, tablets, or eReaders) is a way to keep students reading. There are plenty of great free online resources (such as Britannica Kids), public library eBook collections, cheap eBook subscription services (such as Kindle Unlimited and Audible), eBook collections for schools (such as from Rakuten Overdrive), cheap bundles (such as from Humble Bundle), and, of course, there are the more expensive option of buying specific eBooks, which are still a fraction of the physical book’s cost.

     Personally, I think that even if one’s school library isn’t suffering, that having a classroom-set worth of mobile devices is a good thing as the device can: a) read books to developing readers, b) be used to teach (computer programming, photography, educational games, science, etc.), c) be paired with VR goggles for interactive and immersive learning/experiences, and d) hold large collections of quick-to-access books at their fingertips, which is especially useful if it’s on their own mobile device.

     A teacher-librarian’s school library may not currently be in jeopardy but being prepared in advance for the possibility allows them to transition to a better alternative, as it’s better to have a digital library than none or an inadequate one. In any case, having the back-up resources actually improves learning opportunities, so, even if a teacher-librarian doesn’t need to setup a mobile-technology learning environment, it’s optimal to do so (and what I plan on doing when I’m a teacher-librarian).

References

“Ebooks, Audiobooks & More for Your School.” Rakuten Overdrive, https://company.overdrive.com/education/k-12-schools/

Humble Bundle, https://humblebundle.com

“Inspire. Inform. Educate.” Britannica Kids, https://kids.britannica.com

“Kindleunlimited: Unlimited Reading. Unlimited Listening. Any Device.” Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/hz/signup?_encoding=UTF8&ref_=sv_kstore_2

“Number of mobile phone users worldwide from 2015 to 2020 (in billions).” Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/274774/forecast-of-mobile-phone-users-worldwide/

“School Libraries.” BCTF, https://bctf.ca/IssuesInEducation.aspx?id=13266

UNESCO. “Reading in the Mobile Era.” YouTube, YouTube, 22 Apr. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gOtpCIl-Ng.

West, Mark, et al. Reading in the Mobile Era: a Study of Mobile Reading in Developing Countries. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Education Sector, 2014.

“Your first free audiobook is waiting.” Audible, www.audible.ca

The Levels of Teacher and Teacher-Librarian Collaboration

The Levels of Teacher and Teacher-Librarian Collaboration: A graphic I adapted from Montiel-Overall’s findings.

          The ultimate role of a teacher-librarian (TL) is to help students learn and enjoy learning. They are the guardians, facilitators, and instructors of knowledge. They help students. Yet, to be most effective in helping students, they can partner with teachers to share their knowledge of resources, technology, research skills, and teaching skills, either in the library or in the classroom. They can also work with admin and teachers to develop across-curriculum planned instruction. Using Latham and Gross’s overview of Montiel-Overall’s findings, as well as her own, I have broken down four levels of teacher and teacher-librarian (TL) collaboration:

1.     Co-ordinator: The first, and most basic, form of collaboration between a TL and a teacher is the TL co-ordinating resources, activities, and events for a class. This can include hosting book fairs, doing STEM activities, sharing and displaying student work, showing where resources are and how to use them, and having time allocated for student drop-in use. The TL doesn’t necessarily even have to communicate with the teacher to provide this level of class help, which is why I encourage teacher-librarians to extend collaboration with teachers to the next levels.

2.    Resource locator: This next step actually requires at least some basic communication with teachers, either by the teacher approaching the TL to find resources (physical or digital) to either help them prepare a unit or to prepare a presentation of resources for students to use in a research project, or by the TL’s conversations with the teacher to discover whether they could help them in any way by providing resources. It is crucially important for TL’s not to assume a teacher will approach them for help, as not all teachers consider this option; TL’s will likely need to take the initiative by offering this support and may need to build trust with the teacher first; level 1 support will help build this trust.

3.    Co-instructor: This level requires even more communication with teachers, to the extent of working with them to co-develop a lesson, unit, or assignment. In this scenario, a TL’s technological and research skills are specifically utilized for goals planned, presented, and possibly even assessed by both the teacher and TL.

4.    Across-Curriculum Co-Instructor: This, the most advanced, level requires support and co-ordination with the admin (for allocated planning time and involvement) and participation with every teacher in the school. At this level, the degrees and levels of technological and research skills, planned co-instruction, and level 1 and 2 support are worked out across every grade taught at the school, and, naturally, the teachers and admin should extend this opportunity to clarify what curricular content is taught at each level for split-grade classes. TL’s may need to take the initiative in planning this with their admin. This level also requires an ethos of school-wide teacher/admin collaboration, trust, and commitment, which, unfortunately, doesn’t necessarily exist in every school. At the very least, the TL can do what they can to slowly change this ethos through effective collaboration at levels 1 through 3 until the spirit of school collaboration catches on to allow this level to move forward (by leading by example).

References

Latham, Don, and Melissa Gross. “Collaborating for Success: Teachers and Librarians as Partners in Learning.” Voices From the Middle, vol. 24, no. 4, 2017, p. 64-66.

Montiel-Overall, Patricia. “Teacher and Teacher-Librarian Collaboration: Moving toward Integration.” Teacher Librarian, vol. 34, no. 2, 2006, p. 28-31.

Teaching Students How to Use Reference and Learning Resources

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-high-school-library-reading-room-26825966.html

     While reading Evaluating, Selecting and Managing Learning Resources: A Guide (2002), I noticed a glaring omission on how to promote a school’s learning resources. The document failed to list that students should be shown how to use these resources (p97; the document was updated in 2008). Perhaps it was too obvious to list; in any case, as Riedling remarks in her book, Reference Skills for the Skilled Librarian, “the average student may have no pre-knowledge of the type of resource(s) that will answer his or her question” (p101). This got me thinking that, as part of the teacher-librarian’s instruction to students on what the school library has to offer, it should include a fun interactive activity that gets students to use the library’s resources, perhaps as a sort of “treasure hunt” where groups of 2 need to find specific information out of each type of resource, thereby showing them what information each resource holds and familiarizing them with how to use it. Another great way to promote the use of learning resources is through a careful selection on each resource's usefulness, with such criteria being whether it entails and/or promotes: curriculum goals and pedagogy, critical and creative thinking, active learning, communication skills, accurate information, age-level appropriateness, and relevance (ERAC, 2008, p21-22). The teacher-librarian also needs to be able to provide help to the student looking for a learning resource, and the specific information within; this includes interviewing them while keeping in mind they may not know where to look, what they’re really looking for, what terminology would best help them find what they’re looking for, that they may be afraid of the teacher-librarian (or adults/authority figures in general) and may have less refined communication and verbal and nonverbal interpretation skills (Riedling, p101).

     As for deciding whether reference resources should be integrated with the general collection of non-fiction books or separated, I think it depends on the size of the library, its layout, who needs access to the reference resources (such as if other teachers need to quickly grab them), how they’re presented, and how much use they get out of their current placement (if little, then a change may be warranted). If they’re judged as most useful if integrated, I personally would clearly highlight the resource, such as with a shelf label and individually book-ending it so the resource “pops” and can therefore be quickly found by students and staff. If deigned most useful in its own separate section, Riedling suggests that the reference section have “easy access to technology, inviting spaces for social interaction, and spaces for individual inquiry” (p119). As for whether reference books should be able to be checked out, I propose that teachers should be able to check them out for a day (or a week for smaller schools). I make such a suggestion because reference books are usually expensive, can come in sets, and that when students visit a school’s library, they may need more time with the reference resource, so it's being exclusive to the library would be inconvenient. And, the reference resources that aren’t as expensive or in demand should be considered for student borrowing.

     Students should also be clearly informed, and have access to, all the online learning resources the school library has to offer. This should be pointed out by the teacher-librarian, including activities to their use, but also in pamphlets they give to students, parents, and teachers listing and describing online links, both paid for by the school and good free links. For instance, Britannica Kids as a terrific online encyclopedia for middle-school and high school students.

     The use of learning resources should also extend beyond the use for assignments. They can be used to introduce topics about one’s and others’ culture.

Resource collections should include materials that:

ο increase awareness of ethnic and cultural diversity
ο create sensitivity to and respect for differences and similarities within and among groups
ο affirm and enhance self-esteem through pride in heritage
ο promote cross-cultural understanding, citizenship, and racial harmony ο reflect and validate students’ cultural experiences (ERAC, 2008, p13)

     A teacher librarian could also read facts from a reference resource and then read a story based on those facts, thereby making the connection that stories can be written through research, promoting another reason to do research.

References

Britannica Kids, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., kids.britannica.com/.

Evaluating, Selecting and Managing Learning Resources: A Guide. ERAC, 2002.

Evaluating, Selecting and Managing Learning Resources: A Guide. ERAC, 2008.

Riedling, Ann Marlow, et al. Reference Skills for the School Librarian Tools and Tips. Linworth, 2013.

Staying on top of new teacher-librarian learning materials, apps, and technologies

          Some of the goals of teachers and teacher-librarians are to prepare students for life after school. Because of this, teacher-librarians always need to keep up with the ever-evolving present. They can’t stick with only the skills and knowledge they learnt from their schooling. Because of this, teacher-librarian online communities are helpful to keep up with what new skills should be enforced, what new helpful learning apps are now available, and what new technologies are “taking off”. One of the great advantages of going to school is developing connections with others in the same profession, and, with the internet, even more connections with fellow professionals and resources is possible. I’ve only just started my search for such online community connections. The sites I came across that look promising include:

http://www.canadianschoollibraries.ca/school-library-associations/

Canadian School Libraries: This site connects teacher-librarians with provincial teacher-librarian associations, which can be perused to find local professional development opportunities, financial aid, news, awards, grants, and more…
Link: http://www.canadianschoollibraries.ca/school-library-associations/

https://teacherlibrarian.org/

The Global Teacher Librarian Network: Get connected and/or contribute to: members’ blogs, forum conversations, events, chats, twitter feeds, videos, webinars, groups, and tech news with this site.
Link: https://teacherlibrarian.org/

https://plus.google.com/communities/100269117411541642215

School Librarians Network: It doesn’t look like one could really search for anything specific, but to get a random fix of teacher-librarian posted content to peruse, this link is an option.
Link: https://plus.google.com/communities/100269117411541642215

http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards/best/apps

American Association of School Librarians: Stay up-to-date on the “best” teacher-librarian apps with AASL’s yearly “best of” list, past best app lists, nominate an app, or check out their “best websites” with this site. It also has links to eLearning.
Link: http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards/best/apps

https://www.slj.com/?subpage=technology,Ed%20Tech

School Library Journal: Keep up with technology being used/provided at other, with-it, school libraries (and opportunities for free stuff!) with the School Library Journal website. The site also has links to news, reviews, blogs, and more.
Link: https://www.slj.com/?subpage=technology,Ed%20Tech

Conclusion

     Just by browsing Google one day, I was able to find all sorts of interesting links to keep up with teacher-librarian resources, thoughts, apps, technology, professional development (events and e-learning), grants, awards, blogs, and more. To the teacher-librarians reading this post, which sites do you use to keep up with learning materials, communities, apps and technologies?

References

"Best Apps for Teaching & Learning." American Association of School Librarians, http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards/best/apps.

School Librarians Network, https://plus.google.com/communities/100269117411541642215.

“School Library Associations – Canadian School Libraries.” Canadian School Libraries, www.canadianschoollibraries.ca/school-library-associations/.

"Technology." School Library Journal, https://www.slj.com/?subpage=technology,Ed%20Tech.

The Global Teacher Librarian Network, https://teacherlibrarian.org/.

Motivating Students to Enjoy Reading, and Hopefully Keep it Up!

Introduction

     As hinted in the video above, it’s very easy for schools to accidentally suck the joy out of reading books by making it an assigned task for marks or to accidentally program into the reader that reading books is only a school activity: a task for marks. So, my question of the day is: “How can teacher-librarians motivate/encourage students to want to read books for fun?”

     To answer this question, I searched for articles with the keywords: foster, encourage, motivate + reading + school + librarian. I also reflected on my own life experiences, asking myself how it is that I still read for fun and have somehow not been programmed to stop whenever I’m not a student. To compete with television programming and video games, which engage multiple senses (visual, auditory, and sensory for video games), I searched for articles that factored in the multiple ways books could also engage a student, landing on articles that used conversation, writing, and performing as strategies to engage and motivate students to read books.

Encouraging Reading and Writing Through Readers’ Theatre

     In High School, part of my engagement with reading was through theatre. On paper, William Shakespeare’s writing could seem bizarre, obtuse, and too lengthy, but that’s largely because it works best when performed. As a young preteen, I would see “Shakespeare in the Park” in Vancouver. I found that I didn’t have much trouble following it because I could read the actors' body language and verbal expressions. In High School, I even stayed out in the freezing cold, bundled in two pairs of pants, three sweaters, and a sleeping bag to watch 4-hour Shakespeare plays with my drama class, on more than one occasion (in Ashland, Oregon), and loved it every time. I was also engaged to read stories because some teachers encouraged me to write stories. I was fortunate enough to have had my creativity fostered and linked with stories.

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/genia-connell/readers-theater-fluency-comprehension-and-engagement/

     Kathy Latrobe writes about an activity, called “readers theatre”, that engages students’ creativity and story interaction through adapting a scene from a book into a script. The adapted scene should have: a) dramatic appeal, b) a limited amount of characters, all captivating, c) rich, figurative language, d) a beginning, middle, and an ending, e) not spoil the book for other readers (so, no plot twist reveals), and f) it should “be representative to the tone of the entire work.” Kathy then details the acting qualities to teach students, such as communicating emotion, understanding the context, acting when not speaking (listening), using small gestures and facial expressions, and to not practice too much so as to keep the performance fresh. This activity also has the benefit of connecting to some of BC’s curriculum, such as communication (to the audience and through group work), creative thinking, critical thinking (selecting the scene and adapting it to work better as a script), and helps with students’ reading comprehension, and helps with their writing skills. Kathy also adds:

     And teachers and teacher-librarians may use readers theatre to introduce a set of works by a single author or with a single theme or in a single genre. Reader theatre can be the basis for interdisciplinary partnerships (eg. linking historical fiction with social studies or science fiction with science).

Briefly, other techniques

     Readers' theatre is just one way to engage and motivate readers. Other articles I found suggested strategies such as story debates (Mirra), and book discussions through book clubs, discussion groups, or amongst the whole class (Pittman). One article suggested that if students believe they are good readers, that literature is present through all curricular areas, and that if students see a purpose for reading, then their engagement and motivation for reading increases (Berry). Another article suggested that if libraries kept their stock diverse and current, motivation to read increases; this article also says that their selection of 40 diverse books are free to schools (Gerald).

Conclusion

     To help encourage and motivate students to read, teacher-librarians could have scripts available, adapted from scenes from books, for students to perform, or they could collaborate with a classroom teacher, introducing the writing and performing techniques portion of the readers' theatre activity, while the classroom teacher provided in-class time for students to write and rehearse. Teacher-librarians could also encourage and/or supervise debate or book clubs, keep their books current and diverse, and keep an encouraging disposition when talking to students.

References

Berry, Laurie Eva. “Engaged Reading in Third Grade: A Magical Kingdom.” ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2000. 

Gerald, Diana. “It's Not a Book, It's a Doorway: A Look at New Research into the Impact of the BookTrust School Library Pack and Its Role in Encouraging Reading for Pleasure.” The School Librarian, vol. 64, no. 1, 2016, p. 14-16.

Kimmel, Jimmy. “Can You Name a Book? ANY Book???” YouTube, YouTube, 17 May 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJdNrCeUdhc.

Latrobe, K. “Encouraging Reading and Writing through Readers Theatre.” Emergency Librarian, vol. 23, no. 3, 1996, p. 17–20.

Mirra, Nicole, et al. “Reading and Writing with a Public Purpose: Fostering Middle School Students' Academic and Critical Community Literacies through Debate.” Journal of Language and Literacy Education, vol. 12, no. 1, 2016, p. 1-22.

Pittman, Pamela, and Barbara Honchell. “Literature Discussion: Encouraging Reading Interest and Comprehension in Struggling Middle School Readers.” Journal of Language and Literacy Education, vol. 10, no. 2, 2014, p. 118-133.

Evaluation of a Reference Work (Encyclopedias)

https://kids.britannica.com/

Introduction

     The ideal scenario for this assignment would be to evaluate a reference resource at a teacher or teacher-librarian’s school library; however, as I am not currently employed at a school, I am evaluating a reference resource from a library in my region. Another ideal scenario would be to find a reference resource that should be replaced, evaluate it, and then offer a replacement suggestion, evaluating it as well. The reference resources at my local library were good and current, so I found a library (which shall not be named) that was lacking in physical reference resources. I will be evaluating the library’s online encyclopedias, which are shared amongst 29 libraries in the region, and recommending that the library also add a physical encyclopedic set.

     “Encyclopedias still remain among the most frequently used reference materials in school library media centers (print and electronic)” (Riedling, 71). Through the reviewed library’s online resources, three links are provided for encyclopedias: Encyclopedia Britannica for kids (up to grade 5), for young adults (grades 6-8), and academics (grades 9+). If one uses the “kids” or “young adults” links (which connect to different sub-links of “Britannica Kids”), for whatever subject they research, after selecting the subject, in the top right-hand corner, they can change the “version” which increases the amount of details and reading level. I quite liked this feature – both adjusting the amount of detail and the reading level is helpful for students and teachers who want to customize the depth of a subject and its reading level. A down-side is that the “kids” version’s reading level does not match the intended age range, being more appropriate for grades 7 and 8, as calculated by using multiple random samples through the website, “Readability Formulas”. Using the same website, I discovered that the other two reading level options (young adult and academic) do match their intended audience’s reading levels. Because of the wide variety of content found in encyclopedias, they end up covering a significant amount of BC's curricular content.

     There are at least five advantages of this online encyclopedia over printed encyclopedic sets. For one, it doesn’t require any shelf space and people can use it on any electronic device with internet access. Two, there a videos and pictures linked to researched subjects and there is an option on the sites to have the text read out-loud. Three, taking research notes is quicker by using copy/paste rather than writing/typing by hand. Four, most older students/adults often prefer to research online versus printed formats. And five, for those who know how to spell, finding a subject is faster by typing in keywords than by alphabetically searching for the subject and sometimes being redirected to another keyword to search in order to find the information sought.

     The included rubrics are based on criteria from Riedling’s book, “Reference Skills for the School Librarian”, pages 22-24 and 72-74, and on criteria I believe should be included. The one directly below breaks down my evaluation of the online Encyclopedia Britannica resources provided on the reviewed library’s website.

	Questionable utility	Has Some Utility	Very useful
Currency/ Accuracy/ Bias	-Is from a non-reputable or unknown publisher. -Hasn’t been updated in 11+ years. -Content is clearly biased, possibly propaganda, or influenced by advertisement.	-Is from a semi-reputable publisher. -Has been updated within 6-10 years. -Some content has a questionable bias and/or stereotypes.	-Is from a reputable publisher. -Has been updated within 5 years. -Is carefully worded to avoid bias; is objective and factual.
Scope	-Is thoroughly inappropriate for the target age range. -The subject coverage is grossly unbalanced. -Contemporary issues are either not present, significantly down-played, ignored, or not politically correct.	-It is variably appropriate for the target age range. -The subject coverage is a bit unbalanced. -Contemporary issues are present but are inadequately represented and/or not using current politically correct terms.	-It is appropriate for the target age range and/or a wide age range. -The subject coverage is well-balanced. -Contemporary issues are present, adequately represented, and politically correct.
User-friendliness (format)	-Illustrations aren’t current, functional, clear, easy to follow, appropriate for the target audience, and are poorly laid out. -The printed word layout is not pleasingly laid out. -Layout and/or grammar errors are noticeable and distracting.	-Illustrations are somewhat current, functional, clear, easy to follow, appropriate for the target audience, and laid a bit awkwardly. -The printed word layout is awkwardly laid out. -Layout and/or grammar errors are mildly present but not distracting.	-Illustrations are current, functional, clear, easy to follow, appropriate for the target audience, and laid out nicely. -The printed word layout is pleasingly laid out. -Layout and/or grammar errors are at least minimal.
Curricular Connections	-Doesn’t clearly connect to BC curricular content or does so in a limited or tangential manner.	-Connects to much of the BC curricular content but is too brief and too vague to have a decent understanding.	-Connects well to, at least, nearly all of the BC curricular content and is detailed enough to understand.
Efficient Use of Space	-Is needlessly bulky and hard to place on shelves. -The pages/links are inefficiently formatted, with a print size that is too big.	-Is bulkier than it needs to be but can fit on shelves, tightly. -The pages’/links’ formatting is fairly efficient but could be improved.	-Is no bulkier than most books of its format and fits well on shelves (or is an online resource that takes no space). -The pages/links are efficiently formatted.

A Recommended Supplement

https://www.amazon.com/World-Book-Encyclopedia-2018-Set/dp/0716601184

     Younger students use printed reference materials more, while older students use online reference resources more (Riedling, 24), so having both formats of encyclopedias available has more use than recommending to replace one for another. So, I suggest that the library under review add a physical encyclopedic set. This library has the 11^th most number of books when compared to the 29 other locations; 12 of which have physical encyclopedic sets. Some of the libraries in the region are only open for 1 or 2 days, but this location is open 5 days a week, from 10-5, except Saturdays are 10-8. Given that the library’s size is comparable to the libraries that have physical encyclopedias, that the library has accessible hours of operation, and that having printed encyclopedic sets makes research more accessible to younger readers, adding an encyclopedic set to the library’s collection becomes a reasonable recommendation. The best encyclopedic set I could find, based on criteria to determine its relevancy and purpose for being included, such as its currency, accuracy, bias, scope, user-friendliness, indexing, curricular connections, and efficient use of library space, is “The World Book Encyclopedia 2018.” To come to this recommendation, I used the set from my local public library as a reference, comments from Riedling’s book, and online research which led me to find out that its biggest competitor, Encyclopedia Britannica, stopped publishing physical encyclopedias in 2010.

https://www.amazon.com/World-Book-Encyclopedia-2018-Set/dp/0716601184

     To check how current this resource was, I looked at every adapting technology as a guide, in this case video game consoles and virtual reality technology, and a current event. The set had a reference to the Oculus Rift, which was released in March 28, 2016, and had references to all the current video game consoles except Nintendo’s Switch, which came out in March 3, 2017. The set, under the Donald Trump heading, listed him as taking presidential office on January 20, 2017. So, at the very least, the set is current up to January 20, 2017, but possibly not as far as March 3, 2017. “Since 1917, World Book Encyclopedia (World Book) had provided accuracy, objectivity, and reliability” (Riedling, 74). But, as a quick check as to accuracy, I compared the information from NASA’s website on Saturn with the set. The information matched. As a quick check as to bias, I verified the wording, in the set, from their biography of Donald Trump to make sure the wording didn’t suggest an opinion, but rather stuck to well-documented facts. It did. To verify scope, I perused the set’s entries on “global warming” and “Donald Trump”. The entries were detailed and handled the controversial issues present in those subjects by sticking to widely acknowledged science and reporting. The readability was on par with the "Kids" and "Young Adults" readability of the online Britannica encyclopedias. 

	Questionable utility	Has Some Utility	Very useful
Currency/ Accuracy/ Bias	-Is from a non-reputable or unknown publisher. -Hasn’t been updated in 11+ years. -Content is clearly biased, possibly propaganda, or influenced by advertisement.	-Is from a semi-reputable publisher. -Has been updated within 6-10 years. -Some content has a questionable bias and/or stereotypes.	-Is from a reputable publisher. -Has been updated within 5 years. -Is carefully worded to avoid bias; is objective and factual.
Scope	-Is inappropriate for the target age range. -The subject coverage is grossly unbalanced. -Contemporary issues are either not present, significantly down-played, ignored, or not politically correct.	-It is appropriate for the target age range. -The subject coverage is a bit unbalanced. -Contemporary issues are present but are inadequately represented and/or not using current politically correct terms.	-It is appropriate for a wide age range. -The subject coverage is well-balanced. -Contemporary issues are present, adequately represented, and politically correct.
User-friendliness (format)	-Illustrations aren’t current, functional, clear, easy to follow, appropriate for the target audience, and are poorly laid out. -The printed word layout is not pleasingly laid out. -Layout and/or grammar errors are noticeable and distracting.	-Illustrations are somewhat current, functional, clear, easy to follow, appropriate for the target audience, and laid a bit awkwardly. -The printed word layout is awkwardly laid out. -Layout and/or grammar errors are mildly present but not distracting.	-Illustrations are current, functional, clear, easy to follow, appropriate for the target audience, and laid out nicely. -The printed word layout is pleasingly laid out. -Layout and/or grammar errors are at least minimal.
Indexing	-Doesn’t have an index.	-Has an incomplete index.	-Has a detailed index.
Curricular Connections	-Doesn’t clearly connect to BC curricular content or does so in a limited or tangential manner.	-Connects to much of the BC curricular content but is too brief and too vague to have a decent understanding.	-Connects well to, at least, nearly all of the BC curricular content and is detailed enough to understand.
Efficient Use of Space	-Is needlessly bulky and hard to place on shelves. -The pages are inefficiently formatted, with a print size that is too big.	-Is bulkier than it needs to be but can fit on shelves, tightly. -The pages’ formatting is fairly efficient but could be improved.	-Is no bulkier than most books of its format and fits well on shelves. -The pages are efficiently formatted.

References

Britannica Kids, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., kids.britannica.com/.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/.

Readability Formulas, http://www.readabilityformulas.com/free-readability-formula-tests.php

Riedling, Ann Marlow, et al. Reference Skills for the School Librarian Tools and Tips. Linworth, 2013.

“Saturn.” NASA, NASA, 28 Jan. 2019, solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/saturn/overview/.

“The World Book Encyclopedia 2018.” The World Book Encyclopedia 2018, 22 Volume Set, World Book, Inc., a Scott Fetzer Company, 2018.