Discussing Curation with Gina Scott of Laing Middle School Media Center



  1. What are some examples of the ways in which you are implementing these competencies in your library program?

Ms. Scott personally practices curation with her collection. Her current goal is to create a balanced collection of a 50/50 nonfiction-to-fiction ratio. It is also a priority of Ms. Scott to maintain a diverse collection of stories for her readers, to go beyond mirroring the diversity within the community to provide her students with a broader perspective of the world than the one immediately within reach. To accomplish this, she regularly conducts reverse audits to measure the diversity within her collection. 

In their 7th-grade science class, the students are able to practice their curation skills. They use Discus through Mackin to find reliable, project-appropriate sources they exchange on a shared document with their classmates. 


  1. What are some of the resources in your library program that you are using to 

          implement these competencies?

Ms. Scott utilizes Titlewave's report features to analyze potential holes and needs in her collection. This also allows her to see which titles are checked out the most and which ones are checked out the least. Looking at that report gives her a lot of insight into what kinds of books her students enjoy the most. 

Ms. Scott also utilizes Mackin Via Groups, which functions like a pathfinder. She can curate and post resources that the 7th-grade social studies students then use for a research assignment. 


  1. Do any of the competencies that you are implementing include collaboration with classroom teachers?  If so, please provide examples.

Ms. Scott also maintains relationships with her teachers and regularly checks in with them to assess their book needs. Keeping abreast of current education trends is also of high importance to her. For example, knowing that the Science and ELA departments have new standards to implement changes the supplementary resources that they need from the library. 


  1. What are some of the challenges that you face when trying to implement these competencies?

One of the challenges Ms. Scott encounters is finding diverse books for middle-grade readers that are well-written and fit into the district's policies. She states that there are just not enough age-appropriate books with minority characters. She also feels frustrated with the district's selections for class reading sets. Most of the main characters are white and male, and she feels like there is nothing that she can do to get around those. They are especially harmful because sometimes that is the only book students read during that year. 


  1. Are there any other comments that you would like to make regarding the Shared Foundation / Competencies and Domains that we have discussed today?

Ms. Scott stresses that the flip side of curation is weeding. It is essential to know when to let things go. Balance is everything; weeding and replacing must be done regularly and in stages. For example, if $60,000 were to drop in her lap, which she estimates is the amount of money needed to bring her collection up to date with a balanced fiction-to-nonfiction ratio and a healthy diversity percentage, then in a few years, she would require another $60,000 to do the same again. Curation and weeding is not a black-and-white process, but we are masters-level professionals for a reason!

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