Assessing the use of the print collections of three suburban high schools: Implications for collection development

Through three qualitative case studies framed in a phenomenonological approach, this study portrayed the use of the print collections of three high schools. The purpose of the study was to determine the exact use of print materials in student research papers and the reasons students were not fully utilizing media center print resources. Knowledge of student use of the collection is important because in order to provide access to quality information, media specialists must know what resources students are using and the barriers that are preventing optimal use. Teacher focus groups disclosed that despite the proliferation of online sources, teachers still valued print resources in the student research process. A teacher survey revealed that outdated books and books of insufficient numbers prevented optimal utilization of the school print collection by students. Works cited pages from student research projects combined with circulation data verified the use of each subject section of the print collection. Connections between the quality of the collection and the use of the collection combined with a comparison of money spent on the collection showed that without sufficient funds, school collections became outdated and underutilized by students. Media specialists may present data from this study to administrators as justification for increased spending to improve the quality of the collection because studies have linked high quality collections to increased student achievement scores. Increased student achievement leads to an improvement of student scholarship and promotes positive social change within individual students, which in turn improves the school as a whole.