All schools regardless of enrollment or grades served should use these core collection standards for evaluating the library resource collection. The results of the evaluation should be used for long-range planning to establish goals for collection development.

•  Standard selection tools and the South Carolina Department of Education (SDE) collection development guidelines are used to facilitate decisions on acquisitions, weeding, and collection evaluation. (See appendix A for weeding guidelines.)

•  All items available in the library resource collection are catalogued and managed with an up-to-date circulation system. The online card catalogue (OPAC) is available on every school computer with local area network (LAN) connectivity. Web-based resources are available at school and beyond the school day providing 24/7 access.

• The resource collection is catalogued according to the Dewey Decimal System.

• The collection, regardless of student enrollment or grades served, should have a minimum number of books per pupil; however, no school should be required to have more than 25,000 volumes.

• The collection of resources is aligned with the school’s curriculum to support the instructional program of the school and district. These resources also meet the recreational reading needs of the school community. (See appendix B for Resource Alignment through Curriculum Mapping.)

•  No more than five copies of the same print title may be counted to meet standard for minimum number of books per student.

• Classroom sets may be cataloged into the library media center resource database for inventory and accountability purposes but may not be counted to meet standard for minimum number of books per student.

• Multi-volume sets (e.g., multi-volume encyclopedias) are counted as one title.

• The collection provides access to resources in a variety of formats as reflected in the following grade band charts.