Standards for Missouri School Library Media Centers.

This publication replaces "Media Standards for School Learning Resources Centers" (1980) with revised standards that were based on prevailing guidelines promoted in the literature, characteristics of educational and library media center environments prevalent in the state as reported by officials in the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and, to a limited extent, analysis of data collected in a statewide survey of school library media centers. This set of standards identifies selected characteristics of collections of minimal sizes that will become part of the requirements of the Missouri School Improvement Plan (MSIP) assessment. The document is also a vehicle to help school library media specialists and district and building level administrators plan for the improvement of access to information to enhance and enrich the learning environment; create an awareness and support the use of technology in school library media programs as an integrated part of the resources; make judgments about the effectiveness of media center collections; develop budgets; and communicate student and teacher information needs to board members, parents, and the community. This standards document addresses the quantity and quality of collections at the building level, includes a definition of terms, and discusses the quantitative and qualitative resources standards. Standards are specified for reference collections, nonfiction collections, fiction collections, periodical collections, visual and tactile resources, electronic resources, professional collections, school library media specialist, facilities, and financial planning and budget maintenance. Appendices include: evaluation guidelines and worksheets for library media specialists; core data worksheets and definitions, and sample core data report; and enrollment tables to determine the specific quantity of items needed for the student population served in each building. (Author/SWC)