What Do I Know About Collection Development?

As this topic officially starts today at CSU I thought it might be useful to reflect on what I know about Collection Development. I have only been in my job for 14 months, but I know the following: *resources 10 years and older, resources in poor condition and resources evaluated as no longer useful undergo 'deselection' -also known as weeding. (We usually offer them to charity.) I choose the resources for 'deselection' but don't do the process myself, this is done by a Library Officer. *through collaboration with Heads of Year and Heads of Curriculum I know what resources are needed by each year group. They sometimes make suggestion for the acquisition of resources for collection development, but it is more likely that when I evaluate a collection before it is about to be taught and determine a need, I investigate and acquire the resources. *some new topics - like Ancient China and India are a nightmare to resource because it is hard to find resources at the appropriate language level for those year groups. Very little is written for children on those topics. So I have to ask why were these topics decided upon wthout considering how difficult they would be to resource? It was before I arrived, but I think the people choosing the topics should have considered availability of resources before making their decision. *It's really hard to consider collection development. There are so many areas to evaluate and then develop. Reading this I realise a change plan is needed which systematically assesses and devlops the library collection and I don't have one! *technology and its apps/ebooks need to be considered for collection development. I have very little in the way of technology and everytime I ask for something I am told the budgets have been cut and there is no money available. This is a big problem for me and for the library. *I think I need to learn alot about collection development because at the moment - apart form the new topics- I have a pretty ad hoc system of collection development. That's what I enjoy about this course - what I am learning usually applies directly to my work!