Curriculum Materials Center
Livingston Lord Library
Minnesota State University Moorhead

3-Year Plan
March 22, 2002

Plan Introduction/CMC Mission:

The Curriculum Materials Center at MSUM supports the mission of the Library and the University, as well as the Conceptual Framework of the Education Unit. 

The Curriculum Materials Center (CMC) is essential to the instructional and research needs of students and faculty in programs preparing teachers for PreK-12 schools.  The CMC houses educational resources that provide curriculum and instructional experiences for PreK-12 students.  These materials are used by educators to develop curricula and lesson plans and may also be used in actual instructional situations.  The materials also provide information for those doing research.  The CMC users are teacher education students and faculty, as well as PreK-12 educators, other University students, and community members.  The Curriculum Librarian provides specialized services for the Center, including reference service, readers’ advisory services, and classroom instruction.  This instruction includes information about the CMC and its materials, as well as other education-related resources, such as journals and Internet sources.  The Curriculum Librarian also provides more specialized instruction on educational topics, such as censorship, reading aloud, book talking, and various aspects of children’s literature.

The “Guidelines for Curriculum Materials Centers” now in draft form from the Association of College and Research Libraries will be used to provide standards and guidelines for the Center.

Goals for CMC Instruction/Reference:

·        Place handouts used for Library instruction on the CMC web page.

·        Update the bibliographies, indexes, and other specialized information available from the “CMC Guides” section of the web page.

·        Create a new bibliography for the CMC web site on the resources in the CMC Reference collection.

·        Create a “PFY guide to research” for senior Elementary Education majors.

·        Update the CMC web pages, adding sites helpful for lesson planning and curricular development.

·        Once a semester, send out memos to teacher education faculty promoting educational materials in the CMC/Library and offering Library instruction opportunities.

·        Offer workshops as part of the series of workshops Brittney Goodman organizes each semester on CMC reference tools, educational databases, and/or web sites.

·        Provide a sample of CMC reference statistics to the Library faculty on an annual basis.

Goals for CMC and Related Collections:

·        In the memos mentioned above, encourage teacher education faculty to make recommendations for materials to be added to the CMC and Library general collection in their areas of expertise.

·        Select new materials for the CMC, paying particular attention to the following areas

o       Health-related materials

o       Materials reflecting ethnic and global diversity, including Spanish language and bilingual children’s books

·        Collect data on textbooks used in local school districts.  Update the CMC textbook collection based on this data.

·        Conduct a fill rate survey of CMC users to determine the degree to which users are able to get the materials they want during a visit. This measure gives an indication of how well the collection meets the needs of users.  Add new materials to the collection based on survey results.

·        Weed the CMC collections based on the CMC weeding plan.

·        Review the children’s magazines in consultation with the Teacher Education Faculty and make recommendations for cancellations, new titles, and titles and issues to be weeded.

·        Add “teaching activity materials” as a new collection for the CMC.  This would include professional teaching materials that provide ideas and activities for lesson planning and curricular development.

·        Explore with Jean Kramer the feasibility of adding catalog records for KCDL items to PALS.

Goals for CMC Equipment:

·        Provide appropriate equipment for all the types of non-print media available in the CMC collections.

·        Provide a list/description of equipment available in the CMC on the web page for easy access by librarians and users.

Goals for CMC Facilities

·        Create a “teacher education” lounge area in the current lounge area just outside of the CMC.  This would be used for lounge furniture, book exhibits, and displaying current issues of children’s magazines and a selection of teacher education journals.

·        Identify and space and shelving needed for the “teaching activity” book collection mentioned above.

·        Keep the Director informed about the persistent problems with leakage, water damage, and mold. 

Goals for CMC Outreach

·        Each year create a summer reading list of children’s and young adult books for teacher education majors.

·        Organize a “read aloud” service for a local elementary school.

·        Publicize and offer a service to regional K-12 schools to provide reviews of challenged books/materials.