Library Information

Policies: Collection Development

Purpose

To support the curricula of the lower, middle and upper schools and the immediate research needs of the faculty that involve library materials and services. In addition to the students and faculty of NCS lower, middle and upper schools, NCS Libraries also serve students and teachers from the St. Albans Lower and Upper School libraries.

Estimate of Holdings

The Upper School Library's collection consists of approximately 18,000 volumes and approximately 2,000 other items, including cataloged videos and cassette tapes. The Lower School Library's collection consists of approximately 10,000 volumes.

Units Responsible for Collections

Upper School Library staff and the Lower School Librarian

Location of Materials

The entire Upper School collection is housed in the Krainin Library. Within the library, separate rooms are provided for reference, fictional, periodicals, professional and nonprint materials. The Lower School collection is housed in one room, allowing professional and nonprint materials to be shelved separately from fiction and reference books.

Citations of Works Describing the Library
  • Lewis, Mary Kay. (Comp.) Polished Corners . Mt. St. Alban. Washington, D.C. 1972.
  • Kubeck, Eleanor A. (Comp.) A Guide to National Cathedral School Archives . National Cathedral School. Washington, D.C. December 1986 (Unpublished)
  • Cohen, Aaron. " A Report to the National Cathedral School." Aaron Cohen Associates. Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. March 29, 1985 (Unpublished)
Languages

The dominant language of the collection is English, but works are also collected in French, Latin, Greek Spanish and German.

Chronological Guidelines

No Restrictions

Geographical Guidelines

No Restrictions

Treatment of Subject

The primary focus is on current materials suitable for children and young adults in the following general subject areas:

  1. Generalities, including bibliographies of faculty members' subject areas, recent editions of encyclopedias and other general reference works, computer handbooks, censorship materials and school librarianship practical manuals
  2. Philosophy and related disciplines including paranormal phenomena and arts, metaphysics, adolescent psychology, ethics, ancient, medieval and modern Western philosophy, and Oriental philosophy
  3. Religion, including natural religion, the Bible, Christian theology, the history and geography of the church, Christian denominations and sects, comparative religions and religious aspects of euthanasia
  4. Social Sciences, on statistics, political science with an emphasis on the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, economic, law, social problems and services, education (especially pertaining to gender differences in learning), customs, etiquette and folklore
  5. Languages, including linguistics and dictionaries and grammars for English, Latin and Spanish
  6. Pure Sciences in all physical and life sciences
  7. Technology, including computer science, medical sciences, engineering, agriculture, home economics and family living, chemical and related technologies
  8. The Arts, including civic and landscape architecture, plastic arts, sculpture, drawing, decorative and minor arts, painting and paintings, graphic arts, prints, photography and photographs, music and recreational and performing arts
  9. Literature including children's fiction, English and Anglo-Saxon literatures and literature in French, Latin, Spanish and German languages
  10. General Geography and History. In addition to these ten general areas, both libraries collect materials pertaining to gender-based education and women's issues

    11. Types of Materials Collected

    Monographs, periodicals, videotape, slides, audio tapes, tape cassettes, compact discs, interactive video, multimedia, computer software, online databases and cable and satellite programs.

    Responsibility for Selection

    The ultimate responsibility for the selection of Upper and Lower School libraries print and nonprint sources rests with the respective heads of these libraries. Both librarians are designated to facilitate the acquisitions process and to act as liaisons between the library and the faculty and students.

    Both librarians encourage participation in the selection process by channeling appropriate reviews and other information to the faculty for recommendations. Faculty recommendations are actively solicited; student recommendations are encouraged.

    Since the library staff are responsible for the overall quality and balance of the total collection of resources, they select those resources not previously recommended by faculty or students. This procedure is followed to maintain a balanced collection and to provide recreational resources not covered by academic departments.


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