Description
The collection is maintained by the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library (SSHEL).
The Instructional Materials Collection supports the subject discipline methods courses for teacher preparation as well as the instructional programs and research needs of the faculty and students in the College of Education and School of Information Sciences (iSchool). These materials include children’s and young adult literature, curriculum guides, textbooks, and kits, and comprise two separate collections, the Curriculum Collection and the School Collection. Both collections contain materials from 1800 to the present. The Curriculum Collection is composed of 57,000 volumes. The School (S-) Collection contains 187,000 volumes. Of notable importance is the School (S-) Collection’s extensive collection of historical children’s books as well as its comprehensive collection of juvenile biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln. Most current materials are located in the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library, however, the Historical S-Collection (1800-1945) and pop-up books are located in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library. All other material is located in the Oak Street Library.
Version Date: May, 2023
Statements
I. Collection Description
Purpose:
To support the methods courses for preschool, elementary, and secondary school teacher preparation as well as the instructional programs and research needs of the faculty and students in the College of Education and School of Information Sciences. These materials include children’s and young adult literature, curriculum guides, textbooks, and kits, and comprise two separate collections, the Curriculum Collection and the School (S-) Collection. The Instructional Materials fund is used for purchasing in both these areas.
History of Collection:
1.Curriculum Collection: In 1980, a collection of textbooks and other media used in the training of teachers by the College of Education was transferred from the College of Education to the University of Illinois Education and Social Science Library. The transfer of this material was prompted by the upcoming 1981 visit of an accreditation team from NCATE. As part of the accreditation process, it was necessary for the curriculum materials to be maintained by the university library system. At the time of transfer, there had been no systematic acquisition of materials since 1972. Free materials were acquired from publishers on a sporadic basis during the years from 1972 to 1980.
During the summer of 1980, materials were physically moved to the Education and Social Science Library. The initial transfer included approximately 7,000 volumes of material. The fall and winter of 1980-81 were spent in organizing these materials and ordering new materials for the collection. The College of Education supplied a permanent transfer of $3,500 for acquisition purposes. In February 1981, the NCATE accreditation team visited the collection in its library location and, other than citing a lack of space, found it satisfactory. 1981 and 1982 were spent weeding the collection and updating the materials. A massive campaign was undertaken to solicit free materials from textbook publishers and was quite successful. In 1983, cataloging of curriculum materials began. The intervening years had been spent in studying cataloging schemes in use elsewhere, eventually resulting in a locally devised classification scheme. By 1984, several hundred volumes of curriculum materials had been cataloged. Additionally, in 1987 the Library received a federal Title II-C grant for “Strengthening Elementary and Secondary Curriculum and Textbook Resources at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Education and Social Science Library to Improve National Access.” This project solicited and received thousands of textooks from other institutions that would have discarded them. Sizeable collections were received from Rutgers University and University of Nebraska, supplemented by purchases and smaller transfers from other institutions. By the year 2006, over 28,000 volumes of curriculum materials were processed and cataloged.
2. School (S-) Collection: The S-Collection (School Collection) was established in 1941. Its nucleus was from the Juvenile Collection, formed in the winter of 1905-06, to serve the needs of the Library School’s new courses in reading guidance for children and young adults. A course of lectures was offered for juniors and seniors in the colleges of Education and Liberal Arts. In 1941, the S-Collection Reading Room was opened to serve primarily the faculty and students of the Library School and the undergraduates in the colleges of Education and Liberal Arts registered for the teacher-librarian courses. From 1941 to 1944, the S-Collection Reading Room was under the administration of the Library School. In 1944, the University Library took over administrative activities, while retaining an advisory committee from the Library School.
The S-Collection numbered 3,000 volumes at the time of its founding. In 1945, a group of historical children’s books was purchased to strengthen the collection. These books, some dating from 1830, were housed in the Main Stacks. In 1948-49, the S-Collection was transferred to the Library Science Library. In 1964-65, due to space limitations in the Library Science Library, the S-Collection was transferred to the Social and Behavioral Sciences Library (which was later renamed the Education and Social Science Library). Selection responsibilities were retained by the Library Science faculty. In 1976, the Education and Social Science Library assumed complete responsibility for the collection, including selection, reference, and physical maintenance. In 1980, the S-Collection was consolidated to make room for the Curriculum Collection transferred from the College of Education.
When the University of Chicago closed its Graduate Library School in 1991, the Center for Children’s Books (which publishes the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, a publication which began providing high quality reviews of children’s books in 1947 and continues to this day) relocated to the School of Information Sciences (iSchool) at UIUC. The UIUC Library and the iSchool formed a partnership to add the formerly uncataloged books reviewed each year by the Bulletin to the Library’s catalog. In addition, the hundreds of books provided by publishers annually that are not reviewed by the Bulletin are acquired by the UIUC Library to create a record of children’s literature published in the U.S. each year. Initially, approximately 3,000 current children’s and young adult books were processed from the Center’s rejected titles each year; currently that figure is closer to 4,000. These books reflect the true content of children’s publishing since they include not just the high-quality books that are reviewed, but also the popular series books, graphic novels, manga, and other fads and fashions in children’s book publishing. Current books are processed as part of the regular workflow of the UIUC Library.
In 1993, the library was awarded the 58,000 volume collection of books from the Center for Research Libraries through a competitive process. Cramped for space, the S-Collection received a huge upgrade in 2012, moving to a room at least four times as large when the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library (SSHEL) opened its doors after a consolidation of three separate libraries. In 2022 SSHEL was downsized to make room for services formerly housed in the Undergraduate Library, reducing the S-Collection on-site by 28,000 books to its 2023 on-site collection of 30,000 books.
These collections complement each other in the resources provided to students in teacher training programs or library science courses.
Estimate of Holdings:
244,000 volumes, including:
- Curriculum Collection: 56,000 volumes of print materials, 1,000 kits or other non-print media
- School (S-) Collection: 187,000 volumes, including 15,000 titles from the historical collection.
State, Regional and National Importance:
- Curriculum Collection: Despite the recent origin of the collection, it has national significance because of its older materials. Unlike most other state curriculum collections, historical (pre-1970) materials are retained. Doctoral research has been undertaken using this older material and many queries have been made regarding the accessibility of this historical collection.
- School (S-) Collection: Of national importance is the S-Collection’s extensive collection of historical children’s books as well as its comprehensive collection of juvenile biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln. Due to the addition of the 58,000 children’s books from the Center for Research Libraries in 1993, this collection is now the second largest collection of children’s books in the United States, smaller only than the Library of Congress.
Unit Responsible for Collecting:
Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library (SSHEL)
Location of Materials:
- Curriculum Collection: Current materials (published during the past five years) are located in the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library. Retrospective materials of historical and/or research value (approximately 90% of the collection) are located in a storage area and are retrieved upon request.
- School (S-) Collection: Current monographs and periodicals are housed in the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library. World language and less frequently used materials are located in the Oak Street Library. The Historical Collection (1800-1945) is located in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Citations of Works Describing the Collection:
Curriculum Collection:
Directory of Historical Textbook and Curriculum Collections (Chicago: ACRL, 2005).
School (S-) Collection:
Weber, Amanda and Nancy P. O’Brien. “Children’s Books for Teaching, Research, and Fun: The School Collection at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.” Informed Librarian Online. March 1, 2019. https://www.informedlibrarian.com/featuredLibrary.cfm?FILE=flib1903.html
O’Brien, Nancy P. (1996) “Treasures and Tribulations: Merging Children’s Book Collections” Bookbird: World of Children’s Books. 33(3-4): 104-107.
Special Collections in Children’s Literature: An International Directory. 3rd ed.(Chicago, ALA, 1995).
O’Brien, Nancy P. (1994) “Children’s Books Collection: Progress and Priorities” Focus (Center for Research Libraries) 14(5-6): 1-2.
Zubatsky, David S. “School (S-) Collection: Materials for Children and Resources About Children’s Materials Within the University of Illinois Library System: A Case Study.” 1979. (Unpub.)
II. General Collection Guidelines
Languages:
- Curriculum Collection: English is the primary language of the collection. Because of a strong emphasis on bilingual/multicultural materials, Spanish, and some western European and Asian language materials are included. For the teaching of world languages, textbooks are collected for French, German, Latin, Russian and Spanish.
- School (S-) Collection: English is the dominant language of the collection. Materials in Western Europe languages are also collected in varying degrees of intensity. Materials in Slavic and Eastern European languages and materials in Asian and Middle Eastern Languages are collected selectively in cooperation with the International and Area Studies Library.
Chronological Guidelines:
No restrictions.
Geographical Guidelines:
- Curriculum Collection: No restriction. Primary focus is on the U.S.
- School (S-) Collection: No restrictions.
Treatment of Subject:
- Curriculum Collection: Primary curriculum materials and textbooks appropriate for elementary and secondary education encompass the following subject areas: reading, language arts, literature, world languages, social studies, history, psychology, anthropology, civics, economics, geography, general science, chemistry, physics, biology, ecology, general mathematics, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, computers, art, health, multicultural education and vocational education. In addition, some early childhood education, special education, and adult basic education materials are included. Music curriculum materials are selectively collected by the Music and Performing Arts Library.
- School (S-) Collection: Children’s and young adult literature, both fiction and non-fiction, are collected. Included are children’s classics, beginning-to-read books, picture books, works of folk literature and mythology, modern fantasy, poetry, contemporary realistic fiction, historical fiction, informational books and biography. Young adult materials are also available selectively in the University High School Library and Residence Hall Libraries. The S-Collection maintains a selected list of children’s authors and illustrators whose works are collected comprehensively. In addition, comprehensive holdings for juvenile biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln are maintained. The S-Collection also acquires books that appear on a selected group of award lists. A strong collection of alphabet books, Aesop’s fables, and wordless picture books is also maintained. The reference section of the S-Collection is regularly updated and includes bibliographies, indexes, and biographical and critical works about children’s authors and illustrators.
See https://www.library.illinois.edu/sshel/s-coll/findbks/s-collbibs/comprehensive/ for a list of comprehensively collected authors.
Types of Materials:
- Curriculum Collection: Textbooks; teaching guides; workbooks; curriculum guides; kits; microfiche; games; miscellaneous media; and classroom charts.
- School (S-) Collection: Children’s and young adult literature in fiction and non-fiction. Facsimile and microfiche collections of historical children’s books are included. Non-print media is not intentionally acquired and items which are part of a programmed reading curriculum are selected for and housed in the Curriculum Collection.
Date of Publication:
- Curriculum Collection: No restrictions.
- School (S-) Collection: No restrictions.
Place of Publication:
- Curriculum Collection: No restrictions. Most materials are published in the U.S.
- School (S) Collection: No restrictions. Most materials are from the United States and the United Kingdom.
III. Collection Responsibility by Subject Subdivisions with Qualifications, Levels of Collecting Intensity, and Assignments
Below is a table that lists specific subject subdivisions within the collection. Each row in the table lists a specific subject subdivision, followed by three columns noting: Collection Strength, Primary Assignments and Secondary Assignments. The Existing Collecting Strength column notes how well the existing collection covers that topic on a 1 to 5 scale with 5 being very strong. The Primary Assignments column lists departmental libraries that have the greatest collection intensity of subject materials, respectively. In the case of 2 or more libraries listed, the collection intensity is comparable. The Secondary Assignments column list departmental libraries where additional materials may be found.
| Instructional Materials Collection | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SUBJECT SUBDIVISIONS | EXISTING STRENGTH | PRIMARY ASSIGNMENTS | SECONDARY ASSIGNMENTS |
| CURRICULUM COLLECTION: | |||
| Reading (basic readers, remedial reading) | 4 | Instructional Materials | |
| Language arts (spelling, grammar composition, handwriting, speech communication) | 4 | Instructional Materials | |
| Literature, drama | 3 | Instructional Materials | |
| World languages | 2 | Instructional Materials | |
| Social sciences (social studies, history, anthropology, psychology, economics, geography) | 4 | Instructional Materials | |
| Science (general, chemistry, physics, biology, ecology) | 4 | Instructional Materials | |
| Mathematics (general, algebra, geometry, trigonometry) | 4 | Instructional Materials | |
| Multicultural education | 4 | Instructional Materials | |
| Health/physical fitness, primary classroom materials | 3 | Instructional Materials | |
| Art, primary classroom materials | 3 | Instructional Materials | Art |
| Music, primary classroom materials | 1 | Music | Instructional Materials |
| Vocational education | 2 | Instructional Materials | |
| Special education | 2 | Instructional Materials | |
| Adult basic education | 1 | Instructional Materials | |
| Early childhood education, primary classroom materials | 3 | Instructional Materials | |
| Curriculum guides | 4 | Instructional Materials | |
| SCHOOL (S) COLLECTION: | |||
| Alphabet books | 4 | Instructional Materials | |
| Aesop’s fables | 4 | Rare Book & Manuscript Library | Instructional materials |
| Award winning children’s books | 4 | Instructional Materials | |
| Children’s classics | 4 | Instructional Materials | |
| Children’s magazines | 2 | Instructional Materials | |
| Beginning-to-read books | 4 | Instructional Materials | |
| Reference materials | 4 | Instructional Materials / Library Science | |
| Picture books | 4 | Instructional Materials | |
| Folk literature and mythology, children’s and young adult | 4 | Instructional Materials | English/Anthropology |
| Fantasy | 3 | University High School / Instructional Materials | |
| Poetry, children’s and young adult | 4 | Instructional Materials | |
| Historical fiction | 4 | Instructional Materials | University High School |
| Biography | 4 | Instructional Materials | |
| Realistic fiction | 4 | Instructional Materials | University High School |
| Non-fiction for children | 4 | Instructional Materials | |
| Non-fiction for young adults | 3 | University High School / Instructional Materials | |
| History of children’s literature | 3 | English | Library Science / Instructional Materials |
Version Date: May 2023