At Scotch we continue each and every year to purchase high quality fiction books based on several different methodologies.

It is a critical role of the Teacher Librarians and Senior Librarian to be continually looking at new releases during each year and it is essential to the budgeting process that a specific amount is set aside for these resources. This ensures that those students waiting for the next book in a series or the next set of graphic novels are confident that you will have them as soon as they are released. At Scotch, we will often purchase these titles from local suppliers to ensure that we have them on the day of release.

1. Fiction for us at Scotch is very boy-centric and as a result, our collection is significantly skewed towards the genres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopian, Adventure, and Mystery & Suspense. Each year we evaluate the number of books we have in each genre to ensure that the personal reading preferences of the Teacher Librarians are not overly influencing or limiting diversity in the collection. This means that our current buying focus highlights Adventure and Mystery & Suspense as we have a need to expand this area of the collection.
2. The definition of 'senior fiction' is a very interesting conversation for many schools. As a library we find more and more books potentially falling into this category, yet the academic rigor of Senior School means less students tend to read fiction titles. It is only through viewing borrowing statistics that one can really see this trend. For senior fiction, this has meant that less is being purchased but any book directly requested by a student will be bought for them.
3. If a fiction book is requested by a student, it is purchased. That is sufficient justification for us to purchase it. The reality is that if a book leaves the shelf once and the potential for that student to continue reading is even 40%, it is worth the cost of the book as an investment.
4. Occasionally we may ask a local bookseller to bring and present a range of new fiction titles that students are able to select from and reserve for borrowing. Alternatively, students may be directed to the Booktopia website during a library period to select books they're interested in for the collection. This process works moderately well but may be better directed toward students with at least some interest in reading, rather than requiring all students to choose a book.

Non-fiction has been an interesting talking point in many libraries but the simple reality is that you cannot obtain all sources of information digitally and in some cases the book is demonstrably better. With this in mind, while we still spend a significant amount on non-fiction books, we also apply specific methodology for these resources.

1. During budget time, we review our non-fiction collection in relation to the topics we have been asked to assist with during the year. How much we allocate to each department for book purchasing is very clear in our budgets and we do so in consultation with teachers and their assessments of need.
2. In the Senior School - as a general rule - we no longer purchase general interest non-fiction resources unless they are requested by a student. We have found that any books that are general interest in non-fiction are rarely, if ever, borrowed and often date before they are actually used. What we do support, however, is the purchase of resources specifically for assignments as these are directly applicable and often reused.
3. Biographies are also interesting as we often think that students should be reading about significant people. Again, what we have found is that college sports and important current events books are often borrowed but usage is very limited in other areas. In short, we apply the same theory of purchase when we have requests or if we have a strong belief the book will be read. 

As part of this we have also reduced the collection size on the floor of the library and occasionally remove items from the shelves and make them 'on demand' access to keep the collection relevant to current needs.

The simple reality about graphic novels is that we can never have enough of them on the shelf to satisfy demand. We do, however, limit the number we purchase because we want students to be progressing through to more traditional texts in the fiction collection. We  purchase new sets every year, but in light of the extensive choice in this area we invite student requests to ensure they are getting the ones that want to read. It is important to make sure they are appropriate and at Scotch, we rely on feedback from students and graphic novel-reading library staff to help direct the purchasing. 

At Scotch, library budgets revolve around resourcing assessments and recreational reading for the boys. We have found that teacher resources in a library are rarely used and therefore money spent on a teacher resources stored in a library cupboard is wasted. As a result, we no longer purchase teacher resources and all of these requests are processed through the Director of Teaching and Learning, who then provides these to the individuals seeking them. These materials are still cataloged but with the location recorded as the relevant departmental office or, for example, the Director of Teaching and Learning. 

At Scotch we currently operate a collection that numbers 25056 physical books from PK - 12. The total investment at Scotch is approximately $510,000 and fairly stable around this figure as we weed and purchase each year. These numbers must be considered in the context of usage, as a large number of books with poor usage represents wasted money.