The organization and management of collections in croatian school libraries which offer educational programs in minority languages: A survey

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to present the results of the investigation into organization and management of library collections which contain reading material for minority groups enrolled in educational programs in Croatian elementary and secondary schools. These programs are offered on the grounds of the professional standards and guidelines as well as the approved educational models for minority pupils in the Republic of Croatia. The survey intended to reveal whether the existing collections in school libraries fulfill the needs of their users who belong to a particular minority group, how they work and overcome difficulties in collection management, as well as to discover obstacles in acquisition of library material. Approach. Assuming that the organization and management of collections for minority pupils have been aggravated, especially regarding the library material acquisition and librarians’ knowledge of minority languages and scripts, we have conducted an online survey among school librarians who work with such collections on a daily basis, offer various information to users and organize a number of different programs. Findings. The results of the survey presented in this article clearly point out to the fact that library collections on minority languages and scripts in the Croatian education system are insufficient. Due to the lack of such materials on the book market and absence of continuous and qualitative financial resources for the planned acquisition, the users are confronted with the problem of having limited access to these collections. Practical implications. The authors support the thesis that advocates the improvement of the availability of the library collections for minority users through digital collections as the most logical and economically most cost-effective long-term approach in order to solve the observed problems. However, this approach is limited by the lack of appropriate information and telecommunication technology, insufficiently trained personnel for work with new media and e-learning programs, etc. Social implications. Based on the conclusions drawn on the grounds of the analyzed domestic and international legal documents, professional standards and guidelines, professional literature, and the answers which were collected through the online survey from school librarians responsible for special collections of minority literature, the authors propose several steps towards improvements in Croatian school libraries which have collections for minority groups. Originality. The conducted survey presents useful research data not published previously. The results made it possible to recommend the changes in the approach to minority collections and suggest the themes and problems worth of further research.