School Library Coll Dev: Maps and Posters

This academic year, I am figuring out ways and means to extend our library's multimedia and audio-visual collection, particularly, the library's map collection.

What works for us at the moment is the "recycling" of freebie posters and maps from print magazines and journals we subscribe to. National Geographic constantly has posters and maps that are pull outs. These posters are often folded to the size of the magazine and are perforated making it easy to tear away from its original binding. The magazines we subscribe from Scholastic: Choices, Action, Upfront, Ahora, Science World and Art come with freebie posters and maps too.

Once the magazines have been circulated for two months, we tear posters and maps in preparation for lamination. For this process, we seek an outsourced service that is accessible with in our community. The cost is 15-20% cheaper than the maps and posters bought from dealers and bookstores here and abroad.

As soon as the posters and maps are laminated, it goes to the cataloging section and then to circulation services for promotion to teachers who shall use them as visual aids in the classrooms. Electronic versions may be downloaded from online sources for a small fee but having a visual representation of an idea that is non-projected from a gadget or a screen, trains the eyes and the brain to see and think with more flexibility.