HIT:What students assistants do -Part II

[Margaret Hunt <mchunt@MINDSPRING.COM>]

I try to have two aides each period.  The Xerox machine for our school is
in the library (previous librarian's preference), and one aide spends
perhaps half of each period copying for teachers--worksheets and so on.
When I have enough helpers (!!)  they will also laminate for teachers (old
flat-bed Seal press).  Other jobs:
        Shelving materials
        Straightening the books on shelves (gave up trying to get them to
read shelves for correct order)
        Dusting and polishing (Fridays)
        Clipping articles I've marked from old magazines or papers (for
vertical file)
        Processing new magazines--check in, stamp, put in binders
        Putting newspapers on sticks
        Stamping school name in new books
        Alphabetizing catalog cards and filing them above the rod (not a
strong point)
        Glueing pockets in those books I process from scratch
        Mending books
        Covering new paperbacks with plastic film
        Indexing videotapes, Cable in the Classroom or instructional TV
series, so we can put a list of episodes and starting points on the box.
        Typing the annotations to put on the tape sleeve for Cable in the
Classroom tapes (taken from the program guide)
        Entering information on vendors' catalogs into a database so I can
figure out what we have;  filing the catalogs in a filing cabinet
        Checking materials in and out
        Helping decorate the library
        Bringing magazines from the storeroom for students
        Inventory
   Goodness! This is quite a list!  I'll have to give these kids a raise ;-)
Since I have no adult help, I rely on my aides a lot.  They:
Check books in & out
shelve books & magazines
file and pull catalog cards
file items in student portfolios and the vertical file
pick up & deliver A-V equipment
run misc. errands
help process books
help process overdue notices
Take down and put up holiday and other decorations
Dust shelves & tables
wash windows
change showcase and bulletin board displays
& I'm sure there is more but I am drawing a blank...
Luan Mahler
My student media assistants go through a training program that includes a
series of exercises that range from completing a map of the MC to
evaluating Web sites.  They of course check out materials, and they each
have a manual and a set of daily jobs they are responsible for.  Not every
student is assigned every job and some jobs occur only daily and some once
a week.  Some of the items on the "job chart" are:  shelve books, shelve
magazines, check in materials, process newspapers, deliver media to staff,
pick up media from staff, check your book section, check your magazine
section, work on MA exercises, check equipment scheduling notebook, get the
mail, filing, process magazines, straighten Media Center, clip newspapers
for timely articles, take out recycling.  In addition, they are expected to
be able to assist other students with some of the electronic programs like
SIRS, MAS, etc.  Oh, also they are required to read at least one book each
6-week term.  I'd be happy to mail you a copy of this year's manual if you
are interested.
Rosemary Knapp
With automation and cd-rom my need for student media siistants has be
somewhat reduced but I stil use them for manning the checkout desk,
shelving books, doing bulletin boards, checking magazines in and assorted
processing of materials.  We have a 32 station computer lab in our media
center that has internet acess.  I try to utilize the student aids in
assisting the students with the computer.  >
Please post a hit or share other suggestions for utilization.  I sometimes
have periods of more aid help than job.
Sandy Mathews-Barnes
Media assistants (all 8th graders) at our K-8 school check in and check
out books with our automated system; shelve books; sensitize and
desensitize books in our security system; put our school stamp on new
books and periodicals; shelve periodicals; help put up and take down
bulletin board displays; collect books from grade 1-4 classrooms so that
when students come in on their assigned day we know who has overdue
books.
I haven't been thrilled with their work; they usually need someone
standing over them and frequent reminders that they're here to help.
Myra Gross
The first thing I make my aides do is become acquainted with the Media
Center - where things are located, how the different computer indexes
work and how to use the card catalog, etc. Then, I have my student aides
straighten up the room. put chairs in, gather books and magazines which
have been left by other students, arrange the magazines,  pull out old
magazines replacing them with newer issues, shelve books, straighten
shelves, read shelves(which they hate)  reorganize sections when
additional materials arrive, make a list of titles with differing dewey
numbers (pre catalogued by different vendors), stamp new books &
pamphlets with our library stamp, take inventory of missing SIRS
articles.  Hope this is a start...please get back to me with
others..Phyllis
Phyllis Novetsky, LMS
This is not exactly what you asked for.  I had reservations about
the value of student assistants (having meaningful tasks for them, needing
an adult assistant vigilant about training/monitoring/retraining) when we
had the traditional 6 period day.  When we went to the 3 period day (105
minute periods) two years ago, I decided student assistants were not worth
the effort - not a good situation for the kids or for library (adult)
staff.
Susan Baker
My media assistants do a variety of jobs.  Stamps newpapers & magazines,
check materials out and in; retrieve magazines for students, video tape
classes, shelve books and magazines, program cable requests, deliver
equipment and materials to classroom, and a wide variety of other jobs.
mCheck books out (MOLLI), check books in (selected assistants only!),
put away books, dust shelves, get mail, run errands, turn on Channel One,
hang posters, learn the main types of software and teach others, use
the scanner, make photocopies, do very specific chores like pasting in
due date stickers for acquisitions, occasionally help me search the
automated catalog for lists of books (if they find it, I know we have
it; if they don't find it, I have to verify, because they don't always
do a good job of searching).  These are 7th-8th graders, usually boys
(girls, alas, are good if they are introverts but not if they are the
more common overly social types that seem to sprout at this age level).
Also I have them open packages, move anything heavy, put away magazines,
and beyond all that, they are terrifically funny and keep me amused
daily.
Marilyn E. Barnes
My student aides are volunteers - since were are on the 4X4 system.  I like
having the student come of their own volition - I do not have to make work
on those days that things are slow.  The aides shelve book, of course, they
type labels, insert security strips, stamp books with ownership stamp,
straignten shelves, make bulletin boards, just about anything I can teach
that they are able to learn. Hope this helps - will be looking for your HIT
when you post it.  B. White
Barbara W. White
shelf read
shelf books
help deliver a-v equipment
man our pass desk
help process magazines
help w/bulletin boards
Eileen Sexton, Librarian
Library student assistants here, usually Juniors or Seniors, earn
full credit.
Jobs include anything in library:  handling mail, deliveries (ours),
bulletin boards, computers, displays, helping students and teachers
and me, sorting, filing, gluing, pasting.
They're surprised by mutliplicity of jobs
and usually pleasantly so.
Richard Librarian
Arrange displays and bulletin boards
Back up computer files
Check materials in and out
Collate and staple worksheets
Deliver materials to classrooms and school office
Enter information into a computer database
File catalogs
Get mail and sort
Help in book processing:  Paste on bar codes, date-due slips and labels;
stamp school name; put on mylar jackets
Inventory with hand-held computer device
Keep paper slips and pencils available at various locations
Answer phone
Process inter-library loan materials
Proof World-Wide Web addresses                                                  
Proofreading
Read paperback racks
Read shelves so items are in correct order
Read video tapes.
Recommend titles
Shelve materials
Sort magazines in magazine room
Train other students in using computers and locating materials
Troubleshoot CD-ROMs
Typing
Water plants
Zealously publicize the library's services
Patricia Moore, Media Specialist North Polk Jr.Sr. High Alleman, IA 50007
My student aides perform the usual tasks: checking books in and out, manning
the copy machine, shelving books, reading shelves that are assigned to them,
assisting students with the computers as needed, retrieving periodicals from
the stacks as needed (and re-filing them), etc.  In addition, I have
developed a computer program specifically for library student aides which
issues a wide variety of reference questions that they are to answer, giving
the source of the answer as well as the answer.  The questions are designed
to acquaint students with both print and electronic resources.  Students
are required to answer correctly 15 questions per quarter.
Norma Dreyer Edison High School Tulsa, OK
My media assistants are all volunteers. They check the
books/magazines in & out. They shelve books (each student is responsible
for a certain section), they laminate materials for teachers (we have an
old-style flat laminator), they stamp new books, they cover books that need
plastic covers, they decorate the library (hang the seasonal banners,
change bulliten boards, etc.). They do all the little things that take so
much time. We have a 7 period day and I try to get one or two every hour
(more than that & it becomes too social). Since I don't have an aide, the
volunteers are very valuable to me!
Linda Hill
I have one student who comes in early in the morning to be "paperboy".  He
puts out the library copies and delivers the extra copies to teachers'
lounges and study hall, raises my shades, plugs in all the computers, turns
the copier on and runs early morning errands.
library workers throughout the day have assigned shelf sections to keep in
order, clean, and shelve books in.
They help put bulletin boards up and take them down (I maintain two hallway
boards in addition to my library board).
They serve as peer tutors on the computers.
Help process new books.
Run errands.
Collate and staple papers (things usually brought over from the office
because they don't have space to lay out several pages for collation and we
don't have a copier that will do that).
Clean tables and dust windowsills and bookcases
Help with inventory
Clean tv/vcr carts (they get chalk dust all over them in the classrooms)
I TRY to have student helpers only from each class that comes in (we are a
middle school). I ask two students from each class to be the assistants,
and they stay behind the desk and check in the class's books while I'm
doing the lesson, then they check out the class's new books. This way, at
least I know who didn't bring their book back, because all are checked in
by the time checkout begins. Of course, everyone wants to help, but I
discourage that since we have too many errors that way. I am more lenient
with my Spanish students, though, and often trade helpers, or allow extra
helpers, because it gives me a good way to share some English with them and
practice my Spanish. I always seem to have one or two adoring students who
like to hang out in the library at other times and who will shelve for me.
I don't have time to mess around with armies of helpers because I have a
class almost every period, and during the free periods I often have to run
to one of my other schools and can't be around to supervise. I only accept
the most interested students, and I promptly "fire" anyone who isn't
working out. The official helpers get a library assistant card that they
can use to get into the library during lunch and recess without going
through the "stick" ritual. (We have to limit how many students can be in
there during those times, because I'm all alone and I was getting about 75
students to supervise.) So the card is a prized possession and they feel
really special having it. I used to ask kids to dust, but I had one kid who
said her father said she wasn't anyone's servant and she didn't have to
dust and move furniture. I fired her.
Gayle Hodur

Margaret Hunt
Martinez, Georgia
mchunt@mindspring.com
Where everything I learned today will be null and void tomorrow.

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