LM_NET: Library Media Networking
Dear LM_NETTERS - some time ago, I posted a complaint about
students and/or teachers attempting to put librarians in a
panic because THEY left things to the last minute. Here are
the responses I received
Janice Shea
Regiopolis-Notre Dame Catholic High School
Kingston Ontario Canada
<regihs@qucdn.queensu.ca>
From Debra Frederick:
I agree with your response--last minute crazies are the
problem of the student and I try not to buy into them. The
idea of someone jumping on the Net to try and get this
student information from us left me cold.
From Carolan:
Yes, Janice, you are not alone in your response to the "due
now syndrome". When I get the anxious inquiry of this sort--
and inevitably it is right at the last bell of the day with
coat on and bus waiting--I ask gently "when were you given
this assignment?". Never had the reply be less than
3 weeks ago. I smile and the point is made.
From Jane Merryman:
I agree with Janice that we should not break our necks for
someone who has left the assignment to the very last minute.
Our libraries are located in teaching institutions and it is
not our job to do the research for the little darlings. We
are there to guide them, point them in the right direction,
encourage, etc. We are really not doing any great
service to students by doing their work for them.
From Marsha Schroder :
I don't know about your school but sometimes several
of the teachers assign major papers or research assignments
at the same time and the kids just get bogged down! I do
agree though that sometimes it is easier to help a kid who
comes "hat in hand" than one who demands that I help because
"its my job". I had one boy tell me that it was my
obligation to stay and keep the library open until he was
ready to go home...I had my coat on and was out the door
before he could get a pencil out:-) I do think that winter is
getting to all of us even in Virginia!
Good Luck and think sun!
From Diane Durbin:
I agree, but only to a certain extent. I have worked with
teachers long enough to know that teachers often don't give
kids the kind of preparation they need to complete library
assignments. They don't bring them to the library for
instruction on how to use resources. They don't set up
checkpoints along the way - just say the assignment is due on
such and such a date. Kids don't want to appear dumb - and
they don't ask until they are up against the deadline. Can we
blame them? How many teachers do you know who have no idea
how to use the library but won't ask. I often
have to find out what library assignments are from kids,
though I ask teachers to let me know. Yes, kids put
everything off, but we've got to remember that JUST MAYBE
some of the time some other people are also at fault!
From E. Anne Zarinnia:
I rarely wax biblical, however...
.... and the greatest of these is charity.
How many of us remember the terror of being a day late and a
dollar short. How many of us are ever a day late and a dollar
short now? Let's help students plan ahead, but I refuse to
train new librarians to project the "lack of organization on
your part does not constitute a crisis on my part philosophy.
From Cathy Cheely:
I have a little sign on top of the bookcase in my office that
serves as a gentle reminder to both teachers and students
that it helps to plan ahead. It says "NOTICE: Lack of
planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my
part". I have pointed it out to several students at
different times and I am sure some teachers have seen it
(though I have never used it with any, I sure have thought
about it). We pride ourselves on the access that students
and faculty have to our media center. I have been counseling
our faculty in recent years to NOT give too much time for
certain assignments because kids have a way of forgetting
about them or dismissing their urgency. Occasionally, if
teachers give less time, more gets done!
From Marie Howell:
I must have the Texas blues then, because I have a sign
posted which says, "Bad planning on your part does not
necessarily constitute an automatic emergency on my part."
but, surprise, I have this posted in my media center for
teachers. ever have those people who needed a video 5
minutes ago because class just started and they didn't "feel
like teaching today." of course, this probably only happens
in Texas.
From Cathy Cheely:
I am sure all building level media specialists can sympathize
that a day late and a dollar short is very much part of our
professional and (probably) personal lives...BUT...while I am
a charitable human being and bend over backwards, sideways
and forwards to help my few procrastinating teachers and
students, I do not feel it does anyone any good to ignore the
need for careful planning in completing assignments.
We can still have a user friendly environment in our media
centers and expect our students (especially secondary) to set
goals and work toward those goals in a timely manner. I
agree that the best teachers have benchmarks along the way
for their assignments. I also agree that I would NEVER deny
help to a student who had procrastinated. But they need to
know there are better ways of doing things than at the last
minute.
From Marianne Haase:
Hi Janice, I had to drop you a line ... The "lack of
planning ... etc." was my quote for the year -- perhaps a
somewhat negative start for the year, but I think it may have
had some impact, as I mentioned it at all orientations. We
have limited seating in our library and when classes come,
have no place for other students. Everyone has to watch
their own deadlines and the calendar posted in the hallway
outside the library. (No, it's not perfect, but fair warning
;-) We keep trying to help them grow, don't we? Cheers.
Marianne
From Larry Parsons:
I have a sign next to my desk that I point to that states:
"Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency
on my part." It works.
From Rita Kaikow:
I agree with Anne Zarinnia's expressed concern about not
wanting to train new librarians to project a "philosophy"
that would alienate those we hope to guide towards required
resources. Yet, we must keep in mind that new librarians
must be prepared to deal with the reactions of those who are
among the many who may need assistance simultaneously.
Reality places time limitations on how long one can spend
with individual patrons when there are others anxiously
queuing or going away frustrated.This is especially true in
the school environment when 30 or more students from a single
class are engaged in research at the same time. This is
compounded when multiple classes are scheduled to do the
same.
Students most definitely need to be shown how to plan ahead
and organize their time and effort to do so. But if they do
not, shouldn't the new librarians be advised not to take on
the "guilt" if the time is just not there to give adequate
assistance to the "I need it yesterday because the assignment
is due tomorrow" gang? Such students may come to you in an
"agitated" state, but can you stop helping others just
because they "need it now"? I think not.
From Kathryn Brown:
I definitely agree -- and how about the students who are
absolutely DESPERATE for information that you take pains in
acquiring -- and the student never comes in to retrieve that
information! (It's pretty cold here too.)
From Xavier High School:
There are many ways to train students to plan ahead, and not
all of them are going to reach everyone. Some students still
expect the deus ex machina operation to work---you know, the
skies will open and....I don't advocate present day media
specialists coming up with the attitude that if the kid
didn't plan ahead, that's too bad. It's best to make as much
of the learning experience as possible. Many of my students
only have to do ONE of the all nighters before they learn,
however the slow learners never seem to learn. I do tell
some of the seniors over and over from the first session on
research papers until the last moment, that if they wait
until the last moment to begin something they were supposed
to work at for a month, then all I can give them, pretty
much, is my sympathy, and not much of that. We attempt the
miracle, but they learn soon on that miracles just don't
happen overnight. Hope that helps.
From Mary E. Bryan:
Maybe I still have a little idealism running through my
veins, but, in my elementary school I am hoping to condition
children to receive favorable responses and help when they
come into the library. Hopefully, the teacher will help them
with organizational skills and I can help them locate.
Usually, time itself takes care of those who start too late.
My goal is to be so positive, letting the students know that
the information is somewhere if only we can locate it in
time. Alas, if not enough time, student will not have the
information but he/she will still have a good feeling about
the help received in the library and next time...maybe this
student will return ahead of time. I want libraries to exist
for my students in their adulthood. They will remember in
later years if they were hassled in school by the librarian
and this could just possibly keep them for asking public
librarians for help. Somewhere along the way, I was told
when a patron comes to me, they want info, not instructions.
I try to have my students walk with me as I search for the
info. They can follow my methods and steps and one day they
can search on their own. In this way, the students should
learn the procedures when they really need them and not as a
separate lesson. Please accept these ramblings from one who
would like to be needed for many years to come. Thanks, Mary
Bryan
From Shelley Lochhead:
Well, our students (and their teachers) get the same level of
cheer and service whether they come in at the start of the
project, or at the bitter end.
What they don't get is the same level of information, since
the early bird - and 'twas ever thus - got the worms. If
someone can ace a project by waiting 'til the night before,
it's not their fault. In fact, it is a rather unfortunate
commentary on the depth of the assigned task.
(Can you tell this is written by someone who cut all her 8:00
classes in college and still make the dean's list? Guess we
all have our biases!)
From Betty Dawn Hamilton:
>students in their adulthood. They will remember in later
years if they
> were hassled in school by the librarian and this could just
possibly keep
Mary, interesting point. When Texas teachers were put on a
career ladder in amounts of $1500 to $6000 (never reached
$6000 though), librarians were explicitly left off by
legislatures. The legislator who headed that committee was
adamant in not including school librarians for that pay
incentive. (We *never* got it statewide; some did, locally,
however). Anyway, our common discussion about his hard-
headedness toward even allowing the issue to be introduced
was, "I wonder what happened to him when he was a kid to make
him dislike librarians so!"
|rom Betty Dawn Hamilton:
> Well, our students (and their teachers) get the same level
of cheer and
> service whether they come in at the start of the project,
or at the
> bitter end.
>
> What they don't get is the same level of information, since
the early
> bird - and 'twas ever thus - got the worms.
You're correct *again* Shelley! (Where'd you get all that wisdom!)
However, the fact that the pickings are lean requires much
deeper digging than the frequently late comer is equipped to do;
thus, it falls to the *librarian* to find it. At the high school level (and
below) the search is part of the lesson; therefore, I really want the
*student* to experience the success of finding what he/she is looking for.
_I_ know how to search, but I want him/her to feel the pleasure of finding
what he/she is looking for. (I frequently find that as I attempt to search
_side by side_ with a student, he or she is there in body
only....staring off into space instead of joining in the search, and I see this
more
in the procrastinators than the early ones....obviously no
reflection on you,
Shelley--I have been known to wait until the last minute,
too!)
Of course, all the discussion in the world won't resolve the
dilemma of limited resources and early birds vs late comers.
Betty
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