overdue books

[Judith Gray <ERIC02@SUVM.SYR.EDU>]

Our answer to "How many books may I take out?" has always been "As many as
you need.  The only person who restricts you is you yourself. If you have no
overdues, you may take out as many books as you want."  We then go on to say
that there are times when teachers assign projects for which we have very
few books, and we put books on reserve, and we also expect students to be
considerate of others who may be working on the same topic and to share
materials.  But ultimately, each student is responsible for the materials
s/he borrows, and is expected to return, renew, pay for, or replace materials
that s/he loses.   We have no overdue fines, but we do expect students to
"settle up" for materials that they lose.  Usually if the student can bring
the book back, even if it is damaged, we accept it and clear their record.

We use "cookie day" as a way to get classes to return their library materials
before school closes for the summer.   About two weeks before the end of
the school year, we post the list of the students (by English class) who owe
materials.  Each English class is told that if everyone on the list returns
their materials, the entire class will get cookies.  This positive peer
pressure rewards the entire class when the class works together to remind
each other to return forgotten materials.  Most years, at least three-quarters
of our classes clear and get cookies.  The teachers get involved too and
everyone feels good about their efforts.

I agree with Gail, you've got to get books into the hands of kids if you're
going to encourage them to read,  but we also have a responsiblity to teach
them the habit of returning items which they borrow.

Judy Gray, Nottingham High School, Syracuse NY   email: eric02@suvm.syr.edu