Re: SEC. Staff access to media center

[Kurt Kiesel <kiesel@ESU6.ESU6.K12.NE.US>]

Karen

I can relate to your frustration and can only offer sympathy.  I am a
media specialist with k-12 responsibilities.  Our district has about 600
students and two buildings at sites separated by about 10 blocks.  One
building is k-4 and is old enough that the media center is a remodeled
corner of the bus barn.(once the shop 30 years ago when the building was
a High School)  The  5-12 building was built thirty years ago and is for
all intents and purposes a well maintained attractive building.  The
problem is that it was built with the open school concept.  The
classrooms have all since been separated by walls, but the media center
has none.  It is basically the center of things and their is no way to
control access.  I love having the traffic, I have worked hard to make
the students welcome and to make the staff feel like I am on their side
and not here to hoard books and equipment.  Actually, I am probably a
little lax about letting staff take things.  The center of the Media
Center is at least an office that I can lock things up in, but isn't
quite large enough for my entire collection.  I am amazed at the number
of books that I shelve that have not been checked out, at least half. (I
guess that when I was that age I wouldn't have bothered to check things
out either.)  I loose about $400 dollars worth of books a year, but can't
convince my boss that I need walls.  What do I do, the best I can.  Why
did I write this, I quess to vent, can't use the wrestling room, they
have had to much problem with ringworm.

Kurt Kiesel
Media Specialist