Re: PARENTS SIGNING OUT BOOKS/Community People

[Betty Dawn Hamilton <bhamilt@TENET.EDU>]

On Fri, 3 Nov 1995, Jean MacAlpine wrote:

> Yesterday I had a parent ask me if I allowed them to come in and take out
> books in  quantity.

Jean and Group,

I will be interested in this discussion also. Because I have the high
school open 2 nights per week and from 8 until 12 on Saturday mornings, I
have had a *few* (not very many at this point) community people come in
to use the computers and decide they also want to check out some of our
books. I anticipate that the numbers will increase.

Our problem is not that our public library is small because for a town our
size, it's really pretty well stocked. They have about 3 or 4 times (at
least) the books that we have at the HS, and they also participate in the
regional interlibrary loan program. I think convenience may be the main
factor.

If they were parents of students, I probably would have checked the books
out to them; but these people who asked did not have children in high school.
The public library has a plan in place for enrolling new people; they
require references, etc.  I, too, am concerned about a negative PR if we
refuse, however nicely...and then, the "librarian" in me just hates to
turn ANYONE down who wants to read a book!

Does this discussion need to be separate from the PARENTS CHECKING OUT
books or are we working on the same dilemma?

Do any of you allow your books to be checked out to the general public on
occasion? If so, what precautions do you take?

Betty
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Betty Hamilton, LRS             |    |                701 Cub Drive
bhamilt@tenet.edu           ____|*    ~~~~~~.         Brownfield TX 79316
Brownfield High School      \               |         (806) 637-4523
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