ELEM: Messy Shelves

["Susan B. Miller 407-795-4955" <MILLERS2@MAIL.FIRN.EDU>]

I am currently set at no mail for LM-NET, so please send responses to my
personal address.

I am in a K-5 school with approx. 1450 students.  Our collection consists
of approx 15,000 items (all inclusive).  The media center is a combined
open/scheduled access.  There are six classes of 40 minutes each day with
10 minutes between classes.  Book checkout is done by the entire class in
the last 5-10 minutes of each class or anytime during the day with a media
pass.

The problem that we are facing are messy shelves.  I don't mean
out-of-order.  I mean books on the floor and piled up in heaps or hanging
out on the edge of dumping.  We use shelf markers but they mostly stay in
the shelves.

Is this problem unique or does this occur in other schools also?  What are
you doing to combat this problem?

I can live with misshelved books.  That's going to happen no matter what
you do.  But it would be easier to reshelve books and read shelves if the
books were at least right side up and on the shelf.  I read of one idea of
an Adopt-a-shelf program and I would like to get more ideas on how to
implement it in a school of our size.

Thanks for you answers.


Susy Miller
MillerS2@mail.firn.edu
H.L. Johnson Elementary School
Royal Palm Beach, FL