Re: TARGET: Alphabetical Bookshelving

["j.lees" <j.lees@WORLDNET.ATT.NET>]

I have become more (extremely) strick in my shelving requirments for two
reasons.  First is automation.  Our system tells the student if the book
is checked in or not.  When they find a book they want on the OPAC, if it
is in, they expect to be able to find it.  If we expect students to be
well organized, the school should reflect that as well.  Spending five
minutes with individual students scanning shelves for a book takes more
time than the over time it takes to be precise in your shelving.  In the
card catalog days, kids never knew what specific book they wanted -
usually something on drawing, football, etc. so when you came upon
something, it was "good enough."   Now, when they look a book up, they
want THAT book.

Yes, it takes extra time to be precise in your shelving.  I've found that
having an orderly library makes the facility, and by extension yourself,
look 'professional.'  Call it subliminal PR.  I've also found that
librarians can come up with countless cute projects, some of which
actually mesh with their mission and philosophy statements.  Individual
librarians will have to establish their own priorities,  of course.

The second reason is that at our middle school, these students seem to
read throughout the entire collection, so that the entire collection
needs to be well shelved.  They also have more limited amounts of free
time on their own to access the collection.  When them come in to get
materials,  it is incumbent upon us to be able to retrieve them in a
timely fashion.  Going hither and fro tyring to find stuff will not
impress anyone, nor encourage them to come back.

John Lees
Mt. Baker Middle School
620-37th SE
Auburn, WA  98002-8011
253-804-4555
j.lees@worldnet.att.net

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