No Subject

[Jennett Vosburgh <jvosburg@NHS.PVT.K12.NH.US>]

Hello all -=20

I've been lurking on this list for several months, and I would like to =
send a hearty "Thank you" out to all of you for your insights and =
suggestions.  On June 1, I took my first position as a school librarian =
at a coed boarding school in New Hampshire, the New Hampton School (260 =
students, grades 9-postgrad). A recent Simmons graduate, I have =
experience in academic libraries and in book publishing.

Although NHS is over 175 years old, they have never before had a =
library!  They have built a stunning, technologically up-to-date =
facility and stocked it with PCs.  Now it falls to me to fill the =
shelves and design the program.  We (the Academic Dean and I) have spent =
the past weeks selecting our Opening Day Collection and hope to have a =
good portion of it in place before the students arrive.  Now we are =
moving on to all the *other* things that go into making a library =
"happen".

The issue of staffing has inevitably arisen.  We envision having the =
library open approximately 70 hours per week, with extensive evening and =
weekend hours.  During the afternoon hours, we will have faculty =
proctors.  I will be "on desk" during the school day, 2 or 3 nights a =
week, and some weekend hours.  That leaves at least 20 hours a week =
which need to be covered, either by an assistant or by faculty members.  =
As budget is always an issue, our headmaster has asked me to survey =
other schools to ask how they handle staffing matters.

Could any of you who work or have worked in boarding schools advise me =
on your hours and staffing schedules?  Do faculty participate in =
staffing?  What do you ask them to do during that time?  Is your =
solution successful?

Please e-mail me directly.  Thank you for your time.=20

Jennett Vosburgh
Head Librarian, Academic Research Center
New Hampton School, New Hampton, NH 03256
jvosburg@nhs.pvt.k12.nh.us     (603) 744-5401 x170