Re: Librarians shelve books/Importance...

[Margaret Schimmels <megschimme@FEIST.COM>]

Dear friends--

Although I have responded to Matthew directly, since this question has
evoked so much response, I thought I'd throw in this small thought to the
group.  It is a matter of priorities.  On the hierarchy of responsibilites,
shelving is down there at the lower level, IMHO.  I feel we have a calling
and responsibility to teach first, plan first, be flexible first.  I have
been aware, not from any of the postings in this group :-), that shelving,
and the sometimes overwhelming amount of it, can become a reason (excuse?)
not to see teachers for planning, not to schedule classes, and so on.

Shelving is like laundry.  It will always be with us, and it is an
important aspect of running a well-managed library media center.  But we
need to remember, especially in a era of decreasing finding and increasing
emphasis on our roles as learning facilitators, to keep shelving from
becoming a barrier to those responsibilites which will maximize student
achievement and learning.  By doing so we will continue to receive the
funding we so deperately need to keep our libraries an essential component
in our schools.  No one ever increased my library budget because the
library book carts were empty!  Increased funding comes from increased,
meaningful teaching and planning.  Therefore, sometimes shelving suffers
because I am teaching, teaching, teaching, whether with whole classes,
small groups, or individuals.  I shelve around everything else.

BTW, I LOVE to shelve!  When else can we weed, except at the end of the year?
Shelving is a terrific oppontunity to evaluate your collection and weed,
weed, weed!  Just don't let it stand in the way of working with students
and teachers.  Please don't flame me...I am not implicating any our our
responses as indication that I think anyone in this group does this.  Just
my thoughts, not an implication of specific people here!






Margaret Schimmels
Library Media Specialist
Harry Street Elementary
Wichita (KS) Public Schools
megschimme@feist.com

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