Re: Shelving Books and PR

[Hildegard Pleva <HPleva@AOL.COM>]

I too have been very interested in this thread. I agree that the process of
shelving books provides valuable opportunities for "learning" the collection,
weeding, assessing book condition etc. I also agree that my education and
experience are not used to the optimum if I do too much shelving and other
clerical or book preparation chores. I am most worth my salary when I am
teaching, guiding research, evaluating materials for purchase, and keeping
teachers informed about ways in which our resources can assist them and their
students.

However, I have found out that most people in our building have no idea what
I do. Those teachers who use the library certainly do and they can't thank me
enough. But others do not understand. They have asked my aide, who is in the
library only 4 and half periods the a day (9 per. day), "What do you do up
there? Aren't you bored? When I am not teaching or assisting students
directly I am at my desk doing things like accessioning books, checking over
cards for new books, (no, we are not automated), writing letters, reading
reviews, updating bibliographies, preparing reasearch activity related sheets
for students, preparing library bulletins, etc., etc. But this "seat work",
if you will, does not look like much to those who look in and see me at the
desk and only a handful of students in the library. How is it that they never
seem to come when the library is filled to overflowing?

In short, I shelve books for the reasons mentioned above but also for its PR
value. In addition, sometimes I think that even my aide does not fully
appreciate my "seat work". If she is working hard on her chores which she has
only limited time for, I think it makes points with her if I pitch in and do
a little shelving. This activity also allows me to circulate in the library
when there are a lot of students in such a way that I can check on what they
are doing without being a pest.

Staffing

I believe that a significant factor in this question is staffing. A few weeks
back a job was posted on the list for a middle school library with 2
full-time librarians, 1 clerk and a library assistant. I requested info twice
on the size of the student body and the circulation but got no response. Our
school of 500 has one full-time librarian, one half-time clerk. Collection
size is 10,500 - circulation is 6,500 per year. In the months of Sept. and
Oct. of this year there were 3,000 student visits to the library. PLEASE
SHARE YOUR STAFF AND CIRC STATS WITH ME if you are in a middle school.

Many thanks, Hildegard N. Pleva
Linden Avenue Middle School, Red Hook, New York
hpleva@aol.com

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From The Poles
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 1997 18:51:09 -0600
From: Jan Wee <jwee@MAIL.ARC.NASA.GOV>
Subject: Two Spring '98 PTK Projects: Live From The Rainforest and Live

Dear LM_Net Members,

Please share this news with your staff!  PTK projects provide
*freely* accessible live telecasts (carried by NASA-TV and select
PBS stations), free online resources, and print support materials
for cost of production!

THINK AHEAD, and PLAN *NOW* for SOME UNIQUE LEARNING EXPERIENCES...

YOU and YOUR STUDENTS are invited to bring "REAL SCIENCE
REAL LOCATIONS, REAL SCIENTISTS, REAL TIME" into your learning
environment via TWO upcoming PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE projects
in SPRING 1998!

--------->LIVE FROM THE RAINFOREST
*Live Telecasts* April 7th, 14th, & 21st, 1998 from on location
in Brazil, Hawaii and across North America; live at 13:00-14:00 EASTERN.

Three one-hour programs take students via live TV and the Internet
around the world to visit global rain forests. Then students will look back
home to connect the science and social studies they've experienced to North
America's own diverse environments, exploring issues of biodiversity by
comparing
Hawaiian and Brazilian rainforests and the temperate rain forest of the
Pacific Northwest, as well as urban back lots, with the amazing
and instructive international sites they've seen.

To subscribe to an online update newsletter bringing you the latest
plans and information, send an e-mail to: listmanager@quest.arc.nasa.gov
In the message body write:  subscribe updates-lfrf
Send your message and you will receive a welcome/confirmation
message and regular updates.

                &

---------->LIVE FROM THE POLES
A *special* live telecast on April 28, 1998 from the Antarctic and Arctic in
conjunction with NSF's National Science & Technology Week (NSTW).
13:00-14:00 EASTERN.  NSTW, whose theme for 1998 is "Polar Connections:
Exploring the World's Natural Laboratories" is celebrated April 26-May 2, 1998.

In honor of NSF's National Science and Technology Week, whose theme
for 1998 is "Polar Connections: Exploring the World's Natural Laboratories,"
PTK presents a live, one hour special linking students across North America
with researchers literally "up North" and way "down South", via interactive
videoconferencing. Students will see the great differences between the Arctic
and Antarctic, and find out--for example--why and how humans have long
inhabited
the northern polar regions, but never traveled south except as seasonal and
temporary explorers. Why are there polar bears up north, but no penguins, and
vice versa at the other end of the globe?

Passport to Knowledge Contact Info:
PTK HelpLine: 1-800-626-LIVE / 1-800-626-5483 updated regularly!
PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE, P.O. Box 1502, Summit, NJ 07902-1502
voice: 908-598-0949 / fax: 908-277-9590

PTK is supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation
and NASA.

Jan Wee, PTK Education Consultant
jwee@mail.arc.nasa.gov
West Salem, Wisconsin

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