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The public library only puts those golf pencils out for patron use. Most
people don't want them because there is no eraser but if they need one they
will ask just to use the eraser. They tend to be cheap and you by them by
the gross I think. I have trouble at the prison with pens, even the ones
on chains! They have taken the refill out of a couple! The other thing is
to "sell" the pencils, just enough to pay for them or a little more and use
the money for books. Your problem would be that elementary kids probably
don't have the cash that older kids might! Good luck. When I worked at a
Middle school I got to be good friends with the custodians and had them give
me all the broken pencil pieces they accumulated when they swept the floors.
I would find a stash almost every morning!
we use the standard yellow pencil for classroom use....i ordered red casing
pencils for my media center and put 6 in a cup on each table to match the
number of students sitting there...the kids know the red pencils belong in
their library and if they walk at the end of class, the kids often return
them offering an apology....great kids!!!!
I assume that if the students come to the library for lessons or rreaearch
they bring their own paper and pencils. Usually someone forgets. I only
supply "recycled" paper it is used on one side and usually has no lines.
The students don't like this paper so they bring their own. The custodians
supply me with all those pencils and pens that they find on the floor. I
put these out for student use and since they are not bright and new with
lots of eraser the stick around longer than the newer ones.
I had a couple of solutions that worked part of the time with some
kids, but that's sometimes the best batting average you can get.
#1. When I was in a K-8 school, I requested that the teachers remind the
kids to bring a pencil with them
every time they came to the library. That worked the best with the
little ones whose "routine" about coming to the library was developed
early and consistently.
#2. For the bigger kids, they were supposed to remember on their own, but
if they needed to borrow a pencil from me, they had to "pay" with a left
shoe, or a piece of jewelry, which, of course, was returned at the end of
the period. Now that I'm only working with "bigger" kids, I don't even
offer pencils. They use their own or borrow--our kids all have looseleaf
pencil cases with eveything from lip gloss and combs to highlighters in
every color!
#3. evey couple of weeks, I go through the halls and pick up every
writing utensil I find on the floor and appropriate them for the library.
It's just a big circulation system
for pens and pencils--but we rarely have to buy new ones after the
beginning batch. It's the one thing I do which keeps the whole pencil
thing from making me crazy!
We had this problem last year too. SO THIS YEAR...we ordered enough pencils
to cover the gross/month we were going through. AND WE ALSO began to instruct
the classes at the end of each lesson to do specific clean up procedures
INCLUDING putting our pencils back in the baskets on the table. We are only
loosing a couple a day. Not bad.
I only put out those awkward, big, primary pencils.
No one wants them. I think this is one of those universal library
problems.
Sometimes solving the little problems adds up to making the larger issues
work too! I use the fat pencils in my library. The kids complained at
first but now are used to them. They almost never leave the library and if
they do, usually a kid will come trotting back with it. I get the kind
with erasers on the end. I also keep it a simple black or red. The silver
or gold are too much temptation!
Thought it was only me with this problem! Some solutions that work are :
sell the pencils to the kids. We contacted a pencil company and was able
to get their overproduction ones (usually containing some advertisements on
them) and re-sold them to everyone. Don't resell at cost or you end up
being a stationery story and make sure you keep the money to re-order.
Frankly, we sold at retail to make up for the ones that would continue -
for whatever reason - to go missing. By the way, we didn't accept I.O.U.s
or "I don't have any money." If they could go to the canteen for chips,
they had it.
leave a treasure. Yup, I tried this because something similar worked for
me as a classroom teacher. I was amazed, however, at the number of watches,
rings, and other valuable things I ended up with at the end of the week.
Heaven only knows what would have happened if I did the "leave a shoe"
routine I had used in classroom.
buy golf pencils. These short stubs are not as desirable to use elsewheres
and, if you can get your golf club to tell you where they get theirs from,
are fairly inexpensive
talk to the teachers. One of the biggest reasons I found in the elementary
school was that the teachers actually told the kids to come to the library
for a pencil.
locker check time. Most kids seem to have lots of pencils they simply
throw in the garbage. Before locker cleanouts, provide the teachers with a
container (eg., a large envelope) and ask they get the kids to put all
pencils (pens, etc.) into it. Make sure the teachers have something
physical to remind them since cleanouts are usually so hectic they will
forget otherwise.
AND for the library desk :
we found that the pens that have a cap you can crazy-glue on could be
drilled and a thick string put into the cap (tie a thick knot to keep the
string from coming out). We used an eye-hook to attach the string to the
counter, so ending the expense and noise of the chains. You might attach a
few of these at Stations around the library so you can direct the kids to
them when "I don't have a pencil" occurs again.
Finally, I have a table dedicated to activity. On it is attached a pair of
scissors and a one-hole puncher (on chain, unfortunately) and a cutting
board and sturdy stapler (both firmly screwed onto the table), and a waste
bin on the floor below. Sure saves time for those "Can I borrow a stapler?
a pair of scissors?" etc.
I always require kids in upper grades to bring pencils. Since they are
always forgetting them in the library, I have a whole drawer of pencils to
loan. Sometimes teachers donate nubs of lost and found pencils too which
I leave out for kids needing to write down call numbers, etc.
Buy golf pencils by the gross-problem disappears.
In the days when we checked out via cards I
finally had pencils chained to the desk....and then even the chains
disappeared leaving only the base permanently fixed to the surface! And
this is an elementary school....
My solution has been to buy special Library Pencils...I think I got them
from Highsmith....come in a box of a gross....doesn't solve the problem
entirely, but you CAN tell the kids that if they see one any where else
in the school please bring it back!
I have bright neon pink, green and yellow pencils with my name and
LIBRARY on them. Everyone in the school knows they are mine.
I got them "cheap" from Oriental Traders
I always make a deal with my custodian. She is always sweeping up pencils and
instead of tossing them, she brings them to the library. Sometimes kids see
theirs when they come to the library, but they usually leave them for everyone
to use. I have 3 dozen sharpened pencils that I pass out for use when we do
lessons. They turn them in when we are done. That way the children always
have a pencil and an eraser. It also helps to post a sign in the library
asking for donations of old pencils. The kids always bring them in.
I put a large
piece of bright yellow tape around the top of each library pencil and fold
it over so there's a little flag at the end. I keep the pencils on the
desk in a holder. The kids often ask why I put the tape on the end and I
tell them so the pencils won't leave the library. I now get kids bringing
back pencils they took up to their rooms or ones they found in the halls.
It's just something I do and they know it and it has become a part of the
library routine.
I made up a
little library label on print shop labels. I put three of these per
label on an address label, and ran off some. I then cut them up and
covered them with scotch tape. Sure put an end to all of those pencils
walking off, plus when they do they sometimes come back. Sometimes the
kids will try to get the labels off but there is tape residue and pretty
obvious. Maybe this will help.
The first day of school, we taped cheap white
plastic spoons to the barrels of six pencils, so that the spoon end was
sticking out the top. We call them our "spencils". Can you believe it,
we STILL have those six original pencils in use! It generated a lot of
comments at first, "like what are these?" or "what are these for?"
depending on our mood, we would say things like "they're our spencils!"
"The spoon shows that they belong to the library" or "you could eat and
read at the same time!". the kids love them, but wouldn't be caught
dead walking away with one. I've even overheard kids telling new
students that "these are the library's spencils".
I
never have new pencils. I made friends with the janitor and when he sweeps
at night, he picks up all those pencils left on the floor and gives them to
me. I put them next to my computers, on my desk, on the circulation desk,
etc. and everyone is welcome to use them. I don't care if they are returned
or not. At the end of the school year, I go through the lockers after
students have left and get lots of pens, pencils, and other great
equipment. I actually have several boxes of new pencils, but it is just so
much easier to never have to worry about the old ones. I am just as guilty
as the students about picking up pens/pencils and then leaving them
somewhere else.
I've found that having them bring pencils means that they play
with the pencils while I'm talking and before they need to use them. I once
bought pencils from one of the companies that sells personalized pencils
(maybe Miles Kimball) and had them engraved "Property of Orchard Library."
They were somewhat expensive, but I think they lasted a lot longer. People
were constantly returning them from all over the building.
become
friends with the custodian! When he cleans the rooms at
night, he brings me any pencils he finds on the floor or in
the garbage. You would be AMAZED at how many there are! I
never run out and always have enough to help out the art
teacher... who has the "runaway" problem in her room too!
I use big, fat, blue kindergarten pencils. They work just fine and when I
start to run low, I ask teachers to check their classes for the fat blue
pencils.
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