Re: Rewards for what?

[Joan Brown <jmbrown@PARLORCITY.COM>]

Diane Chen wrote:>I have been following the thread on rewarding students for
returning their
>books on time and am struck by some personal opinions and reflections.

I have to agree with Diane on the rewards for returning books on time.  I
encourage responsibility for all our students - in all aspects of media
center behavior - and talk a lot about getting things in on time so others
have access, but . .  I also encourage students to renew things as often as
they need and have been known to say "Just keep in until you're finished" to
someone who's almost done with something.  I did away with overdues fines
last year when I took over this library(K-5 school) and I feel wonderful
about that.  We didn't see an increase in overdues (with a 40% increase in
circulation) and the atmosphere definitely improved.  My assistant (who was
in charge of this library forever) didn't agree with that at all and she is
still quite unhappy with late returns, but she's learning.  I love the idea
that children are bringing materials back because they loved the book and
want someone else to check it out.  I try to reward good citizenship,
helpful behavior, and enthusiasm.
To me, getting books back on time is, at least at the elementary level, more
a function of parent responsibility than student, so I look for other ways
to let students know I appreciate their efforts.  I did love hearing about
all the innovative reward systems people are using and plan to copy some of
them for my good citizenship rewards.  I'm amazed at your creativity, folks!
Joan Brown, Librarian
Lancaster Elementary School
Bluffton, IN
jmbrown@parlorcity.com

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