STUDY HALL - CUM. - PART 3

[lori joffe <lkjof@ICDC.COM>]

And we keep on going...

Lori K Joffe
Librarian
Bensalem High School
lkjof@icdc.com

We have somewhat successfully "limited" library use during study hall by

requiring students to have a pass written by one of their subject area
teachers, a librarian, or their guidance counselor before they report to

study hall in order to come to the library.  Study hall teachers and
subs
may NOT issue library passes to a student.  It gives us a place to go if

the student is there to socialize ("Mrs. Jones, what assignment was
Johnny
*supposed* to be working on for you in the library?") and if the student

continues to be too social, we first separate the student and if thet
still
doesn't work, we send the student back to study.

There are a few glitches, but overall, this has worked out well.  The
main
problem we have are subject area teachers who will write a pass for any
of
their students, even if they don't have an assignment that needs library

resources, and a few teachers who will write passes for ANY student,
whether the teacher has the student in class or not!  (This year, we're
hooked into the Guidance computer, so we *will* be checking student
schedules and sending back students with improper passes!)

Your questions today are very good!   In response to the study hall
question, due to lack of space in the library, we weren't able to
accommodate every kid who wanted to get out of study hall (only freshmen
in
our school have true study hall time -- the upper classmen have more of
a
"free" period in a much more relaxed area where they can talk, eat, play

cards, study, etc.).  Interestingly enough, we found that even the upper

classmen wanted to come to the library to meet with friends and talk
because
it was too loud, too messy, etc. in their free area.  Anyway, we
established
the rule that everyone who wants to stay in the library has to have a
"library-related" assignment.  That is, they have to work on something
that
they can ONLY do in the library.  Now, that still opens up a lot of
possibilities for everyone because we have a computer lab for typing
assignments, other computers for research, and the normal book
collection,
in addition to newspapers, but it helps to keep out the kids who only
want
to meet in a pretty place.   I can't say that this works perfectly, but
once
the kids get into the habit of needing something to do, they're more
likely
to come when they need to.  Freshmen, by the way, need a pass from the
teacher who has given them the library assignment.  If a teacher has a
whole
class project, they can give us a copy of the class list so that they
don't
have to write 30+ passes every day.  Just for perspective, we have 2800
students this year, and are going to have over 3000 next year.  The
library
has room for about 115 people.

Yes - I did.  I used to have (10 years ago) study halls scheduled twice
a
day in the library.  It really limited legitimate use of the library.
The
teachers came to my rescue and spoke up about not allowing study halls
scheduled in the library.  The only reason they do it is because it is a

big room. Students can sign up to use the library during their study
halls
but except for one or two advanced students (scheduling conflicts) I do
not
have any students who are scheduled to be in the library.  Talk to the
teachers - when they see it is hurting them they will come to the
rescue.

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