Sec: Early Textbook Check-out

[Judy Cunningham <jcunning1@HOME.COM>]

I just thought that I would share with you how our 1st day of text book
check-out went.  And---I'm new to both high school and the district, so it
was a learning experience!  The principal decided that students should get
their text books before school started and that no one should be denied from
getting their books because of any fines or lost books because we're in a
low income area.  The student population is about 2000 and there are 1000
current students with overdue books and/or fines.  Is anyone else shocked by
those figures?!!

The principal had scheduled 9th graders to check-out this past  Mon (my 1st
day!), but of course the new students had not been downloaded nor did they
have ID's (they'll now be checking out Mon & Tue).  Everyday this past week
my tech or I called tech services to find out when they would be coming to
import the new students, finally they showed up Fri at 9 am (the only time,
we warned them that they could NOT come), along with the seniors who were
eager to check-out their books.  After the downloading was completed, only 1
computer was working for the 1st half-hour.  Needless to say, we had 100's
of very bored seniors, but they were very patient.  I could not believe it
when the principal walked in at 10:00 with an assistant superintendent!  But
by that time we had 2 computers working and things were going as smoothly as
possible.

The downside to early text book check-out:
Students did not have a list of textbooks needed (previously they wrote down
the titles and saw the text in each class and then came in with their
English classes).
Many students will have to come back because they got the wrong book.
We can't be sure which textbooks are needed--previously classes would be
scheduled and teachers could confirm the titles with us.  Classroom teachers
don't report back until Wed.
All students will be coming back with their English classes anyway, because
no English books were checked out (too many variations for us to be able to
handle).
The library won't be accessible for orientation or research any sooner.
We can't get the new text books processed until after check-out---and 300
math texts arrived Fri!  And more are coming.
Two people can't check-out texts to 400-500 students in the allotted 2
hours!
The library was crowded.
Long, long lines!

The upside:
The students were great!  They understood that the tech services people had
to finish before we could start checking out.
Students covered their books while they waited!
An aide greeted each student at the door and informed them of their
overdues/fines from a print-out and strongly urged them to go home and bring
back the money or texts.
An A.P. limited the number of students in the library (although several
times he made an "executive" decision to exceed our limit of 5 students at a
time locating books, the line to check-out inside the library was at least
25 students long).
ASB students assisted students in locating their texts, which were piled on
tables in the library with the names of the classes - at least our best
guess!
The principal agreed that next week we should stagger the times for
check-out, and she was very pleased with what she saw.  She also agreed to
provide a 3rd person (a library clerk sub) for check-out.
Most students will be ready for their science, drivers ed, history,
government, and math classes the very 1st day of school!  And that, of
course, was the motive behind the decision for early check-out.

Please let me know what you think of this situation.  My school is the only
one in the district that checks out textbooks before school starts and I've
never heard of anyone doing it.  Sorry to be so long, but I thought that I
should share both sides of the issue, at least as much as I can see at this
point.
I'll let you know how it went in a few weeks.
Thanks,
Judy Cunningham
Library Media Teacher
jcunning1@home.com

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