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Hit: Library Maintenance Part 5 of 5 I take this opportunity to thank my colleagues on the Net for sharing information on library cleaning. The volume of responses overwhelmed me. To add to my dilemma, I am not good with statistics so I have chosen this format for the HIT. I have cut and pasted in order to retain the spirit in which the comments were made. 15. If students clean, how often and how many stacks of shelves do you assign? - as needed - This doesn't work where I am - whatever they have time for - NO - As mentioned above, I do expect them to do some cleaning along with other duties. We have 1-3 (usually no more than 2) student assistants per period and each period is assigned a Dewey range which varies in number of shelves. One period might have all of fiction and story collection, which has about 26 stacks of shelves (each stack is about 3 ft. wide with 5 or 6 shelves per section). Another period may have 001 - 499, consisting of about 15 or 16 stacks. And so on. All student assistants shelve and clean the Reference collection, since it is so heavily used. It is the only way to stay on top if it. All things being equal and students being students, we usually keep up with things pretty well, but no plan is perfect. - Too few students to assign shelves 16. Other cleaning arrangements Robie: Hope this helps. I'm not happy with my arrangement, but finances dictate. I'd enjoy seeing a hit. Laura: Whoa! We've hit on a hot topic here. Being as innocent as I was when I started in school library work, I thought that maintenance was the domain of the maintenance department. Ha, ha, ha! It's disgraceful, the lack of maintenance my library gets, they empty the trash every day, and they change light bulbs, but that's about it. Debra: Now my aide shelves books, the shelves never get read. We do have school board meetings in our media Center every few months, and the custodians do clean for those. The computer tables get dusted, the monitors get cleaned, tops of book cases get dusted. Geraldine: Other cleaning arrangements my excellent custodian does what he can but he is similarly overworked Diana: Sometimes the debris on the floor from lunch is there a day or two. Once in a while the principal will come in and see it in the AM and get on their cases Nina: (We are year round, so it's hard for the custodians to get in here for extra cleaning.) Nell: We have tried everything to get proper custodial and maintenance services to little avail. Are we asking too much?? May be knowing what others expect or get will help. For some reason our custodians don't think dusting is part of their job. Jeni: during inventory (we only do 1/3 of the library each year - we clean/repair/recover books as needed - we try to get that 1/3 of the library in really good shape. G__: We bought two air filters to help contain the dust. We are buying a special vacuum (Oreck) with a backpack canister and a long extension cord to make it easier. I also wash the tables. I also clean the computers and dust them once a week. Other cleaning arrangements asked to have the heating units dusted and behind the shelves where the heating goes through, the dust is at least an inch thick there and blows into the room with the heat when it is on in the winter. I was told there is no overtime. I said I'd come in and do it in the summer. I was told a grievance would be filed by the custodian's unit if I did that because overtime has been eliminated. (I am going to do it, as I can't tolerate the dust!!!!! Let them file the grievance!) Pat: Wow - we must have a pretty dirty library!!! We do have to wash tables, etc. before meetings are held in the library. Help from a custodian???? You've got to be kidding!!!! They supposedly vacuum each night, but the area behind the desk and in the office might get done once a semester! Saranne: Except for summer cleaning, most of what you ask is done by me or parent volunteers. Kaylene: I've done this for 25 years, in 3 schools but all in the same district. Here are my 2 cents worth. Most often Media Center stored equipment so no cleaning was done over summer. Now equipment stays in rooms and I can get some cleaning done such as blinds. Marty: Keeping the tables in our library is a major job. It practically needs to be done daily with hundreds of kids and germs visiting. We also have a graffiti problem that we have to keep on top of. The custodian will help us remove some of the permanent stuff--on table and shelves. We seem pretty dusty and the computers have to be carefully cleaned also (At my other school my circulation computer got mites--I haven't dusted the insides of these computers) Thanks, This was an experience! Computer is not my forte. I may not make the same mistake twice, but I sure come closer than any man-made measurement can detect. Miriam Travis, Librarian JF Kennedy HS Richmond, CA iyaterri@jps.net We give thanks to the creator for life. We live life abundantly. Be good to yourselves and have a most perfect day. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-= All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law. To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), send email to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST 4) SET LM_NET MAIL * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv For LM_NET Help & Archives see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=