LM_NET: Library Media Networking
Thanks for all the reponses! My collegue was very appreciative. Here is =
the original question and the responses.
We are planning to have a schoolwide Book Swap at our middle school to =
generate interest in reading. What suggestions do librarians have about =
how to organize a book swap effectively?
If you have time, space and staff a good way is to
issue coupons to students as they bring books in.
Someone checks for OKness of books, sorts thems and
then stduents can redeem their coupons. I also try to
put in a few books myself so there are good choices.
Advertising might include something about cleaning up
your room or high cost of new books.
Have fun.
If you have time, space and staff a good way is to
issue coupons to students as they bring books in.
Someone checks for OKness of books, sorts thems and
then stduents can redeem their coupons. I also try to
put in a few books myself so there are good choices.
Advertising might include something about cleaning up
your room or high cost of new books.
Have fun.
One suggestion is: Instead of "swapping" books directly, as students bring
in a book give them a ticket which can be "swapped" for a book anytime
during the book swap. You might even have some tickets worth more than
others. For instance, a hardback might be 2 points while a paperback would
be 1 point.
I have what we call Trade-a-Book-Week near the end of school each year and
it is very popular.have done a grades 4-5-6 paperback swap during National =
Library Week
for the past two years...
A couple of suggestions that helped us run smoothly, but that may not
be needed at your level:
1. We had a limit of 5 titles at a time.
2. We included only paperbacks
3. We had about 100 donated paperbacks we used to augment the sel=20
ection
3. We had the students bring their books in the week before so we=20
could weed out those inappropriate for our classes (4-5-6th
grades) like the ones who brought Mom's books...Yes, this =20
=20
meant bookkeeping chores, to record who brought how many=20
books...We're small, so it worked.
Our kids have really loved it--bet it goes over well on the high school
level, too--more publicity, have it in a VERY visible location.
Have fun with it!We had a Book Swap last May in connection with our Read =
In. The remedial
reading teacher handled the details. Books were collected by the homeroom
teachers who were asked to quickly flip through the books for appropriate
content (no religious books, etc.) and condition. This was done the week
before the actual swap. Children then received a coupon. They could swap
up to 3 books. The reading teacher then collected all the books and =
sorted
them according to type (picture books, chapter books, etc.) On the day of
the swap children came in at lunch time and picked out the books they
wanted and turned in their coupons. It worked really well.
Good luck.I'm at an elementary school. I hold a book swap the last Friday =
of each
month. It took almost three years for it to really take off. So one,
don't be discouraged if your swap isn't a raging success the first time
out. Kids can be very forgetful, even when it's something they want to
do. I would imagine with middle school some of the kids that would like
to participate will 'hang' back and see if it's a cool thing to do or
not. Two, try to have an extra supply of used books on hand to 'prime
the pump' as it were. Hit the teachers up for books their children no
longer want, all age of books, because you will find the kids will want
to take a book home to a younger sibling. Check out garage sales or
thrift stores for an inexpensive source. Ask a used book store to
donate some age appropriate books, have them place their name in the
book as a free advertisement for an incentive. Talk the teachers into
an adult book exchange at the same time so students and teachers are
swapping at the same time (reading is cool, we're all doing it!) Three,
get the message out to the kids and parents...school newspaper, signs
posted around campus, banner put in window of library.
Let me know if there's more you'd like to know.
Twice yearly we conduct a bookswap for our primary & intermediate grades.
You probably won't need to do it twice since the stretch between 6 -8 =
grades
is not as broad as K-6 (as in our case). After several years, we have
fine-tuned it down to these rules:
1)requires a LOT of publicity (in our case, we even have to send home =
flyers
to parents)
2)we limit the number of books kids bring in to 4 (because some parents/kid=
s
tend to "clean out" older kiddie books...and bring them in by the shopping
bag.
3)no religious books (prevents parents calling when child comes home with =
a
different religion).
4) must be in good shape (we have our 5-6th grade student council judge
quality when they are collected).
5)the books are collected as the kids get off the bus (we put them on book
carts, shopping carts, big plastic barrels (whatever) and transport them
down to library after busses are gone. As kids hand in books, they =
receive
a ticket (much like a carnival ticket or chance ticket...purchased in big
rolls from party shops). if they lose their tickets, they lose their =
chance
to collect a book.
6) 1 hour is given staff (library staff, PTA volunteers, and student
council) to sort books (we do series...Goosebumps, Nancy Drew, Disney, =
etc.)
and genre.
7)Teachers have previously signed up on a schedule to bring their class =
down
to library to browse and conclude rest of swap...you'll have to adjust =
this
part...kids may do at lunch?, after school?, study hall?...
It's a busy day...we have 940 students in our school and we usually run it
two weeks in a row (we choose a Wed.) one for primary, one for intermediate=
.
We have 39 classes....impossible to fit into one day.
It's always a successful day...good luck!
Almost every year we do a book swap at my high school (1100 students)=20
and probably about 100 kids participate. Students may bring in any=20
paperback in readable condition, so long as it doesn't come from a=20
school or library, and they get one coupon (we design "One coupon=3DOne=20
book at Concord's Book Swap 1999") for each book. We collect books for=20
about 2 weeks ahead, and the swap is held one morning. Just before=20
homeroom we spread out the books around library tables and the coupons=20
are the kids' passes to come in (only those who bring in may "shop"). =20
Because they're not supposed to miss class time, it's all over in about=20
20 minutes. If someone's absent on swap day, there's always plenty to=20
choose from (we always have a couple of extra boxes from donations). We=20
also give out a few coupons to students who have been extra helpful, =
and=20
we find that several teachers who bring in donations share their coupons=20=
with kids who haven't brought books. I have to admit, we get lots of=20
best-selling adult titles (Stephen King, John Grisham) and I resist the=20
temptation to grab some goodies for the library first. If something is=20
incredibly sleazy it doesn't go out for the swap.
Have fun! I ran very successful paperback book swaps at a middle school in =
St.
Charles for several years. (I'm at a high school now & don't see it
working as well at this level.) Here's what I did. First I went to the
local "two for one" used book store with some petty cash and bought a
couple of dozen books so I would have some extras.
When I started publicizing the event, I gave students rules about
the kinds of books that would be appropriate to their age group and told
them that they had to be in good condition. I always ended up taking
some that were pretty shabby--that's why it's good to have some extras
on hand.
We had three book turn-in days first. Students brought in their
books and received a coupon with the number of books they brought in.
Any students bringing in 10 books would get a coupon for 11. A little
extra incentive. (You could keep a notebook instead if you
preferred.) I created signs with different genres, then sorted and
displayed the books at tables. Then for two days, students could come
in by classroom at scheduled times to make their selections. Very few
people left unhappy with what they got.
Hope it works for you.
We have a continual book swap going on at our middle school. When
we were first getting started we gave out coupons for each book brought =
in.
Then when we had quite a few books, the students could come back with =
their
coupons and cash them in for books of their choice. If they couldn't find
anything, they could wait to redeem their coupons at another time. =20
Now that our collection has grown, the students often can find a
book when they come in and don't need to take a coupon. However, we
continue to give them when a student doesn't have time to shop or can't =
find
anything they want at that time. =20
This has seemed to work well for us but we don't get the response =
I
wish we would. Some kids really like it, others don't want to be =
bothered.
Hope this helps!Here's the memo I sent out the last time I had a book =
exchange (I try to do one
every 3 years):
Western Middle School will have a paperback book exchange November =
17 in
celebration of Children=C6s Book Week. The book exchange gives students =
the
opportunity to trade used paperback books. Students are encouraged to =
bring in
only paperback books; if they choose to bring in hardbacks, it should be =
with
the understanding that the hardback book counts as a paperback.
From November 13-15, students can bring in paperback books they no =
longer wish
to own. Please take up the books and make a list of who brought books and =
how
many they brought (ex: John Brown - 2, Kelly Smith - 1, etc.). Send the =
list
and the books to the media center each morning. Judy and I will staple =
the
correct number of tickets (1 per book) to your list and return it to =
you.=20
Please hand out the tickets to the students who brought books (you may =
wish to
wait until Friday so the students won=C6t lose them).
On Thursday, November 16, students with tickets will come to the =
media center
using the following schedule:
6th grade - 3rd period
7th grade - 7th period
8th grade - 5th period
At this time students may exchange their tickets for any books they like. =
In
order to be fair, we will separate books brought by the different grade =
levels,
so 6th graders will only be allowed to choose books brought by other 6th
graders, etc. Please stress to your students that we hope they will find =
books
they like, but we cannot guarantee it. The more books that are brought =
in, the
more choice everyone will have. =20
Please encourage your students to participate!
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