LM_NET: Library Media Networking
I sent out a query about whether or not HS LMC's were open at night.
Again, there were requests for a hit. So here it is. Thanks everyone who
replied.
ORIGINAL QUERY:
There has been some discussion in my town about opening the LMC up at
night for the community to use. (not for meetings, this already
happens!) If you do this in your town, can you tell me how successful it
is?
Do alot of people use the school LMC at night?
Is it students or community members?
Do they use mostly print or non-print?
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Our school board wants the library open evenings, so we are open 4
nights a week (M-Th) from 5:45-9:15. A person is hired to supervise (no
library experience or training, but after all, a warm body can do this
job!) ;-) We also have an ITV room, mostly unused, nearby, so the
evening person is responsible for this. I would say that the library is
used mostly for the computers. We have 19 hooked up to the Internet.
Students will come in as needed for word processing. On the downside,
people tend to "mess up" the computers probably trying to outwit our
filters, and when I try to use the machines in the morning, we often
have problems - some small, some big.
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we received a grant and opened up one night a week - even giving books
away for free we never go more than 25 people or so and most were
faculty
members. I think it's a good idea but will take longer to catch on. We
do
it by request now.
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Our LMC is open for students only an additional 3 hours after school.
While it provides a great service, it is underused even after 5 years of
operation. We have a part-time librarian (retired from another high
school) and a clerk "man" the library.
So who uses it? Student avoiding gang members. Students legitimately
studying. Students who would otherwise go home to an empty house. And,
especially athletes who get out of practice too late for the afterschool
bus, and too early for the late, athletic bus.
BTW, while most do some homework, many of the students want to use the
Internet after school.
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We are trying this on a trial basis right now. We are open one night a
week for an extra 5 hours. We have had from 2-14 users per night,
mostly
students, mostly using the computer to do research or type up reports.
Our 7-12 school population is 400. When I make a recommendation for
next
year, I will probably suggest that we still stay open at least one night
a
week, but not for 5 hours. Very few people come in after 8 o'clock.
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We tried it about 4 years ago. We are in the midst of library heaven
here
- a large university library behind us and the best of the public
library
branches in our school district, so, we found little use in the
evening.
Our use was mostly students. Our collection (and the school library's
mission) is really different from the PL, so there wasn't much interest.
Student use, and then the time limits it to those older ones, who drive.
Print, but no check out.
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We have a grant to keep our high school open two nights a week. so far
the attendance is light to say the least 0-5 students. We announce it
each T-TH, put a sign on the lmc door, but few comers. The other two
high
schools which have been doing this onger get 10-12 students on a good
night. Our public library has decreased circulation. I wonder if this
could have something to do with kids being able to do research at home
online?
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This has come up for discussion in my district as well. The majority
felt that most people have computers at home, therefore negating the
need for computer access, and we are also connected to the district
public libraries through the OPAC and interloan, so it was determined to
be unnecessary. We are open for 45 minutes before school and for 1 hour
after school, however. We did an informal survey with students and most
said they wouldn't come back up to the school later in the day - they'd
prefer to do their homework at home. We also made it clear that if we
were going to offer library services after hours that it would require
employing a certified library media specialist, otherwise we weren't
really offering library services. We stressed this point. Of course,
paying another teacher's salary is not usually on top of the list of
ways for administrator's to spend their money.
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We have opened our high school library in the evenings since 1986. We
do have a small (1,000) children's collection of materials there. We
fund this through the local city council. They give us money to pay for
an evening library clerk. However, in recent years our school board has
indicated that they feel this is a valuable community service for our
students as well as others so this year we expanded the number of hours
we are open and added summer hours with our board paying the difference
in cost.
Evening hours have always generated some use but it was low until we
added 20+ internet computers to our library. The use skyrocketed. Now
it is an even mix between our own students and community members.
Circulation of print has remained steady through the years so the
increase is tied to internet use.
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I am a library media specialist at Bristol Eastern High School in
Bristol, Ct. WE have been experimenting with having the library open
one evening a week since January. Tonight is the last night for the
year. I am the only certified staff member and I work from 7:00 A.M. to
8>00 P.M. on Tuesdays. I have had some students (very few) every night
that I have worked and a few (very few) have come with a parent. It is
supposed to be open to the public as well, with the understanding that
books will only circulate to students. However, I have not done much
publicity in the community because I have some real concerns about
security. The public library has a guard on duty in the evenings....
Now I can go to my car,l and it will still be light, but all winter long
I had some concerns about that as well as being pretty vulnerable to
anyone who wanted to saunter in.... I think that if your administration
is serious about having the library open that is one aspect that should
be addressed. Frankly, I could be open until 5:00 every day and have
lots of students.......after that, I don't think that it is worth the
money that they are paying me to stay. Too few students make use of it
to be worth my time or their money. If you have any other questions,
please feel free to send me a return e-mail.
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My library opened up on Monday nights after our city library closed. We
advertised heavily, but only a handful of public come in. The ones who
want to use a library go 20 miles to another PL. My asst. and I found
the evenings deadly and were ready to go home at 6:30 (we are open until
8pm) so I started offering very basic internet classes to the public and
my Monday's have been filled, with extra classes being offered. This
will end in June, as will the grant that kept us open. I've met a
segment of the community that I wouldn't have. Many retirees. For me,
that was worth it. We do have a small group of students who choose to
stay and hang out, but other students are gone by 4:30 and that usage
wasn't consistent enough to try this again. So, meeting the public was
great, we provide a Monday night "home" for a few, but the energy level
drops after 5!
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We did this last year. I was paid $25 per hour, worked 4 hours a night
for 24 weeks. I had few patrons, mainly students, most just surfing.
It
was a great time to get caught up on work.
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We are a small town with about 280 kids K-12. With a grant last year, we
funded extended library hours on Tuesday nights from 6 - 8 p.m.. This
allowed the community to come and use the internet, etc. The aide who
manned the station had cookies, and advertised well, but we only had a
handful of people take advantage of it. As she said, it attracted the
'left-at-home'crowd of kids and they were the regulars. I'm going to try
it
again next year, though. We paid the aide $10 per hour for two hours a
week.
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Last year, attempts were made to keep the HS open at night. Parent
volunteers tried for 8 months to have extended day hours (an additional
hour on 2 days past the hour we already keep it open) and for 2 hours
(7-9P.M) on Wed. nite. It was an absolute failure; noone showed up to
use it. Part of issue is that afternoons students are bussed; those
with cars usually have jobs. At night, students can go to college or
large public libraries. The idea was that the computers could be used by
the public to do taxes or college financial aid forms. I felt that this
could be done at our two computer labs outside the library and not
involve me or my staff. To be honest I was opposed to the idea. I felt
that there was a safety issue in asking anyone to work alone in an
isolated part of a building.
I also felt there was no curriculum need. When surveyed all but 5 frosh
owned home computers and research in out curriculum appears to me to be
done at home on the INTERNET. I am usually here at least 1/2 before
school starts and I never have students clamoring to get in for library
materials. The only line is to use our copy machine!
Sharon Hamer Library Media Specialist
Hopkinton Middle/High School 508-497-9820 x106
88 Hayden Rowe St. Fax 508-497-9829
Hopkinton, MA 01748
Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time--Steven Wright
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