LM_NET: Library Media Networking
ORIGINAL Inquiry/question: ( I hope this helps others and will update =
if more replies are received)
I know this is early to ask, but June will be here before we can buy =
=3D
tanning lotion ! My situation is working at two elementary schools =3D
with one school closing and my other school and another school receiving =
=3D
the collection and contents of my old library. So...... has anyone had =
=3D
experience at closing a library where a school closed? What should and =
=3D
needs to be considered? done? kept? discarded? When should classes =
=3D
end? What kind of timeline needs consideration? ANYTHING I forgot is =
=3D
also appreciated.
The media centers are automated. Please consider that as you answer.
SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA SUPERVISORS/DIRECTORS are ESPECIALLY welcomed to =
=3D
reply.
robert@gcronline.com
Halifax County, Virginia
-------------------------------
I decided to write to you in case I am the best one out there to help =
you. I hope not.=20
I have closed one elem. library, opened two and moved a whole collection =
out of one into another. If one collection is going to another school. =
The person at the school=20
where is collection is going needs to come and take what is beneficial =
to their collection before the collection is open to the options you =
have decided. Mark boxes as specifically as possible when you are =
packing. Then you make the decisions on what is left. Does that help =
as step one? Feel free to email me about questions . I can not get my =
aol mail at school so I will not be able to answer until the evening. =
I never found any steps or procedures put out to help us so I just went =
blindly into the job. Even the supervisors on the county level did not =
give much direction. You are smart to gather info and good luck to you. =
It is hard physically too so just take one day at a time and do not =
turn down any help! =20
Eleven years ago I opened a new library. Our students were from 4 =
schools
that were overcrowed. About 7 years before that, I combined 2 schools =
that
were closed due to condition and age and both collections were put into =
a
new school. I weeded both libraries first. I boxed and labeled the =
books.
They were moved to the new library and dumped into the middle of the =
floor.
I separated the boxes and unpacked the books and shelved them, only to
discover that I did not have enough room and had to weed again. I think =
you
are at an advantage because you are shelving one collection into =
another.
You can weed both collections, you know what you have and need in both
libraries. You might have to shift the books when you add the new ones. =
I
had to shift a couple of times because I had to estimate how much room =
each
section would take on the shelves before I unpacked them. You should =
close
the library as soon as you are able after Easter to move and shelve. =
You
will have to interfile the shelflist. Will you then do inventory? This
will also have to be done with AV. It is a big job. I hope that you =
will
have some good parent help. Let me know how it goes or if I can help =
with
any info. I moved to our new school because our principal got to open =
the
new school when ours became overcrowed and I wanted to continue to work =
with
him. Both jobs, opening a new library and combining two libraries were =
BIG
jobs
Back in the dark ages, before automation, we had a school close and the
library divided between the other elementary schools in the county. The
collection was weeded thoroughly and the remainder was divided by
percentage of former students going to remaining schools. I remember
being given every 5th book or so on the shelf. I remember some swapping
being done because when we ended up with books that caused a glut in one
area. It helped that in many cases my glut filled someone else's
holes. However you decide to do the division, it should be easier to
download the records of the books sent to the various schools than it
was to try to pull the catalog cards. UGH! Took years to clean out
problems that caused.
You are smart to start thinking about the closing of a library media=20
center now. The best thing you can do is weed and when you think you=20
are done, weed again. We have closed two schools, but in both cases=20
the collections were going to only one school. We did not have to=20
change any barcodes as we figured we would know where the materials=20
belonged. You might, however, want to change barcodes in one school.=20
Generally the media specialist kept duplicate copies of reference=20
books that were heavily used, award winning books such as Caldecott=20
and Newbery winners, and books they know were popular in the school.=20
Of course the curriculum played a big part in what was kept. The rest=20
of the materials were made available to other library media centers=20
and then teachers.
In one case the school closed a couple of weeks early and in the case=20
the school did not close early. We did, however, had paid time to=20
work after the end of the school year and before the beginning of the=20
next year to do what needed to be done. Each media specialist and=20
para educator had a week to work and they got to decide when they=20
needed to work the days. I would strongly suggest try for some extra=20
time.
We did the weeding during the school year which helped at the end.=20
The first building we closed we had to make change our district union=20
catalog. We hired the para educator to do this and she worked 4 hours=20
a day for about a month. This involved about 6000 records. We did not=20
have to do this for the last building we closed. We did not restamp=20
items going to the new school, but you may need to as you are sending=20
the collection to different schools. We did put new barcodes on and=20
restamp the items that went to schools other than the one where the=20
students and the majority of the collection was being transferred.
In both cases the media specialists were able to find Boy Scouts who=20
needed an Eagle Scout project to organize the packing of the items.=20
It took about two days to do the packing. All boxes were labeled as=20
to the content, including call numbers. One thing I would recommend=20
is to not pack books with the spine up. I am in a school this year=20
which moved from an older facility and we have a lot of spine damage=20
from boxes sitting on top of each other.
I took a new position three years ago. I went from one K-8 media center =
to 6=20
K-6 media centers. After the first year the district closed the =
smallest and=20
oldest school. I asked for and received an extended contract for the =
summer. =20
I then armed myself with an inventory of each school and went to work. =
I=20
weeded mercilessly. I compared inventories to see which school should =
get=20
what. I was alone and the summer went fast. I now am left with 13 =
boxes of=20
duplicate books and as I go from school to school each week I make =
decisions=20
about titles that can be replaced with a copy in better condition. At =
the end=20
of this year I will decide what to do with the final bits and =
pieces...book=20
sale ( altho I hate to have them ) give to charity ( but they are all=20
barcoded ) or something???
Now is the time to seriously weed the receiving schools. Take=20
them down to bare bones. (and box the stuff before it goes in the=20
dumpster so "teachers" don't bring it back into the building!) Then=20
you can decide what needs to come from the closing school. =20
Think about shelving. Will you be bringing shelves with you?
Equipment, tables?
Can you get extra dollars for next year to fill in holes in your=20
collection?
Being there when they pack up the old school is an advantage. A=20
lot of "stuff" goes into the trash when it could be gold for you. I=20
found whole Ellison letter sets and a fantastic set of paper machie=20
dinosaurs in the trash.
I was at Landstuhl, Germany when Mainz Elementary closed. =20
Their librarian retired on Thursday night, and they turned the library=20
over to me on Friday morning. No problem with who was in control. =20
My windfall for help was using scouts to help me get everything on=20
the shelves. On 10 July there were 10,000 items in boxes on the=20
library floor. The shelving was in the gym. I worked 3 Boy Scout=20
Eagle projects and one Girl Scout Silver Award. We opened on 20=20
August; on time. =20
have closed up and moved 2 libraries and it can be a great experience
.
I hope that you have started already and am weeding as much as you
possibly can Don't take any junk- books in poor condition, or out of
date . If in doubt, throw it out=20
Do a little at a time and it will not seem o tedious=20
Find out the district policy on whether or not you can give away or
throw out what you no longer need . Personally don't give to teachers -
they are great junk collectors. .
One good thing about this is that you can use this as a basis for a five
year plan to improve your collection in the new school .
You can objetively look at the weaknesses and strengths=20
do you work any summer hours? I have closed and packed a library, moved
to a temp location and reopened a library. all of these operations take
time, plus you will have alot of data to relocate and not to mention you
want to get as many books back in as early as possible. plus do you
plan to weed a lot of materials. My suggestion is that you close one
month early to begin all the necessary tasks that you will need to
accomplish in order to move materials. think thru what tasks and then
allow days or weeks according to the tasks. By
the way how big is the collection
One suggestion is to do a hefty weeding. See these links:
http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/weed/
http://www.dlapr.lib.az.us/cdt/weeding.htm
http://www.iema-ia.org/IEMA209.html
Four years
ago I was involved in the consolidation of three elementary libraries =
into
one new school library built for 1300 students It
was an experience I'll never forget - terrific professional growth I =
like to
remind myself. =20
Our timeline was a June closing of the three older schools and a =
September
opening of the new school. During the year prior to the closing, the
librarians at the three schools did extensive weeding based on age, use =
and
condition. After that we had a shelf list run that combined the three
schools' holdings and again weeded based on numbers of copies. We =
closed
the libraries at the beginning of June and began packing. It took all =
month
but that depends on the help you have. We packed boxes in shelf order =
as
much as possible and labeled the number range on the top and sides so we
could always see what was in a box no matter how it was stacked. The =
move
took place at the end of June. When the boxes came from the three =
schools
we directed the movers to place them in 100's number locations (or =
fiction,
everybody, professional, etc. as needed). Even with all of the weeding =
that
was done, more was required as we merged the collections. (We had the =
added
benefit of a new budget for replacing books so Follett took our merged
collection and came up with a list of "holes" based on the review =
sources
and a few other parameters I asked them to use.) Even with all of the
planning we did, it was difficult to anticipate how much room any given
group of books was going to take. We had to shift books on shelves many
times before everything was in its right place. It took about a month to
unpack and organize but again, that depends on your help.
My best advice is to do as much planning and organizing before the books
come together. That should make the job go as smoothly as possible.
I have since left the elementary school and I'm now the head librarian =
at
Hayfield Secondary School in Fairfax County. Why did I move? This =
library
is going through a renovation and all of the books will have to be =
packed
and moved as the renovation takes place - I just couldn't get enough.
. My real best advice is to maintain a sense of humor. Good
luck!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=
All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law.
To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST, etc.) 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 see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
Archives: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.shtml
See also EL-Announce for announcements from library media vendors:
http://www.mindspring.com/~el-announce/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=
LM_NET
Mailing List Home