LM_NET: Library Media Networking
Whew! I think I got more than fifty replies in two days! Almost everyone
said they keep the markers (a lot are paint sticks, some are plastic from a
library supply place) in one or two central locations, near the entrance or
on the checkout desk or suchlike. Most people say they have very little
problem with inappropriate use and that they insure this by making the
consequence for any infraction immediate: loss of library borrowing for the
day or sent back to class. Several said that noise made with the sticks is
worse than sword play - slapping on legs or hands or book shelves. One
defined misuse as a stick being higher than a shoulder and making ANY
sound. And several said they stopped using the paint sticks due to the
problems.
Here are some of the ways our colleagues use these:
We practice every time the class comes to the library. I have a class
list and work my way through the list so every child practices in front
of the whole class - "slide the shelf marker next to the book, pull the
book off the shelf, look at the book, make a decision, if you don't want
it put the book back on the shelf next to the shelf marker, spine out,
call number at the bottom"
Many paint the sticks different colors or put shapes or stickers on the
end, so kids can tell which one marks whose book. Then the sticks are
covered with several coats of stuff like polyurethane.
On the other hand
If you are purchasing them, get one color. They like to fight over which
color they get.
I made up a supply of shelf markers using neon
colored poster board. I cut them about 2 1/2 to 3 inches wide and 10 to 12
inches long. I then used old greeting cards to find pictures of animals,
flowers, whatever and pasted the cutouts at the top of the marker then
laminated them to make them last longer. Kids loved them, and because they
were different colors with different pictures, they could recognize their
own markers when they left one in the shelves.
Rather than shelf markers that are "permanent" I give students a new bookmark
each time they come to library from a nicely displayed basket at the door.
These are photocopies from THE BOOKMARK BOOK. The student is to write
their last name and class on the back of the bookmark; use it as a shelf
marker; bring it to the desk for check out so that we (the computer) doesn't
have to guess at the correct spelling of your last name; take the book mark
with you to use this week. The book marks are theme/month/holiday/season
/Dewey/ etc. oriented.
We now make a marker for each child with his/her name and homeroom on it.
They are strips of white construction paper about 3 by 18 inches. We
laminate them all at the beginning of the
year. They stick out nice and far between books on the shelves, hold up
well for a year, and are totally useless for whacking. I laminated bulletin
board borders to use. It lasts longer, and I
don't find that they use them as swords (like paint sticks) because they
are flexible.
We use an attractive book mark glued to a much larger sheet of construction
paper and then laminated. About 8"X 4" These are housed in a magazine
storage box in the middle of the library. They are too floppy to use for
whacking.
I introduced the shelf-markers by singing the Hokey Pokey song with the
markers: You put the marker in; you pull the good book out; you put the
book back in then you take the marker out. You go up to the desk and you
check a good book out...that's what it's all about! Demonstrate while
singing! Have fun.
We currently use wooden rulers as the school had done before. They are kept
in a coffee can on the end of one shelf in the E section. The children tend
to leave them at the
check-out counter so I added a return can there.
We call them browse boards, as they help you 'shop' for your book. I keep
mine in a plastic tub right near the door to the library. That's where
they 'live' when they aren't helping you browse for your library books.
I have used the paint stick, (actually they are 12 inch rulers) shelf
markers for the past 5 years with very good results. Being a K-8
Library/Media Center I deal with a broad age of students. I have the shelf
markers placed on the shelves, 3-5 for every vertical section of shelves in
the room. I have found that the students will use them if they are within
easy reach of where they are, but they won't go out of their way to pick one
up. I ask that ALL the students use them all the time. Nothing makes a
bigger impression on the primary students than to see the Middle School
students using a shelf marker.
Thanks, everyone, for some great ideas!
---------------------
Johanna Halbeisen, Teacher Librarian
Woodland Elementary School (preK-4)
80 Powder Mill Rd.
Southwick, MA 01077
johanna@massed.net
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