Response: Intershelving AR or not

[cfiner <cfiner@mail.newfound.k12.nh.us>]

Marion wrote:

Dear Colleagues:

Help!  I am confronted with the teacher who doesn't
understand why I don't  want to "set aside all the AR books
in a separate area" to make finding the  books easier for
students.  She won't deal with me directly, she only goes
to the principal, so I can't seem to get across to her how
many books we're  talking about.

<snip>

IMHO, you are right on target. First, there are standards for
organizing libraries: the Dewey Decimal and LC systems. You
are the one trained in their use and the teacher should not
be second-guessing your expertise.

Second, the principal (again, just my opinion) should not be
talking with another teacher about you and/or your program
when you're not present. It's just not professional.

By intershelving the ARs with the general collection, you are
promoting the latter. A good thing. A very good thing. AR is
great, but intershelving will expose your shelf browsers to
more of the collection. It's not my job to make 'finding the
books easier.' It's my job to teach students to 'access,
comprehend, analyze, interpret and apply' information. If
that means their using the catalog or taking longer to
browse, so be it.

This may be your opportunity to take students on a tour of
the library, showing them how AR and the rest are
intershelved. If you tell them why you've done it, you've
created a dandy Teachable Moment.

Finally, the teacher might be told, gently and professionally,
that you will respect the way she operates her classes.
Despite the fact that not every teacher does everything
exactly the same and that there are more than a couple of
ways of doing things, you will refrain from going to the
principal and suggesting to him how she might do things
better. Maybe she'll get the hint.

Good luck and hang in there!



--
Chris Finer, Librarian
Newfound High School
Bristol, NH, USA

<cfiner@newfound.k12.nh.us>

"Throw away the garbage. Otherwise
you will be impressed with how much you have
and discouraged by how little there is."
                                       --Ernst Haas
--

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