Thanks to everyone who responded to my request for feedback on working
with a school elementary library with no planned collection budget. This
library makes money to use for the collection through two book fairs and
donations.
Summary: Half the responses were sympathetic and encouraging, with
suggestions for good fund-raising ideas. The other half said "Run away
very fast!!"
Maggi Rohde, Children's Librarian
Canton Public Library, MI
maggi@intranet.org
------
RESPONSES
(This is only about 2/3 of the responses, as I was responding to and
deleting posts before someone asked for a HIT.)
Okay Before you panic. Find out how much is usually donated. Then put
togethr the list of books that you need. Find out if you are in charge of
the book sale and can order the books you want. Do families donate a book
everytime a kid has a birthday? make sure that it is one from your wish
list. Then start campaigning for a line budget for reference and currulum
support materials.
----
I have a collection budget, but I also get a lot of books from the
bookfair, PLUS the vouchers they give after the profits are in. I also
supplement my collection budget with profits from bookfair. I'd say
that amounts to almost $13,000.
I have two fair per year, grossing almost $25K. The first thing I do
is pull at least one copy of most hardcovers and two copies of the "Dear
Diaries" series. I also pull any hard copies and at least one paper
copy of each Bluebonnet book (the state award list). Then I get a
couple copies of the "big sellers" of the fair. This amounts to about
$1000 each fair.
I also receive about $450 in free product vouchers, per fair, after my
sales figures are in. These must be purchased from a specific catalog,
but I get big books and a pretty good selection from that.
Finally, I net between $8-10K in profits. While PTO helps me run the
fair, the profits are all mine. This is what really helps me. My
collection budget was about $6K this year for materials, I spent almost
twice that.
This is an upper middle class Dallas suburb with VERY involved parents.
My students (app. 570 in a K-5 school) love to read. When I do a
"doughnuts with Dad" event, I get at least 150 dads in here--I've never
seen so many Dads in an elementary school at one time!
----
I'd run the other way screaming. You'd be forced to accept donations of
junk and wouldn't be able to support the curriculum at all.
----
My library had no budget for many years. (Thankfully, I now do, although
it's still not what it should be.) There are many ways to supplement a
too-small or non-existent budget. These are some of the ways I did / do
it:
1) I run two book fairs a year, fall and spring, and have all the profits
from them to use.
2) I encourage donations. Many of our books, especially those for
younger readers, come from school families whose children have "outgrown"
them.
3) I have formed friendships with other librarians in our local public
schools and public library. Many times I have been able to get books and
other materials newly discarded by them that are still in excellent shape
and not too old for my purposes. Sometimes duplicate copies may be
discarded simply because of space considerations; there's nothing wrong
with them.
4) For several years I was able to use some of what was called Chapter 2
money -- Federal funds distributed to schools. These funds must now be
used to pay for our mandated statewide testing program for fourth and
seventh graders (we have no other way to pay for them) and so are not
available for library usage anymore, but this might not be a consideration
in Michigan. Check into where your school district's federal funds are
going.
5) Our school runs an annual fund drive. (We are, of course, a
non-profit organization, and donations to us are tax-deductible.) I have
several friends and family members, and I myself, who donate to this
annual fund drive and who earmark their pledges for the library. The
library usually earns about $1000 per year this way.
6) This year I'm having an author speak to the school in May (Patricia
Polacco! I'm so excited!). I've arranged with a local bookstore to have
several of her titles available here at the school for the children to buy
the day of her talks. Since I will be handling the sales table, the
library will get a percentage of the book sales.
7) I attend librarians' and teachers' conferences of various types
whenever I am able. There are very often "freebies" available for
librarians at these events. Just visit the various vendors' tables and
mention that you are a LIBRARIAN, and see what you can get. Teachers
sometimes are not eligible for these items, so be sure to say you are a
librarian. These items can be everything from a book (especially samples
of such things as Perma-Bound or Turtleback books, for example) to a
poster of Newberry or Caldecott medal winners (often provided by
Perma-Bound), to various fun items you can use as students rewards.
8) Various companies (such as World Book, for example) offer promotional
programs which can result in a free set of encyclopedias for your library.
Check into these.
There are other ways to get money and/or materials, too, but this gives
you some ideas. Don't give up just because you have no budget. You can
still do a lot! It's just more work.
----
You might want to check to see if they get any federal or state monies
that are earmarked for libraries. Perhaps what they meant was that they
don't budget any money from the school itself for library books, instead
they depend on the federal and/or state monies and the donations from the
book fairs supplements that. When I worked for a small school that was
having financial difficulties that was how I managed to get what materials
I needed.
----
I find that I spend roughly 3,000 of my salary getting books. I don't do
this at one time, but I see a good buy and I pick up a book. Later, I
need a book that I don't have to do a lesson on and I go out and get it.
Last year, when I tallied up the receipts for income tax purposes I found
that I had spent 3,000 dollars. I also can't do a book fair or other fund
raiser so I am stuck.
----
I would RUN - not walk away from this school. There is a quote somewhere
to the effect of the measure of school's commitment to learning can be
measured by their library. This kind of situation is absolutely criminal!
----
Personally, I would not work there. What is the point? A school that
does not have a library budget at all does not value its library very
much. I would definitely look elsewhere.
----
Forget it. That school is nuts!
----
I am currently in that situation, all my book purchasing money comes from
the proceeds from my bookfair. It does provide an incentive to do well at
the bookfair. Every 2 or 3 years I do get to go and ask the Superintendent
for money to buy Encyclopedias and other reference books, which does help
a little. This is a fairly affluent suburb, but the community does not
like to spend money on the schools, so we make do. This is by no means an
ideal situation, but if you have a sympathetic administration, and you can
present a good case,=A0they can sometimes find extra money for special
purposes.
----
Run away!! Don't apply, that's unworkable if want to have a decent media
center for the students. I don't get much, byt each year it's improving!
----
I am curious as to what kind of school would routinely not give its
library a book budget. Is it a private school?
Many of us must do without a book budget when the district has a
financial crisis. We get books however we can--using book fair
money, donations, grants, etc. However, in normal times, the library
should be given a budget and if you do take the job, I would do it
with an eye to lobbying those in charge to give you a budget.
I think my main concern is not the lack of a book budget for a year
or two, but what kind of collection the library has if this situation
has been going on for many, many years. It would not be fun to work
in a library with a poor collection.
----
Have several fund raisers. In a course I am taking, we have discussed
this issue. One librarian sells bagels to the h.s. students every
morning for more money for books. One has a "wear a hat to school day"
and for 50 cents, donated to the library, the student that pays gets to
wear a hat to school on that day.
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