I agree with Diane about opening. And, to be honest it will NEVER be
perfect.
Another option to the word document for check out would be an excel
spreadsheet with the same premise. It would, however allow you to quickly
enter a student's name and the title of the book checked out - which would
be deleted when the book was returned. With the excel you could sort the
list as well and if you could enter a column with the name of the homeroom
teachers then you could even sort by teacher so they could have a list of
what their students have checked out.
*************************************
Nancy L. Strassner
Library Resource Specialist
Fayette County Public Schools
859-381-3883
nstrassn@fayette.k12.ky.us
-----Original Message-----
From: Diane Lungaro [mailto:dianelu@YAHOO.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2003 10:30 AM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Should I let them in the library ?
The following is part of a message from Amanda:
There is a real lack of understanding about my job, what libraries are
for, etc. My goal is to eventually have at least the lower classes come
in once a week for class checkout time, and I wanted to give every
grade at least an orientation session. But I always envisioned doing this
once the books had all been cataloged, and the opac set up. You might
remember that my director/principal is not too supportive, having made
comments like, "Well, it's been nine weeks--why isn't the library ready
yet?" This is a new library with about 3,000 books to be cataloged, and
I am just part-time. Part of me says I should bring them in and find
something to show or tell the classes, so that they can see what has been
done, what needs to be done, etc. I am also tempted to do this, just to
get people off my back, and so that I don't feel so "small" all the
time. But the other side of me thinks they are lucky to even have the
library open, given all the work there is to do (lots of schools close
until the library is ready). I should mention that, right now, kids do come
in on their own,
individually to check out books. So, should I schedule each of the classes
for
just one session now, and maybe just give an overview of fiction vs.
non-fiction, or should I wait until I can have them come in on a weekly
basis to check out books, once it's all been cataloged?
My response: I believe that only another media specialist can truly
understand what goes on in a school library during the course of a day. Of
course we can try to convince others, like administrators and teachers, that
we really are extremely busy. Occasionally some "lay" person may understand
and see the light. Many will not. That being said, I do not think you
should wait to open your library until you are completely ready. I know it
will make your job harder and things won't get accomplished as quickly, but
PR and perspective are both important parts of our jobs as school
librarians. My library was a disaster area when I started in September. It
actually wasn't safe for students to be in the room, due to panels of wood
and sheets of glass leaning against bookshelves. My first priority was to
make it possible for everyone to safely walk into the library. Once that
was accomplished I started to make a list of projects that needed to be
done. It was an absolutely
HUGE
list !!! Panic set it, then calm and logic followed (thank God !). By the
end of September, I was teaching all of our 6th grade Language Arts students
one period, every other week. I also developed a sign-in chart for teachers
and passed out a memo asking for a minimum of 1 week's notice before they
brought in their classes. I explained to them that I needed that time to
pull materials and make trips to local public libraries to supplement our
out-dated and minimal book collection. I will be the first to admit, it is
not always easy finding a happy medium, but I believe that I have made 99%
of the staff happy with my choices. The bottom line is, it is going to take
me MUCH longer to do what I need to do in this room, but as long as most
people are happy, I think that's the way to go. You probably are going to
have to be creative and make modifications when the students come in, if
your OPAC isn't working and your books aren't all cataloged. I spent a full
year withou
t a
shelf list or card catalog and the OPAC was down and not going to be fixed.
I typed a 30 page table in Microsoft Word and typed every child's name into
it. Then when they checked out their books, I typed the title next to their
name. I deleted it when the book was returned. I did not have an
assistant, but I did work full-time. Was this horribly time-consuming and
annoying for me ? Of course it was, but the bottom line is, we need to
provide our services to our children. If you keep the library closed till
you're done weeding, processing books, etc. you may be closed so long that
you've perpetuated the myth of the librarian having "nothing to do".
I hope you find some of my suggestions useful. I wish you good luck in your
endeavors.
Diane
Diane Lungaro, librarian
dianelu@yahoo.com
Sussex Middle School
Sussex-Wantage Regional Schools District
Sussex, NJ 07461
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