Below is a compilation as of date of the hits from my question of looking for
amunition to preserve clerical/administraive time ( OPEN Times) in the elementary
library schedule.
Thank you for those who answered.
Robert Joyce
virginialibrarymediaspecialist@yahoo.com
State of Virginia
New Arkansas state law just passed this spring
requires us to have 1/3 of our time reserved for
administrative duties.
One of the findings of the "Lance" study on Colorado (and, now, 4 other
states, including Oregon) is that, yes, libraries improve "basic" test
scores, but only if the librarian has at least a half-time aide.
Otherwise, the librarian is almost fully occupied doing "aide" jobs such as
ordering, cleaning, fixing, shelving, etc. At the very least, you might
ask how those lovely books the kids check out (and, theoretically
'find' - in using the catalog and the DDS filing system) get back in their
proper places if you had 'kids' all day. Just the mechanics of keeping a
10,000 item warehouse in order requires some 'non-kid' time. Although
I'm loathe to accept a library as only a "book warehouse", there is that
"necessity of thought" (that maybe a non-librarian, admin-type might,
possibly, relate to?). Does the District Warehouse have "kids all day".
What on earth do they do, then, if there are no kids around?
Under Collection Development, I discuss in every annual report the
things that go into having an item on the shelf. For example, careful
selection of items for our consideration file, coordination of
selection
with our curriculum and independent reading needs, processing steps,
maintenance of our Union Catalog, inservice sessions for staff, etc.
Under Circulation, I always point our that every item has to be checked
out, returned and reshelved. Relating that to the total circulation is
always impressive.
--
This sounds like a job for your union. Do you have a written job
description? Do you have the same guaranteed preparation time as
classroom
teachers and the "other specialists"?
How about keeping a log of what you do during that time to show them that you
really are using the admin/clerical time to do admin/clerical work?
I am a media specialist at a high school. Student use of the facility is quite a
bit different than most elementary schools. I can work my clerical duties into the
daily work schedule because particular periods are generally slow. Do the teachers
at your school have a prep period? Since you should be considered a teacher this
should help your case.
We have had cuts in support staff in our district for the media program and the
elementary media specialist was on the chopping block. I wrote a guest editorial
that appeared in the Binghamton, NY, newspaper and I penned another letter that
went to all the school board members and administrators. The media specialist
position was restored.
One thing that I point out when justifying my one extra planning period
(That was NOT given on purpose - just a fluke of scheduling this year) is
that I am responsible for ordering materials and must make careful choices
to make best use of district funds. For every book I buy, there are at
least 5-10 that I don't, and I've read at least 1-2 reviews for both the
books purchased and the books rejected.
This year each of our teachers was given $400 to spend on classroom
libraries. The one good thing that come from that is a new appreciation
for what goes into ordering books. Until you do it, it sounds like a
no-brainer. There isn't a teacher in my building who doesn't now respect
that aspect of my job. And the district people will always respond well to
the idea of making good use of their money.
Two things that I have held in my head and remind my
principal of whenever she says that the "teachers" wonder
what I do with all my spare time:
1. I was told by a professor that Media Specialists, like
other librarians, manage information. Translation...your
job is to maintain the Media Center and the information
therein which does include a lot of time not spent with
students.
2. I ask her if the teachers think that public librarians
are not working when the library is empty. Are they there
just to manage the patrons?? I think not!
Hope this helps. I would also advise you to have a list of
"other" duties that you perform and the amount of time some
of them take for you and your assistant. Nobody has any
idea how long it takes to get an order ready. My principal
has told me on occasion to spend X number of dollars by
tomorrow or it will be returned to the powers that be.
Arrgh! I am learning to keep lists of wants. I love my
principal but like the others, she really doesn't know or
understand what we do.
My new principal this year decided that my planbook needed to be scheduled
completely, "except for 35 minutes to shelve books." (Apparently, I didn't get any
planning time....). What on earth do you tell them?
I ended up, on my least hard-scheduled day, keeping track of my every minute, from
the time I got there (an hour early, as always) till the time I left, ten hours
later. The next week, I put that in my planbook, with a note that this was a
typical day. She didn't say anything else about it. Of course, she HATES me, but
what the heck. This is a woman who told me that none of the other elementary
schools had OPACs (and I made sure she knew this was the card catalog....) so why
did I think I needed them?
Anyway, pain in the neck though it was, it might be worth your while to log all
your time for a day or two, just to have that documentation. Why they think we
need a MLS to check books in and out I have no clue. What do they think we do for
those 32 graduate hours? But it seems they still think that's all we do. Go
figure.
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-
All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation.
LM_NET Help & Information: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
Archive: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.shtml
LM_NET Select/EL-Announce: http://www.cuenet.com/archive/el-announce/
LM_NET Supporters: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ven.html
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-
LM_NET
Mailing List Home