Like many of you, I am facing the new year with changes due to budget cuts.
My elementary school is grades k-4 and will be approximately 750 students in 35
homerooms (we are losing students to a new school---in the past we have had
around 976 students and 56 homerooms). In the spring my principal told me that
due to our downsizing and budget cuts I had a decision to make.....I could
keep my para and be part of the rotation (prep time for teachers) or I could not
have a para and remain flexible. I weighed the pros and cons and sought out
the advice of the district consultant. I decided that I would prefer to stay
flexible and not have a full time para---my reasoning was the fact that with
outside duties my para would actually only be in the library maybe 2 hours in the
morning and 2 hours in the afternoon (and would probably be pulled when a sub
was needed). I also knew that we would not be able to have other classes in
the library while rotation was going on because we would probably have two
classes at a time. So I made my decision---as it turns out after the budget
cuts.....there was not enough paras to go around---so I would not have had a para
even if I had asked for one. I must also say this decision really bothered my
principal. She is very supportive of the library. I saw her again last week
before she left for vacation and she told me she had went back over everything
trying to find a way....but could not. I also did some checking and found out of
the 64 schools in our district I think about 12 will be without a para. I have
decided that I would spend some time this summer planning for the new year. My
principal has told me to think about it and decide what we need to do....she
is really trying...she did tell me she would make sure I had a para at least
an hour each day to do shelving and other tasks that I could think of.
OK now that I have told you my long story ....I need advice. For the past two
years I have had total flexible scheduling. Teachers scheduled weekly for
checkout, lessons, story time, research, etc. Teachers could schedule whole
groups or small groups. We also allowed for drop in classes ---you know spur of the
moment --I really need to look this up or we have a few minutes can we do a
mini lesson. We tried to integrate the lesson and collaborate to make the
library time part of the curriculum. I also had a system where each classroom had
passes for individual visits to the library for book check out, research and
pleasure reading (we have a new library with a special reading room for kids to
relax and read for fun). We also have a conference room in the library that is
used for viewing of videos and special activities (we try to tie these to the
library ---for example a video on Edison would be followed up by a brief
lesson on the biography section of the library. We averaged over 300 kids a day.
I would like to change as little as possible but I know I must because I
can't do a two person job by myself. I had thought about teaching teachers (or
maybe a few students) to check out books (we use Dynix). But I still need to be
available to help with problems. My idea was to try Monday, Wednesday, Friday
for book check out, teacher assisted research and passes (of all kinds) and
Tuesday and Thursday for scheduled lessons, story times and possibly pleasure
reading and research on passes. I know I need some kind of routine for teachers.
I did talk to a few teachers and they do not want a fixed schedule---they like
to be able be flexible about their library visits.
I would appreciate any ideas....is there anyone in this situation that can
give me an idea of what they are doing. I want my students and teachers to be
able to continue to use the library on an as need basis. Also, other than
shelving books what other things could this para do---I was thinking of asking that
they come in the end of the day so they could shelve all the books and tidy
the library. I was also thinking they could help pull materials that teachers
request. I don't think the para assigned will have had any library
training.....my para is trying to transfer to another school and even if she does
not I am
not sure that she would be the best candidate to help---she was very upset
about the situation (the principal did not tell her how we arrived at the
decision to not have a para). So now you know my whole story. I would appreciate any
ideas or help you can give me. I will try to post a hit to share any ideas I
get. Thanks in advance for your help.
Anna Russell
Librarian
Thompson Elem.
Aldine ISD
Houston Texas
alibrarian@aol.com
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