Re: Library agreements

[Sharon Gonzalez <sgonzalez3@SATX.RR.COM>]

Another side of the coin on this subject:

Not all parents are aware of the responsibilities that come with their
children's library use.  In other words, not all parents realize that when
books are damaged or lost that they will be responsible for paying for them.
Strange as it may seem, in my school district some parents are even shocked
to find out that they have that responsibility toward textbooks.  They think
that textbooks are provided for free and that they have no responsibilities
toward them.

Also, many parents in our area are recent arrivals from Mexico and other
countries where lending libraries are not common.  They are not used to
using the public library, either.

I felt it was important to advise parents of the responsibilities.  My
kindergarten students would spend a few library lessons learning about their
responsibilities toward library books, and the care of books.  I then had a
cute letter written in English and Spanish, as though the child had written
it, stating all that they had learned about their responsibilities.  The
children were to take the letter home and bring it back signed by the parent
for the first day they checked out books.  In the first place, it was
information for the parent (who might think that we are just giving away
books---really!).  I also felt that if the child could bring back the
letter, the chances were better that he/she could also bring back a library
book.  There were one or two parents who did not want that responsibility.
In those cases, the teacher had the option of checking out books for those
children.

This was only done in kindergarten, and with first graders who were new to
the school and had never used a library before.  Sometimes I would send home
the letter with older students who were recent arrivals from Mexico,
depending on how much I thought the child understood the responsibilities.

With this signed agreement on file, there was never a problem of someone not
understanding the responsibility of returning library books or paying for
lost ones.  Depending on your community, it sometimes is necessary to
educate the parents.  Certainly the parents have the right to know these
responsibilities.  Young children may not be able to explain this to their
parents.

This was in no way an effort to hinder their ability to check out books and
have books at home to read.  It was informative. Take a look at the public
library applications for library cards. Back in the dark ages, children
signed their names on book cards and that made their responsibility and
agreement official.  Nowadays we just scan or type in patron barcodes.
There is no automatic sense of responsibility attached to that action.

I know there will be a lot of disagreement with this, but I thought another
point of view might be valuable.

Sharon Gonzalez
Harris Middle School Library
San Antonio, TX
sgonzalez3@satx.rr.com
sgonzalez@saisd.net

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