I have to chime in on this one! At my previous job (K-4 school) I made
a point of NOT locking the library when I was not there. I worked all
day every day but was responsible for tech support and sometimes was
not in the library. I left a manual signout form on the desk and
teachers would use that to check out books. Teachers were also invited
to select a pile of books and leave them on my desk with a note saying
who wanted them - I would later check them out and carry them to the
class. At the end of the year I made up a list of the missing books
and gave a copy to each of the teachers with a request that they look
for the books in the classroom (there tended not to be too many, and
usually my mistake. It's a good argument for completing inventory
before the year ends though).
To be honest I was more concerned about teacher access in my absence
than in worrying about whether books were checked out or not. Most of
the teachers were very responsible, and for the ones that weren't, I
too would pay a visit to the classroom when the teacher was away!
Overall the teachers were very respectful of the library holdings, and
would apologize when returning materials that hadn't been checked out.
I've heard that the administration at my new school is not particularly
concerned about following up on overdue books (from teachers or
students) - this will be interesting....
Cathy
-----------
Cathy Rettberg, MLIS
Head Librarian
Menlo School, Atherton, CA
crettberg@sbcglobal.net
On Jun 25, 2004, at 6:13 PM, Dale Clark wrote:
> I am sure this is a common problem (similar to trying to get books
> back for
> the summer).
>
> I only work 60% (3 days) and am reluctant to have teachers sign out
> their
> own books when I am not at school. If they do that, eventually it
> could be
> said, a teacher-librarian is not necessary. It would also mean leaving
> the
> circulation desk up and running when I am not there, leaving it open
> for
> all kinds of interesting things to occur.
>
> The problem is, my library does not lock because it is a fire exit
> route.
>
> I don't blame people for just taking books and resources (well, really
> I
> do) because they are trying to run their programs and it is not their
> fault
> that I am only there 3 days.
>
> The upshot of all of this is...try collecting books at the end of the
> year
> from teachers who have never checked out the books in the first place
> and
> you don't know where they are...
>
> What I tend to do is stay late one night and sneak about rooms picking
> up
> the library stuff. Please don't tell! <g>
>
> Any other suggestions?
>
> Dale Clark
> Teacher-Librarian
> English Bluff Elementary
> Delta, B.C. Canada
> dclark@deltasd.bc.ca
>
> "Write people's accomplishments in stone and their faults in sand."
>
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