I have 300 students in fixed classes for 40 minutes a week. Students
in Grades PreK-1 are allowed to get one book, Gr 2 are allowed to get
two books and Grades 3-5 are allowed 3 books. We do not restrict for AR
but strongly encourage those students in grades 3-5 to get one book on
their ZPD level and two "for fun" to split the difference. Of course
students may take out extra books for projects. I have no aide, few
volunteers (but the ones that I have are wonderful and dedicated) and
also teach the gifted & talented plus groups in the computer lab,
manage all of the technology in the building, direct AR, do AM and PM
announcements, lunch duty, etc. I could go on... I truly love my job
(29th year at this school and had three schools in the beginning) and I
work many extra hours when it's an especially busy week but just never
get it all done.
Restricting circulation and places to look for books in the library, by
grade level, is just something that is part of elementary school life
due to the time limits unless one has some help both for circulation
and for shelving each week. I do allow students to take any paperback
and get books "off the cart" and from book displays so they are
actually exposed to other sections of the library in smaller doses
while in the younger grades. I also know my school community and
promote some students in an informal way to accessing books in other
areas as the year goes on. But when one circulates 12,000 books a year
and still has to grade and teach, there is only so much time to do both
in a 40 minute time slot.
It really has nothing to do with Freedom to Read. It is really a matter
of practicality.
Deb Hendrickson
P.S. Another point to note is that the busy primary teachers (PreK-1)
who are collecting this, fundraising for that, and doing lunch counts
and fire safety do not have time to remind students of more than one
book per week because sometimes that is the only reminder that our
children ever get. They prefer that their students get only one library
book a week because they often function as the primary parent to many
of the children in their classrooms. I have had more than one note from
a parent restricting their child to NO books because the parent does
not want to bother. Sad, but true. Then the teacher has to find a
"special place" in the classroom so that these students still can take
a book that far.
Deborah J. Hendrickson
Media Specialist/Technology Leader
Westernport Elementary School
172 Church Street
Westernport, MD 21562
DHendrickson@allconet.org (work e-mail)
On Friday, September 24, 2004, at 11:41 AM, Jennifer Yow wrote:
> I am currently an MLS graduate student but I hope to
> be in a media center by next year. I have become
> aware that some elementary schools place restrictions
> on what their students have access to. For instance,
> my daughter's school (no AR program) limits children's
> access by grade level. K-1 may only check out picture
> books and easy readers. Midway through second grade,
> students may begin checking out transitional readers
> (i.e Magic Tree House). Once they are in 3rd grade,
> students have access to all materials in the media
> center. I have heard that other schools limit by AR
> reading level. I find this to be very limiting
> especially for children who read above grade level.
> Do most elementary schools have limited access to
> materials based on the child's grade level or reading
> level? It seems that this violates the ALA's Freedom
> to Read policy but maybe it's not practical to allow
> full access in an elementary school library. I would
> love to hear your opinions on this and any ideas on
> the best ways to handle limiting access to materials.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Jennifer Yow
> East Carolina University Graduate Student
> Wake Forest, NC
>
>
>
>
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