Hi All:
I work in an elementary school library, K-5. I had received an email from my
principal last Tuesday afternoon that she wanted to meet with me at 10:15 on
Friday to discuss some "library issues" that came up at the Faculty meeting
that afternoon and asked if that worked for me. I replied that 11:15 worked for
me. She did not reply back with confirmation so i didn't show up assuming that
perhaps 11:15 did not work for her. Later last Friday i received the following:
We were supposed to meet today at 11:30?
How about we meet Tuesday morning or sometime Tuesday?
Here are some of the things to think about:
1) The teachers want to be trained on how to check books in and out.
2) The problem of finding parents to be a library helper.
3) Again, afternoon library time--they want to be able to go in and have
library time or check in/check out books. With a parent who has been trained, they
can reshelve books.
This came up at the staff meeting and it wasn't just one or two people so
they asked that I talk to you about these issues.
I need to expand on this situation. Number three is a continuation from a few
weeks earlier. I had an agreement with the principal to shedule all classroom
visits in the morning hours to accommodate my 10 paid hours. With the
schedule just about finalized, only 3 out of 20 left to be scheduled, i received the
first email from the principal that some of the teachers would like to come in
the afternoons; that too many pull-outs were disruptive during the morning
hours when math/reading/lanquage were the focus. There was a little more to it -
i replied and she replied back. Feeling frustrated, i copied and pasted the
principal's messages (didn't want to sound biased) and sent it to this beloved
List serv for professional advice. I have received many supportive responses
and creative ways to handle the situation. The next day, i approached the three
remaining teachers and two scheduled leaving just one who diplomatically
refused. I also emailed my principal that the schedule was complete, except for
the one, and could we leave the morning scheduling "as is" for now and talk
about making changes for next year. Nothing was mentioned again about it by her.
The following week one of the teachers let me know that the principal told the
teachers at the next Faculty meeting that she had spoken with me about
afternoon scheduling and that we were going to leave things as they are for now.
However, with all of the creative ideas sent to me from this List serve, i took it
upon myself to rearrange the shedule by overlapping some of the classes with
teacher's consent, about six, and i actually saved some time. (By the way, we
are on a fixed schedule, each comes in for thirty minutes). The schedule ends
up with Monday full till 11:35, Tuesday free, Wednesday and Thursday full from
morning till afternoon and Friday free. I showed the principal the new
schedule and she appeared to be pleasantly surprised. I pointed out the List serv's
great idea of overlapping classes and she said "that was smart." I felt
successfull that day and satisfied that things are working out, so proceded by
sending each teacher a memo reminding them that the Library opens on the 20th and
confirming their scheduled time, even the one who refused. For her, I chose a
day and time. I also gave each teacher 3 flyers to give to their choice of
library helpers at Back to School Night, that informed the helpers to come to
Library Orientation the next day on the 17th. Eleven volunteers attended and 2
emailed me they couldn't attend, but will help, and we opened the Following
Monday as planned on the 20th. The volunteers showed up and the day was successful.
The next day, last Tuesday, the day that i received the initial message to
meet about "library issues," was the day i attended a wonderful workshop put on
by California's Info People, called "How to Get, Train, and Keep Volunteers."
Our parent club wrote the $75 check to pay for it. I can't believe that this
issue is resurfacing.
So now for issue number two: I have no idea what the problem could be with so
many more volunteers than we have ever had. (My concern now is that i need to
teach them to shelve and some don't appear to know the decimal number
system). A teacher told me yesterday that it should not be my job to get and train
volunteers. I told her that getting volunteers should be teamwork, hers and
mine. Also, i showed her my District job description where it clearly states that
one of my duties is to train volunteers on how to use the library OPAC and
classification system (nowhere does it state that i should train them to
circulate, which is another issue that keeps coming up). At the workshop, i learned
from the librarians there, from many different counties, that they do not use
volunteers at the circulation desk. When asked why not, they told me because of
"confidentiality." I asked to give me an example. One said suppose a parent
volunteer does not agree with a student's book selection? When sharing this
with a colleague of mine yesterday, she said "that's rediculous, how often will
that happen?"0 I reminded her of the Library Bill of Rights. According to
"Where Do I Start : A School Library Handbook" by the Santa Clara County Office
Education, Library Services (Linworth Publishing, Inc.), which was handed out to
each librarian within our District last year, "the principles of the Library
Bill of Rights apply equally to all libraries, including school library media
programs."
Also, last year, i caught one volunteer looking in patron info and jotting
down personal information, address and phone number. A different teacher told me
yesterday, that it has been brought up that some volunteers did not feel
comfortable with me in the library. I told her that i can recall an incident, two
years ago, when a parent yelled at me that i make being a "library mom" not
fun when i asked her not to check in her other child's books from another
classroom and check out a new selection for that child while doing library for her
other child. I asked that she not do that because that was not our school's
procedure. Her child needs to put her book returns in her classroom's basket as
do all of the other students of that room and she needs to come with her
classroom to make her own book selections. I suspect that two other volunteers are
not happy because i frowned at their weekly tea parties, talking about their
vacations, private lives, etc, while the students were in need of their
services, such as locating books, using OPAC, and shelving. I guess i'll find out
what
the real problem is when i meet with the principal. Do i need to invite my
Union Rep?
As far as issue number one goes, no problem. As a matter of fact, i have sent
out a memo three years in a row, to come in the morning when i am there and i
will show them how to use the system. Only one teacher out of 20 has taken me
up on it. That is not to say that others do not know how to use it. A few
others learned how to use it while their classroom was using the library.
Well, what do you think guys? Should i have to remake the library schedule
again to accommodate more afternoon classes? Should teachers use the library to
check-in/check-out while i am not there? Should parents be doing circulation
with no staff in the room, teacher or librarian? Do you think there is a
problem with finding volunteers to be library helpers? Do you think this is all
silly? Help!!!
Phyllis Marie Libbe
Library Assistant
Stanton Elementary
Castro Valley, California
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. ~Cicero
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