Hello Everyone,
Last week I asked several questions under "TARGET,SEC: Questions from a first-time
LMS," and, of course, received many very valuable responses. Thanks, everyone!
Here's the hit, with each of my questions first, then the responses received:
1. I have no assistant in my library. I want to be able to work with
classes and still keep the library open for any students who want to
browse, read, or check out books. Suggestions as to how to do those
things with only me?
"I have a few students each period in my Library Media Education class as
their elective. They handle circulation and help with whatever is needed
when I am teaching."
"While you are strenuously campaigning for an aide at the very least :-)
see if there are local parents who would like to help out, or local
seniors who would like to volunteer. You can also see if you can get
student aides to help out, either for pay or for work/service credit."
"I am in a 6-8 middle school with 625 students and no aide. Our books are all
barcoded and our student ID#s are barcoded on their ID badges, so about a year and
1/2 ago I set up one of the computers at the circulation desk for self-checkouts.
Our automation specialist created a special student toolbar that only checks out,
renews, and checks in. Students can scan a book they are returning and set it on
the cart. They scan a book to renew it. They can scan their badge, then scan a
book to check it out. It has been very successful. The only thing that blocks
them from self checkout is an overdue book (I don't charge fines, tho) or already
having their quota checked out--which is 3. Before I began doing this on the
computer, I used a form, which I have attached. The big problem with it was
sometimes students had way overdue books or over their quota and I had to track
them down and give them a hard time to get the account straightened out. The
computer system is better and the kids really like the autonomy of checking
themselves out, so they are much better about getting their books back on time! [I
also make individual stickon barcode labels for student planners with a program
called LabelWorks. It cost about $250 and has more than paid for itself--I barcode
everything even if I have to create my own numbering system!! For example, I made
each classroom an "Item" with a barcode #, then barcoded and laminated individual
teacher/classroom passes. I scan them with the "Item used" feature of the
circulation system and at the end of each semester I can get a report on not only
how much the library was used, but which teachers sent students!)"
"Establish ground rules from day 1. Expect quiet and work when students are
in the library. Then when classes come in, the others will still continue
the acceptable behavior. You should not have to interrupt work with the
class too often for reminders about behavior of other students (they're
kids, of course you'll have to do some reminders!!). Create a little sign
for the circ desk that says "When I am busy with other students, please
wait quietly until I am able to check your materials out", or teach
students to self check-out. Personally, I don't do self
check-out. However, several of our teachers can do a simple checkout to
students and will do that while I'm working with their students. Another
possibility is to train a student assistant for such duties. Or create a
form for students to enter info. and then you can enter it into the
computer later---just student name, student barcode number, book title,
book barcode number."
"I have a smaller school than you (150 kids), and I am also the only
librarian with no aids. I have Mandarin as my automation system and it
has a self check out mode where the only thing they can do is check books
out. At my desk, I have a rolodex with all of the kids barcodes. It
would be better if they had a library card of some sort, but our kids
don't have IDs, and they would never remember to bring a separate card.
The advantages are that you can be out of the library and kids can still
get books. So far, I haven't had problems with kids checking out books to
other kids or anything like that. I train the new kids on how to do it,
and have written instructions in case they forget. So far, so good."
" I rely on student aides (usually from grades
11-12) as my helpers. Sometimes I have 1 per period
(for a total of 7 a day), last school year, I had only
2 or 3 per semester. Things change as schedules and
students change - just go with the flow.
My aides check out & check in materials, shelve
materials (some do a better job than others on this),
process books (ownership stamp, spine labels, book
jackets, etc. - I do the cataloging and assign call
numbers.) Aides also put up bulletin boards and
displays and help with inventory.
If you have NO HELP, consider closing the library
during noon hour. You will need some time to get away
from the library, connect with your peers and just
unwind during the day. If you have a prep period away
from the library, then you may want to have the
library open at noon."
2. When you have a middle school and high school together, do you do
anything to separate the various levels of fiction? Or do you deal
one-on-one with a seventh grader who may want to read something you feel
is inappropriate? Do you intershelve all fiction, including titles that
are adult titles appropriate for high schoolers?
"For our 8th graders, we have books with a YA label that are too mature
for the 6th and 7th graders."
"I am at a grades 6 - 12 school. We have two fiction collections: one is
middle school appropriate, the other is more of an adult/older teen
collection. They used to be in two separate buildings but are now
across the aisle from each other in the main library. Any student can
check out any book, though I guide the youngest students to the MS
collection mostly. I try to read (or at least scan) all of the new
fiction I buy so I can know what is in the books. I also keep
annotations of every library book I read since I read so many - I keep
an Excel database which was a handy thing I learned while taking a YA
class in school. My annotations indicate whether it's better for middle
school or upper school. General guideline is that if it has LOTS of
swearing, sex, or similar graphic issues it goes in the US collection.
Examples are Fat Kid Rules the World, The World of Normal Boys, Be More
Chill, etc. The MS collection includes the Angus, Thongs books,
Flipped, The House You Pass on the Way, Make Lemonade, Speak, etc. It's
not so much the subject as how it's treated that determines where a
book goes, and again, kids can check out any book they want. I haven't
had an issue of inappropriateness arise, though it certainly could.
We're a pretty open minded school community though. Lots depends on who
your population is."
"I have some books from our state high school reading list that I put "Young Adult"
genre labels on and shelve on a low shelf in a particular area of fiction (I have
some picture and elementary books for ESL kids on upper shelves, so it's not a
popular area to browse). I only tout the YA books to 8th grade Honors kids, and
amazingly most of the 6th & 7th graders don't bother with them. Many YA books are
reviewed as 7-10 or 7-12 and those are the ones I choose. I realize it may be more
difficult for you to separate the books; however, I find kids really want to read
stuff they enjoy and that's usually what is appropriate for them--I've had young
kids return the YA books after only a few hours because they were uncomfortable
with the content."
"I intershelve all books. For those few things that I may be concerned
about, I deal with the student very quietly one-on-one. I suggest that if
the student really wants a particular title, that they need to talk it over
with the parent and if the parent sends a note or calls me, I'll be happy
to check it out. I don't stock a lot of adult level fiction. I do suggest
that the juniors and seniors stop down at the local public library to
browse the adult fiction."
"The entire collection is intershelved. I do not
have any apecial sections for Middle School & High
School. For the most part, I haven't had any problems
with younger students reading titles that are too old
for them. If I've had a problem, it's with a "free
reading" choice and I help the student select
something that is more age appropriate."
3. I have seen many hits of magazines that are best for middle school
and high school. I would love to see anyone's current list of
periodicals that are popular at these levels.
"Zoobooks, Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated for kids, and
Carcraft are the ones I have that are really popular."
"You can look at my periodical website, below. I need to update it
though - I added about 25 magazines this summer and haven't put them on
the website yet.
http://library.menloschool.org/periodicals.html"
"Here is my current list of middle school magazines. I don't get the big (and
expensive) news ones because they are never read and for research our subscription
databases have many more than I could possibly order. I have a very culturally
diverse school (~1/3 African-American, ~1/4 Asian (both Eastern & Middle Eastern),
~1/4 white, and about 12% Hispanic, and these are the magazines that are
consistently read. I don't keep most of them--once the new issue is put into the
lightweight plastic binder, the old one is put on the bottom shelf and kids can
take them home (I initial them so teachers know they are OK to take home;
whatever's left at the end of the year I pass around to teachers for reading
material during final exam week).
American Cheerleader
Best Friends
Black Belt Magazine
Blackgirl Magazine
BMX Plus
Boy's Life
Career World (Wkly Rder)
Cobblestone (American History)
Cricket (fr Smithsonian)
Current Health 2 (Grades 7-12)
Current Science Grades 6-10 (Wkly Rdr)
Discovery Girls
Faces (World Cultures)
Footsteps (Afr-Am fr Smithsonian)
Girls Life
Guideposts for Teens
J14
Jet
Junior Scholastic (6-8 current events)
Kids Discover (collection)
Listen Magazine-includes teacher guides
New Moon
Odyssey (science fr Cobblestone)
Right On!
Scholastic Action (7-12 below-level/reluc rdrs)
Scholastic Art (6-12)
Scholastic Choices 7-12 fam, cons sci, hlth )
Scholastic Scope (6-8 LA, literature)
Science World (Scholastic 7-10)
Skipping Stones
Sports Illustrated for Kids
Stone Soup
Teen Voices"
"Teen People, People, Sports Illustrated, Deer and Deer Hunting (probably
not going to be on your list, but we're a rural area), J-14, Hot Rod,"
"My list of periodicals is shrinking yearly - due
to budget constraints and since students have such
easy access to the Internet, they don't use
periodicals nearly as much as in previous years.
(I've had my job since 1981). Research using
periodicals is almost 100% from the InfoTrac Databases
we subscribe to -- just browsers are in the library
now."
4. What do you do when the library is used as a hallway to get from one
side of the building to the other (or just to walk through because it's
there)? I've learned there was progress made last year on this issue,
but it still needs more work. There is no alternative hallway to walk
in.
"I'm at the end of the building on the second floor. Students try to use
my library as a shortcut, but I have a hard and fast rule that it is not
to be used as a hallway. (I do bend the rule for the teachers. :-)"
"Part of my library was previously the hallway between classrooms. The
walls of some of the classrooms were knocked out to create a big open
space that became the library, but the hallway appearance remains. I
too have no alternative, so I have display shelves along the hallway to
grab the students' attention. Might as well use the fact that they are
walking through! Noise is kind of an issue, though I'm pretty tolerant
of it. I'm just glad the kids are there."
"I stumbled on this about 4 years ago, and for some bizarre reason it works with
these middle school kids. During the first few weeks of the year I take great
pleasure in stopping them--which defeats the "shortcut"--then putting my arm around
their shoulders and walking with them, while I teasingly tell them that when they
use the library for a hallway they have to wave and say hello to me as they are
walking through. For the balance of the year, I may get a kid every 3 or 4 weeks,
but that's it."
"Accept what you can not change, then use it to your advantage!
If the students must walk through the library and use it as a hallway, then make a
billboard.
What a great opportunity to advertise books and programs."
"My library can also act as a hallway, but there is an alternative hall
quite close, so we don't allow students to use it as a hall. Detentions
for willfully disobeying that. In your situation during class hours I'd
ask that students have a pass signed by a teacher whenever they go through,
and spot check that. I'd try to arrange furniture, low bookcases etc. to
sort of create a traffic corridor. Talk with other staff members about
other possible solutions."
"In my first job (78-81), the school had an open
concept plan, so was often the hall from one class to
another. A change in administration brought about
changes to block some of the doorways. I'd advise
arranging shelves, etc. to create a walkway if it has
to be there."
5. How do you handle young teen girls who are reading books definitely
aimed at adults, such as street lit titles? I'd rather see them reading
those than nothing, and so I'm trying to work out a policy that involves
adding some titles to the collection but not actually putting them on
the shelf. Would love to hear what anyone is doing with that.
"Hmmm, I'd never heard of street lit before this, and I don't think I
have any! Again depends on your school population, but my feeling is
that there is plenty to choose from, and if you choose not to buy that
material you'll buy something else instead. It's simple selection. Then
again if your school population is one that would enjoy those books
then there is nothing wrong with having a few around. I wouldn't hide
them though - either they belong in your collection or they don't. Good
opportunity to think about your collection development policy, whether
it's formally written down or just an idea in your head. The nice thing
about being in a school is that you get to think about the mission of a
school library - support the curriculum, teach information literacy and
encourage reading - and evaluate the appropriateness of different books
accordingly."
"I think it's our job to decide which books best meet the needs of our
patrons. If you think a book is appropriate for your collection, it
should be out on the shelf. Librarians are in a tricky place, because
books are geared at different ages. At the same time, I don't think it's
our job to decide what each child can and cannot read. That's a
conversation for the parent and child to have. I've been thinking a lot
about this since the latest Harry Potter came out and there was a lot of
discussion on this list serv about who should be "allowed" to read it. If
it's in the library, everybody should be allowed to read it, as far as I'm
concerned. This doesn't really answer your question, but it's just sort
of my musings on the topic. I would love to hear what you end up doing."
6. And finally (for now!), this year I will be "repossessing" a rather
large (for us, at least) room that is inside the main library. It used
to be the college and career counseling suite. It comes with a few
bookshelves attached to the wall, and the room is about 10 feet by 20
feet (give or take, I haven't measured it yet). What would be your ideal
use for that type of room? It has windows into the main library and into
the outer hallway, and I can see the inner windows from my office desk.
"I don't know if this would work, but my only idea is as a reading lounge
where they can talk and share, and maybe even allow food."
"Book clubs, meeting space for a literary magazine group (we have LitMag
in both MS and US that meet once a week), a place to put up special
displays, classroom space where the noise level won't disturb students
in the rest of the library, quiet reading area (no talking zone - I
have one in my library by request of the students),
relaxation/talking/lounge area, maybe with periodicals and bean bags,
where the noise won't disturb the rest of the library, lots of ways to
use that space! I'd probably go with lounge/hangout area."
"One of our middle schools and one of our high schools have an actual separate
classroom area within the library, just as you describe. Both their librarians just
love being able to have a "regular" classroom for teaching lessons, then moving
kids out into the library proper for their research or whatever. They leave
presentation equipment set up permanently and often, if free, the areas are used
for meetings or staff development."
"How about using it as a group work room. That would be a place for
students who need to work together on a project can be without disturbing
others in the library, yet be supervised. Could also be a spot for a TV
and VCR and DVD player so students who missed any video presentations can
view them during study halls etc. Extra networked computers could go there
as well."
"I would make that a silent study room and make the library a quiet place
for group study. It's so hard in my library when I'm trying to help kids
and we're whispering so the other kids aren't disturbed. I would love it
if I could talk in a slightly less loud than normal voice as I worked with
students and if students could collaborate with each other and with me in
the library."
Thanks again,
Nancy KapLon, MLS
Librarian
The SEED Public Charter School
4300 C Street, SE
Washington, DC 20019
nkaplon@seedschooldc.org
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