Thank you to all who replied. Here is my original post followed by
responses.
On Thu, 6 Jan 2005, Mary Kenslea wrote:
Do any of you have a system where students reshelve their books when they
return them? If so, what grades are involved? How did you get the program
started? Do students seem to enjoy the job? Do the kids get the books back
in the right place? Do you think overall that the students' ability to find
books independently in any library is improved as a result of the program?
>
Replies:
I ask all 3-4-5th graders to reshelve their books. This keeps me caught up
on shelving. It is not perfect, but it is reasonable and we can live with
it. I ask and 3rd grade teachers grant me at least one week at the
beginning of school for daily lessons, about 30-45 minutes long. I put
about 6 books on each table. We find the spine label, put them in order etc.
Then I begin: I have cut poster board into strips about 12 inches long and
2 inches wide. On these strips (our simulated book spines) I have
"simulated" Dewey numbers. I teach the E section first, then Fiction then
NF. I explain the concept. I use comparison of home address, living on
street and then house number. Books reside on "E"street in specific place.
Several lessons consist of beginning with 3 kids who are given a "bookspine"
(the ones made of posterboard). These students are our "books" who are
arranged on our imaginary book shelf. Then I give 1-2 more students spines
and they "get on shelf" in correct place. Rest of class monitors/corrects.
We discuss why. Continue on until the entire class is "on the shelf." Then,
students go to shelf and put the posterboard in the place it would go IF
this were a real book. Teachers and I check for mistakes. We repeat this
for each section of the library. Then students work in partners and put
real books on shelf. Teachers and I check work. Partner must agree with
placement. By the end of the week everyone is feeling (sick of lessons!)
pretty confident that they can do the job.
.......
Yes, 7th and 8th graders. I'll consider a 6th grader. Asked people whom I
trusted for intelligent, trustworthy volunteers. Yes, they enjoy the job.
I give small rewards and a Christmas gift. They fall by the wayside pretty
quickly if they don't enjoy it. Trial and error. I give a quick lesson and
they catch on quickly. Occasionally find some books out of place. Yes,
they become very familiar with the collection.
........
I am a 1-5 librarian and I have the 45h and 5th graders (if they choose)
adopt a shelf. They come in on a weekly basis and when they are in the
library to do checkouts or have time and "read" their shelves. I place a
small strip on each shelf that says "This Shelf Adopted by Their Name"."
They will also shelve any from the carts that are on their shelf. While it
does not reduce our burden of shelving, it greatly helps in keeping order
established.
........
We have a few students help shelve the books; they are 5th graders and take
a little test on library skills. I also have an adopt a shelf program where
students can sign up to take care of a shelf. It gives them more practice
and they think it is fun. Helps us out too!
.......
Under no circumstances should students shelve their own books. Only
specially trained students should be allowed to do so. I have trained high
school students and THEY make mistakes. I can only imagine what a disaster
I would have on my hands if the rest of the student body had to reshelve
their books. I would have to shelf read the entire collection every week.
Once I finished, I would have to start over again because it would be an
awful mess!
....
I have student media aides from grades 2-5. They shelve picture books, some
fiction and some nonfiction depending on their grade level. They have an
application to fill out to become a media aid and then I train then to
shelve certain areas of the media center. Media aides are really helpful
and I reward them every 5 or 6 weeks with having lunch in the media center
and a cake I bake.
.....
When I was an elementary librarian, I used paint stirring sticks. I allowed
students to use the sticks and place them where they took the books from. I
put the alphabet on the sticks and the students would take a stick and put
it between the books the book they wanted was shelved. It has been many
years since I served in an elementary school. You can get those sticks at
any Home Depot or hardware store.
.......
Mary Kenslea
Library Teacher
MacArthur Elementary School (at Northeast)
40 Putney Lane
Waltham, MA 02452
kensleam@k12.waltham.ma.us
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