I'm also in a private school.....
This is a mirror of my situation. Our library hours are 7:30 - 5:00 with a staff
of 1.5 serving 650 students in the middle and upper school daily. We also
"baby-sit" after school (my terms) between the hours of 3:30 - 5:00 for the lower
school students who are not placed by their parents in the after school child care
program---why pay, when you can send your kids to the MS / US Library for free and
the librarian can watch them run up and down the stairs all afternoon until you
arrive to pick them up at 5:00 (if even at that time). In the meantime, we also
get about 30 students in the afternoon from the MS / US who hang out until their
ride comes--most leave around 4:30 but several hang out and just play games on the
computers until then. (We have a no-games AUP, but that isn't enforced...so I'm
tired of policing it.)
There are no activities that can be planned for students in the library after
school primarily because of the limited staff--- you can't watch lower school
students who play on the staircases while you direct an organized program, watch
the circulation desk, keep kids from getting rowdy at the computers (as they play
games that they aren't allowed to play, but do), and keep kids from going behind
the circulation desk to use the telephone without your permission (often calling
friends to talk). Based upon the activities that happen each day, it's impossible
to know who might be there and what emergencies / assignments are due for those who
truly need help.
It's a circus atmosphere at times because the students think this is a "hang out"
and most of the adults have left the campus after 4:00 p.m. There are very few
teachers in the buildings and the administration building is locked (the closest
bathroom available to the library is in another building--the administration
building--which requires the librarians to leave the library to go there....so you
don't want to leave the library after 3:30 to visit the bathroom while you have
students in the library!)
We have club sponsors for activities after school but the teachers are on an 8:30 -
3:30 contract. Anything after 3:30 is a negotiable contract salary. I'm not aware
of the amount that is paid for specific duties because I have not been involved in
anything outside of the library.
I was asked by a group of high school girls last year if I would be their dance
coach (I taught cheer / dance for 8 years in the public schools). I asked the
administration if I could do this (so that I could be involved with the students in
an activity that was not "library-related" and become involved in other areas of
the school), but I was discouraged from doing this---not once but four times.
Finally, the girls decided to go ahead with their dance team without me---it was
disappointing.
I have tried to start a book club for middle school students, but the scheduling
hasn't allowed it. [In fact, the scheduling for the library is done primarily by
the administration in that we follow the daily schedule--as most libraries-- but
are limited in what we might be able to do before and after school because of other
activities imposed upon us. This year we have a tutorial period before school
begins for our high school students. It starts at 8:30 and goes until 9:30. The
students are not allowed in the buildings during this time, so the only place to go
is the library.... The first class period for high school students starts at 9:30
(and school ends at 3:30). The problem is that the middle school starts at 8:30,
so we have students arriving between 7:30 - 8:00 a.m.---and by 9:30 we can have up
to 80+ students in the library. Our middle school students can't even come into the
library for a class because the T-period overlaps their regular class time (8:30 -
9:15). It's crowd control with the high school students....everyone is talking
and no one is studying. Next year, the middle school teachers want to do the same
thing---create a tutorial period---which will create an influx of more students
without anywhere to go. I'm afraid that the library will become a "holding cell"
for 100+ students and not be a library. Yes, I inquired about the situation last
year before all of this was implemented this year...I was told that it wouldn't be
a problem.]
So, I guess my response to your question is....we are told to do something because
it is "good for the kids." (?)
Shonda Brisco, MLIS
Trinity Valley MS / US Librarian
Trinity Valley School
Fort Worth, TX 76132
817-321-0100 ext. 410
briscos@trinityvalleyschool.org
"Those who have the highest expectations for the web in terms of student research,
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________________________________
From: School Library Media & Network Communications on behalf of Jennifer England
Sent: Wed 3/30/2005 12:59 PM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: [LM_NET] TARGET: Policies on After School Activities?
Greetings,
I am trying to gather information concerning life in other schools after
school. Please answer either or both. Yes, there have been serious issues
at my school all along, but new ones have come up. I'll expound in a bit,
but first, the questions.
1) What is your school's or library's policy concerning students in
the library after school?
2) What are your school's policies/procedures for having teachers sponsor
or teach activities or clubs after school? Specifically, are there formal
contracts for these activities or are you just told to do something because
it would "be a good activity for the kids"?
Here's the background: This is my first year at a PreK-12, private "college
preparatory" school. I am the ONLY librarian/library staff for TWO
libraries, 850 students plus faculty. During the week, I teach weekly
PreK-4th grade classes.. After adventures in the Lower School Library, I go
to the Middle/Upper School library, which for many years has been the
traditional "hangout" place for middle/upper schoolers while they are
waiting to be picked up. There has never been an after school program for
the middle school (which I am working to change) so the administration have
had a difficult time in accepting that this needs to change and soon.
Therefore, question 1.
I ask question 2 because I have been sponsoring/teaching an after school
book group/independent study for 4th graders with another teacher. The
other teacher is a middle school teacher and we meet in her classroom. When
I agreed to do this, I was initially told that I would receive a stipend but
was then later told that they wouldn't give me a stipend because I am
contractually obligated to work until 5pm already, and they cannot pay me
twice for the same period of time. The other teacher, on the other hand,
has been receiving a stipend because, as a classroom teacher, her contract
says that she is only obligated to stay every day until 4pm. I agreed to it
anyhow because it sounded worthwhile and, in my first year, didn't want to
rock the boat too much.
But still.to me, it was an additional activity, asked of me by the school
and therefore it should not be looked at as a question of hourly work but of
extra work. I'm not in it for the money, but am interested in fair
compensation for performing extra work. I'm thinking about next
year-whether or not I should bother to do this activity again as well as how
much of an issue I should make of it.
What do YOU think?
I will post a hit with the info I gather.
Thank you SO much!
Jennifer England
Librarian
Heritage Hall School
Oklahoma City, OK
jengland@heritagehall.com
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