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Thank you all so much for responding!!! I, too, am using a rolodex(hate it), but I noticed our high school librarian had moved hers to card boxes like our old inventory card boxes. I think that must work so much better; I think we'll switch this year. I always kept my cards in boxes (I was lucky, I inherited them and they were purchased many years before to fit the size of the cards). There were dividers for each class, all third grades together, second etc. I bought a looseleaf binder at my local office supplies store (Staples) that was designed to hold business cards. I sorted all of my kids library cards into homerooms, as that was how they visited the library. Labeled the pages and then just had to open the binder to the proper class when they came in and were ready to check out books. The library cards I purchased were the size of business cards and had the barcode and name printed on the same side. I also ordered green cards for the girls and blue cards for the boys, just to make it a little easier to find the right child. I did not have an aide and we had 600 students so anything I could do to make life easier, I tried !!! Several of the elementary teachers in my district print out patron barcode labels and stick the labels on a sheet by class. That way they can add labels if new students come to class. We tried the Roladex method and didn't like that either. Then we tried putting the cards in a large book by class--got too unwieldy. I finally thought of copying the barcode number and pasting it on a shelf marker, then laminating the shelf marker. We use paint sticks donated by Home Depot for students to use as shelf markers and then check out. We put them in a tupperware-like container (from the dollar store) for each class and the markers come to the library with the class. If a student wants to check out during open library, they bring their shelf marker as a pass. This takes some time to make the initial markers, but the next year you only make markers for K and new students. 1-I printed out the students' bar code numbers in Follett and put them on the thick, multi-colored craft sticks in a K-8 school. Each grade level had a different color--they stayed in baskets in the library to be pulled out when the kids came for check out and the sticks moved up grade levels with the kids so I only had to make the new students 'cards' each year. I had nearly no budget and it was an easy way to do it. (Probably where I am headed this year). 2-I had a K-5 school with a large budget and I designated a color for each grade level, printed out the bar codes on the specific colored paper and laminated them with a small laminator in the luggage tag type plastic holders. Again, they were collected at the end of the school year and moved up with the kids. All of the teachers got a kick out of seeing the students begin to wear their library cards on lanyards like the teachers wore their IDs. The principal even began passing out lanyards as special rewards for the students. Instead of a rolodex card, I use a blank catalog card and print the barcode on an address label for each student. I can customize the barcodes by homeroom. I place the barcodes on a notebook ring and give them to the teacher. The library code serves as a pass from the teacher for the student to come to the library. It is the student's responsibility to keep up with the barcode. Yes, some will lose them. The kinder and first grade teachers keep them on the ring. Older grade teachers have a place in the classroom to place their cards. It is so easy to replace the card if it is lost. I keep the library cards in a file tray, alphabetically by the teacher's name. When a class comes, I spread all the cards on a table near the checkout desk. Students retrieve their card (even PK & K!) and present it to me at the checkout desk. When the class leaves, I gather up the unused cards from the table and the stack of used cards and just drop them back in the file tray. Several of the librarians in my district use transparent business card pages in a 3-ring binder, with all of one class on a page or two. Also, our automation system can print a single page with all students in a class and their barcode and those can be laminated and/or kept in a binder by teacher. We have no physical cards at all. We just type in the first few letters of the students last name and then select the correct one. We have 1100+ patrson - students, faculty and staff. I bought plastic sheets at Staples that hold business cards (10 to each side), and business card stock (an Avery product although I'm sure other companies make it). I put the sheets in a loose-leaf binder, separate each grade with a divider, and alphabetize the teachers, and each class. When a class comes in, I just put a sheet of paper before and after their section to make it easier to find. The students help by pointing to their names since they can see the bar codes from their side of the counter. The card stock isn't cheap but I reuse, covering bar codes for a year or two then using the back side. When there are too many layers, I'll start anew. Hope this helps. Mari Ferguson, K-8 Librarian Theodore Jamerson Elementary Bismarck, ND marivferguson@yahoo.com Check out my brand new blog at http://www.bloglines.com/public/MariBookWorm __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book. 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