In some cases, I don't think it's as much thinking the rules are more
important than borrowing a book as it's working with the kindergarden
teachers in each particular school situation. At my son's elementary
school, the kindergardners do not check out the first few weeks of
school for several reasons. The librarian told me that the
kindergarden teachers at her school prefer to wait to add check-out
because there are so very many new things they are introducing their
classes to. It makes sense to me on several levels. In many cases,
when I've volunteered at check-out time, there are children who do
not know what the first letter of their last name is, some do not
recognize their names when they are written out and certainly not how
to spell them, and in many cases, neither I nor the aid could
understand the child's pronunciation of their name due to speech
difficulties (not accents). Ways to alleviate this last issue would
be to have the teachers bring them to library with name tags, but I
believe that I understand and agree with the reasoning behind
waiting. The time spent in library in the meantime is a great
opportunity to introduce children, some of whom have never had a book
of their own (many do not have books in their homes) to the concept
of library, of borrowing, of responsibility, familiarizing them with
characters in books that they may only have seen on t.v. Perhaps in
some schools it is approached as "rules are more important than
borrowing a book", but at this school, I see the delay, not as saying
rules are more important, but as a chance to gently introduce these
students to what is, for too many of them, a brand new world.
Ronda Y. Foust
School Media Specialist in Training, UTK
rstansb2@utk.edu
Oak Ridge, TN
On Aug 28, 2006, at 6:56 PM, Barbara Braxton wrote:
> Hi Karen
> It makes me so sad to read that people think that library rules and
> so forth are more important than
> borrowing a book on the first day.
>
> For years I have run a storytelling program with our attached pre
> school so their weekly visits make
> them familiar with the library environment and there is a real
> anticipation that they will be able
> to borrow on their first day. We have a couple of days before
> school starts and during that time,
> no matter what it takes, we put the new kinders into the system so
> that when they do the usual "tour
> of the school" on their first day, they can leave with a library book.
>
> We insist on all students having their books protected by a plastic
> bag (we encourage the recycling
> of supermarket bags) and I purchased a large supply of sturdy white
> bags from a supplier ages ago.
> We write each child's name on a bag as we enter their names on the
> computer so that each child walks
> out of here on their first day with their personalised bag and a
> book they have chosen. I have the
> fairy tales and family favourites like Elmer and Arthur in
> permanent outward-facing displays and I
> also scatter suitable titles on the tables for perusal. The
> children love to see those familiar
> titles and it doesn't matter if they borrow something they know
> well or even have at home, the issue
> is borrowing something. The only rule at that stage is that they
> keep the book safe and bring it
> back on their library day. (We have our Dr Booklove sessions which
> I explained earlier this week on
> their regular scheduled visit.)
>
> This is a lot of work for Jenny and I, particularly as we have to
> attend mandatory PD sessions on
> these days, but the delight on the children's faces and the feeling
> of the empowerment they show is
> worth every minute of our time that we invest. It sets up a great
> habit for a lifetime.
> Barbara
>
>
> Barbara Braxton
> Teacher Librarian
> PALMERSTON ACT 2913
> AUSTRALIA
>
> E. barbara@iimetro.com.au
> "Together we learn from each other."
>
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