Because Sara states "For years..." this is a great philosophical
discussion starter and begs the following thoughts.
Two of which are...
1. I have bigger "fish to fry" then count kids coming into the library
2. The biggie being WHY DO WE HAVE TO SHOW NUMBERS?
1. With all of the management, collaboration and patron assistance I
have to do during the day, keeping track of numbers of students coming
in is a waste of my degrees and time. My Para-pro and I are working on
management type issues, cleaning up the data, working collaboratively
with other teachers, helping students in computer labs or out in a
classroom troubleshooting or developing collaborative projects. I also
have hallway duty between classes. Are we counters or are we
Educational Leaders who are working collaboratively with our peers to
assist our students in meeting their goals?
2. Sure, on that day when you are doing a tracking survey of all the
things you do, count kids, the same way you extrapolate that data to
show what happens in the library over the course of time you can
extrapolate how many students are in the library. Do you also track how
long they stayed? What good are the numbers without some indicators
showing what those students came in to do? You have circulation
records; you can SHOW what was happening that way. They are on passes
aren't they? Are the teachers counting? Why do you have too? What are
you doing with this data? (Now, we do track students in the computer
lab, drop-ins must sign a log showing the period, date, what class and
the project they are finishing.) We use this to show how vital the
computer lab person is to help monitor the students. It also helps us
make sure the students are actually working on what they are supposed to
be working on. They will tell great stories of things they MUST do
which ends up being just a place to meet their friends.
The other part of this, who else has to justify their existence by
counting students? I thought about the cafeteria, well, they can count
the number of students who bought lunch, but are they counting all the
other students that come in? Each teacher, takes attendance and knows
how many students are in their classes, if the student asks to go to the
library, do the teachers call you and verify that each student arrived?
No, we sign their pass when they leave, so the verification goes back to
the teacher, I am not tracking it. The only time that I call a teacher
to tell them a student is on their way back is if I've had to send the
student back as a disciplinary action.
If you must, call your local fair grounds or somewhere that has
turnstiles and ask if they are mobile and have counters on them? Use
them for a week and then extrapolate the data.
Jean
R. Jean Gustafson
Teacher/Librarian
Selah Jr. High
Selah, WA 98942
jeangustafson@selah.k12.wa.us
http://www.selah.k12.wa.us/JHS/Gustafson/Library.cfm
-----Original Message-----
From: School Library Media & Network Communications
[mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Sara Johnson
Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 5:55 AM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: TARGET: Turnstiles/Counting patrons
I am looking for turnstiles that "count" the number of students who come
into the IMC. For years we have used sign-ins to keep track of the
hourly count of patrons entering the IMC, however, we get busy with
other duties and often miss kids entering and exiting. In this age of
library staff cuts I am trying to figure something to purchase that
would count the number of students entering. We are thinking of
purchasing something from Demco that is placed above the door and uses a
beam to count patrons entering, however we have a double entry door and
I know when more than one person enters at a time, the beam will only
count one. Is anybody out there using turnstiles for this or some other
good product? Would love to hear from you, Thanks, Sara
Sara Johnson, IMC Coordinator
D. C. Everest Senior High IMC
Schofield, WI 54476
sjohnson@dce.k12.wi.us
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