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Thank you to everyone for helping with this issue!  There really are a variety of 
suggestions here, and for those of you struggling with the same problem I urge you 
to take some time to browse these.

I'm still mulling over my options and trying to get a feel for what would work best 
with my students!

Carrie Fox
Librarian 
South Park High School, South Park, PA
foxc@sparksd.org
412-655-4900 ext. 238

***

I would definitly require passes from teachers. I think that you should also ask 
the student to see the specific assignment. This way you can sort of monitor what 
they are doing, particularly on the Internet.
 
After a while, you may find a pattern of some teachers just randomly writing passes 
to students that they may not want in their classes, but for the most part if a 
teacher's name is on the pass, the student has an academic purpose.
 
Also, make sure that you require them to sign in. Every student should sign in if 
they are not with a teacher. Keeping a record of who comes in is an important part 
of the job.

***

You have targeted the universal HS library problem, at least in schools with study 
halls.  I haven't found the perfect solution either. I too am torn.

Whether or not this will work depends on 2 things: 1) Will your teachers adhere to 
the research requirement or will they simply send students to be rid of them?  
2)Will you send students back to study hall if they don't have productive work?

A question: If you have students every period, what do you do when you are formally 
teaching?  Librarians should not be expected to accommodate study hall students 
while also teaching a class.  Other teachers aren't expected to do that.

The perfect solution would be to have a recreational area for students who have 
earned that privilege, as a few schools do, or to eliminate study halls, as many 
schools have done.

***

We limit the number of students that are allowed to come down each period depending 
on the number of study halls during that period.  We issue passes to each study 
hall teacher and each student coming to us must have a pass.  They leave the pass 
with us at the counter and we require them to sign in and out also, recording their 
name, the study hall teacher’s name, and the time they arrive and the time they 
leave.  When they leave, we sign off on their pass and give it back to them and 
they are supposed to return it to their study hall teacher.

***

he rules established for our library state that 6-8 study hall students may use the 
library IF a class is not scheduled in the library.  If the class is not a large 
one we can still provide for study hall students.  I have a "soft" area of the 
library that has some throw pillows and soft seating that those 6-8 students can 
use.  Study hall students know that they are welcome to be in that area as long as 
they are not disruptive to the class using the library.  All students must sign in 
and sign out when they leave (if they go back to study hall or class) before the 
end of the period.  This not only keeps track of who is in the library, but if we 
have a fire/tornado drill or an emergency we know where each student is.  I take 
that sign out sheet with me in those situations and can verify the location of 
those students

Study hall students do homework, use the computers, read magazines/newspapers, 
check out books.  It is rare that they are just "messing" around because they know 
if they do I will send them back to the study hall.  

We only last year had the 7th and 8th grade added to our building and it was a bit 
of a challenge to them to understand the behavior I expected but they are doing a 
great job this year.

The 6-8 rule is in place because I usually have the same number of students coming 
from various classes to do some quick research, take a test, check out a book, etc.

We are a small 7-12 school of about 300 and my library can accomodate about 25-30 
people at a time.

***

Just this year I've had a few trying study halls and we are trying 
something new with them. The SH monitor can send 2-3 at a time for only 
about 10 minutes then they go back. It helps with these kids who have 
nothing to do.

***

Our small school (<600 students grades 9-12) is on a block schedule & we
have one study hall during each of the four blocks. Students are allowed
to sign out from study hall to come to the library. I created a sign out
sheet that is self-limiting because of the number of spaces I put on the
sheet. 

Since we have 80 minute blocks, I divided each block in half. When
students arrive in study hall they may sign up for either the first half
or the second half (we send first group back at "half-time"). The sign
up sheet has 15 spaces for each half. There are also 8 spaces for the
whole block--for "research priority" for students who are working on a
bona fide research project. 

Most often we have between 5 and 20 students from study hall, depending
on the time of day & day of the week. If we have multiple classes
scheduled & don't have the space we call study hall with limits.

Hope this helps. Write back if you want specifics.

***

In my district some study halls are rather large and to accomodate we have students 
with last names A-K one day and L-Z the next. We post the schedule on the doors to 
the library and also have it available on the web. But we also offer a pass system. 
If a student has a major project or assignment and needs to come to the library 
during study hall the student may obtain a pass from the teacher who created the 
assignment. I use the passes that are found in Joyce Valenza's "Power Tools 
Recharged. " It works well.
 
Our students all have agendas that they are supposed to write their assignments in. 
To reinforce study skills and what is going on in the classroom I ask to see their 
agenda when they sign in to make sure they have it filled out and have something 
constructive to do. Sometimes they don't have an assignment and would just like to 
come in and read which is great. 
 
Every year I reflect and come up with ways to make our processes better for 
everyone involved. 

***

This is a subject that comes up quite frequently.  Philosophically, I would like to 
see the doors as open and as inviting as possible.  Unforturnately, the reality is 
that too many students will just use the place as a lounge and ruin it for everyone 
else.  As someone who has spent too many years just dealing with crowd control, you 
need to find some way to reduce the numbers.  That eliminates much of the problem.  
 
        We only allow honor students (Jr. or Sr. with an 88 average or better) to 
use the library without a pass. Everyone else needs to see teacher for a pass to 
come to the library.  This includes lunch.  I have included my guidelines for you.  
You'll have to work things out with our staff and building principal.

***

The solution that we used until this year, when Study Halls were eliminated
from our schedule (almost) entirely was this:

1) Students who wished to use the Library from study Hall needed to get a
pass from one of their subject area teachers (presumably for an assignment),
their Guidance Counselor (if they needed to do college or career research),
or a Librarian (for recreational reading) before the start of their Study
period. Once the bell rang for them to be in class, no passes could be
issued for THAT period's Study Hall. Study Hall teachers could NOT issue
passes for Study Hall, only honor passes from other teachers.

2) If students were repeatedly disruptive, we'd send them back to Study, and
either send a not to the teacher who originated the pass or make a point to
mention their student's behavior. We'd also let the student and Study Hall
teacher know (if they were enough of a problem) that they were suspended
from being allowed to use the Library from Study Hall for anything from 2
days to the rest of the term.

3) Substitute teachers were (and are) NEVER NEVER NEVER allowed to write a
pass to the Library unless sending students individually or in small groups
is in the lesson plan left by the classroom teacher. Subs were treating
their classes like Study Hall, and sending us their biggest problem
children.

***

I tried to get all the kids in here during their study hall to do some constructive 
educational things.  Most of them do, but you have the odd ones that does not have 
any work to do.  The only thing that works for me, is to send them back to their 
study hall after one warning.  So, if they can not behave, they go back to the 
study hall.  That keeps the noise down, and the unruly out.

***

I work in a school that only has 2 study halls per day wrapped around
the lunch period.  So half of the school is at lunch and the other half
is in study hall.  I initiated a system years ago that has been
practically foolproof.  

Every morning the students come before 1st period to obtain a library
pass - only the library can write these passes.  The pass is printed on
NCR paper so when we write it a copy is written also.  The pass contains
the students name, date, and study hall teacher name.  The bottom of the
pass has a spot for the study hall teacher's signature and time the
student left study hall.  I give the student the top copy and I keep the
bottom copy of the pass.  The student reports to study hall at the
appropriate time, obtains the study hall teacher's signature and then
comes to the library.  I match up both copies of the pass so I know who
is in the library.  If I only have one copy of the pass then I call the
study hall teacher to make sure the student is still in study hall and
forgot to come to the library or maybe they are not in study hall and
are cutting - then this goes to discipline.   The student remains in the
library for the entire period and does not need to go back to the study
hall.

This way, I have control over the number of students who are in the
library during each study hall.  If we are getting too full, I simply
tell the latecomers that they need to come to the library after school
or in the morning.  But nobody gets in the library unless they have a
pass issued by me. 

I also have students who would come to the library everyday if I let
them.  I let each student come to the library twice a week but after
that they must produce a note from a subject teacher that verifies they
have a project that they must work on.  

I once substituted in a school that had a study hall every period. 
This librarians method was similar - the student needed to sign a sheet
in the morning before school.  The librarian taped a sheet of paper for
each period on the circulation desk.  The student signed his name and
study hall teacher name and period on the sheet.  Then the student would
come to the library rather than study hall.  The library aide  emailed
each study hall teacher in the morning with the names of the students
who had signed up for the library.  

I think both methods sound more complicated written out than they
actually are in practice.  I always liked the idea of making the student
responsible for getting a pass in the morning rather than letting the
study hall teachers decide which students could come to the library.

***

Detentions.  Kick them out of the library for 2 weeks if they cannot behave in 
there.

I too struggle with this.  

***

I require students to have a pass and if they aren't working productively then I 
send them out of the library.

***

I solved that problem by requiring students to get a pass from me for the specific 
period that they  want to use the library - that way I can control how many 
students come and I can find out ahead of time what they will be working on. I have 
been doing this for several years and it has worked out well.

***

Have research/Assignment passes.  Make sure teacher writes
the assignment. Have popular magazines local newpapers etc.
on a cart and send them to study halls for browsers.  
Install couple of  computers with Internet in study halls.

We have done that and it works beautifully.

***

We used to have anybody and everybody coming in from study halls plus
classroom passes.  Our IMC turned into a commons.  Now students must
have a presigned pass from a teacher BEFORE they get to study
hall...this prevents study hall teachers from unloading on us.  We have
a no talking w/o permission guideline in part of our facility, another
part students may work together on school work.  Hope this helps. 
Students who do not follow guidelines lose privileges...

***

My study hall procedures just underwent a change this year and has been working 
beautifully. 7th and 8th graders must come to the library in the afternoon after 
school or the morning of to request a pass for that day. I generally know what 
research projects are going on in the building but I have lots of computers so 
often they just need to type some homework. I find that the motivated kids will 
take the time to think ahead. Our old system allowed SH teachers to send 2 kids per 
study hall but that this often meant large groups of friends would gather here. 
Now, the burden is off the teacher and the library has control.

***

I don't require the kids to do school work, but I do require a very low level of 
noise.  Also, I only let the kids use computers I can actually see, unless there is 
a big paper due. Then I let some responsible kids use the computers I can't see to 
type papers.  If they are not doing that and I check on them, they are busted.

***

If they don't have work, I send them back. If they are failing one or more classes 
they can only use the library for research. Good luck!

***

Over the years and with the support of staff we have developed a
relationship with study halls that is working. The idea is to always
provide individuals access when needed but to regulate it based on their
individual performance and on what the place will hold.

To whit, we have a pass system that uses two different colored passes to
access the library from study hall. A green pass is issued by study hall
teachers themselves and the number of them they may issue each day is a
number I give them. My number comes from looking at how many students
they have in study hall (after all I don't think it would be fair for
them to send most of their students to the library) and how many study
halls there are that particular hour. For example, first hour we have
two study halls of 25-30 students and each is allowed to send 5 students
with green passes per day. The study hall teacher determines who gets
the green passes. But low grades automatically freezes a student in
study hall and poor behavior can too. The other pass is a pink one we
call a special pass. We use this pass to insure the student gains access
to the library when necessary for class work. It is issued by a
student's classroom teacher (not the study hall teacher) and specifies
what task the student needs to accomplish in the library. It allows us
to hold these kids accountable, and by its color is easy and quick to
identify from the green ones. Students with a green pass from study hall
are allowed to more or less choose their activity in the library but we
expect them to behave according to our standards. Students present the
pink pass to their study hall teacher. We have told study hall teachers
we will accept any number of pink passes students bring to study hall.
(The exception is that if the pink pass requires him to use a computer
and all computers are in use, we will send the student back to study
hall rather than have him sit around in the library.) We find students
with a pink pass are more likely to be on task because they know their
classroom teacher expects them to accomplish something. If they are not
doing as specified on the pass we send them back to study hall and alert
the classroom teacher. (Classroom teachers do appreciate hearing when a
student on a pink pass did not do what was expected.) The pink pass may
be used by any student(even one with poor grades)so it is a way we can
guarantee they have access. We feel justified in doing this as the
majority of classroom teachers will only write a pink pass if they trust
the student to do what he says he needs to.

***

My experiecne is that when I required a pre-signed pass, I had an empty library.  
So I deal with it via my discipline process which I find works really well.  I just 
have a few rules which I enforce consistently.  One of them is 2 people per table 
and no talking between tables or table-hopping.  I post the rules on the tables for 
awhile so that everyone has an opportunity to learn them.   then if I see a 
violation - the students is out for 10 school days.  A second violation is another 
10 days + a letter to a parent.  3rd offenses is 20 school days out, a parent 
letter + an office referral.  I rarely have to go past step 2.  I have an array of 
forms to manage it all.  I have attached the forms.  Please feel free to ask 
questions and to modify any of the materials for your situation.

***

ve been a librarian at Highlands High School (in Natrona Heights, PA) for
the past 2 1/2 years and I've had a similar problem.  This year the problem
was much worse -- to the point where I would find myself with 35 kids who
came with absolutely nothing to do but socialize.  I felt the same way about
not wanting to give the wrong message and make students feel that they
weren't welcome in the library.  

I finally decided on a system where each study hall teacher was given two
passes.  They are allowed to send one student per pass - so only two
students per study hall.  These students are allowed to come for any reason
(to study, to read magazines, whatever).  If a teacher has another student
or group of students beyond the first two who really need to work on a
research project or need the library to do homework, the teacher is to call
me and let me know that those students are coming to work.  If those
students come and are not working, they know that they will be sent back.

This has been in effect for about two months and I haven't had any problems
- from teachers or students.  My library is a much quieter place and
students have been much more productive here.  I think it was just a matter
of setting down the rules, making the students aware that I'm not running
the library as a place for socialization.  Many of the problems were from
groups of three or four students who wanted to come to the library just to
socialize.  Once their group was cut to two, they had no interest in coming.

***

All our students must have a pass to come in from study hall from a classroom 
teacher.   We have spots to check if they can use internet, word processing, or 
books/study.  If we are having problems with a student, we email their teachers and 
they lose library rights for two weeks.  That is generally enough to keep students 
in line.

***

too struggled with this, but have found the following to be successful. 
We issue two kinds of passes.  Browse passes, which are limited to 5 per 
study hall are for students to read the newspapers, magazines, look for a 
book or just to read.  There is a separate space for these students set 
aside and I really enforce a NO talking rule.  If they talk they get sent 
back. They also can't use these passes if they have incompletes or are 
failing any classes. The other kids must have a "planner pass" which 
essentially is a note teachers must write in their planners stating what 
they are to do when they get here.  This allows use of one of the 48 
computers.  Again, I enforce a NO talking rule unless the kids are working 
in groups and I usually know which projects require that because the 
teachers have already generally brought them in for a work day previously. 
This has worked well for 8 years.

***

I am one of three librarians in a New York middle school (2 middle school 
librarians plus the district coordinator who has her office in the middle school). 

We disagree over this issue all the time. 

They want to restrict student access to the library by building all sorts of 
barriers--from research passes like you suggest, to limiting the number of students 
from a study hall to 4 or 5. 

I am opposed to that but always lose partly because its 2 to 1 (really 4 to 1 if 
you count the clerks) and partly because its the dept chair.

However, that does not change the fact that I am right.  

I had a pretty good attendance record at library school but must have been absent 
the day they taught us to throw kids out of the library BEFORE they did anything 
wrong.  Yet in our building, that is exactly what happens--the other librarians 
stand guard at the door like they are protecting a maximum security prison and send 
students away for the simple crime of being the sixth student from a particular 
study hall. 

Imagine how a librarian might feel about such prior censorship of books. Imagine 
doing that to patrons at a public library. 

We need to expect our students to treat each other with respect (and believe me 
that is high on my list--there is no one who would describe me as a push over).  
However, by requiring a research pass you limit students who want to read the 
newspaper or a magazine and completely cut out the students who wonder in the 
stacks and discover a book that is just right for them. 

I would suggest that you have clear guidelines about respecting other students in 
the library and enforce them but I would highly recommend that you do not 
unnecessarily harass the students who what to use your library.  

***

YES * they definitely need passes. You may have some who try to goof off and 
disturb others anyway. Who says just because they have a pass they will do what 
they should? Make sure you let your teachers know that no matter whether it is 
study hall or not, pass or not,  if students disturb others they will be sent out 
of the library, back to class, or wherever is the appropriate place. Having said 
that, I do allow low level talking, etc. among students in my library, but if folks 
are loud and it becomes distracting to others, out they go!

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