At the school I was at we had a policy about no new books till the old ones were
back, until I met
Corey.
You can read Corey's Story in a back edition of Teacher Librarian (sorry, mine are
packed for moving
so can't tell you which one) or in a new book that was available at the ALA
Conference (can't find
the email about that). But when you do, it will tear your heart strings and make
you think.
I didn't officially change the policy after this incident, but I always made
discreet inquiries
about why books might not be returned just in case there was another Corey in my
school - and there
were several.
In the end, I had to weigh up whether the value of the resource was worth more than
the value of the
student's relationship with the library, and, when I found out about circumstances
when it wasn't
just a case of privileges being abused or laziness, I came down in favour of the
student. It was
amazing though, the number of times, that one of these students would eventually
return the book
with a huge smile saying, "I FOUND it" because they knew we had done them a favour
and they were
determined to repay it rather than dismissing the library as yet another negative
in their lives.
But at other times we would have a "library book hunt" with acknowledgements for
the class that
returned the most books in a week; the class that had no overdues in a given week;
the class that
had every student able to borrow a book in a given week; and so on. New entrants
who returned their
book on time had their bookworm stamped and when they had all ten circles marked
they were allowed
to borrow three books just like the big kids. That way , they quickly learned that
'borrow' implied
'return".
There is also a poem by A. A. Milne called Disobedience which has the lines
"King John
Put up a notice,
"LOST or STOLEN or STRAYED!
JAMES JAMES MORRISON'S MOTHER
SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN MISLAID"
so I used those lines (substituting the book's title/ author for 'JJM's mother') on
a WANTED poster
on the library window. Students were encouraged to look for it and claim the
reward. (Many of our
students would read their library books in class and they would end up on the
shelves there.)
After stocktake the list of missing books was posted and a Super Sleuth badge given
to the student
able to find a title. Many turned up as classes were cleaned for the Christmas
break and new
academic year.
These sorts of attitude and activities are easier in a smaller school (we had about
500 students)
.and I was there long enough to know each of them, or could find out about them
easily. It was also
a primary school so novelty still worked.
Good luck.
Barbara
Barbara Braxton
Teacher Librarian
PALMERSTON ACT 2913
AUSTRALIA
E. barbara@iimetro.com.au
"Together we learn from each other."
-----Original Message-----
From: School Library Media & Network Communications
[mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of
Lisa Hunt
Sent: Wednesday, 12 December 2007 10:13 PM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: [LM_NET] Overdue, lost library books - an appeal to generosity
I swing and sway on the Library Philosophy Continuum as I explore my own ideas in
relationship to
the community attitude where I teach. I'll create a policy that makes absolute
sense at the time
and then I experience a act of generosity that cause me to re-think my ideas. At
least I'm always
learning and growing.
Rencently I began to re-think my policy about "If you have something overdue you
cannot check out.
If you lose a book you must pay for it." Here's why...
My daughter and I are avid public library users. We live in a metro area that
provides two large
public systems. We have each worked for these systems in the past. So, my
daughter, 24 years old,
had $18 in fines, and her check out privleges had been suspended in one system.
That system is our
favorite. They have a self-check out system, AND they no longer employ a
material-scan-security-gate system. My daughter can/could and did simply walk out
with the books
she had requested on hold. This went on from July to December. The people who
check the "expired
holds that weren't picked up" on the shelves finally figured out that this patron
would request
books, come pick them up and not check them out. My daughter called one day
laughing, and the
laughter was at herself and with some joy at the generosity of the public library
system. They
finally caught her tactic of not checking out the books, and called to ask her
"What's up with
this?" She explained that she couldn't pay the $18 fine. (Actually she could
have paid it over
those many months, but this other solution was too convenient.)
HERE'S THE BEAUTY PART... The public library response was, "Oh here, let me erase
those fines and
you can continue to check out books. Thank you for using your Hometown Public
Library."
Wow! That really makes me re-think what I do at school. I want to be that
generous. Yes, I do
get books back sometimes when the student goes on to secondary or another school in
the district,
but the generous feel of the library sure is nice. I might start checking on my
long-term LOST book
people and then mysteriously deleting their "problem."
This is an interesting discussion.
Paula Yohe <paula_yohe@YAHOO.COM> wrote:
What are some solutions you have come up with for students that have lost library
books, damaged
library books, etc.
By not letting them check out books - media specialists are perceived as not
wanting to help kids
-
kids can't get books - so in some cases, the special programs just buy books for
classroom
libraries.
You can't hold their report cards --
you can however -- keep them from graduating -- so they are more than happy to pay
any fees to get
the diploma --
so I hope you see the problem ---
Now -- please -- let's not do the "they need to learn to be responsible" discussion
-- and the
library doesn't have a book budget, etc.
I don't mean that to send negative -- but that in this case is a waste of time --
I am looking for some creative solutions that anyone has come up for this type
problem
Thanks
Paula
Paula Yohe
Director Of Technology/Library Media Center Dillon School District Two
405 West Washington Street
Dillon, SC 29536
Phone: 843-841-3604 Fax:843-774-1214
paula_yohe@yahoo.com
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