Thank you again to all who replied. I was flooded with clever ideas. The
most popular was to ask for a shoe in exchange for an item. The next most
popular was some form of collateral: id card, jewelry, phone, money etc. A
few people made the point that the loss of a few supplies might be worth
keeping the library a friendly place. Last, some librarians even gave great
ideas for acquiring supplies for free, usually on the last day of school.
Below are some of the other responses.
* We make them bring their work over to us and stand there while they
use our supplies.
* What grade level is your library? I have 9-12. The students borrow
the items you mentioned as long as the previous student returned them. If
the items are not returned, then the next student can not borrow them. I
replace them every fall.
* We have them fill out a request form at the circ desk (where the
supplies are) with their name and what they are using. We don't lose too
much. Our worst offenders for relocating resources are the teachers. No
surprise there. Our worst problem is that there is no way to lock the
library so anyone can get in any time and take what they want. Drive me
NUTS!
* I have a box of supplies with a sign that says, "SUPPLIES, If it's
not in here you may not borrow it...if the person before you did not return
it, I don't replace it. Please return what you take."
Right now I have:
Scissors
Tape
Pens
Pencils
Papers
3-hole punch
Stapler
Glue
Paper (lined left by students and unlined -- printer paper that's still good
on one side) 3-1/2" floppies (they use them and bring them back) Rulers Box
of Colored Pencils Box of Colored Markers
I refill tape and staples. I replace once per semester ONLY.
* We put colored flags (bright paper and mending tape)on items we loan
with the word library on them. Most
of my items are taken by mistake and returned when the child notices the
flag (usually about the time they
walk out of the door.) I always smile and say thanks so much when something
is returned after leaving the
library and I alway comment on how well the flag works to help students
return items to me. I still loose a
few things, but not many. I've finally decided it is time to replace the
pencils I put out 2 1/2 years ago
with new ones. : )
* You don't say what age you serve, but here I have a box of colored
pencils, markers, rulers, protractors, etc. that kids can use. I tell them
that if a marker is dry they should throw it away. Pens and pencils are
gathered from the floor, tables, etc. and are put out by the sign-in sheet.
If there is no writing utensil present then kids just have to dig out their
own (most actually DO have them, even if they would like us to believe
otherwise). Rubber bands,tape, and paperclips are in my desk. Most kids are
pretty good about taking only what they need, and asking first, but once in
a while someone is demanding or abuses what is available. I haven't had to
say anything in the nine years I've been here - other kids say it for me!
When kids ask "Do you have...?" I either point them to the box or dig in my
desk. If it is something that ought to be in the box, and they can't find
it, then the answer is "No." I don't give out my personal supplies. However,
when I want a new marker, highlighter, etc. the old one goes in the box, and
I generally want a new one before the old one is half gone. So far the
system has worked well. We really DO have good kids here!
* Just a small incident from my past - I had the check out pen chained
to my desk when I was in elementary and a student stole chain and all right
in front of me and then denied it. We like to have never got it from him - I
knew it was in his pocket!! This student was a habitual thief by the time he
got in third grade and I still hear his name on the police reports from time
to time - he has never learned to stay out of trouble!
I don't have any advice, we have the same problem - this year our main
problem has been our scotch tape. I don't know how many things we have had
to replace - our students seem to have a fetish to tape this year! I have to
watch them like a hawk and still they keep taking pieces, etc. Good luck
* We have the same situation at the school I work at. We hold the
student's student id card when they borrow glue, tape, rulers, markers,
scissors, ect.
Here is how we collect consumable items, but it may not work in your
situation. We collect these materials at the end of the year during locker
clean out. Here, some of the supervisory aides are given the task of
checking lockers at the end of the year to make sure that the students have
removed their belongings from the lockers. The aides take carts from the
library along with them and in return we get first dibs on what has been
left. We usually are able to collect enough consumable items that students
use throughout the year to supply us through the next school year.
* STUDENT APPROACHES DESK TO ASK FOR STAPLER
"Mr. Hastings, may I borrow that stapler?"
MR. HASTINGS PICKS UP STAPLER, CRADLES IT IN HAND LOVINGLY, GAZES AT IT FOR
A FEW MOMENTS WISTFULLY.
"Yes, you may but...well this is a very special stapler. Have I ever told
you about it?"
"Uhm...no."
"My grandfather--he was a librarian too--gave me this stapler. I was in
library school at the time and, well...he had been ill, gravely ill. The
last time I saw gramps, he must have known his end was near. 'Sonny,' he
said to me, 'if you're gonna be a librarian, be a good one' and then...he
handed me this stapler. Those were his final words to me."
MR. HASTINGS CONTINUES TO GAZE AT STAPLER, WIPES TEAR FROM THE CORNER OF
EYE, HANDS STAPLER TO STUDENT
"That's a very special stapler; in fact I'm thinking of having it bronzed.
You'll be careful with it and be sure to bring it back when you're done?"
"Sure, Mr. Hastings."
The routine never fails! I never lose supplies and the kids sometimes come
back for encore performances. Plus: Kids with a dramatic bent often play
along and we embellish the tale together. It's pretty common for a kid to
return to the desk and say something like:
MOCK SOMBERLY "That's a fine stapler Mr. Hastings. I think your grandfather
would be very proud of you."
* Will your school allow you to send out a note asking for donations
for the supplies? Politely state somehow that supplies are not always
returned, and you would like to continue offering them, but cannot if they
disappear. As a parent I would send in a box or two of markers to help my
kid's school.
* One thing I do is only allow borrowing if they are using my supplies
in the library. Another is to label (marker or label maker) supplies like
stapler, scissors, tape dispenser, glue, boxed items (a set of markers or
colored pencils). Obviously you can't label individual items, like rubber
bands or paper clips (I just let those go - budget so much per year to them
and when they are gone, they are gone for the year). I also have items I
give out or sell (lined paper - one sheet at a time, and 3 x 5 cards for
notecards - 25 cents per 25 cards). If you have a school store (we don't),
talk to them about having such items on hand to sell (if it is a reasonable
price, the kids should be directed to them). We have a machine the sells
pencils, pens, and pads of 25 sheets of paper for a very low price - the HS
doesn't make a profit on it but it doesn't lose money on supplies this way,
either. Another thing I have seen other teachers do is print out small
labels and wrap them around their pens, pencils, small supplies and put tape
around the label. The label has "return to room 101" on it (or some similar
message indicating the owner or rightful place of the item). This helps
everyone to return errant items to the correct place.
I think that if you try to check out items, you will have barcodes go
missing from the item(s) and take too much time (both yours in setting it up
and theirs when checking it out). Try limiting their use (with the
explanation of why you aren't letting them go - most kids understand
monetary reasons) to the library only and that will cut down on lots of
things going missing. If you are losing things and you already limit their
use to only in the library, tighten it further to only on the table/counter
near your check out or main desk.
* We supply those items [as well as Kleenex] throughout the day and
usually the things are returned. I've had a few things taken, a couple of
rulers and scissors, over the 3 years I've been doing this, but usually
students put the stuff back where they got it. It's all paid for with
school funds....I use fine money and money collected from selling CDs,
poster board, etc. [I buy cheap $1.00 scissors at Garden Ridge.]
The only time the stapler was taken a teacher took it accidentally but
returned it.
The reason I'm willing to do this is because it's good PR for the library
and I believe it helps create a positive image for us for very little cost.
* I have a form on a clip-board that the students sign and then check
the item they've borrowed. I use Excel to create the form. There is a column
that they check when the item comes back.
* I had a supply box. It had everything the kids might ask for. If
kids asked for items I would tell them to go to the box. If they came back
and said there were no more colored pencils or whatever, I would explain
they must have been stolen and that replacements would be purchased for next
school year. Basically, the policy was that they could use it if it was in
the box and they get no supplies from my desk or supply drawers with the
exception of scissors. I was going to somehow attach scissors to the
circulation desk because those seemed to walk the fastest, but I left before
I bothered to come up with a solution.
* This is how I took care of this....the military recruiter people
give me pencils, I have hundreds of them...put them out by the computers,
when they disappear, I put out more. I will never run out of pencils. At
the end of the school year, right after the students are gone, I go through
their lockers (which they have 'cleaned out'), I have 2 shoeboxes full of
colored pencils, couple file boxes of 3x5 and 4x6 cards. I get calculators,
etc. In the fall when Walgreen's & Wal-Mart have their Back to School
sales, I buy folders, staplers, classroom scissors, pens.(with fine $) Many
of them have rebates and cost very little. This is whenI usually get
markers, Wal-Mart had them last August for less than a dollar for good ones.
I have bought boxes of staples that include free staplers. I keep a stapler
beside the printer...students know to look for it there. I keep scissors on
my desk & on the circulation desk. They may freely use them. If a stapler is
to leave the room, I have a really old unattractive one that I let them
take...it is clearly marked Library. I found that the less I try to keep
track of things, the better they are about returning them
* Last day of School I have ditto paper boxes left in various place.
With a sign. If you are going to throw the following away please put it
this box.
List :
Pencils
Pens
Colored pencils
Markers
Rulers
Scissors
Protractors
Compases
Clipboards
Spiral notebooks
Clean paper.
My students know that these items will be available to borrow next year in
the library.
I also talk to the custodians. They help by not just dumping all the
lockers they clean out.
I collected enough colored pencils that I did not have to do that again for
three years.
* You haven't said the time frame, but it sounds like you've lost
about $20 - $40 worth of supplies. Depending on how often you are going
through supplies, that might be the cost of doing good business and making
your library a student-friendly place. However -
What about asking for donations to cover lost items?
What about fine-free days - return a late book and a pair of scissors and
get a "get out of fines free" card? If you donate you get some sort of
recognition as a "friend of the library."
What about setting up a table near the circulation desk and ask students to
work there?
What about getting the stubby colored pencils so they aren't so attractive,
or paint the scissors flourescent green (or your school colors) so it's
obvious they are not off the shelf?
Good luck.
Davinna Artibey
Teacher Librarian
Denver Center for International Studies
Denver Public Schools, CO
Davinna@comcast.net
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