Below is what I sent to my principal, followed by the action we took.
Sandra
Attached is the feedback I received to my library listserv post on
scheduling.
Summary of Comments
Almost universally, teachers have to go through the librarian to schedule
time and the calendar, when posted online, is read only. A benefit from
this is increased communication and collaboration. One librarian noted that
she kept a notebook of collaborative planning worksheets for staff to fill
out before scheduling. Most had a max of scheduling one month out, with a
few as limiting as two weeks.
In a situation similar to ours with limited computer resources, research
trumps typing up assignments. The computer lab is a more appropriate place
for that activity. There does seem to be a lot of computer lab use as
opposed to research in the library.
Some limits on the number of times signed up were mentioned. One school
limits teachers to eight days per semester (the principal wanted the limit
to be five.). Others limit consecutive sessions. At one school, frequent
users would have to cede slots to other teachers whose classes had not used
the library.
Reccomendations
1) For staff buy-in, running the final plan through BLT might be best,
but worked to maintain the fundamental changes that are needed.
2) The online calendar should be read only and all scheduling should go
through the librarian.
3) Soft limits are placed on the number of times a teacher can schedule,
or a plan is created requiring heavy users to cede time to light users.
4) The library is for research and creation, not typing. There are
three hours each day, with an extra half hour on Tuesdays and Fridays during
tutoring, when the library is not scheduled. Students who do not have
access to technology at home certainly have ample opportunity at school if
they choose.
Before We went to staff, I had a couple of meetings with my principal to
discuss how to proceed. She'd very much liked the feedback I'd received.
We decided to approach the problem from the angle of making best use of
library resources, including myself and my 8 hour/day aide. That would
include providign equal access for all. At the staff meeting I talked about
how the library is a costly part of the school and that in some place
librarians were cut for reasons of cost. Therefore, I wanted to make sure
that teachers who wanted to use the library for research weren't being shut
out because of overscheduling by others or scheduling merely for word
processing on our computers. Actually, I didn't say "overscheduling", but
talked about how some teachers are able to plan months out while others are
more spontaneous. As for the change in calendar access, it's an opportunity
for collaboration and making the students' time in the library more
effective.
Then I went over the suggestions I'd made in the letter above. There was a
minor amount of discussion and people seemed to be amenable to what I was
proposing.
Today I sent out an email to staff with these policy changes:
1. Make the online calendar read-only. All scheduling of the library
and labs would be through the library.
2) 2. As there are approximately 22 teachers who might use the library
and about 20 instructional days per month, anyone who signs up for more than
two days during a rolling 30 day period is subject to being bumped by
someone who has not been on the calendar.
3) 3. Research will take priority over word processing when scheduling in
the library
4) 4. Classes do not come to the library with a substitute. The amount
of time on task decreases dramatically when a substitute is here. This is a
common policy elsewhere.
5) 5. Any teacher walking in the door with a coffee shall be expected to
also bring one for Bob and Arlene. :^)
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