[LM_NET] HIT: Laminating Guidelines (LONG)

[Susan Grigsby <susan.grigsby@GMAIL.COM>]

Well, library mavens, I seem to have struck a raw nerve on this one. I got
LOTS of responses (you'll see them below as sent with names removed to
protect the innocent). I was asked if it was "legal" to buy laminating film
with the state allotment in Georgia - the short answer is no but principals
have a GREAT DEAL of leeway in how they deliver our funds and how they
require their media specialists to use them. The idea of charge for the film
is attractive but knowing that my teachers have NO classroom materials
budget this year makes that not workable for me. After reading all the
responses, here are the guidelines I have sent to teachers (and so far have
been well-received):

As you all know we are having to do more with less this year and that
includes laminating materials. Laminating film is expensive and we simply
MUST cut back on items being presented for lamination. *my clerk* will
laminate approved items on Tuesday and Thursday ONLY. Please note the
following guidelines:

1) NO student work will be laminated – laminating an item means it is
encased in plastic and will not biodegrade by the end of your
great-grandchildren’s lifetime. Putting it in a plastic sleeve is more
cost-effective and it can be re-used.
2) NO personal items will be laminated for teachers – if you have a keepsake
you want laminated, please take it to Kinko’s and they will be happy to do
that for you.
3) NO posters will be laminated – (see biodegradable note above); posters
can be re-printed for a fraction of the cost of re-printing AND
re-laminating. Let’s face it – the standards will change before the
laminated poster will exhaust its’ shelf life and we find quite a few
laminated posters in the trash bins at the end of the year because we almost
always want new stuff anyway. Commercial posters can usually be ordered in a
laminated form for classroom use.

What CAN be laminated?

1)      Items that will receive repeated and regular classroom use over the
course of the entire school year: blank tables/graphs or classroom rosters
on which you can use a dry-erase marker or removable stickers

2)    Manipulatives that will be used in the classroom by multiple students
and would not last the school year without the laminating process

3)    Tags/signs/classroom items for Special Ed

We will have a list of teachers on the wall behind the laminating machine so
that we can keep a running record of the amount of film being used
throughout the year. We sincerely appreciate your cooperation as we try to
hold down costs.

Want more? Read on...

LM-NET Responds:

We have a laminating team (I call us the 'laminatrixes........teacher from
black lagoon and all)!  NO ONE is allowed to laminate except us.  We had so
many problems in the past with the breaking of the machine, abuse of film,
etc. only items for the classroom, lessons, etc are to be laminated.  Rarely
do we laminate student work, unless there is a reason for it.  if a teacher
wants a school item (not student) to be laminated, we have a central
location for them to deposit it.  Depending on how much time you have and
how many members of the team, you can allow any amount of lead time for
completion.  We only had two very busy people last year, so we told them we
would laminate the first and third Monday after school..........

Teachers pick up their completed lamination in the staff room.  This year we
have 4 people sign up. We go thru a brief training session and we will
laminate once a week........ each member taking turns.

How about being straightforward about a budget "ceiling"?  Something along
the lines of "we have $1000 in the xyz budget line for laminating this year,
when the money runs out, that's it, no matter when it the year it occurs." I
did something like this with our color laser printer toner.  At $400 for
each toner replacement, it felt like a big hole in my library budget.  For
us, a budget ceiling for print toner means that each staff member gets
approximately 100 pages of color print jobs/year.  They're expected to keep
track of their own use on the honor system. As professionals, they can
decide if they REALLY need something in color, and they have to budget their
printing as they would any of their own resources.  The color laser is on a
print manager system, so we could track/block, but I like the honor
system/we're all professionals tact better.  Funny, after we put this
into  place,
people got so thoughtful about using it and whether or not something really
needed to be in color, I had to start actively pushing for teachers to
design projects that would be print published!

Our rule is that if it's going to be handled by students, you should
probably laminate it.  Classroom decor objects that you anticipate using for
more than a year can also be laminated.

I started getting interested in this topic because one teacher in my school
is always deriding everyone when he sees them holding anything that's been
laminated.  We do try to limit what is laminated to items the students will
be handling a lot or things that will be reused year after year.  Some
thought that by recreating these items a lot of paper would be wasted.

Anyway I did a little internet research and found a message board where the
above issue is discussed.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/04/06/2267595.htm

According to one message poster, it would seem that plastic is more
eco-friendly than paper!

He makes a good argument--of course, he would, since he's in the lamination
business!  I'm still not convinced.

Don't get me wrong--I'm fine with laminating things that get heavy use—but
those bulletin/whiteboard borders that are already on coated paper?  I have
about decided that some teachers just like the way that shiny lamination
looks and will laminate almost anything that can be nailed down.

we've had free laminating at the drop of a hat UNTIL this year.  we are
laminating on Tuesday and Thursday mornings only - saving film by putting
items close together rather than one little thing at a time on immediate
request. we hope this will make people stop and think if they have to wait,
does it really need to be laminated. we try to impress on people that
personal items are NOT an option - materials FOR school.  go to kinkos or
somewhere for personal laminating!

I hope you have some success with this. I supervised laminating for many
years and found it a no win situation. Teachers have no idea what it really
costs. Educating them is necessary but that alone will not curb their desire
to laminate everything that doesn't move. Hopefully your equipment can be
housed in a secure area. If teachers can access it they will run what ever
they want when there is no one around. Talk to your administrator about
charging back to the teacher's/team's budget.

Each item or group of items laminated should have a cost sticker attached,
even if it is not charged back. Charge by the foot of lamination.

When I was a district media coordinator I would purchase lamination by the
pallet to reduce costs. Then buildings could "buy" from me. See if that is
an option for you. Ask the teacher's during fall meetings to help establish
guidelines. This gives them some ownership of the rules. There will be a
lack of agreement, but that's okay.

We didn't eliminate those services, we just began charging for them.  If a
teacher needs something personal laminated, it is $0.25 per linear foot (set
your price based on cost, time, and your intent to eliminate).  We found
that this nearly stopped it but allowed those who needed something laminated
the opportunity.  If they wanted it badly enough (needed it), then they
would pay for it (and it isn't a huge price, like at Kinko's or other
similar place).  Same thing with student work - it was $0.25 per linear foot
- and again, that stopped it almost completely.  You may want to decide that
you will charge for everything, except what the media center needs, as you
are paying for it originally.  Should make back your costs, at least.

On our campus the principal has always set a 25 ft limit. Once it is
laminated we lay it out on the floor and count the tiles. We then deduct it
from their total and keep a running record. Prior though, in order for
teachers to laminate they must fill out a request to laminate form that is
signed by the principal and turned into me. The form requires they note what
is being laminated and how many pieces approx  this ensures they aren't
wasting film to laminate something like bordette. It's very effective.

I have paid for laminating film out of my budget for years and feel for you.
Who does the laminating at your school? I discovered that when teachers do
it themselves, there is a lot of wastage; the 8 inches or so in front of the
laminated item and the 8 inches after and all the wasted space on the sides.
I limit laminating to 2 days a week and only library staff can laminate
(that's me, my 1/2 time tech or our trained parent volunteer). Its important
for me to enforce that rule. You let one teacher laminate and then they all
want to do it. Its not that they don't know how, its the wastage that's the
issue. We have a designated spot where teachers drop off the items. We do
cut out the items and  we put the items in teachers' mailboxes or deliver to
rooms. The trimming and delivery helps to quiet complaints that they "need
it now". I will admit that in the beginning of the school year we are
swamped, but I've learned not to schedule any other tasks the first few days
so I can get the laminating done. Again that creates good will and I tell
you, the savings of laminating film is completely worth the little extra
effort, especially when I have a parent volunteer to do it. *g*  I do have
to laminate everything that is physically possible to laminate, but you'd be
surprised how much doesn't need to get laminated when the teacher has a wait
a couple of days or over a weekend. Good luck with your situation and have a
good school year.

Will you need to assume the responsibility for the laminating (ouch-yet
another "lovely" job). In one of my former schools, I had to do that and
that and then assigned a limited number of feet of laminating for each staff
member at the beginning of the year. Kind of a pain, I know, but it did keep
them thinking about what was most valuable to laminate.

My assistant has a box where teachers place items. She only laminates on
Tues. and Thurs. This allows her to space items close together and only heat
up the machines twice per week.

With me, it's not a matter of lack of supplies, but lack of time. Per my
principal, only library staff can run the laminator. When the last laminator
died, it gave me an electric shock, the rule about the new one is supposed
to limit the wear and tear on the equipment.

Teachers who want items laminated leave them in a box outside of my office
door with their names on all items. They are told to prioritize their
laminating jobs by only submitting items that will hang in hallways, items
that will be handled by students (study prints, maps, etc.), and items that
will not be stapled to bulletin boards in classrooms. Once I laminate the
items, I roll them up and place them in a finished pieces box for pickup.  I
laminate daily during the first two weeks of school and once per week for
the remainder of the year. I don't have an aide, so I make it clear to my
teachers which day I will laminate by posting the date on a dry-erase board
hung outside of my office door.

Each of our teachers has been allotted 60 ft of laminate.  I assume that you
(or your clerk) will be doing the laminating, so you can condense the jobs.
Our guidelines are only laminate things that will be used multiple years.  We
don't laminate certificates that will be sent home or anything ephemeral.

We have a similar situation in our building. The money for the film does not
come from me, but the principal put the aide in my library in charge of
doing the laminating.

I think guidelines from the principal, location of the laminator and one or
two staff members assigned to use it make a huge difference.

Our laminator is near our office copier near our principal. When we moved it
up there, people were less likely to drop items off.

If your building has one or more support people with an open block or two of
time during the day, they could do the actual laminating, with an agreed
upon spot for drop off and pick up. The idea that someone else is seeing
what you laminate is somewhat of a deterrent and also if the person doing
the laminating is not sure, they can run it by you or the principal.

Also, as you mentioned, eliminating waste by setting up some common sense
guidelines. Materials that get used or handled a lot through out the year(s)
-items like that should be laminated. Again, having the Principal on board
w/your guidelines will be very helpful.

We have had a lamination policy in place pretty much since I came here in
1989.  The old laminator was on its last legs when I came on-board.  When
the new one was purchased around 1990, we went to a strict policy to make it
last and conserve film too.  I or my parapro laminated only two days a week
on Tuesday and Thursday and always after 1pm.  We tell everyone to plan
ahead. Some schools I know have a trustworthy parent.  If we have an
overabundance of items...we might laminate what we can one day and then
carry on the next.  We also leave the laminator on during planning days and
let whoever wants to laminate their own items.  In all these years...we've
only had a problem about 2 times with the laminator...once when a fuse in it
blew and the other day we had to have it repaired when an aide sent her
teenage daughter down to laminate (we do not allow "kids" to laminate...but
she apparently came in when we were at lunch on pre-planning) and she
wrapped stuff around the laminator rollers and then didn't tell anyone.  We
didn't know what was going on that afternoon and had to get the unit picked
up and taken in for repair that cost nearly $100.



Here are our rules/guidelines:



1)  We laminate in the afternoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays ONLY.  Please
plan ahead.  Each time we end and begin a laminating cycle we waste nearly a
foot and a half of laminating film. (*I also quote the price on how much it
costs per roll or per box since you use two rolls at a time)

2)  Laminating will be done by *my clerk* or myself.  Items you send to be
laminated should be placed in the TO BE LAMINATED box underneath the
Professional Books.  Once laminated, we place them in the LAMINATION PICK UP
box at the same location.  Two clothespins or metal clamps are provided for
you to use to attach to any item(s) you need laminated.  Please use these
when dropping off any materials you want laminated.  This helps keep your
items together, as well as letting us know to whom they belong.

 3)  Please keep this in mind when deciding to laminate:

       If the item is thicker than poster board...it is very durable.

       If an item has a shiny surface and is thick (like some flash cards),
it is durable and does not need to be laminated.  Lamination tends to peel
off of these materials.

       We WILL NOT laminate border for bulletin boards.

       Any item sent to us with staples, tape or glue will be returned to
you to remove the staples/tape/blue.



I rarely have anyone complain...usually only new people...but we get them
into the routine pretty quickly.  The two clips I give out we stress them to
use to be sure they get back to the right person.

You have just been placed in a difficult position: instead of being the
"take this for free" person, you seem to suddenly be in charge of telling
peers how much they can't do. Recommendation: your principal needs to be the
one who announces the nixing of certain lamination paid by the school. With
that, you can then become the Nice Guy that offers to do those projects for
$0.XX per ft, on the teacher's personal budget. You will save them time and
convenience, even if you can't save them much in the way of money. You may
even want to figure out how much per grade level will be budgeted, and then
have the lead teachers help you police the work. If they know they can only
use 200" all year long, they will squeeze themselves instead of you.

 The most important thing will be for you to have control over the machine.
If anyone can go in and use it, they'll figure out when you're gone and use
it then. It will also cost you less if you have a set time to laminate
objects together, rather than having the extra "leader" inches between usual
stops and starts.

Ouch!  That stinks!! If they started taking lamination film out of my
non-existent budget I'd tell the teachers they have to chip in to purchase
it!!  Realistically, I know some of the schools in my district charge by the
linear foot.  We don't do that at my school, but I do remind them at the
beginning of the year that it takes 20 years for lamination film to
biodegrade, so please laminate only those items that are going to be well
used. We do not allow lamination of children's work or personal items - it
has to be something for the classroom.

I've wanted to start a Laminating Conversation on LM_NET, but hadn't yet had
time to check the archives to see if the topic's been done to death.  I'd
like to eliminate all (or almost all) laminating!  It takes days of my
aide's time at the beginning of school, and I'm sure it's really detrimental
to the environment.  I'd love to talk to others who feel the same way,
especially to anyone who has had success in discouraging the practice among
teachers.  I have tried education, humor, appeals to good stewardship of the
environment, etc., and still the lamination happens.

That said, our school limits lamination to 100' per year, which still seems
like a lot to me.  My aide and I do it ourselves, on a schedule that the
teachers are aware of, and we have a pretty good satisfaction rate.  Why not
try deciding how much film you can afford to buy and dividing the number of
feet by the number of teachers, then assign each one that much?  Maybe if
it's clear to them that the money is coming out of the media center budget
they'll be a little more conservative in their choices. (Obviously, teachers
can offer their "feet" to others if they don't need them).  Yes, you do have
to measure and keep track, but we do it and it's not too bad.  (It's also
very satisfying to tell the overly-enthusiastic laminators that they're
approaching their limit!)

We have a similar policy of no personal items. We also ask staff to be
frugal in their usage, but I'm not the lamination police. We purchase with
building funds an annual supply and if we use it all, then we have to wait
until the next budget year. We laminate two days a week and only the LMC
staff does the laminating. This cuts down on wasted film. Teachers have to
plan a little ahead, but once they adjust we haven't had any complaints.
Good luck!

Oh dear! Is it legal in GA to purchase consumables with your library monies?
We have a general fund that is formed by teachers donating a portion of
their state money (which we aren't getting this year) to a common purchases
account. We are receiving no library budget this year either. Definitely, no
one should be laminating personal items! Isn't that the same as stealing?

We don't have the funds to purchase laminating film for the entire school
(Library budget cuts for the last 6 years).  We email a "Library Wish List"
to our department chairs at the end of each school year with a list of
consumable items teachers are looking for from the Library and explain that
without the departments donating the items, they will not be available.

I make sure the list includes the purchasing information (most of our items
come from RESA - Regional Educational Services Agency).

The list includes:

Laminating film

Toner for the printers in the Academic Computer Labs

Toner for the teacher and student printers in the Library

Transparency film

Lamps for overhead projectors

Colored paper we use for student citation sheets

Batteries for PA mics and graphing calculators



This has worked great for us - many of the teachers that use a lot of
laminating film will use some of their classroom supply money to purchase a
box of film and give it to us. We keep a list of "donations" and I like to
send thank you cards to the departments.

This takes up time, but:

I have the teachers drop off their laminating and do it myself (or my
assistnant does it).  We can eliminate the waste when you start and stop the
machine, & I put things much closer together when I laminate than the
teachers do--they just let it run and feed things in, I'll stop it and put
small things close together, then turn it on again, etc.

I charge for laminating, $3.30 per 15 minutes for labor, plus .25 per foot.
I'm in a bit of a different situation being at a county office (no students)
but I get teachers coming in all the time. Good luck!

Set a day of the week you will do laminating and stick to it.  This will
reduce the waste of start up and ending. If you have a bunch of small
pieces, I would suggest getting a 8 1/2 x 11 laminator or a cold one like
zyron.  Sometimes some of the laminating companies have Zyrons for free with
the purchase of hot laminator film.  The cartridges always go on sale at
Michaels or JoAnn Fabrics.  This can be used for small items.

I was asked to purchase laminating film and I just told my Principal's
secretary that I only purchase things for the library and not the teacher
workroom...at then end of the year I try to help if I have money left and
pick up stuff for the school.  It worked :-)  I didn't know that it is part
of our budget now!

I support the concept of “Laminating Work Order Forms” and “maximum yardage
per teacher per semester,” or similar guidelines. If everything is
structured for accountability purposes, things might be easier to control.
Good luck and best regards!


-- 
Susan Grigsby, Teacher-Librarian
President, GLMA
Elkins Pointe Middle School
Roswell, Georgia
susan.grigsby@gmail.com
We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the
life that is waiting for us.  — Joseph Campbell

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