Re: [LM_NET] HS: Teacher Cooperation

[Donna Steel Cook <donnasteelcook@YAHOO.COM>]

We have new administrators this year, and suddenly I had no backup for getting 
library materials returned at the end of the fall semester or the end of this 
semester.  I was caught unprepared at Christmas with our new principal's new 
principles, so I had this spring semester to devise a plan.  We have 9 more days of 
school, and my overdue list has gone from 20 pages to 7.   These are some of the 
tactics I've used:

First I talked to all my English teachers about the problem.  As expected some were 
sympathic and willing to help, some were sympathic and said they would help, but 
they didn't, and some couldn't have cared less.  One English teacher told her 
classes all books and fines had to be cleared up or the delinquents would make a 
2-minute speech, and everyone would have a quiz on the speech that she would 
compose as the student made the speech.  There were NO overdues in any of her 
classes by the due date.

One English teacher said she would make a pan of brownies for every class with no 
overdues or fines by the date.  She ended up making two pans of brownies, and I had 
to make one other pan because she only owns two pans.  She still has overdues in 3 
classes.  

I made sure to have an updated overdue in each English teacher's hands at the 
beginning of each day last week. 

I scheduled a buy-one-get-one-free book fair for this last week, and I used the 
fair to get the classes into the library.  When everyone went to browse the fair, I 
called aside the delinquents, and I called their homes and/or cell phones 
immediately.  That got about half of the late stuff in.

This week I'm going to e-mail the classroom teachers of the delinquents, ask them 
to send the kids to the library, and I'm going to have them "read off" their 
obligations.  30 minutes of reading will equal $1.00.  That will quickly take care 
of outstanding fines.  Those with lost books will just read a lot this week, or 
they will find the book(s).  Most of them hate sitting in the library and reading 
while their classes are basically having free days this whole week. 

It has been a lot of extra work for me that used to be handled nearly completely by 
the exam schedule and the principal's policy.  Since we don't have exams anymore 
(!) and the principal doesn't think he can insist on library books to be returned, 
I had to devise the above plans.  I'm studying the results vs. the work and the 
effects of these strategies on students' attitudes toward the library and the 
librarians (me).  It is an interesting study, but it surely is a lot of work.  


 Donna Steel Cook
Central ISD Library Director
Central High School Librarian
7622 HYW 69 North
Pollok, TX 75969
donnasteelcook@yahoo.com 


"Books are the holes in the fences of life." --Peg Kehert 




________________________________
From: "Jorgensen, Sierra" <sjorgensen@NSD131.ORG>
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Sent: Wednesday, May 6, 2009 8:49:09 AM
Subject: HS: Teacher Cooperation

  



  I have been asked to come up with a guideline for teachers that will
help us get more books back at the end of the year.  Does anyone have
suggestions or a finished checklist that I could use?



My ideas currently are:
Adding book return as a grade

Offering extra credit for books turned up to a certain date



How can teachers and other staff members help us get more books back and
what should their end of the year procedures be????



Thank you in advance,



Sierra Jorgensen

Library Director

Columbia High School 

Nampa, ID

sjorgensen@nsd131.org <mailto:sjorgensen@nsd131.org>  


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