[LM_NET] HIT: Date Due Labelers

[Pamela Hollenberg <phollenberg@PHM.K12.IN.US>]

Original post:
 
Does anyone use those labeler guns that put a small "date due" label on some sort 
of a panel?  If so, do you like it? If you have a line of kids waiting to check 
out, does it hold you up?
 I am currently still using cards and pockets. We stamp the cards in the morning, 
and the students put the cards in their books when they check out. Sometimes cards 
fall out of books, and sometimes students slip by without putting a card in. I'm 
wondering if the labeler system would work better.
 
Responses:
 
I have a METO labeler from Highsmith.  The Library Store has them, too.  We love 
it.  It does not slow us down or hold up the line.  We pull the old stickers off of 
the panel as the books are returned, and that can get to be time consuming, but it 
is not necessary.  The biggest advantage is that the due date is right there on the 
cover of the book.  They can not claim that they did not know when it was due.  I 
highly recommend them.
 
 
There was one of those things here when I came in 1998. It didn't work 
well, so I got another one. That one didn't work any better, so I tossed 
both of them. I don't bother with any sort of due date on the books, 
since everyone is well aware of the two-week loan period. I really don't 
have much of a problem with overdues, but I've thought of putting cards 
or using a date stamp on a paper just to make it harder for the few who 
try to claim that they don't know when a book is due.
 
I have used a label gun for years and it works great.  It takes less time to put on 
a label than to open the books and put a card in the pocket.  I just put the label 
on the cover of the book.  I am currently using a Garvey labeler, but I wouldn't 
recommend it because it is too easy for the date to get accidentally changed. 
 
I paste a slip in the back and tell the students to write the date if they need to. 
 We also give receipts.
 
We've used one for Middle & High School for many years and love it.  If 
you use cards, then you have to pull them out when books are 
returned--ugh.  It really doesn't take very long--we use removable 
labels right on the front cover.
 
Yes, my media center uses an XL pro "gun". It really is pretty fast to
put a label on the front of the book, but I would recommend getting 2
because it does take a few minutes to reload labels when its at the
end of the roll.
 
We use the label guns. I have never used anything else, 7 years in the library. We 
just stick the labels on the back of the book, no panels required. My assistant has 
a habit of removing them when she is checking in books but that is just her. I 
don't bother with it. The kids sometimes ask if they can take off the old ones so 
they are mixed up on the date and I say, SURE! We have our barcode scanner on a 
stand so it isn't a problem to scan, date, and desensitize before handing over the 
book to the student. I also have student aides and we can always use my assistant's 
computer as a secondary checkout line when things get backed up.
 
 
 
 
Pam Hollenberg
Media Specialist
Schmucker Middle School
Mishawaka, IN
phollenberg@phm.k12.in.us
"A room without books is like a body without a soul."  - Cicero

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