Hello,
I had a great question last week from a librarian wondering about allowing the community to check out books from the school library. Likely many of us have this same issue. Do you have homeschoolers wanting to use your library? How about church members? Parents? What are the ramifications of letting people other than your students use the library?
Here are some pros and cons to this particular situation.
Pros
1. It is good PR for your school. We all need as much good PR as we can get.
2. Our job is to promote literacy and this puts reading materials into more hands.
3. It is a low-key recruiting tool. It brings in future students. Parents with young children visit the library for books and the children get used to coming to the school. Homeschoolers may be impressed by what you offer at your school and decide to enroll. At the very least, they will be supporting your school verbally.
4. It can offer a service to the church members. It is a solid connection for church and school. You will reach people who don’t have children in the school, but they may visit the library and will feel a part of the school in that way.
Cons
1. You may lose some books. Face it. When we check books out to others, books will be lost.
2. If you check out to patrons other than students, the books may not be available when students need them for school purposes.
3. The visitors may come at an inopportune time.
4. Your library is not a public library. The purpose of your library is to support the school curriculum.
If we agree that it is a good idea to have community patrons, let’s make a policy for them to avoid some of those cons. Write up a policy for your library materials.
It may be that your church family considers the school library to be theirs, too. This should not be a problem. Make them library patrons with a card for themselves. You can have a separate card file for the community patrons and give them supervised library times. I have a simple policy for community patrons and a simple library card application. Each year patrons fill out a new application and update any information. Basic information to include on the application is name, address, all phone numbers. I also have a space to write the names of their school-age children.
I give each community patron a copy of our library policy and specifically mention the first one to them so they know that we may ask them to return the books ahead of time if a teacher or student needs that particular book. They all have understood and don’t seem to mind this at all. I also let them know the best times for them to come to check out books and which times the library will not be available to them. This information can be on the policy page.
Here is a copy of my policy. You are welcome to adapt this to your particular situation. If you have a policy for community members and are willing to share it with us, please send it to me. I’ll be happy to pass this information along.
Library Policies
1. Please note that the students and faculty of Rogers Adventist School have priority to all library materials. All loaned materials may be recalled at short notice if they are required for use by a student and/or faculty member.
2. If items are lost or damaged beyond repair, the borrower must pay a fee to replace the item. The fee will be the cost of the book plus a $5.00 nonrefundable processing fee. The Library does not accept materials in lieu of payment.
3. Books may be borrowed for a one-week period. However, books may be renewed each week. Patrons must bring in the books in order to renew them.
4. There are no fines for overdue materials. However, patrons will not be allowed check-out privileges when they have overdue materials.
5. The loan of seasonal books (i.e. Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.) may be limited. Also certain subjects that classes are studying will be limited for the time period the class needs them.
6. The suggested limit is five books. This number may vary as need and availability dictates.
I would caution you about one thing. Our school libraries are there to support the school curriculum, not the wishes of the community.
Have a great week.
Audrey
Sdalibrarian.blogspot.com
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Book Fair
Post for April 20, 2010
Book Fair Ideas
Hello,
This week I am in the middle of my spring Scholastic Book Fair and I thought I would just tell you what I do and how I run one. That way, you can use my experience to decide if you want to try this or not.
I hold two Scholastic Book Fairs a year, one in the fall and one in the spring. Scholastic is very good at helping and supporting me with each fair. A few weeks before the fair I receive a box filled with posters to personalize and flyers to send home with the students. I fill in the posters with the dates and times and I make stickers for the flyers. I use Avery # 5163 2” X 4” shipping labels and put the dates and times of the fair on that label. I also use Avery # 5160 address label and put a disclaimer on that. “Please note that not all the books seen in this flyer may be available at our book fair.” This is a good job for kids to do. I have my Library Club members place the stickers on the flyers. They love this job.
About a week before the fair I put up the posters around the school and send the flyers home. I hold my fair in the library and sometimes I decorate for the particular theme that Scholastic is using. The flyers and decorating and posters help to increase the excitement for the fair. Often there is a DVD in the box with information about a few of the books and authors. I preview this ahead of time and choose which segments I plan to show to the students.
When the book fair actually arrives, it is usually delivered in Scholastic’s semi truck with Clifford the Big Red Dog painted on the side. Since I am the librarian and not a classroom teacher, I begin right away. The Scholastic delivery person brings the cases in to the school and I figure out the placement of each case. Most schools will have four or five cases plus boxes, but since we are a large school, I usually get seven cases plus boxes. Inside the cases are shelves with books arranged on them. Inside the boxes are more books, toys, plush animals, activities, games, software, pens and pencils, bookmarks, notepads, stickers, erasers, and more. I place the cases around and open them up, and then my assistant and I begin to organize all this stuff on tables and counters. She takes care of all the pens, pencils and other smaller items and I start to cull the books. I look over all the shelves in the cases carefully and pull off the ones that aren’t appropriate for our school. I put them on the top of the cases for the time being. As we arrange items from the boxes on tables and counters, I use the boxes we empty to pack away the books that I put on top of the cases. This way any inappropriate books are packed away and not seen. There have been times that I wondered if I would have any books left on the shelves! But I have always had enough other books to take their places. I often have volunteers come help with the set up. I am so happy when I can have a creative parent arrange items on a table since decorating is not really my gift. We put the boxes out of sight in a closet or under the tables.
As the fair runs, we have two cashier areas where people can pay. If I see that some items are getting low, I can send a restock request to Scholastic and within a couple of days my restock items will arrive and I put them on the shelves. I usually take a look around and see what titles I know will be popular and actually send a restock order before the fair even starts!
The benefits of holding a book fair are many. You will earn Scholastic Dollars to spend on books or other materials from the Resource Catalog. I always use some credit to buy books off the book fair to put in our library, or books to use for prizes throughout the year, and books for gifts for my helpers. I also have saved up and purchased items of furniture found in the catalog to spice up the library.
If you decide to hold a Scholastic Book Fair, you’ll have a wonderful, busy, exciting time. You can contact Scholastic to learn more. I would recommend attending a free Book Fair Workshop for ideas and help. If you are a classroom teacher as well as the librarian, you might get your Home and School to run a book fair for you.
Have a wonderful week!
Audrey
Sdalibrarian.blogspot.com
Book Fair Ideas
Hello,
This week I am in the middle of my spring Scholastic Book Fair and I thought I would just tell you what I do and how I run one. That way, you can use my experience to decide if you want to try this or not.
I hold two Scholastic Book Fairs a year, one in the fall and one in the spring. Scholastic is very good at helping and supporting me with each fair. A few weeks before the fair I receive a box filled with posters to personalize and flyers to send home with the students. I fill in the posters with the dates and times and I make stickers for the flyers. I use Avery # 5163 2” X 4” shipping labels and put the dates and times of the fair on that label. I also use Avery # 5160 address label and put a disclaimer on that. “Please note that not all the books seen in this flyer may be available at our book fair.” This is a good job for kids to do. I have my Library Club members place the stickers on the flyers. They love this job.
About a week before the fair I put up the posters around the school and send the flyers home. I hold my fair in the library and sometimes I decorate for the particular theme that Scholastic is using. The flyers and decorating and posters help to increase the excitement for the fair. Often there is a DVD in the box with information about a few of the books and authors. I preview this ahead of time and choose which segments I plan to show to the students.
When the book fair actually arrives, it is usually delivered in Scholastic’s semi truck with Clifford the Big Red Dog painted on the side. Since I am the librarian and not a classroom teacher, I begin right away. The Scholastic delivery person brings the cases in to the school and I figure out the placement of each case. Most schools will have four or five cases plus boxes, but since we are a large school, I usually get seven cases plus boxes. Inside the cases are shelves with books arranged on them. Inside the boxes are more books, toys, plush animals, activities, games, software, pens and pencils, bookmarks, notepads, stickers, erasers, and more. I place the cases around and open them up, and then my assistant and I begin to organize all this stuff on tables and counters. She takes care of all the pens, pencils and other smaller items and I start to cull the books. I look over all the shelves in the cases carefully and pull off the ones that aren’t appropriate for our school. I put them on the top of the cases for the time being. As we arrange items from the boxes on tables and counters, I use the boxes we empty to pack away the books that I put on top of the cases. This way any inappropriate books are packed away and not seen. There have been times that I wondered if I would have any books left on the shelves! But I have always had enough other books to take their places. I often have volunteers come help with the set up. I am so happy when I can have a creative parent arrange items on a table since decorating is not really my gift. We put the boxes out of sight in a closet or under the tables.
As the fair runs, we have two cashier areas where people can pay. If I see that some items are getting low, I can send a restock request to Scholastic and within a couple of days my restock items will arrive and I put them on the shelves. I usually take a look around and see what titles I know will be popular and actually send a restock order before the fair even starts!
The benefits of holding a book fair are many. You will earn Scholastic Dollars to spend on books or other materials from the Resource Catalog. I always use some credit to buy books off the book fair to put in our library, or books to use for prizes throughout the year, and books for gifts for my helpers. I also have saved up and purchased items of furniture found in the catalog to spice up the library.
If you decide to hold a Scholastic Book Fair, you’ll have a wonderful, busy, exciting time. You can contact Scholastic to learn more. I would recommend attending a free Book Fair Workshop for ideas and help. If you are a classroom teacher as well as the librarian, you might get your Home and School to run a book fair for you.
Have a wonderful week!
Audrey
Sdalibrarian.blogspot.com
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Choosing Fiction for the Library
Hello,
I received a great question today. Many of us have concerns about our fiction section and want to make sure we are putting in good quality books, but we also want the kids to be reading what we put in our libraries. We can put wonderful stories in there, but if the kids won’t read them, it is a waste of money.
So what do we want to put in our libraries? What are other libraries from Adventist Schools putting in their libraries? Am I the only one who hesitates to put fantasy or just silly stories on my shelves?
Here is one way that I select books for Rogers Adventist School library. I have the following goals and selection criteria in my library policy.
Goals
Rogers Adventist School Media Center has the following goals for the media center collection.
1. To provide materials that will enrich and support the curriculum, taking into consideration the varied interests, abilities, and maturity levels of the pupils served.
2. To provide materials that will stimulate growth in factual knowledge, literary appreciation, aesthetic values, and ethical standards.
3. To provide materials representative of many religious, ethnic, and cultural groups and their contribution of our American heritage.
Criteria for Selection
The Media Center Director is guided in selection of materials by professional book reviews and standard bibliographies. Recommendations from the patrons will be given careful consideration for purchase.
The Library’s collection will be built to meet the needs and interests of Rogers School. Materials are selected to reflect the varying age groups, abilities, and interests of the patrons. All materials to be selected are subjected to the following criteria as they are applicable:
Current interest and usefulness
Permanent value
Comprehensive in scope
Relevance to the existing collection
High standards of quality in content
Cost in relation to the individual title and to the overall collection
Availability of funds and space
Attention of critics, reviewers, and public
Balance of viewpoints in the collection
Strengths and weaknesses of the existing collection
SDA values
Our students know that books such as Harry Potter and other high fantasy do not really belong in a SDA library. Most of us have no problem deciding on this. Some of us have no problem including the Chronicles of Narnia in our libraries since this is religious allegory, but other consider it high fantasy and choose not to have these books in their libraries. But what about books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid or the Lemony Snicket series? What do we do with other fiction?
I know that many students are reading books that we as Adventist teachers and librarians do not really approve. One problem is that we have parents who either don’t care what their children read or they don’t know what they are reading. When a student comes to me to ask if I have a particular title, we look it up on the computer and when it isn’t there, I ask them what it is about that book that they especially like. Is it the adventure story, or about kids doing exciting things, or that it is a thick book? Then I tell them that we have books about adventures, or thick books and guide them to what I have in my library. If they seem hesitant, I say in a casual way, “Why don’t you take this and start reading it? If you don’t like it, bring it back tomorrow and we’ll find something else for you.” I cannot stress enough how important it is to say this in a casual, offhand way. I almost NEVER say, “You’ll love this book!” Too many times it is the kiss of death for that book. I WILL say, “You might like this book. A lot of the junior high students have enjoyed it.” Now THAT is high praise especially for a 5th or 6th grader. “I’m reading a ‘junior high’ book?”
If a student continues to question why a certain book isn’t in the library, I suggest you discuss this with them in an interested way. If you haven’t read the book, or even if you have, ask them why they feel that the book belongs in our church school library. You might make out a little form that students can fill out with the book information and a little essay describing how it fits SDA values. Ask them to help you evaluate the book by filling out the form. If the book is worthwhile, you might have a new book in your library. If not, the student will at least have been heard and treated with respect.
For the record, I do not have Diary of a Wimpy Kid or the Lemony Snicket series in our library. I feel that those books they can get at the public library or at a book fair. I have kept both those titles on my book fair shelves, and read the Lemony Snicket series myself. When I am asked by students why I don’t get them for our library, I tell them that they really aren’t the kind of books that fit in an Adventist school library. If you have them in your library, I am not here to criticize you for it. I just decided that it wasn’t a fight I was willing to fight. Those titles weren’t worth the fight.
I hope this helps. Library life can get a little sticky sometimes. For those of you who are new this year, check out my blog and see my previous posts.
Have a great week.
Audrey
I received a great question today. Many of us have concerns about our fiction section and want to make sure we are putting in good quality books, but we also want the kids to be reading what we put in our libraries. We can put wonderful stories in there, but if the kids won’t read them, it is a waste of money.
So what do we want to put in our libraries? What are other libraries from Adventist Schools putting in their libraries? Am I the only one who hesitates to put fantasy or just silly stories on my shelves?
Here is one way that I select books for Rogers Adventist School library. I have the following goals and selection criteria in my library policy.
Goals
Rogers Adventist School Media Center has the following goals for the media center collection.
1. To provide materials that will enrich and support the curriculum, taking into consideration the varied interests, abilities, and maturity levels of the pupils served.
2. To provide materials that will stimulate growth in factual knowledge, literary appreciation, aesthetic values, and ethical standards.
3. To provide materials representative of many religious, ethnic, and cultural groups and their contribution of our American heritage.
Criteria for Selection
The Media Center Director is guided in selection of materials by professional book reviews and standard bibliographies. Recommendations from the patrons will be given careful consideration for purchase.
The Library’s collection will be built to meet the needs and interests of Rogers School. Materials are selected to reflect the varying age groups, abilities, and interests of the patrons. All materials to be selected are subjected to the following criteria as they are applicable:
Current interest and usefulness
Permanent value
Comprehensive in scope
Relevance to the existing collection
High standards of quality in content
Cost in relation to the individual title and to the overall collection
Availability of funds and space
Attention of critics, reviewers, and public
Balance of viewpoints in the collection
Strengths and weaknesses of the existing collection
SDA values
Our students know that books such as Harry Potter and other high fantasy do not really belong in a SDA library. Most of us have no problem deciding on this. Some of us have no problem including the Chronicles of Narnia in our libraries since this is religious allegory, but other consider it high fantasy and choose not to have these books in their libraries. But what about books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid or the Lemony Snicket series? What do we do with other fiction?
I know that many students are reading books that we as Adventist teachers and librarians do not really approve. One problem is that we have parents who either don’t care what their children read or they don’t know what they are reading. When a student comes to me to ask if I have a particular title, we look it up on the computer and when it isn’t there, I ask them what it is about that book that they especially like. Is it the adventure story, or about kids doing exciting things, or that it is a thick book? Then I tell them that we have books about adventures, or thick books and guide them to what I have in my library. If they seem hesitant, I say in a casual way, “Why don’t you take this and start reading it? If you don’t like it, bring it back tomorrow and we’ll find something else for you.” I cannot stress enough how important it is to say this in a casual, offhand way. I almost NEVER say, “You’ll love this book!” Too many times it is the kiss of death for that book. I WILL say, “You might like this book. A lot of the junior high students have enjoyed it.” Now THAT is high praise especially for a 5th or 6th grader. “I’m reading a ‘junior high’ book?”
If a student continues to question why a certain book isn’t in the library, I suggest you discuss this with them in an interested way. If you haven’t read the book, or even if you have, ask them why they feel that the book belongs in our church school library. You might make out a little form that students can fill out with the book information and a little essay describing how it fits SDA values. Ask them to help you evaluate the book by filling out the form. If the book is worthwhile, you might have a new book in your library. If not, the student will at least have been heard and treated with respect.
For the record, I do not have Diary of a Wimpy Kid or the Lemony Snicket series in our library. I feel that those books they can get at the public library or at a book fair. I have kept both those titles on my book fair shelves, and read the Lemony Snicket series myself. When I am asked by students why I don’t get them for our library, I tell them that they really aren’t the kind of books that fit in an Adventist school library. If you have them in your library, I am not here to criticize you for it. I just decided that it wasn’t a fight I was willing to fight. Those titles weren’t worth the fight.
I hope this helps. Library life can get a little sticky sometimes. For those of you who are new this year, check out my blog and see my previous posts.
Have a great week.
Audrey
Monday, April 5, 2010
Weeding in the 500s Part 1
Greetings!
This month we will be weeding in the 500’s. This may be a very large section so we will just do part of it in order to keep it easier for you.
The 500 – 510 section has basic science overviews and science experiments. Science experiments are very popular in many schools. Science experiments tend to be the same year after year, but watch for some of the older books that may have outdated or unsafe material. One suggestion I have for this section is adding the “Einstein” books. “What Einstein Told His Barber” and “What Einstein Told His Cook” are both very popular with our junior high students. My paperback copies are now getting beat up, and I now buy these in hard cover.
The 510 section consists of Mathematics books. Math does not change rapidly so you will not likely have outdated books. Weeding here will be done on books that are in need of repair or aren’t being used.
Next comes the 520 section. This includes books on Space and Astronomy. Major changes happen regularly in these subjects. Check that the information in your library is up-to-date and correct. Pluto is not a planet any longer. These books need to be replaced as soon as possible. Do you have books on the Space Station? What about Mars expeditions? Let’s do our best to keep up-to-date in this section.
That is plenty to take care of for now. In all these sections, take a look at the date and look carefully through any book over five years old. Many of them you will be able to keep, but others may have information that is incorrect. Keeping these books for ‘historical’ purposes is doing a disservice to our children. It is better to have a few good books in this section and have them be accurate than to have many inaccurate ones.
Have a great week!
Audrey
This month we will be weeding in the 500’s. This may be a very large section so we will just do part of it in order to keep it easier for you.
The 500 – 510 section has basic science overviews and science experiments. Science experiments are very popular in many schools. Science experiments tend to be the same year after year, but watch for some of the older books that may have outdated or unsafe material. One suggestion I have for this section is adding the “Einstein” books. “What Einstein Told His Barber” and “What Einstein Told His Cook” are both very popular with our junior high students. My paperback copies are now getting beat up, and I now buy these in hard cover.
The 510 section consists of Mathematics books. Math does not change rapidly so you will not likely have outdated books. Weeding here will be done on books that are in need of repair or aren’t being used.
Next comes the 520 section. This includes books on Space and Astronomy. Major changes happen regularly in these subjects. Check that the information in your library is up-to-date and correct. Pluto is not a planet any longer. These books need to be replaced as soon as possible. Do you have books on the Space Station? What about Mars expeditions? Let’s do our best to keep up-to-date in this section.
That is plenty to take care of for now. In all these sections, take a look at the date and look carefully through any book over five years old. Many of them you will be able to keep, but others may have information that is incorrect. Keeping these books for ‘historical’ purposes is doing a disservice to our children. It is better to have a few good books in this section and have them be accurate than to have many inaccurate ones.
Have a great week!
Audrey
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