Student Policies

Hello,
Last week I gave you ideas for putting together a policy for your community patrons – parents, church members, home school families, and others. Soon after I sent the email, I got a question asking what my policy is for my students. At first I hesitated sending this out because each school should do what works best for them. But, then I thought that it might be interesting to know what other schools do. Here is the policy we use at Rogers.

LIBRARY CARDS
Each student has a library card which stays here in the library. The cards are filed according to classroom and each teacher has a box containing all the library cards for their students. Since we have fourteen classrooms, on each card we place a tiny sticker to help us return the cards to the correct box. For example, Mrs. Thompson’s classroom cards have a blue star; Mr. Sutton’s class has a purple whale, and so forth.

LIBRARY CLASSES
We have regular library times for each classroom to come visit the library and we also have times that students can come individually. We require that students bring a pass from their teacher so we know that they do indeed have permission to be here. Students that come without a pass are reminded to pop back to the classroom and get one.

CHECK-OUT
Kindergarteners are allowed to check out one book each week. I teach them about the different sections and they choose a book from the different sections.

Grades one and two are allowed to check out two books each week. For third grade and above, the students are allowed three books each week.

There are exceptions to this. My Library Club workers are allowed to have four books out at a time, and a select group of junior high students can also have four books at a time.

LATE BOOKS
We don’t have fines for late books, but the students cannot check out again until their books have been returned to the library.

LOST BOOKS
Often students will tell us that their book is lost. If this happens, we ask them to have their parent or guardian contact us and then we will let them continue to check out. This puts some of the responsibility on the student. The main reason for this is to assure us that the parent does indeed know about the lost book and they will keep looking to find the book. Since our library is automated, we then put an alert for that student stating the name of the lost book, the date, and that they have permission to check out.

Occasionally we will have a parent who says they don’t want their child to check out books. With a little finesse, we usually learn that the child has lost a book and the parent doesn’t want to pay for more lost books. We will ask the parent if the student might check out books but keep them here at school. That usually is fine with the parent. We then put an alert on the student’s profile and remind them that they need to leave their books at school. When we swipe their library card barcode, the alert comes up to remind us.


It has been my experience that students who lose a book usually find it at some point in the school year. Over the year I would estimate that we check out 2000 or more books each year. I usually have about 10 – 15 books that are really lost. I send charges to the office at the end of the school year to be put on the last bill. By sending charges in once, I do not have to refund money over and over during the course of the year when each book is found. I figure the charges this way. I look up the cost of replacing the book and add a $5.00 processing fee. If the book is found over the summer, I will refund the cost of the book, but not the processing fee. Other schools have the students pay for lost books at the time they are lost, and then will refund the money if the book is found. Some schools have a flat rate for lost books. I prefer students having to pay to replace the book rather than a flat rate. If a student loses a paperback book and has to pay $20.00, that doesn’t seem fair to me. If a student loses a $50.00 book and has to pay only $20.00, this also doesn’t seem fair.

As you are working with your library and your students, make sure that the procedure you have in place is something that will work for you and that it works for your school. What works for one school will not necessarily be the best plan for your school. Check with your board or principal and get support for your policies, then make sure that parents are aware of them.

Have a great week.
Audrey
Sdalibrarian.blogspot.com