Student Library Helpers

Greetings!
I hope you had a great time on spring vacation.
This week I want to give you some ideas on keeping the library books in order. In order for others to locate the books, they need to be in the correct place on the shelves. When books aren’t shelved correctly, it can be quite difficult to find them later. Teach students to use some kind of shelf marker to mark the place a book belongs while they are browsing. We have red plastic markers that we teach all students to use and when browsing is finished, the red markers go in a container ready for the next group to use.
I started a Library Club about six years ago. Students who want to be in Library Club need to be careful workers and willing to do whatever I need them to do in the library. The Library Club is a service club. Library Club members volunteer in the library at least one lunch recess a week. Usually a number of students come more than once a week which is fine, also. When they arrive, they sign in and report for work. I have jobs ready for them. They do small but important jobs such as cleaning the computers in the lab, dusting in the library, watering plants, and they learn to shelve books. When I teach them to shelve books, I do a lot of one-on-one teaching so they feel confident. They shelve a book and put a bright strip of paper beside the book with their name on it so I know who is shelving correctly and who might need a bit more instruction.
Library Club members aren’t paid, but there are perks in the job. Once a week we have Library Lunch. The club members are allowed to come in to the library during lunch and we visit, make plans for a project, or watch part of a video. At Christmas time they get to choose a book from a shelf in my storage room. I get donated books, or double copies, or books I pull from the book fairs at low prices and keep them ready for gifts or prizes. At the end of the school year I have a party at my home for the Club members. I give each a small lapel pin with Library Club engraved on it. You may have other perks or rewards that work better for you.
If you decide to have student helpers in your library, decide how you want to use student helpers. What things need to be done that students can do? Make a list of jobs that need to be done regularly. Shelving books, dusting shelves or computers, pulling books for displays, and there may be other jobs that a helper can do. What grade level will work best for you? If you have a very small school, you may decide to have two or three 7th or 8th graders. You may even have younger students that you know will be good help. I use students from 5th and 6th grades since their schedules work best for me.
Enjoy the extra help. Have a great week,
Audrey