Library Policies

Greetings!

I received an email this past week from a librarian who had a question about policies. She commented that she was surprised by some of the books that she found in the library and also was surprised to NOT find certain books in the library. Recently at her school a couple of parents questioned books that their children checked out from the library. In discussing this with her principal, they decided to form a library committee to set up some standards for choosing books for their school. She then asked me if I had some kind of policy that they could use as a template instead of starting from scratch.

I responded to her and sent her the policy we use here at Rogers.

I thought that there might be a number of you who are new to your school or may have missed this information I sent a couple of years ago. I recommend that you do set up a library committee. You should include the principal, the person responsible for the library and a parent who is interested. Small schools could include both teachers since they would both need to know this information, and possibly the school board chairman. Large schools might include the librarian, a teacher from the upper grades, a teacher from the lower grades, the principal and a parent. Try to keep your committee small, three to five members, if possible. Since I am at a larger school, my committee consists of my assistant librarian, my principal, and an ad hoc teacher at the grade level the book is meant for.

When the committee first meets, talk about what you want your library to look like and go over a sample policy. I will include my policy and you can tweak it to fit your school. You can also search the internet for the library policies from other schools if you would rather.

I then recommend that you do a quick weeding in your library. Go through and pull anything that you feel may not be appropriate for your school. Use the Library Selection policy to guide you as you remove books. This should just be a quick weeding, and maybe take an hour or so. Before you actually discard the books, have members of your committee actually read them to determine if they are indeed inappropriate. I heard about a grandfather who browsed the school library catalog and sent word that there should not be any magic books or books about witches in the library and he was appalled to find both of these kinds of books in their library. Reading titles only could pull books like “The Witch of Blackbird Pond” which is a wonderful book that is NOT about witches. Searching the catalog for “magic” would bring up books with sleight of hand tricks. So, please check each book you have pulled or look through them to make sure they are really not appropriate for the library.

Now is the time to put your policies into place. I believe it is important to have a Reconsideration Policy. This is the policy to use if a parent or guardian complains to the school about a book that they feel should not be in the library. Have the parent fill out the form and then take it to the Library Committee for discussion. Be consistent with this. It would be tempting to take a look at the book, immediately tell the parent, “You’re right. I’ll take it out of the library immediately.” Likely you will know right then that the book should be removed, but I strongly recommend you have every parent who questions a book fill out the Reconsideration Form. Otherwise you will hear from them, “Why do I have to fill this out? You didn’t have Mrs. Smith fill one out.” If everyone fills the form out, it is your policy. You aren’t playing favorites; everyone is treated the same. This also keeps Grandpa from eliminating “The Witch of Blackbird Pond” on a whim.

The committee should meet to discuss each Reconsideration Form and then inform the parent of the decision.

I used to just pull any book that a parent complained about simply because I knew that the book should not be in our library, but a few years ago I found the Reconsideration Form and put that policy into place. I have yet to use this policy, but it is ready in case I need it.

I hope this is a help to you. Please let me know if I can help or answer any questions.

Have a great week.
Audrey

Books about Legos

Greetings!

If your students are like ours, they love Legos. Many of our schools have Lego Clubs that meet after school and some of them prepare for the Lego Robotics weekend that is held at WWU.
I want to let you know about some of the Lego books that we have here. I often buy double copies of some of the books because they are used so much and checked out so often.

Short Version: Go to Amazon.com and do a search for “Legos” in Books. You will find a wonderful list of books to choose from. Many of them have the “Look Inside” feature which really helps to know what level it is.

Long Version: Here is a list of books to choose from. The students will love them.
1. Lego Architecture by Philip Wilkinson. $40.00 This is a stunning book filled with well-known buildings such as The White House, Brandenburg Gate, Big Ben, The Eiffel tower, Trevi Fountain, The Space Needle, and many more. Each building has information about the original building and then the Lego version of the building. One of our classrooms built many of the buildings and put them on display along with a quiz to see how many of them viewers could name.
2. The Lego Build-It Book Amazing Vehicles by Nathanael Kuipers and Mattia Zamboni. $19.95. If your students like cars and trucks, they will enjoy building an off-roader, a go-kart, a muscle car, a stroller, a pickup truck, a rescue truck, and more.
3. Totally Cool Creations by Sean Kenney. $19.99. This is actually three books in one – Cool Cars and Trucks, Cool Robots, and Cool City. The directions look like the ones that come with the Lego sets.
4. Cool Creations in 35 Pieces by Sean Kenney. $12.99. Each of the models can be built with just – you guessed it – 35 pieces. Not just 35 pieces, but the same 35 pieces will make the fourteen plus creations in this book. What a great challenge!
5. Extreme Bricks by Sarah Herman. $24.95. You probably have seen very large Lego creations such as the Space Needle built in Seattle, WA. It was completed in 2012 and took 15 years to complete. The Lego sculpture contains 55,000 Lego elements. That is just one of the record-breaking Lego projects from around the world found in this 236-page book.
6. The Lego Play Book by Daniel Lipkowitz. $24.99. This is a large hardbound book with loads of Lego creations and full color pictures. It is a great bargain for the price.
7. Getting Started with Lego Trains by Jacob H. McKee. $14.95. Kids who like trains and Legos find them both in this paperback book. Directions are similar to the ones that come with the Lego sets.

So, there you have it. Legos from the simple to the complex; a book for every Lego lover no matter his or her age.

Enjoy!
Audrey

Safe Searching Online

Greetings!

Do you have filters or filtering software on your computers at school? Google has some options that really do a good job with filtering out adult content. Just do a search for ‘ safe search’ and a box will appear at the top of your screen with instructions.

SET THE FILTERS: Go to settings and set the filter to Strict, then lock. You will need to input your Google account login and then you will be able to lock the settings. This should lock the filter across all Google domains. Please note that this will need to be done on all the web browsers you use. I set filters on Firefox, Explorer, and Chrome. If there is a way to set filters for the computer to include all the browsers, I don't know how to do this except to have filtering software.

SET THE HOMEPAGE: After this, I suggest you also use as your homepage Google Safe Search for Kids. Search for 'Safe Search Kids' or just 'Safe Search'. Click on the Google Safe Search link and copy the link. Use 'Options' to set the homepage.

You might wonder why I recommend you do both of these things. A number of years I set the homepage to YahooKids which was a safe search. However, many students in 5th and 6th grades would just type in “Google.com” and go straight to Google. It isn’t hard to change the homepage, so by setting the filter, it won’t matter if they use another homepage.

I learned something about Bing. I know a lot of kids like to use Bing here for a search engine. However, when I researched how to set filters in Bing, an article gave instructions, but at the end, they mentioned that there is no lock on the filter. Results are filtered, and a message comes up to say that if the user wants filters to be removed they need to go to settings. The user can remove filters apparently.

If you have filtering software at your school, you are likely covered, but these ideas are still worth thinking about. It might not hurt to have back-up. It also might be good to mention this to parents who may not have their home computers filtered for children.

Have a great week.
Audrey

BYOD

Hello!

I attended an NCCE convention and noticed that there was a lot of talk about BYOD or Bring Your Own Device. More and more students are bringing iPads, tablets, laptops, or smart phones to school and the rationale was to put to educational use the devices that students were using already.

The positive side to BYOD includes:
1. Students already own them, so the school does not have to provide them.
2. Students are also responsible for any problems that may happen. It is a personal device, not a school one.
3. Students know how to use it already.
4. It provides a 1:1 student to device ratio.

The job of teachers is to educate students that these can be learning tools, not just a device to text or play games on.

Of course, we know that there will always be problems with students having their own devices. I would expect that schools have filtering software installed for student protection, but teachers must teach students about internet safety and proper use of the internet, dangers of cyberbullying, and being safe with social media.

Are you ready to adopt a BYOD policy? Do you have a policy in place to help protect the school in case of misuse? If your students are bringing cell phones to school, what is your policy on this? These are things that we need to think about before we find ourselves in a sticky situation.

Check out the BYOD policies that other schools have and see what kinds of things they include.

If you already have a BYOD policy for your school, I would love to see it and compare with the one I am working on for my school.

Have a great week.

Audrey

Teaching Dewey

Greetings!
I am teaching the Dewey Decimal Classification system to our students here during library classes. My assistant uses a great method using hand motions to help them remember the hundreds.


The Dewey Decimal System is arranged a little like a person growing up.

100’s - Who Am I? (Psychology)
Finger Motion: Hold up one finger and point to yourself.
When we are little, we think only of ourselves. The books in this section have information that a person might want to know about himself. Books on my thoughts or how I feel would be included in this section.

200’s – Who is My God? (Religion)
Finger Motion: Hold up two fingers and point up toward heaven.
As we grow a little older we start to wonder where everyone came from. These books explain the world and how it was created. Books on religions are located here. (Also books on Mythology, but we don’t usually include these in our lessons!)

300’s – Who is My Neighbor? (Social Studies)
Finger Motion: Hold up three fingers and sweep horizontally across the classroom including everyone.
Once you learn about other people, you want to find out more about others. What do they do and where do they live? Books on careers, jobs, holidays, folktales are located here. These books are all about the social world.

400’s – How Do I Communicate With My Neighbor? (Languages)
Finger Motion: Hold up four fingers and put them to your lips. I wiggle them because kids like movement.
Now that we know something about other people, we might want to communicate with them. We need to learn their language, so books on other languages are here.

500’s – Man Sees the Things God Made. (Pure Science)
Finger Motion: Hold up five fingers and sweep the room with your hand as you say “Everything God made.”
Books on science and nature are in this section. We learn about the heavens, the animals, and the world God made.

600’s – Man is Clever and Learns “How To’ Use the Science and Nature information to Work for Him. (Applied Science/Technology)
Finger Motion: Hold palm of one hand flat and use your index finger on the other hand as you would a tool to twist back and forth on palm. You have the five fingers of one hand (What God Made) plus the finger of the other hand (Man uses What God Made) to make six fingers.
Books on cars, airplanes, building bridges and other things, caring for your health, books on diseases, cookbooks, caring for pets; all these subjects are in here. This section is the “How To” section. The animal books are in the Pure science section, but caring for them (How To) is in the Applied Science section.

700’s – Man Enjoys Leisure Time. (Fine Arts)
Finger Motion: Palm of one hand is flat and the other hand used Index and middle finger as legs walking on the palm.
Since Man has learned to use science to work for him, he now has time to enjoy things like sports, crafts, music, drawing, and other hobbies.

800’s – Man Likes to Tell Stories About Himself. (Literature)
Finger Motion: Hold both hands like an open book with thumbs folded inside. Focus on this being stories to read for enjoyment, not informational.

900’s – Man Likes to Leave a Record of His Doings, Goings, and Comings. (History, Geography, and Biography)
Finger Motion: Hold your fingers as if around a ball creating a ‘globe’ for geography. (One thumb inside.)

000’s – General Information. This includes books like encyclopedias, media, newspapers, and books that have a lot of general information such as question and answer books.
Finger Motion: Hold up two fists (showing zero fingers) and say this is ‘General Junk’. You could use the term ‘General Information’, but the kids like the words ‘General Junk’ and they remember it which is the whole point.
This category has information that does not fit into just one Dewey number. For example, the encyclopedia has maps, history, science, biographies, and more. It can’t be cataloged into history because there is more than just history. Since there are so many kinds of information, it is cataloged in general information. Question and answer books also fit in this section. They have all kinds of information in them and there is no one place to catalog them, so they are general.

We start learning Dewey in Kindergarten in a very informal way. First and Second graders begin to learn the hand motions, and we do a review with Third and Fourth grades. Third and Fourth graders also participate in a Read Around the Library program. I have a card for each student and we encourage them to read from each Dewey section in the library. As they complete a book, we mark it off the card. In March just before spring vacation, I have a Dewey Celebration for all who have completed their Dewey card. Last year the card had sixteen spaces to fill, so there were at least sixteen books they read during the months from September through mid March. This year I am doing a Bingo card – very similar to last year, but there are twenty-four books to read. However, they will receive a prize for each Bingo they make. I hope that the smaller goals will encourage them to read from the whole card.

I hope these ideas help you with teaching Dewey to your kids.

I hope you have a terrific week,
Audrey

Kindles in the Library

Greetings!

Last year I was fortunate enough to win a Don Keele Award for my plan to put Kindles in the library. After using them for a year, I thought I’d let you know how the program is going.
I have been pleased with how the Kindle program has worked for us this year. We have had a couple of wrinkles, but for the most part, things are going very well.

Students must fill out a permission form each year. The form has three pages. Page one has the parent agreement giving permission for the student to check out a Kindle, accepting financial responsibility if lost or stolen or damaged, and the rules for Kindle Use and Care. I have a line for parents to print their name, then a signature line, then a line for the name of their child and a date. I don’t know all the parents and there are a number of parents with one name and children with another.

Page two – the back of the parent page – has the rules for Kindle use and care. Students may not lend Kindles to another student, they will not leave it unattended – in backpacks or lockers that aren’t secured or in desks in the classroom. They must return it on time and return it directly to the librarian. I ask that they hand it to me, not just put it in the book return box. Anyone could pick it out of the book return box and take it. They also promise not to change or alter any material on the Kindle. I have secure permissions that don’t allow this, but you never know.

Page three is a teacher permission page. Teachers know who is responsible and who isn’t. They mark one of three types of approval – may be checked out and taken home, may be checked out, but must remain at school in the classroom in a safe storage place when not in use, or check-out is not approved at this time.

When all three pages are signed and returned to me, I make a notation on the computer allowing Kindle check-out.

If a student needs a recharge during the check-out time, they may bring their Kindle to me for recharging, and then pick it up a few hours later.

I’ve had a few students not return the Kindle on time, and I make a note on the computer. This reminds me when they want to check one out next time and I can talk to them about it.

At first, the Kindles were out all the time, and students who wanted a Kindle had to wait. But as the year progressed, I noticed that many of the students who were checking Kindles out were mostly the same students. I had planned to purchase a few more each year until we had enough for a classroom, but I found that I didn’t need to do that. I usually have a couple available all the time, so I opted not to purchase more at this time.

I bought twelve Kindle Fire devices. I also purchased an Otterbox cover, a charger, and a two-year warranty for each KIndle. I set up a Whispercast account so I can manage all twelve from one account. One thing to consider is that if I want each Kindle to be the same as all the others, I need to buy twelve copies of a book and download onto each Kindle. I decided to do this so that if a student were reading a book on one Kindle, the next time they checked out a Kindle, they would not be assured that they would have the same Kindle. I thought it would make it much easier and it really has.

If I were doing this for a small school, I would use a ‘family’ account and get up to five Kindles attached to that account. Then you could buy just one book and all the Kindles would be able to access it. I have two Kindles on my personal account and my husband and I can read all the books on my cloud from either Kindle.

One unexpected thing happened which was kind of interesting. One first and second grade teacher had a lit set that was falling apart. We looked for replacement copies, and found them for about $4.00 including the shipping, but then saw that she could get them as a Kindle book for $3.00. She bought seven Kindle copies and we put them on seven of the Kindles which she then checked out for classroom use. That worked out nicely since it took just a few minutes to buy the Kindle book and download onto the devices.

So far I haven’t lost a Kindle and the students are enjoying them. I guess I can’t ask for more than that.

Have a great week.
Audrey

Christian Fantasy Reviews

Greetings!
I gave you a site for reviews last week from Common Sense Media. This week I will give you a website that reviews fantasy books from a Christian perspective.

Please note that this reviewer loves fantasy books and endorses most of the ones she reviews. She is a professional reviewer and receives most of the books she reviews free of charge. However, she tells the basics of what the book is about which what I feel is important. I don’t care for most of the fantasy books and really do not want to read them to find out about them. If I see my students reading them, I don’t know what is in the books and that makes me uncomfortable.

She also reviews what she terms as “Christian Fantasy”. I tried to see what her review is of Eragon which is a series I occasionally see students toting around here at school. It is not on her blog. In any case, it is someplace to get an opinion of someone who is an expert in her field.

Check out this website/blog to learn more.

http://www.christian-fantasy-book-reviews.com/

Have a great week.

Audrey

PS. Don’t forget that you can get reviews on Amazon.com.