[ISLMA-Share] English Novel Checkouts

Thu Oct 20 15:00:16 CDT 2016

Thank you all for the responses! The principal does have my back on this, but I am worried that constant complaints from the English dept will eventually wear away at his resolve. haha
I did talk to one of the English teachers about my concerns today. She and I are closer and I do more with her classes in terms of instruction so she understands the time constraints I have. She said that they were discussing it at their department meeting and most of them were unhappy with the system, and that she admits she will just have to get used to it being this way.
I'm hoping we'll get past the learning curve on this and it will become status quo. 

Thanks again!Alison KurtzLibrary Media SpecialistSandwich High School515 E. Lions Rd.Sandwich, IL 60548815-786-2157 ex. 22134akurtz at kidsroe.org

    On Thursday, October 20, 2016 2:18 PM, Email list for the Illinois School Library Media Association <islma at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:

 I catalog all the English Department books, too.  They are kept in storage in the English teachers' classrooms, but they are checked out through the library.  On the day that a teacher is ready to begin a new novel, he/she hands out the novels to the students and they walk through the library in nice neat line with their student ID in one hand and the book in the other. I scan them.  It takes all of 5 minutes, max, per class.  
Advantages: if a book is left in the gym, cafeteria, etc. it is easy to scan it, find out who it belongs to, and return it.  If a student loses a book, my billing system takes over to bill & replace the item. 

My English Department is delighted with this system.  If  teachers choose NOT to use the library for their classroom novels, then they are responsible for doing their own textbook inventory, figuring out which students didn't return books, getting the money from the student, and dealing with the school secretary and the PO process to replace the missing items. The administration has made it clear that they will NOT be replacing books because of shoddy inventory work. 
Could you work together with the head of the English department and the administration to come up with a similar solution? 
Michelle HarrisHeyworth CUSD #4
On Thu, Oct 20, 2016 at 11:32 AM, Email list for the Illinois School Library Media Association <islma at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:

Hello,I'm looking for advice on a situation I'm in this year. 
We recently consolidated all of the English novels into one space and barcoded them for use with the library software because the teachers were losing too many copies each year by not keeping good enough records. Originally, we thought I would just check the books out for each class when the time came. However, I'm finding that this is taking up a much bigger chunk of my time than expected and my programming/planning has suffered.
The English classes checkout 3-5 novels per semester. This means that every couple of weeks, I am having to round up books and schedule times with the English teachers to do the checkouts. It's been very disruptive to my usual work. I have no assistants to help me except for two student assistants twice per day. They have been great about helping me check the books in, but are not usually available when the novels need checking out. 

So I devised a system in which I designated a cart and a scanner specifically as English department use only. I've given our English teachers permission in Destiny to check books out/in. I typed up very specific instructions for logging into Destiny and checking the books out. One of my student assistants even made a video explaining how to check the books out. So the new system is as follows: The teachers are to tell me when they need a novel and how many copies of it. I put the novels on the cart and have the scanner with instructions for checking the books out to students. The first time that the teachers need to check out books, I bring the cart in, walk them through the checkout process for the first few books, then leave. After that, it's completely up to them to come get the cart, check out their books, and bring the cart back (unless they have a tech problem). I will continue to put the books on the cart ahead of time for them, though.
Naturally, the English teachers are fighting this. They see it as one more thing on their plates, when in reality, I'm taking at least one thing off of their plates. Instead of them having to find out who has the novel they need and bringing enough copies back to their rooms, I am now doing that part for them. And instead of writing the novels/student names down on a piece of paper, they are scanning it into Destiny. Besides getting my programming and teaching time back, after thinking the various options through, this seemed to be the best way to get classes the books they need when the teachers want them. If I am ever absent on a day when they want books, especially if it is an unexpected absence, their plans would be thrown for a loop. If there's anything I've found about our English department, they are not the most flexible group of teachers.
I don't mean to put down our English department though, because they are great teachers.

What I am wondering is if any of you do something similar to this system, if you do something different (as a solo librarian with no full time aide), or if you think I am wrong in using this system. The English teachers clearly think I am wrong in it. 

Thank you!Alison KurtzLibrary Media SpecialistSandwich High School515 E. Lions Rd.Sandwich, IL 60548815-786-2157 ex. 22134akurtz at kidsroe.org
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Michelle HarrisDistrict LibrarianHeyworth CUSD #4
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