Lesson 13

There was a lot of review for me in this lesson, but nonetheless, something that is always good to read and reinforce that I am doing a good job.

- Inventory - I did my first inventory on this library. This is my 4th year there and it was needed to be done. It hadn't been done in years. I found about 1,000 items unaccounted for. Most likely tossed out but not deleted from the system over the years.

- Overdues - yes, I don't fine, just remind them. Sometimes rewards to the class that gets all their books back first at the end of the school year.

- Lost books - yes I fine, if they have lost it or damaged it beyond use. I look at the MARC price and use that.

- Weeding - so far this year I have weeded 2,500 books from the Non-fic, fiction, novel sets, electronic area, and TR sections. I only have the Easy section to go. This was a big hurdle to over come. But my shelves are so great now. Many were over flowing and the users had troubles finding materials. Now when they go to a non-fic section all the materials there are usable, unlike before with the date materials. The students can browse easier and the little kids can move books about easier too.

-Shelves - all the shelves are at a great height for the users. The Easy section is lower to the ground. I couldn't ask for a better set-up library.

- Signs - not really needed with such a small library. It is not like it is a public library. But there are a few for Fiction, Easy, TR, Non-Fic. What I did change is full decorations and spiced up the place. People compare it to a sports pub which goes over so well with staff, students and parents. One staff member's kid said 'Mom, I want to go to this school because this library is awesome!" That told me I was doing the right job.

-Space - I have made many changes over the past few years:
1) The tables are now colour coded with chairs which makes it easier to communicate with the kids
2) Tables are marked on the ground, so staff can move them and know where to put them back too
3) Fiction book cases were 4 cases long and hard to move around with 30 grade 6/7s. So I split them in 2 sections of 2 and created another walkway.
4) Easy reader section - the paperbacks and hardcovers and little levelled readers were all mixed in together. The little kids could move the books around to find books. I put all the levelled readers into bins with level 1-5 and put stickers on the books. I put all the paperbacks into bins and colour coded them with stickers. This is a system they use in their classrooms, so keep it the same and it made browsing so much easier for the K-2s.

My library is in the centre of the school with 2 main access points for users to enter which is great. Plus there is a 3rd door connecting it to the computer lab which is great when I move my lesson over to the lab. Finally, there is a good size office for me to keep supplies and materials in that I can lock and a good size room for novel sets, dvds, and in-focus type items that can also be locked. The space it large. About 2 full classrooms size and there are good natural walking paths. I can sit 30 kids in the tables for work or 60 kids on the carpet in front of a white board for lessons, guest speakers etc. The flags and other things on the walls are great for all people to see when they walk by and they often walk in to check it out.

Future changes... smart board is to come!