Discipline in the Library

What is everyone doing about discipline in the library? For instance: do you have computer use rules? ...rules for signing in, library use over lunch (before and after school), food or drinks in the library, etc.? How do you enforce those rules? How do you handle someone breaking those rules? ...how do you handle "ditchers" or unruly kids?

Sometimes, at Skyline, we feel that we have turned into a police state. We don't want to discourage use of the library, for anyone, but yet we have to make it a place for academic exploration and study, quiet reading time, and constructive use of the facilities. Therefore, we have set up some rules of use.

ALL students must sign in unless they are with a scheduled class (we check the sign in sheet for those who have 'forgotten' where their class is). They MUST have a pass if they do not have a free period. Here are a few of our rules:

• Food & drinks are allowed, but NEVER at the computers.


• Cell phones aren’t allowed in the LMC (almost impossible to enforce). We don’t allow cell phones at the computers.


• Computers are for ACADEMIC USE ONLY. We now have SynchronEyes to help us enforce that rule. Our computer rules are published HERE. (use your back key to return to this page)


• Noise and talking must be kept at a reasonable level.

Those are just a few to spur some discussion. We'd be interested to know how other schools handle discipline issues; what kind of rules do you have, what are expectations of student in the LMC, and how do you handle discipline issues?

Comments?

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Wow, where to begin... powerful? ...heartbreaking? ...joyous? This is my new favorite book (to add to all my other favorite books). A magnificently well-written story of two women and their lives in recent Afghanistan, A Thousand Splendid Suns is the story of love, pain, suffering, sacrifice, and strength. This story clarified the historical horrors in Afghanistan -- I read the news and saw the media coverage, but not until reading this book did I really understand the political conflicts and the suffering women and children in Afghanistan had to endure (and still do).

I highly recommend this book to everyone -- but, especially, my daughter, any woman, and any mother. I read it a month ago and still think about it everyday ...very powerful. It ignited a need to find out as much as possible on historic, and current, Afghanistan and the plight of women. It moved me so much I assembled several weblinks to learn more -- click here to go to my Afghanistan page. I've also included the Khaled Hosseini official website link and the trailer for The Kite Runner -- it will be released in theaters on November 2.

I hope we can 'booktalk' this one and I hope to hear your comments. Maybe wait to read any comments, if you haven't read it yet, so that we don't spoil the ending for you. But when you do read it, I want to hear from you!

Just What Does a Media Clerk Do?

I believe that I sent each of you a copy of our most recent Media Clerk I Job Description . After you review it, it appears that what we actually do has little resemblance to the job description.

One (1) through seven (7) seem to be typical office support activities and, at least at Skyline, account for a very small part of the day. Eight (8) through sixteen (16) are much more ambiguous and open for interpretation (by the clerk, the teacher librarian, and the principals). Does 'assist staff and students in finding appropriate materials' mean pointing to the the non-fiction section? ...or does it mean building pathfinders, websites, wikis, and really helping them to find the best resources available (print resources, subscription databases, or on the Internet)? ...does it mean actually instructing (yes, I said instructing) them on computer use, software use, multimedia use, and research/information literacy skills. The first takes 5 seconds and the latter can take half a day, hours, or weeks.

Our job is, then, defined by the expectations of, and creative freedom granted by, your teacher librarian and your building principal. How we create and perform our job, within those boundaries, is what our job description will be. We all serve as library support personnel with one goal in mind -- to contribute to the information literacy and success of our students. How we accomplish that goal is providing, and supporting, library services through tasks such as processing books, marketing our collection, providing reader advisory services, collection development and maintenance, circulation activities, statistical reporting, serving lattes, cleaning, organizing, and acting as A/V and tech gurus, instructors, tutors, and disciplinarians, etc. Whatever else it takes to meet our goal -- we all do that in different ways and with different routines.

Your teacher librarian, and their role in the library, also defines your job. In a perfect scenario, our teacher librarians would be collaborating with teachers on lessons (incorporating information literacy standards), team-teaching, teaching information literacy, reading, and research skills to the students, etc. ...which, in reality, would leave little time for library support activities. That's where we come in -- the operation managers of the library. How much, or little, you actually act as a manager of the library depends on the TEACHER part of the teacher librarian title. Some of the teacher librarians don't even work in the library; some have classroom duties; some want to be the teacher librarian AND the operations manager; some are forced to do clerk duties because the clerks are pulled for other school duties i.e. tech reps, homework coaches, hall or lunch duties, etc. Some schools have eliminated the clerk position altogether (yikes!).

So, clerks, what is your role in your library? What do you do on a daily basis? What are some of your pet projects? What are your responsibilities? What do you do? Be as detailed as you want -- other clerks want to know! After compiling the results of suggestions for clerk meetings by all the clerks, new and veteran, the majority want to know what other clerks do. Let's run with it... who's first?

Mentor/Mentee Program & Requirements

On the right side of the screen, under the Handy Library Links, you will find navigation links to take you to the documents we will need to complete, as well as the Program Brochure and informational webpage. We all need to have the Mentor/Mentee Agreement filled out and signed by all, including the inductees' teacher librarian or principal.

Then, we need to start filling in our Mentoring Log. I have duplicated the form on MS Word, so you can fill in the information on your computer, add ongoing info to the form (just tab over to create more lines), and store it as a file. That will make life easier when we have to pull it all together to submit next May. If you would like a copy, leave a comment under this post and I will email it to you right away.

Take a few minutes to review all the forms and info on the Mentor/Mentee Program, if you haven't done so already. If you have any questions, then add a comment under this post.