Today’s post is written by Amanda Swengros. Amanda is the librarian at Kiser Intermediate in the Lincoln County district in Lincolnton, NC. She spends each day with students in fourth and fifth grade. She has a combination of a fixed and flexible schedule.
Traditionally when students come to my library, they are allowed to check out two books, one fiction chapter book, and one nonfiction book. This year, I was encouraged to let the students check out more books.
At first, I was very reluctant to let my students check out more than two books. My fears of starting this type of book checkout was what may be in many of your heads as you read this: lost books, damaged books, or even finding time to shelve the books. However, I decided to take the plunge. One of my colleagues suggested that I let the students check out the number of books equal to their grade level. For example, if the student is in the 5th grade, they can check out 5 books. I liked the idea; I just added a few more rules. Out of the number of books each student checks out, the student must have two books on their personal reading level, and one of those books must be a chapter book. They also cannot check out two of the same thing; such as The Magic Tree House series.
The first week I tried this, I thought I was going to pull my hair out! Like Jocelyn, I allow my students to check out their own books in my Media Center. Students find their name within their class that I have pulled up for them on Destiny. They then choose their picture, scan their books, and then go back to their homeroom page. However, as soon as I allowed them to check out more books, it was like my students forgot how to check out a book in my library. The other major issue I was having was checking in so many books when the students came into the library.
By the third week of letting the students check out more books, I felt like I was wasting so much Media Class time. I reached out and asked another colleague who was allowing her students to check out more books about her procedures for checking in books returned to the library each week. Her suggestion was to go around to each homeroom on the day they had Media Class and gather all the books the students had finished reading. I have two of my morning Media Helpers do this for me. They go around each morning after the morning bell has rung to gather the student’s books that they are finished with and want to return to the Media Center during their class. One of my Media Helpers stays and helps me check in the books. Then when the students come to Media, we can begin our lesson without delay.
Gathering the books from each homeroom before they come to Media that same day has not only given me more time with each of my classes, but it also allows me to be less stressed with this whole process. The jury is still out on whether I like letting my students check out more books, but it helps that the students really like having more books to read; especially when I do not have available time for open checkout every day.
How many books do your students check out? What are the benefits and drawbacks? Share with us in the comments!
Hello,
Well this is my first time as a elementary I was public so I didn't have much trouble with the return but I do now
I have 40 minutes with each class I do two school over 600 students and one day I have the class twice but I let a student check in the books because they can't check out til those are checked in it helps
So while we are doing our 100 book challenge( where compete between grades whoever gets 100 first wins) they have to read a book at reading level and then give a book report in front of kids in the lib or side bar when kids are checking out books its been fun.then ready for oral reading 15 minutes then check out time. I usually split and give 1/2 an activity to do while the others check out books then we switch.
Thanksfor your article.
I work in a school library in South Africa. We allow our students from Grade 4 (about 11yrs) to take out 4 books at a time. While many don't bother, the avid readers usually take out 4 fiction (we don't restrict what they take). One reason why we made it 4 was so that they could take out at least one book to read in their first language, one in their second language (they all take a second language) and still have room for non-fiction for projects. Now that the internet is used mostly for research the non-fiction is usually just for their personal interest. But the real thinking behind the 4 book limit is to encourage reading.
I circulate about 4,000 books per month in my 619 student K-5 elementary school.
Ks check out 1/week.
1-2 check out 3/week.
3-5 check out 5/week.
We do not use AR and we do not charge fines. We charge a replacement fee for lost books or we ask for a duplicate copy which I prefer since I can get it on the shelf faster.
My K-1st check out two books which are due the following week. They tend to check out picture books and beginning chapter books. Last year a 2nd grade teacher asked if her kids could check out 3 books. Why not? It worked well. This year 2nd-3rd get 3 books, 4th-5th checkout 5 and I gave them a longer loan period. The only restriction is only one of their books can be graphic novels because it is a small collection and very popular. So far I don't have any more problem with lost/overdue books than I have in the past. I think my schedule (four day rotation so library day is never the same day) is a bigger reason for overdue books.
I started collecting books in the morning during my first year. Like your contributor, I found that I was spending too much time checking books in at the beginning of class. I have 5th grade pages who pick up the books from the classes I will see that day. I am very fortunate that I have very nice parent volunteers who help me first thing. My problem was with my reports. I ran them off and kids would bring books with them to library and my report was no longer accurate or I would lay the reports somewhere and be unable to find them when I needed it. This month I started using my ipad. I have destiny bookmarked and I open it, run the report, go over it with the kids and close it out. No paper wasting, I keep up with my ipad much better than paper and I can rerun the report easily. Why did it take me so long to figure this out?