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!
Miranda says
I like this idea. I give each class a rolling cart the afternoon before they come to library the next day. The next morning the library helper from each class brings down the cart with books and puts them on the return cart. I am able to get everything checked in before my classes start.
Jo Greff says
I am a librarian in a K-5 parochial school with 140 students and I work three days a week. In our school, Kindergarteners are allowed 2 books each week (with a 2 week check-out period), so they can have 4 books at home at one time. If they have 4 checked out, then I do not allow them to check any more out and I send a notice home once they're overdue.
Our 1st - 5th graders may have 8 books at a time, so we have a high circulation rate. I circulate between 900 - 1,000 books the three days I'm here, for our 140 students! We use Accelerated Reader schoolwide and they need enough books to last them a week. They can come to the library other than library time if they need too.
I have the students bring books back to the library ASAP the morning of their scheduled classes. Yesterday I had 186 books checked in before 8:30 am - then to shelve them all!
We (the teachers and I) encourage the students to pick good-fit books and they know their reading levels. Also one day a week is non-fiction day in each classroom, so we are really promoting more non-fiction books so they learn how to read non-fiction.
B says
I have enjoyed reading the comments here and finding that I follow the same practices as many of you. I am at a k-5 elementary with 550 students that i see on a fixed schedule every week while their teacher attends grade level mtng, a parent conference or planning time. I have no assistant and no parent volunteers as we are located in a poverty area and everyone claims to work or grandparents have other children at home they are caring for. I do have class helpers who are life savers and can do almost anything I will allow them to do. Kg is not ready to check out books yet buy i hope to have them there soon. I should have suggested to 1st grade teachers that books not go home for the first 9weeks period. I will do that next year. I do aak teachers to use the last hour of school day (which is my planning time) for students to come on a pass to return books and take another so that they don't have to wait until their next check out. This is my first year at this school and many of these practices were already established. I am working to make positive changes.
Stacey says
Great ideas and comments here! I am curious what others policies are on overdue books.... do you charge fines for overdue books? Our school does and I dislike it very much. I spend way too much time being the "money police" collecting 10 or 20 cent fines! The previous librarian's motto was "every penny counts" towards our small budget but I would rather spend my little time encouraging reading than chasing down students to pay their fines! My thought would be that if they have an overdue book, they cannot check out a new book. The PROBLEM then though is what do those students do during the 15 minutes or so everyone else is browsing and checking-out? This is where behavior problems can occur... hmmmmm....
Diane Mentzer says
No fines here. I am at an elementary school and in a very poor area. I do not let them get more books if they have overdues. I usually allow the students in grades 3-5 work on the computer when they are finished checking out books or if they do not have books. I sometimes have them straighten book shelves or shelve books. For the lower grades I usually have a paper that is related to the story or activity of the day. They can color or do the paper and usually the back is empty so they can then draw on it. This usually keeps them busy. Some days I use Seek and Find Books or even ipads. I did have a problem at one school where I had games and puzzles for students to do after book exchange. Students would forget books on purpose to be the first to get to the games. I had to make it so that it was not a good thing to forget books so i would tell them that they could not select a game or puzzle until 5 students had checked out their books. This discouraged them from forgetting.
Jo says
Our county does not allow students who have overdue library books to check out new books, but we don't charge fines. I have a section in my media center called "honor books" for those students who have overdue books or library fines for damaged or lost books (county policy is they must pay fines before checking out new items). Honor books are donated books (usually paperback) that wouldn't hold up in normal library citculation. Students who "check out" these books are on their honor to bring them back...thus the name "honor books." I do not keep up who has what honor book, but do emphasize when a student "checks out" an honor book, that they should return it. I send home a letter at the beginning of each year to collect honor books and have five shelves of these books now...picture books and chapter books on all reading levels. Parents love to clean out shelves of old books and we get great books for our students who need them. I also allow students who have fines to "work off" their fines during their recess by helping me in the medua center (straightening shelves, dusting, sharpening pencils, picking up trash, etc.). 1 day of "work" = $5 off the fine. Parents are happy to have their child work off the fine and it teaches responsibility.
Jocelyn says
I like these ideas, Jo! Especially the honor books section. 🙂
Diane Mentzer says
After attending AASL I started letting my students take out as many books as they want within reason in grades 3-5. I am letting grade 2 take up to 5 and grade 1 can have 2 and K just started with 1. I have actually had more problems with the classroom teachers. I have had teachers tell their classes they can only check out 5 or have to pay a penalty in class cash. That makes me mad because I am trusting the students and I don't think they should be able to do that. I have not talked to the principal about it yet, but may. I know several of my colleagues thought I had lost my mind, but I did it any way. I have actually had better book return that before. I too talked to the students about responsibility and that they need to return all of the books. The reason I do not let grade 1 get more is because as kindergarteners those students had more lost and forgotten books than any class in my 31 years. I am proud to say this years K are doing great and I can see them getting more books the last marking period.
I do not have an assistant or even a good reliable volunteer. I have my students shelve their own books and have a group of 4th graders who like to come in during recess and straighten shelves and put away any extra books. Yes, some books end up on the wrong shelf, some end up on the shelf backwards, but it all it works. I do not have time to do all the shelving and as I told my administration it shows that my library is being used. If the shelves are always neat and perfect then are they being used. I want the books in the hands of the students, that is where they do the most good.