Elementary Media Specialists or Librarians???

[Ratpack]

I teach fourth grade- we have been hearing through the "beginning of the year grapevine" that our library will have total "flexible checkout" time for all grades k-5. This means the Librarian will not be doing any kind of lessons, reviews, etc. Each teacher is responsible for finding time to sign up daily, weekly, or as needed. Students in all grades will just sign out in class and can come to the library to check out books (10 minutes of time) and that is all!!
AND our Librarian has 2 Assistants all day long!!!!


She really makes us feel very unwelcomed in HER LIBRARY! She also doesn't have ANY thing to do with Accelerated Reader and has told the teachers not to send kids to the library to take tests because they just cheat all the time.


Does your school have a similar procedure? If not, what do you do with the students, classes, etc? Our staff is very upset with this plan!!

 

[Ratpack]

anyone?

 

[teacherforhi]

I teach in a middle school and our media specialist has never done lessons. We just go every two weeks to check out books.

I do have to say, though, that you shouldn't be sending students to take tests in the media center. It really isn't the media specialists jobs to supervise your students. Our media specialist is constantly in and out all day. (She is in charge of all the technology in the school as well.) There would be no one to stop them from cheating and it really isn't her job.

 

[CEDmom]

I've never heard of this. How can you expect a 5 or 6 yo to go to the library and pick out an appropriate book? In my DD's old school (we just moved) the library was considered a special just like art, gym and music. They were on a 6 day schedule and the librarian also did a story and then the kids had time to pick out a book - the younger ones had help. The classroom teacher had a free period to prep a lesson or whatever. Her new school has a similar setup.

 

[Ratpack]

Yes, that is the way it has been for me and the schools that I have taught for years. I agree, how are the little ones supposed to learn how and what to do in the library without the guidance and supervision of the MS. It also allows the older elementary opportunity for learning reference materials, doing author studies, etc.

I think it is a little more difficult in elementary than in middle school, though. In our classrooms, we only have one computer- typically- per classroom and the library is set up with 10-12- so that is why many of the students like to take AR tests while during checkout times.

I did some checking on "criteria" for our district's media centers, so I may pose some questions to my principal to see what we can do to change their minds about allowing a set time each week.

Thanks for your inputs.

 

[melanie18]

I coordinate parent volunteers for my DD's elementary library. Our librarian is only there part-time so she can't be there to help kids check books out.

Basically, each class has 20 minutes to check books out (the teacher is there to help also). We recruit a parent to check the books out (we have a computer) and 1 or 2 parents to help kids choose books. It works out pretty well. It's also a good opportunity to see what's going on in the school and it only takes 2-3 hours per week.

This allows the librarian to spend her time in the classrooms reading books to the kids or ordering & shelving new books.

 

[SandiH]

Our library time is 45 minutes a week and is a special just like PE and Music. About 30 minutes is some sort of lesson and the rest is check out. I remember it being like that when I was a child as well.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I wonder if the district is trying to phase out the position of media specialist/librarian at the OP's school, and maybe just have an assistant do stuff. One of our local schools eliminated the school librarian to save money one year, as the school had to hire so many special ed assistants instead, since so many kids qualify to need their own aids nowadays. The school just had parent volunteers try to staff the library. The following year, fortunately the school hired a librarian again.

I am a librarian, but not in a school. But I totally understand the "unwelcoming" attitude - I see it all the time in libraries where I have worked in the past! It's like the librarian wants to just do their own thing uninterupted, and gets annoyed when a patron actually needs help! It's ridiculous! Some of them treat helping patrons as a huge inconvience, and they truly believe their job is to sit there and never help people!

 

[froglady]

Our library time is 45 minutes a week and is a special just like PE and Music. About 30 minutes is some sort of lesson and the rest is check out. I remember it being like that when I was a child as well.

My children's private elementary school had(and as far as I know, still does have) a similar program. Not only did they have story time for the younger students, but they assisted them in finding appropriate books. The older students were taught the basics of organization, classification, and research in addition to being read to. The media specialists were very supportive of all reading programs, and allowed students to make up tests in the library. The facility had ample room to separate students, and also had ample volunteer staff who could proctor them.

 

[bobcat]

This sounds like a situation where you all need to let your principal know how you feel and then they (principal) need to step up to the plate and make what's best for the children happen.

I understand about having too few computers in the classroom. I have two and since they choose to put the extra computers in the library for everyone to use then I need to be able to send students there so that they can use them. Our librarian is great, a bit territorial but still great. They used to call her the library nazi, glad that was before my time. She teaches classes once a week I believe to the LA classes (middle school) and has passes that teachers can use to to send students to the library to do work.

 

[harleyquinn]

You're lucky your school actually has a librarian. Most of the elementary schools in this area just have volunteers.

That said, if we did have librarians, I wouldn't let them get away with what your librarian seems to be doing.

As for AR lists, they are the bane of my (public librarian here) existance, so I can see her not wanting to deal with those, but if that's her role, that's her role.

Sounds like you are checking on the right things and talking to your principal makes a lot of sense to me.

 

[golfgal]

Our kids' old school (Catholic school K-8) had a librarian. The K-4 grades had library time where they would do an activity of some sort with the librarian and check out books. They did this once a week. The older kids had a time, once/week, to check out books but no programs in the library. If they were doing a research project or whatever they would obviously use the library and the librarian would be there to help. The elementary teachers did not stay in the library with the kids, this was a prep time for them. The middle school teachers did stay with the kids because it was usually a 10 minute slot or whatever out of their language arts class.

 

[mum4jenn]

WOW!! Our media spec. is GREAT!!!!!!!! Her and her aide are wonderful.

The media spec. either goes to the classes to give lessons or has lessons in the library. Most of the time she goes to the classes. Also each class has time to go to the library and also when children have extra time they can go when ever they need to to check in or out books and take AR tests. SHe also holds all kinds of contests throughout the year to encourage reading and excitement about reading. Even on Read Across America Day she dresses up like the Cat in The Hat (full costume) and reads the book during lunch!!!

 

[Ub_Iwerks]

Actually, the "flexible schedule" is preferable to using library time as a special. The point of it is for the librarian to support the curriculum of the classroom teachers. The OP's librarian obviously is not interested in doing that. The librarian should be coordinating with the classroom teachers and should still be presenting lessons, even though the teacher may be in the library at the same time. It sounds like the students are going to the library without their teachers, which sounds like a nightmare to me.

The flexible schedule in libraries means that the some classes might be going to the library three days a week if they are working on a research project or special unit one week, but then the next week they may only be popping in and out to check out books.

 

[hlbtimes2]

Our school district just did major budget cuts. Our librarians took the biggest hit. We lost about 25 of our 34 librarians. The few that remain will have to go from school to school. Each school will get one full day a week, and a partial day. The rest of the time they'll have paraeducators in there helping out. Most of us parents are pretty upest about it.