Assignment #3 has given me the opportunity to really look at my experience while working in several libraries as a TOC and choose organization strategies I could adapt to my own program. Being a TOC, I am lucky because I have seen the good, bad, and the ugly as far as organization. Worst being a library with no Teacher-Librarian and piles of un-shelved books, and best being an elementary school library run by a dynamic Master Teacher Librarian who has a trained group of student Library Monitors at her side. For the first time I could put together what I like to think of as my dream library Action Plan. Most of the strategies I would like to adapt are from the Master Teacher Librarian at a school in Surrey that I worked in some time ago.
The Library at this particular elementary school has recently been renovated and the layout is well planned out to incorporate the right amount of space for teaching and practical organization of books. Most of the shelving is built into the perimeter of the room, leaving the center of the room open as a work space for students. Low shelves around the left side of the room are for Easy readers leading up to taller shelves for more Fiction books for the older students. The right perimeter of the room is reserved for the entire Non-Fiction collection that is kept in perfect order by the TL. The layout of the room is practical and allows easy visibility from any area of the room, especially when standing at the circulation desk at the front of the room.
The Master TL in this library dedicates many hours to training responsible student Library Monitors, who help to conduct book exchanges, and shelve books, before school, during lunch hour, and after school. Because of their help the library program runs beautifully, and books are shelved consistently in the right place. The only area that the TL does not allow the Library Monitors to shelve is the Non-Fiction collection. She prefers to take sole responsibility for shelving this area. As I worked as a TOC in this elementary school library I took note of the commitment her Library Monitors have for attending to their scheduled tasks. I was very impressed at how responsible they were. This is a reflection of the respect they have for their Teacher Librarian. I also took notes on the organization systems that she had in place around the room. Every class had a box of duo-tangs where students keep their work, and each class had a set of book marks with individual barcodes for each student. The rules for proper behaviour where visibly displayed on a poster in a high traffic area in the room, and the students seemed to be aware of them when asked. I also couldn’t help but notice that she sends home many newsletters to parents informing them about the rules and policies of the library including, how to take care of books, upcoming events, and the hours of operation before and after school when parents can accompany their children for book exchanges or reading time.
For this assignment I tried to apply many of the techniques I saw work effectively in this elementary school library, so that I may apply these to my own situation in the future. This assignment was a great opportunity to reflect on what I have seen and produce a workable plan for myself. I am glad that I had this opportunity to develop a useful organization plan that I can use in my own school library!
