[CASL-L] Library Helpers

[Michele Eligio]

Hi,

I am no longer in a middle school setting; however, I was at my previous
library position. We had lots of helpers at each grade level - around
75-85 middle school students altogether.

Students worked in groups of two at the check out counter. One student
would check out/check in materials. The other would stamp books, pass out
bookmarks, and check to ensure that returned books did not have ripped
pages or other damage. At the end of the block these students would sort
the books for me on the cart to prep them for reshelving, but they didn't
actually reshelve. 

In addition to having students available to assist for book
exchange/selection times, I also had student helpers scheduled to assist
with other library tasks. Younger ones, helped with general library
cleaning - wiping down tables, dusting, etc... Older students were allowed
to reshelve; however, I was very selective on who I chose to do this task
- the library was genrified in fiction, all series were numbered, and the
Dewey section was labeled with subject headings to match books in that
subsection. This helped tremendously with reshelving tasks. Also, older
students helped out with signage and displays in conjunction with and
supervised by SCSU mentor students who helped out at the library as part
of their class hours. Creating signs and displays helped the older middle
school students as they gained greater familiarity with the collection as
well as with the library's organization which in turn helped them when
reshelving materials for me.

Students who helped in any capacity had to undergo training sessions in
the beginning of the year. I put out a monthly calendar for students and
teachers with weeks, days and times of all helpers - that being said
sometimes I would just schedule "x" number of students from particular
teachers/classes and let the teachers decide who would help - this
flexibility ensured that students who needed to catch up on assignments
did so first before being allowed to assist at the library. Most students
started out with being the number two person at the check out counter
stamping books and sorting books for reshelving before advancing to more
complex tasks or ones with greater responsibility. Lastly, all student
helpers signed in and out each time they assisted me as well as checked
off which tasks they completed for the day which helped me with quality
control so to speak. All-in-all everything went rather smoothly.

Hope all this helps... :)

Michele Eligio
Library Media Specialist
North Branford High School
49 Caputo Road
North Branford, CT 06471
203-484-1465

“Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up
windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute
to improving our quality of life. Libraries change lives for the better.” 
 Sidney Sheldon 


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