[CALIBK12] Textbooks/Library Fines and Collecting of Monies

Fri Jan 30 15:10:42 PST 2009

Whoa! My library is a happy place! Just ask the kids. I still collect
fines, am the one that has to remind them that there is no Magic
Mountain, graduation, etc. These students know what we expect of them!
Are they blaming the librarian because they did not meet our
expectations? I would venture no because, again, they know 
what they need to do to meet the requirements to participate in those
events.
Those same parents that find the school at fault for everything are the
same parents that will argue that their kid didn't damage that text or
borrow that book...
I still believe a student can be penalized and still have a good feeling
about their school libraries based on their experiences with the
librarians.

Pat Guarnero
Library Media Tech
Monte Vista Middle School
Camarillo, CA 93010
(805) 482-8891

-----Original Message-----
From: calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu
[mailto:calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu] On Behalf Of Blanche Woolls
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 2:58 PM
To: calibk12 at lists.sjsu.edu
Subject: Re: [CALIBK12] Textbooks/Library Fines and Collecting of Monies

Wow!

No dance, no field trips, no yearbooks, sitting with you, the jailer,
during lunch. Any idea how these students depict their librarian to
their 
parents when they ask for the money to cover that fine. Parents today
seem 
to feel the school is at fault for anything that doesn't work in their 
children's learning.

If that happened to me, I'd never set foot in a library again for the
rest 
of my life. When bond issues to build or remodel libraries, school, 
public, or academic, came up, guess what my vote would be. Might not
care 
when they cut the jobs of teacher librarians and library technicians
from 
my school district.

I'm sorry but Frances Henne once said (and this is a paraphrase) that
the 
only lesson any child needed to learn and a lesson that every child
could 
learn regardless of achievement levels was that the library was a happy 
place where the librarians were there to help them.

Promise to say no more.

Blanche

On Fri, 30 Jan 2009, Donna Purcell wrote:

> At our school, students with overdue books or lost/damaged fines are
not
> allowed to attend field trips, get their yearbooks, attend dances,
etc.
> This is especially effective for 8th graders.  The 8th grade dance is
> big here and, of course, they want their yearbooks.  Plus there are a
> lot of end-of-year field trips.  And they get to sit lunch detention
> with me everyday in June until they pay or bring the book back. And
> still, graduation comes and they don't pay and then I send the slips
on
> to the high school and hope they have more luck.  We are a military
> feeder school, so we have a very transient population here.  We have
> students that don't even check out--they're just gone to some foreign
> place and I never see the books again.  It's very frustrating.
>
> Donna Purcell
> Library Media Technician
> Jefferson Middle School
> Oceanside, CA  92054
> (760) 757-6060 x233
> -----Original Message-----
> From: calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu
> [mailto:calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu] On Behalf Of Catania, Amy
> Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 2:13 PM
> To: Blanche Woolls; Glenda Webb
> Cc: calibk12 at lists.sjsu.edu
> Subject: Re: [CALIBK12] Textbooks/Library Fines and Collecting of
Monies
>
> I will speak not from a textbook point of view, but from the main
> library's point of view.  At the risk of fueling this argument
further,
> I would like to know what people would do in place of fines for lost
and
> damaged books.  There needs to be some kind of accountability.  We
> cannot just say, "Oh, poor baby, let's give you another book."  That
> sends the wrong message that it is all right to borrow something and
not
> return it.  At the high school level, incentives for returning books
on
> time do not work.  They complain about the incentives and believe that
> we should have better, more expensive things (oh, the lovely
entitlement
> generation).  And really, should we give prizes or incentives for
> something that students should do in the first place, namely return
the
> materials that they have borrowed?  Something needs to be done whether
> it is fines or something else.  We cannot eat the cost and constantly
> try to replace books.  Our budgets are frozen, and we do not get SLIP
> funds.  Right now, only fundraisers and grants (none of which we have
> been awarded) are our only funding options.  Without the fees
collected
> for lost and damaged materials, we would not be able to replace any
> books at this point.  Maybe it is not the best way, but without the
bill
> slips, many of our overdue books would not return.  We do not charge
if
> the books are returned, only if they are lost.  Something has to
happen
> in order to teach these students responsibility and accountability.
So,
> let's open up the discussion.  What should we do instead?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu
> [mailto:calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu] On Behalf Of Blanche Woolls
> Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 11:30 AM
> To: Glenda Webb
> Cc: calibk12 at lists.sjsu.edu
> Subject: Re: [CALIBK12] Textbooks/Library Fines and Collecting of
Monies
>
> Since collecting fines in the first place makes an adversary role for
> the
> teacher librarian, why would you want to be chasing these students for
> their entire school lives? The very thought that some mother or father
> are
> telling their children not to set foot in the school library because
> their
> last name might get them an overdue fine notice from 20 years before
is
> mind boggling.
>
> The children and young adults in our schools are there because it is
> their
> school, and their library and their gymnasium. It might help them
> refrain
> from trashing or even burning their school or their library (some do,
> and
> the cost to "fix" is horrendous) if they saw it as their property and
> not
> a "them" and "us" situation.
>
> Or maybe I misunderstood your question.
>
> Blanche
>
> On Fri, 30 Jan 2009, Glenda Webb wrote:
>
>> Our district recently went to Destiny.  To clean up some of the
> records they want to delete any fine before the beginning of this
school
> year, including those fines for students still going to this school
> and/or are still in our school district.
>>
>> The new district directive regarding future assessment of fines is:
> once a student leaves elementary school, all fines are deleted.  Once
a
> student leaves 8th grade, all fines are deleted.  Once a student
leaves
> high school, all fines are deleted. The district says this directive
> meets the ed code.
>>
>> Can any one give me some logical, convincing arguments to sway the
> district to reconsider their decision.
>>
>> Or give me some logical, convincing arguments that the district's
> mandate is reasonable.
>>
>> Glenda Webb
>> LCMS Library
>>
>>
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