Volunteers

Library volunteers are vital, especially for our elementary libraries. Volunteers can be trained to shelve books, straighten shelves, dust, help with checkouts, bulletin boards, etc. 

Below is an example of how to explain duties and procedures to your volunteers:

Library Volunteers

Thank you for volunteering your time to help our students in the library!  Your active participation here and elsewhere at school shows your children how much you value education in general and reading in particular.  A powerful message!

Below are guidelines for basic library services.  Please do not feel you have to know everything right away.  Over time you will grow to be comfortable and knowledgeable about library operations and services

INTRODUCTION: I am Cynthia Brandt. This year marks my 12th year as Media Manager at Pine Ridge. Prior to formal employment with the school district, I was a parent volunteer here at Pine Ridge. (Yes! I volunteered in the Library!)  I am married to Jay and we have 2 children, (both Pine Ridge alums) Josh, 23 and Emma, 19. When I’m not reading… I enjoy college football, yoga, traveling and gardening.

GENERAL LIBRARY PROCEDURES:

Students visit the library with their class once a week for 30 minutes.  As they enter they return their books for check in, or for renewal. Primary students sit on the carpet for a read-aloud experience; while Intermediate students sit at the tables for announcements and D.E.A.R (Drop Everything and Read) time.  

During this time the volunteer checks in or renews the returned books.  Books may be shelved at this time, but not in the presentation area, please, while the activity is in progress.  Volunteers check out books to students once they have made their selections.  Volunteers straighten shelves, “read” shelves, and dust as time permits.  Other tasks will be offered on an “as needed” basis.

My goal is for students to have a positive experience in the library.   Our students receive intensive instruction in reading and language arts in the classroom.  The library is the place to foster a love of reading to complement those lessons. 

CIRCULATION DESK - WHERE ACCURACY IS THE KEY!

• Watch the screen during the transaction for accuracy, messages, and overdue books.  

• Check in or renew all items before checking out new materials.

• 1st – 5th grade students may check out 2 books at a time. If they have one overdue book, it must be returned before another is checked out.   

• Kindergarten students check out one book from the top shelf of “E” easy/everybody shelves. Student materials are given a two-week due date. Grades 1-5 may check out 2 books, with a two-week due date.

• Teachers may check out an unlimited number of items.  They are given a 6/15/18 due date, unless a HOLD is placed on a book they have checked-out. (Then it needs to be returned ASAP.)

• Make eye contact and smile at each student while checking out books. Try to engage the student in a conversation about his or her choice, or make a positive statement about their choice. ☺

• Avoid checking out the American Chillers series by Jonathan Rand and the Transformers Graphic Novels to K-2 students. They are too intense for the Primary set. As always, some exceptions may apply. When in doubt, ask.

THE LITTLE DETAILS…

• Our collection gets heavy use.  To make sure a book can be found when it is needed it is helpful to “read the shelves” when there is extra time.  Applying general shelving rules, the spine label of each book is read book by book to make sure every book is where it belongs.

• When shelving books, please scan the shelf for misfiled books and put the shelf in order.

• Shelves are straightened frequently to maintain a neat library and our students are encouraged to keep it that way.  

Please respect student privacy and confidentiality while volunteering in the library.

Library Tour

• Circulation Desk:

Login

Catalog/Circulation

Check in /Check out

Holds/Renewals

• Schedule/Gray Binder 

• Search Stations

“search” 

enter

• Book Carts/Trucks

• Library Shelves: 5 Sections-

E 

FIC 

Non-Fiction 

Biography 

Spanish 

• Presentation Area

• Workroom

• Library LINX

Shelving Guidelines

IT IS IMPERATIVE TO SHELVE BOOKS CORRECTLY! IF A BOOK IS IN THE WRONG SPOT…IT MAY AS WELL BE LOST!

1. Be familiar with the various sections of the library. 

2. Pay attention to the call number on the spine label.  The call number is the book’s address.

3. Generally, books are shelved within their section alphabetically by the author’s last name and then alphabetically by title if there is more than one book by the same author. See examples that follow***

4. Take time to “read” the shelf you are working with: re-shelve books that are out of order and straighten them for a neat appearance, pulling books forward on the shelves and tightening the book ends as you go. If pinched for time, read 10 books to the right and 10 books to the left and move on. ☺

Helpful re-shelving tips:

• “A” “An” “The” at the beginning of the title are ignored.  However, these common words do count within the title.  

• How to regard abbreviations in the title – remember this rule: what you see is what you shelve.  “St.” is not regarded the same as “Saint” or “Street.”  

• Numbers spelled out in numeral fashion come before letters.  The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins comes before And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street 

• Series books are shelved alphabetically by series name and then sequentially by volume number or by author.  Goosebumps: 1-2-3 order   Dear America: by author 

• Some Biographies are shelved in 920 (collective biography) instead of the biography wall. These books have a Dewey Call Number instead of a “B”. 

Spine Labels

• Everybody (Picture Books, Emergent Readers, Chapter books.)

E (Easy/Everybody) 

BRO (First 3 letters of the author’s last name)  

• FICTION (Fiction- Chapter Books) 

FIC (Fiction)

GAI (First 3 letters of the author’s last name)  

• Non-fiction (information books organized by subject/ Dewey Decimal) 

111.111

ARN

• Biography 

B

WOO (Alpha by SUBJECT: this spine label could be a book on Tiger Woods)

• Spanish (E, FIC and Non-Fiction books. Kept in a separate collection and identified by an “Espanol” spine label sticker.)

• Paperbacks with barcodes but no spine label:

These are bookroom books, which are usually kept upstairs. They are typically prior years’ Battle of the Books titles that are still circulating well, so they are kept on the shelves for a while. 

Re-shelving Examples

How to order books with the same spine label… 

E 

BRO 

Brown, Don Uncommon Traveler 

Brown, Laurie K. and Marc Brown          

When Dinosaurs Die   

Brown, Marc Arthur Goes to Camp 

Brown, Marc Arthur’s April Fool 

Brown, Margaret Wise Big Red Barn 

Brown, Michael Santa Mouse 

Brown, Ruth Holly 

Browne, Anthony Gorilla 

FIC 

FLE 

Fleischman, Paul Bull Run 

Fleischman, Paul The Half-a-Moon Inn 

Fleischman, Paul Seed Folks 

Fleischman, Sid Bandit’s Moon 

Fleischman, Sid Bo & Mizz Mad 

Fleischman, Sid By the Great Horn Spoon 

How to order books in the Non-fiction section by call number… (Dewey Decimal)

599 

RAN 

   599 

   REL 

      599.09 

      BRE 

         599.3 

         COU 

            599.34 

            AND 

               599.9 

               ADA  

                  599.91 

                  ACH 

Thank you so much for supporting the Library! Together we can foster a life-long love of reading in our students!