Circ: Check In

Book Return

• I see my classes on a fixed schedule - 5-6 classes each day. I have 6 rolling crates, and on the morning of a class' library day, a library club student brings a crate to that classroom. Book return becomes part of the classroom morning routine for that day, and I get all of the books for that day within the first hour of the school day. This way, all books are checked in when the class arrives for library time.

Of course, if a student has not finished reading a book, they should keep it and bring it during library time for renewal. (Tiffany Whitehead)

• I have a fixed schedule and see 5-6 classes a day. When the students come in, they place their book(s) on the circulation desk and I scan them in right in front of them. This gives me an opportunity to ask the student, "How did you like the book?" Then each student places their returned book on the cart, spine showing, label on the bottom. If the student wants to renew their book, I check it in then hold it behind the circulation desk and they ask for it later. Often a student will change their mind about renewing. I like this because all the books are returned before I start the lesson. If a student forgot to bring their book, he/she has to stay in line and tell me the book is at home. The student gets an X for the day which is marked in my grade book. (Paula Daubert)
• I have a fixed schedule and see 5-6 classes a day, also. I do not have a morning period to check in all of the books for the day. The students bring the books with them and check them in at the circulation desk at the beginning of each period. I greet each student and encourage them to say something about what they thought of the book being returned. I work in a K-1 school and we practice setting our books on the shelving cart with the spines showing. Our book drop is for the books teachers return during the day while I am working with classes. (Donna Bills)
• I also check in books at the beginning of each class, but I use this time to teach a little about library organization. I use the "town" approach when teaching library organization, so we have Everybody Town, Fiction Town, Biography Town and Non-Fiction Town in our Library Land. I have a different cart labeled for each town. After a book is checked in, the students place their book on the correct cart (I call them trains to carry on the theme). This provides authentic practice in recognizing spine labels and goes right along with our lessons on using OPAC. (Pam Morris)
• Students at both my schools return their books on the morning of their Media class before the day begins. The classroom teacher usually sends one or two students down with a book basket. The students then take the books out of their basket and stack them neatly on the desk with barcodes face up. I have a sign out on the counter to remind them of the procedure. Then when my media para arrives, we frantically check all the books in and she puts them away throughout the day. The students know they can't check out books that haven't been put away yet. This ensures that more kids get a chance to check out the new titles.