May I offer a suggestion for your die-hard offenders? Give a letter (better yet,
have them called in to pick up the letter from the vice principal or whoever does
discipline) to the student advising them that they have 24 hours to return the book
or begin paying for it*. The letter states that if, within 24 hours they do not
make good, a call will be placed to their home and the calls will begin at 6 (or
6:30) a.m.! (Be sure that part is clear). (And if you don't get the books, DO make
the call! Word will get out and you'll have other kids returning books too). My
guess is that they will NOT want their parents harassed at that time of the
morning. On the bright side, a phone call then will alert them to look for the book
before coming to school.
Here at my elementary school, I have the student call home during the day (they are
sent to the office to call, so they're not too thrilled about that!) and let parent
know that a book is missing, and if no answer, they leave a message on the recorder
for themselves to remind themselves when they get home. You could even make up a
little card that they could read; laminate it and hand it to them while they dial.
"This is a message for John to locate his library book at home and place it in his
backpack for return to the library tomorrow." Leaving themselves a message usually
works because the parent also hears the message. Most families do have a machine
and it ends the excuse of "Nobody's home."
I have used "wake up calls" when I worked at a K - 8 site. ("Good morning! This is
a courtesy call from the school librarian. Johnny's book is overdue. Before I send
home a bill with the principal's signature on it, I wanted to give you an
opportunity to drop his late book off. The title of the book is _______ (and if you
can describe the book:) and it is small, blue, and has a yellow sticker on the
spine." The cost of replacing the book is currently $25.
Or, "The book is 3 weeks late and I have a bill prepared in the amount of $25. If
the book is returned to the library or school office this morning, I won't need to
take the bill to the principal for his signature. Thanks for your assistance!"
My guess is that employing these techniques will give you a 70% return rate within
a week. It's worth a try.
*You might even have them sign a form that indicates they received the letter and
they understand the consequences. At my K - 8 I had the kids sign the original bill
and I made a photocopy which I kept on file. This way they knew their parents would
find out that they knew all about it, instead of, "I never got it" or "I didn't
know."
Joanne Ladewig, Library Media Technician (a.k.a. "Library Lady")
Lawrence Elementary School, GGUSD
Garden Grove, CA USA
shatz@verizon.net
---Comments are my own and may not reflect the views of GGUSD.
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