First, many thanks to all those who responded. I was unable to get
thank yous out to all of you individually, but your insights are
definitely appreciated all the same. I also got several requests for
a "hit" on this topic.
Here is the original TARGET:
> Our school is 9-12 with a population expected to be around 2200
> this year (expected to drop next year when the new school opens and
> rezoning alleviates some of the overcrowding). My question is
> this: do any of you require students to present a pass coming to
> the library without a class? Do you use the pass system during
> lunches as well? Pros? Cons? Our administration is looking at
> going to a a library pass system and I am looking for some
> practical, real info from people who are using one (or not) and why
> it works (or doesn't).
To sum up, the majority of responses indicated that a pass system is
used, particularly during class time, though the details of the pass
system vary--requiring students to pick up a lunch pass before
school, providing laminated passes to teachers, signing agenda books,
etc. Pros of having a pass system in place included 1) offering the
librarian some control over the number of students coming in when
not with a specific class (by limiting the number of passes handed
out when multiple classes are scheduled for the day) 2) making it
harder to use the library for "ditching" another class and 3)
statistics. Cons included 1) dealing with the passes in the first
place and 2) sometimes a decrease in the number of students using the
library and/or a decrease in circulation.
Below are the replies--and because there are so many, I'm going to be
including them in two parts.
_________________________
We use a pass system during the school day for students not with
classes - even at lunch. The former head media specialist found it
necessary to institute the lunch pass to limit the number of students
coming in and the negative behavior they had to deal with as they
also taught classes or were working with classes. Before lunch
passes, the number of students coming at lunch steadily grew - a good
thing. BUT when the students coming in were just there to hang out
with friends, the ones who chose to come in were rowdy and all over
the place.
The pass system has its pros and cons. It does control the number of
students coming in at lunch if you don't have enough staff to deal
with large numbers. But it does keep some students who might want to
occasionally use the library at lunch from coming in.
We provide teachers with Media Passes that they can give to students
who wish to come in at lunch PLUS we issue Media Passes to students
before school who wish to come in at lunch. For the ones we issue,
we keep a record to know how many passes we have given out. If we
know we have a large class coming in to use the library and that we
will be tied up with them, then we can limit the number of passes we
give out (but not once did we have to do that last year). We also
tell students that it is first come, first served even with passes -
because we have no way of knowing how many passes have been issued by
teachers on a given day. So far, we have not had to turn away
students on any day. It seems that the lunch passes tend to cut out
on the rowdy kids even requesting a pass, so that we are usually left
with well-behaving students in the library at lunch.
If you are wanting to keep you patron use numbers up, you may see
them drop with lunch passes, but you have to decide what is best for
your particular situation. We have toyed with the idea of dropping
lunch passes since our numbers did go down, but I am not quite ready
to give them up - our student population is rapidly changing and we
unfortunately are getting more discipline problems coming in our school.
______________
We require a pass for students coming into the library at any time.
We also require them to make a pass to go back to class or study
hall. I have a time card that stamps the date, library and time of
they are leaving the library. This saves me time in having to stamp
passes. I also save all the passes given to me by students. That is
just another check as to how many students I have daily.
_______________
We (two librarians and an assistant) serve roughly 1550 students.
Anyway, we don't give library passes. Students are just welcome to
come. We have study hall on top of that. We have forty to fifty
kids or so during lunch (depending on the lunch and number of study
halls). The library is very large, so this is not as crowded as you
would think. The students have always been well behaved. It DOES
get nutty if we happen to have a class using the library at the same
time. Classes always get first priority when it comes to computers
(only 16 in the main library, but we do have an attached lab with 28
computers in it), and students are understanding of that.
As far as I know, kids have not taken advantage of this by doing
things like popping into the bathrooms to smoke or wandering the
halls. I talked with an assistant principal last year and asked him
to let me know if there was a problem (offering to make passes if
necessary).
Now, what is really funny, is I ended up making passes in my former
library (which was MUCH smaller and supported a smaller population -
only 800 kids). The principal asked me to because kids were saying
they were going to the library but were sneaking into the bathrooms
for a smoke break instead. I had students sign up for passes and
made laminated colorful passes. Green for first lunch and red for
second. Whoever was monitoring the lunch crowd at that school would
only allow students to come to the library if they had a pass.
____________________
I am a librarian in a high school of 2800 students. We do use
library passes; otherwise it would be chaos. Students may get a pass
from the library staff before school or between classes to come to
the library during their study hall (some call it advisory), or
during lunch. Before and after school no pass is required. If a
teacher sends a student to the library on a pass he or she has
issued, that student may stay about 10 minutes to find a book, use
the copier, or print something.
Reasons: We can control how many students are in the library. If we
have two or three classes scheduled for the library each period, we
have to limit the number of students coming in during study halls.
We have created a study hall area with four tables and sixteen
chairs. Classroom teachers tend to send students to the library for
the entire period for various reasons, but they have no idea how busy
we are or how many bodies are already in the library. Substitute
teachers in particular send students to the library because the class
"isn't doing anything", but we would have standing room only if we
didn't control the passes ourselves.
Also, with written passes, students are not wandering the halls.
They report to their homeroom, then come to the library. We contact
the teacher if we are expecting a student and he/she isn't in the
library soon after the bell rings. This is a security measure as
well. It is most embarrassing if a parent comes for their child and
the staff has no idea where the student is.
All this is accomplished with triplicate passes we have made at the
district's print shop. We keep a copy, the student leaves with two
copies, and the teacher keeps a copy when the student leaves study
hall to go to the library. Classroom teachers sending kids to the
library write passes on our standard corridor passes.
It works very well for us. We are also able to use the passes to
calculate library usage statistics.
We are in no way trying to keep students out of the library! As you
know, with such a large school, things could get crazy if students
were allowed to leave their classes at any time to go to the
library. Many would simply go to the cafeteria to see their friends
if it happened to be one of the lunch times. Others would arrange to
meet their friends in the library to socialize. We want our library
to be warm and welcoming, but it is also a place for academic pursuit.
________________________
YES! We have a population of 2500 this year and we always require a
pass. This year we will also require a copy of their schedule if
they claim they don’t have a class that period. Unfortunately, we
can’t get all the teachers to provide passes and the students are
told to shlep back to the class for one. We figure if they don’t
come back with a pass, they weren’t supposed to be here in the first
place. We have a sign in sheet and they enter the name of the
teacher who gave them the pass in case the teacher wants to check to
see if they actually came.
______________________
I am a high school library media specialist at a much smaller high
school (about 900). We use passes for students during our seminar
time (4th block every tues., thurs., fri.). Seminar is somewhat like
homeroom / study skills where students can see other teachers, make
up tests or other work, and they are allowed to come to the library.
However, the students who come to the library must have a pass issued
from their seminar teacher and if it does not indicate they are to
come to the library we send them back to their seminar teachers.
This ensures that we know the students aren't wandering the halls,
skipping, etc. and that the seminar teachers know where their
students are located.
During lunch, we allow students to freely use the library media
center without passes. I am not sure who would issue passes in this
situation.
During classes students must also have a pass to come to the
library. This can be a simple as a piece of paper with names of
students and signature of teacher. We aren't as 'strict' on the
passes during class time though.
Hopefully this helps! I try to limit the demanding of passes simply
because I do not want to create an environment where students do not
feel welcome. But at the same time accountability is important and
knowing the students are supposed to be in the media center is
necessary.
____________________
Colton (CA) HS requires a pass from any student
using the LMC when not visiting as a class during
school hours. Before/after school/lunches/home period
don't require passes. Generally, I think it's a
worthwhile system, especially to avert kids from using
the LMC as a ditch target. Colleagues resent that.
____________________
Our library serves grades 7-12, and I do require passes for students
not with teachers. Students must have a special library pass to come
to the library. I printed them out of my budget, but it was
completely worth it. The library passes come in pads that are about
the size of a 1/4 piece of paper. Each pass has two parts - a white
sheet on top and a yellow sheet underneath. Writing on the top half
also writes on the yellow half underneath.
The teacher fills out the pass with student name, teacher's name,
time left, and what the student is supposed to be working on. When
the student arrives, he punches the pass into our time clock. He
separates the passes, putting the white half into one tray and the
yellow half into another tray. The white passes tell me who is in
the library at the moment and what they're supposed to be doing. If
there's a fire drill (or a real fire) I can grab the passes and know
who's with me. If a teacher or the office wants to know if someone
is in the library, I can quickly check.
When the student leaves, he takes the white half of the pass, stamps
the time out, and takes the pass back to the teachers. This way, the
teachers can tell if the student was in the library the whole time or
if he wandered the halls aimlessly after leaving the library. If the
pass doesn't have the time arrived and time left stamp, the teacher
can write the student up. If I send a student out of the library, I
send an e-mail to the teacher who sent them to let them know what
happened.
The yellow half of the pass stays in the library. At the end of the
day, I count all the passes, which gives me an easy way to keep
stats. I keep all the yellow halves for two weeks. Sometimes
teachers or administrators will come back and check those passes to
see if kids were where they said they were or if they ever made it to
the library.
Some teachers are resistant to writing a special library pass. At
first, if kids had a pass scribbled on a scrap of paper instead of a
library pass, I'd (very pleasantly) send the kid back with a single
pass to have the teacher sign. Most teachers got the picture. By
the end of the year, I had a couple of holdouts. When their kids
came, I would just sign a library pass for the kid myself and have
him stamp it and put in the trays anyway.
I really like this system. It makes it easy to know who's here, what
they're supposed to be doing, which teacher each kids "belongs" to,
and how many kids use the library each day.
___________________
Yes, all of our students must have a pass if they come to the library
without their class during school hours (they don't need a pass if
they come before or after school). This helps us in several ways:
we can separate students on passes from classes that are using the
library computer stations (we have a separate computer station for
walk-ins), we can look in the database to doublecheck if students are
skipping class (a problem in our school), and we know what the
students with passes are working on so we can stop by to check on
their progress and give them help. I can't imagine having students
come in the library without passes during regular school hours.
_____________________
I'm in a middle school where we use passes. Years ago each room had
several two-foot-long boards with the room number and destination
routed into the surfaces. Once ta student used a pass to bash the
water cooler, other passes began to be used.
Some teachers have more unusual passes such as a shoe with "Library"
written on it. (That would be the Art teacher.) Most teachers use a
paper pass that we have refined and laminated. The laminated pass is
on a half sheet of paper; the wording is basically: LIBRARY PASS
with a short message. The back has replaceable lined sheet with space
for the name of the student, time (very imortant since some kids take
a really long time finding the library), initials of the sending
teacher, date, and librarian's initials & time. Kids are required to
sign in when they arrive at the library. It works fairly well. I'll
be interested to hear of other methods. We sometimes limit the number
of kids from one room coming at any one time. We'll have anywhere
from 10-50 kids during study halls. The room will hold 60.
____________________
We require passes of any students coming to the library without a
teacher if the student is coming from a class. We don't have a
specific form for the pass; we ask that the teacher write on the pass
[or the little spiral-bound student agenda] the date/time the student
left class, the purpose and student's name, of course. We do NOT
require passes before school, during lunch, or after school. We're
open 7:30 -
4:30. My school is the size of yours. Not requiring passes at the
times I mentioned, especially during lunch, makes for a very busy day
for us, and requires constant monitoring by all 3 [2 media
specialists, 1 parapro.], but we want the library to be user-friendly
and we want students to use the library as much as possible.
____________________
Yes, our students need a pass to access the library at all times,
including lunch. We did not use to require a pass at lunch time but,
we found that too many kids were just hanging out during lunch with
nothing constructive to do. Requiring lunch passes has really cut
down on that.
Our school has about 1600 kids. The adminstration tries to keep a
tight leash on the kids to cut down on cutting of classes. One
advantage to a pass system is that I get to know the students by
name. We take attendance in the library every period by reading the
names on the passes. Since we have a lot of regulars, I get to know
them.
______________________
During class periods, teachers may only send up to 5 students from
their classroom at a time with a pass. The students present their
pass at the desk and sign in. The also sign out and take their pass
back when they leave. By keeping a clipboard at the desk and
requiring them to sign in and out with one of our aides, this helps
keep a lot of problems at bay.
During lunch if students are "library groupies" we give them a
permanent library lunch pass that they can use at will during lunch.
We are a population of 2000.
We stagger lunch periods here, so there is always a class being
conducted in here while others are at lunch. If a class is doing
research, the computers are reserved for the students in that class.
If there are any open, then the lunch kids can come in to work on
their projects, not play games.
______________________
Our school is no where near the size of yours--500 kids tops. I
DON'T want a pass system because I absolutely do not want to stop
every few minutes and sign someone's pass. I don't have an aide. If
you have passes, someone has to sign them.
I've considered a time clock--like offices use to "punch in" and
"punch out." I've seen some at Staples that I think might work.
They print a time on a piece of paper. I'm just worried it will make
a serious cer-chunk sound each time someone comes in and out. And
they are expensive.
Everyone is welcome as long as she is quiet, has school work to do,
and does it. There is a school rule that kids aren't to be in the
hall without a pass. Fine. I'm just not going to spend my day
signing passes.
________________
We use passes for all the time that school is in session, including
lunch. Lunch is different and sometimes complicated.
We are a small school, so the issues may be different. I'm solo, so
I'm the only adult in the "room".
It works because I am the sole distributor of passes, and limit the
number I give out. We have two lunch periods, Junior-Senior and
Freshman-Sophomore. For each of these lunch periods, I have a
maximum number of passes. Last year it was 25 passes - that may be
too high a number as it turns the adult into a ticket taker instead
of any kind of professional. (This comes as no surprise, I'm sure).
Last year, the student needed to obtain a signature from the teacher
whose subject they were going to study for, and then the teacher who
needed to account for them during the time. Let me explain - during
lunch, there is no instruction. However, half the school is in a
lunchtime study hall since the cafeteria isn't large enough to handle
all four classes. Students who need/want to spend this study hall in
the Library get the pass from me and then get the signature from the
instructor teacher and also go to their study hall room for
attendance before coming to the Library. Teachers at times will
write a pass for a student although they should know that it's not
their perogative.
Administration decided that two signatures is cumbersome (I agree)
and so will now only require that the studyy hall teacher sign the
pass to ensure correct attendance reporting.
Students often ask to leave the Library to "go to their locker",
etc. I am supposed to remind them that they were supposed to come
prepared. The most frequent dynamic is that the same students come
for a pass every day. There were times when I limited distribution
by student - I wouldn't give a pass to a student three days in a row.
If you have more than one adult in the room, the experience should
more professional. If limits on repeat pass requests are enforced
the Library can then be used for more of its intended purpose.
Sorry about the long note. I've wrestled with this part of my
workday for years. Some days are better than others.
_________________________
I don't see how you can have students moving around the school
without a pass. If anything happens to that student the school is
responsible. I have had a parent threaten to sue for having a child
go to a partner teacher with a pass and work to do for a discipline
option because I wrote the date, time, child's name and just verbally
told her where to go, a partner who was her own math teacher, but I
didn't write down the room number. Anyway, I take only passes with
that student's name written in the teacher's handwriting. Up to
five, but all by the teacher. I have always been in middle school,
so maybe it's different.
__________________________
We use a pass system. I give each teacher two laminated passes to use
throughout the year or they can write a note. It's just to make sure
students are supposed to be in the library and aren't using it as a
hideout or to skip class.
______________________
We use the pass system during classes; each teacher can send up to 3
students at one time; each student must have their own pass. As we
are on the block system, the kids usually stay only 45 minutes. If
they are truly working and not just surfing the net looking at tennis
shoes, etc. , they can stay longer. I'm enclosing our pass. During
lunch (we have 4), we have the students sign in but do not require
passes unless
they are from a class. The statistics are amazing! Even when the
kids sign in as Batman, we still have a pretty accurate count. This
justifies our reasoning that only 3 students per class can come.
Hope this helps.
_________________
Ronda Y. Foust
School Media Specialist
Karns High School
Knoxville, TN
readingdragon@comcast.net
http://thebookdragon.blogspot.com/
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