Over the past few weeks, I have gradually learned different ways School Librarians work with their collection. One of my ongoing projects is cataloging the large stack of new books the school’s Media Center received this semester. My supervisor has taught me about locating items in the catalog, assigning barcodes, printing the barcodes and spine labels, and wrapping the books to increase their longevity. Since I work in a public library, I was already quite familiar with this process, but many times we divide these tasks between staff members. In the Media Center, my supervisor normal tackles this project solo.
It has taken quite some time to get through the stack of new books, but we are making our way through them. Even with two people working instead of one, it still seems to be a long process, especially if the library gets a large shipment of books in at one time. I was thinking how helpful it would be to have volunteers or assistants to aid in dealing with new materials. This would save much time for the librarian, and if students volunteered to help, it could help perk their interest in some new books available. After all, it only helps if students are familiar with the collection and what the library has to offer.
Another idea that came to mind was spacing out orders. Instead of a librarian ordering twenty to thirty books at one time, one might order them in increments of ten. This way when the books come in, there will be plenty of time to add them into the system and make them available for circulation. Do any of you other librarians out there have any tips or techniques you’d like to share related to dealing with new materials? It would be interesting to hear the way others manage their time and organize this task.
My First Experiences in a School Media Center 