While I remain positive that our move to flex scheduling will promote greater usage and real learning, there are issues our staff will need to address. After the first 3 weeks, we sat down and came up with the following concerns:
1. Classes coming "with the teacher" for group check out were more unruly than students coming in on passes without teacher supervision throughout the day.
2. One library staff member was not making a clear job transition to the circulation desk, further blurring the line as to who was in charge of the class.
3. Some teachers were simply sitting down and chatting, and ignoring their class behavior all together.
First, we must address our own responsibilities. While a changing role in the library is difficult, moving from "library teaching assistant" to "library clerk" should run smoother, as we are all cross-trained in circulation duties. Additionally, we contacted the school administrator to clearly define how a class should behave in the library. For some reason, this was not a problem that we could forsee. But, without clear supervision, children who always behaved beautifully in the library were running amock. As with all library staffing in the current budget crunch, we are stretched thin. But we can make this work by being proactive and addressing issues as they come up. If we are to be a success at flex scheduling, we have to be more flexible, and give our patrons more support and "gentle guidance" as we make the change.
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