I wrote about library monitors last year as I began to introduce it in one school while in caretaker mode. Twelve months, I am doing it again at another school.
For the time being, I am based at Strathfield Girls High School and have in collaboration with the school's Learning and Engagement Faculty worked on creating a library monitor program to promote leadership opportunities for students but also to allow students to engage in community service.
Two students will oversee the monitors as "Student Librarians" who will coordinate the monitors e.g. train them etc.
Since the opportunity has availed, I have had a great response with 10 dedicated students already signing up. Apart from typical monitor duties like manning the circulation desk and shelving, they have been working with me to place genre labels on our fiction items as part of the Premier's Reading Challenge. We have had a production line where I (or a monitor under supervision) for instance will scan the item in OLIVER, then identify the genre/s. If there are cataloging issues or a genre cannot be determine, they are pulled aside so I can do some further research in between breaks before advising the monitors through a Post It notice.
Once stickered, they are contacted before being marked off.
It has proven to be a good exercise, because I have found 150 books that were not correctly labelled on OLIVER to add to 251 books that did not have a PRC sticker placed on them in the first place. Over 400 books are now on the school's PRC that there were not there.
I have also had to spend some time also updating cataloging records with a genre as I felt that they were being overlooked in SCIS uncatalogued records.
The introduction of library monitors has also had a spin off in that a book club is being created to meet once a week next term. A group of monitors will facilitate activities etc. I am keen to see how it goes.
I will have to update everyone further on this.
