📚 Notes from the Circ Desk, vol. 31

Would you rather be a famous influencer with no privacy or be a successful scientist who nobody knows?

Once again, someone poured out all the votes 😵‍💫. I’m making “spill-proof” lids this weekend.

This past week, our district had Monday off for Memorial Day and Wednesday off for Eid. While the ping-pong between school and no school was tough for students, those days off were gorgeous and made me so excited for summer. One of my favorite features of our home is the screened in porch, and I spent each of those mornings off sitting on the porch, sipping coffee while reading or crocheting. Knowing this will be my daily reality in a few short weeks is helping me get through the end of the school year!

My library hosts several end-of-year events, including our school civics fair, probability fair, and 8th grade reenactments of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. So my goal this year was to finish inventory before June: before the chaos of events, and before overdue notices go out.

I’m very excited to report that inventory is DONE. For readers who don’t work in libraries, inventory involves scanning every book on the shelf to take stock of what you have and what’s missing. My inventory system accounts for books that are out for repairs or checked out to students, so this process is really to note which books have “walked away” for a variety of reasons: a student took the book off the shelf and forgot to check it out, the book was marked lost years ago and is still gone, or the book is simply misshelved.

Inventory ensures that the catalog reflects what’s actually on the shelf. There are other ways to “clean up” the catalog, too. Earlier this year, I ran a report for lost books, printed the list, and when I had spare moments, did a shelf check for books that were marked lost 2 years ago or more. If those books were nowhere to be found, I deleted them from the catalog. This removed a few hundred books from our catalog, and as a result, the number of books marked “lost” in this year’s inventory was much lower. It’s satisfying to know that I know where most books are AND can make more informed purchasing decisions since our catalog actually reflects what we have and what we need.

The next big end-of-year task is sending out return notices to students. The last day for students to return books is June 12th. I deliver printed notices to all students with books checked out, whether they are overdue or not, reminding them that books are due June 12th, after which a bill will be sent home. This year, I’m keeping score between 7th and 8th graders. Which grade will return all their books first?

Checking out,

Jennie 🧡

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