Bookmobile

So my goal as an elementary school librarian is to get as many books into kids hands as possible.  One of the indicators of reading success is growing up in a print-rich home.  Unfortunately, not all kids have that, so the school has to try and bridge that gap.  The school library plays a vital role in doing just that.  I have replaced circulation limits with guidelines, and I try to promote the library as much as possible.  Our students have to wait for their bus after school so I decided that was a great time to check out library books.  The best way to do that?  Bring the library to them.

Fortunately, my school library already had this wagon available so I all I had to do is simply fill it with books and roll it outside.  If you do not have access to a wagon, you could use a plastic bin on top of a portable AV cart.  This is a new program, so I have lots of things to learn, but here is what I have already figured out:

1.  Circulation - How are you going to track who has which book?  At first, I used paper and pencil and wrote down names, teachers and bar codes.  Then I figured out that I could access our circulation system on the web via my phone and check out books that way.

2.  How many books should they get?  Right now, I'm going with one.  This is a supplement to kids' coming to the library and regularly checking out books. I also want to make sure there are enough books to go around.

3.  It was a bit chaotic the first day.  Now I have students go in groups of four to the wagon and form a separate line for checking out.

4.  The kids love it!  Of course this requires some extra work on my part, but the kids' response has made it worth it.