Media Center Policies and Procedures

• Student Use of the Media Center
• Class Use of the Media Center
• Circulation of Materials
• Laminating
• AudioVisual Services 

Student Use of the Media Center

Students are welcome to use the library for academic purposes and should present a pass signed by their teacher when entering the media center. When students come to the media center individually or in small groups, they are required to turn in their hall pass and sign in and out on the clipboard at the security gate.

A teacher may send up to five students to the media center at a time. Team Time teachers should send no more than two students at a time.

The Media Center Staff actively promotes reading and our school improvement objectives in reading. For this reason, Language Arts teachers are encouraged to bring their classes frequently for library book circulation. Teachers who want to bring an individual class to the media center for research should submit a blue Media Center Planning Form and meet with one of the media specialists at least three days in advance. The research assignment, availability of materials, and skills instruction will be discussed by the media specialist-teacher team. When requested, appropriate books will be placed on Reserve for media center use and overnight checkout.

During the class's first visit, the teacher should allow five to ten minutes for the media staff to introduce print and/or electronic resources to the class. Each teacher is expected to actively participate in the research process and monitor the behavior of his/her students.

• Books are checked out for three weeks and may be renewed once.

• Students may have only two library books checked out a time.

• A book return is located in the circulation desk. Books and overnight materials will not be considered returned on time unless placed in this drop.

OVERNIGHT MATERIALS

• Overnight materials include encyclopedias and other reference books, reserve books, magazines, and information file materials.

• Overnight materials may be checked out at the end of seventh period or after school. They are due back in the media center the following school morning BEFORE first period.

• At their discretion, the media center staff and subject teachers may give students permission slips to be excused at 2:10 pm to come to the media center to check out any overnight materials for research purposes.

LOST AND DAMAGED BOOKS

• Lost books must be paid for at their original cost.

• Students will be charged for damaged books.

OVERDUE BOOKS AND LIBRARY FINES

• A fine of $.05 per school day will be charged for each overdue book and $.30 per day for overnight materials that are due. (Magazines, encyclopedias, and other reference books and reserve books are overnight materials.)

• Overdue library books lists will be sent to Language Arts teachers every two weeks

• .Students who have overdue books or owe fines may not check out any library books or overnight materials from the media center

• Our media center is automated. Bar codes have been placed on the back of each book. If a bar code is removed or damaged, a fine of $1.00 is charged.

Laminating is done by the media staff each morning during second period. Materials should be sent (with the teacher's name and room number) to the media center workroom. The primary purpose for lamination is preservation. "One time" use materials should not be laminated.

AudioVisual Services

Most audiovisual equipment is assigned to teams and departments prior to the opening of school. A variety of equipment - including CD players, LCD panels, a video projector, an opaque projector, cassette recorders, camcorders and slide projectors - is available for short-term checkout. A scanner is also located in the Teacher Resource Room of the media center.

Staff members may order videos, laser discs, and other media materials from Media Services' Multimedia Catalog. Requests for these materials should be completed on a Teacher Request Form. These forms should be sent to the media center by Friday at 8:00 AM at least one week prior to the requested delivery. Since the materials are delivered on Fridays, staff members should use Friday dates for the requested deliveries. Materials should be returned to the media center by the date listed on the attached return slip.

Videocassette tapes can be played from the media center via the MATV system into a classroom or several classrooms simultaneously. We have four in-house channels for use in classrooms for videotape viewing. "A Request for Prior Approval of Video Broadcast" form, signed by an administrator, should be submitted to the media staff when a staff member shows a video which is not part of our video collection or on loan from Media Services.