Media special - itis
Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 11:19AM A fellow Minnesotan teased me a little about the name of ISTE's special interest group for library media specialists - SIGMS. He teased that MS was a disease, not a profession.
After reading this comment, I began wondering - might it be both? Do we suffer from media specialitis when one reads this on LM_Net:
In our district we have a policy which says that I keep the money tendered for lost books for 2 weeks and then turn the money in to the district treasurer. I had a child return the lost book after that 2-week window. So, I did not return his money. Well, doesn't his mom call saying he should have the book back or his money back. After counting down from 10, I said "okay" and gave him back the lousy $3.99. If it had been more, I would have had the district treasurer deal with
her. But, for that piddly amount, I picked my battles.....BUT I walked right over to the child's classroom and told him and the classroom teacher that the library was not a bookstore! And this is NOT going to happen again!
What a great deal - for only $3.99 this librarian bought at least $399 worth of ill will and bad feelings from a student, a parent and, BONUS, a classroom teacher. If the teacher complains to the principal, this might just be a bad PR home run.
Scott McLeod at Dangerously Irrelevant writes about his "not so friendly library," and reminds his readers:
Seth Godin reminds us that every interaction with a customer / client / patron / stakeholder / visitor is a marketing interaction. It’s an opportunity for us to build or erode our brand, a chance to increase or decrease the trust and goodwill of the people with whom we are interacting.
"Cutting off one's nose to spite one's face" is a trite, but in this case apropos expression.
What are other symptoms of "media specialitis?"
Yes, you can get this image on a t-shirt here. <http://www.strangersinparadise.com/>
Reader Comments (17)
Totally agree, when I saw that response I was horrified that somebody would do that to a fellow teacher and to a student. Maybe infront of a whole class! We should not ever be our own worst PR!
Disarm the parent, say, "I am so glad you called, I think we have gotten our wires crossed somewhere and I was hoping to talk to you!" Ask them if it would be okay to have the student work in the library or donate one of their books or something fitting for the age of the child. Ask what tactics they have used at home and be open to suggestions from the parent.
Hear, hear! This type of behavior is an embarrassment to us all.
Wait a minute, the book was lost and paid for and then found and the person in charge of the library REFUSED to give the money back because it was more than 2 weeks ago? I'm so happy to get my books back I give refunds without a receipt.
I'd hate to be a patron at that library
Sad, but true.
We have librarians in our district that expect us to go after students for small overdue fines, AFTER they have left their school.Sorry, I don't wear a change machine on my belt!
That just simply can not be true. I'm going to have to choose not to believe someone would treat a parent & student with such disrespect, otherwise I might just loose all confidence in my profession.
At our school we call missing books "library mysteries" - a concept I borrowed from a seasoned librarian in my district. These "lost" books often resurface months, or even years, later. Occasionally they resurface on my own library shelves. Having the students love the library and learn that everyone makes mistakes now & then is much more important than 3 dollars.
I'm so glad to read these posts. As a future SLMS, I read LM_Net to learn as much as I can before I enter the profession. For the most part, I learn a great deal that is positive and that I hope to be able to apply once I have a media center for which I am responsible.
When I read the post that is the subject of this discussion, I wondered if there was something wrong with my training....Are we supposed to be that rigid? Are we supposed to be Library Dragons who scare the kids? Did I miss something in my classes somewhere? If I'm supposed to be that way, I've made a terrible mistake entering this profession.
Whew! Glad to hear so many jump in and say, "No!"
I'm a media parapro while I finish my MLIS degree, and our policy is "Bring us the book whenever and wherever you find it. We'd much rather have the book than your money."
Thanks, everyone. I feel better now.
Amy McCracken, J.D.
FSU MLIS Candidate 2008
Media Parapro
Roswell, GA
Equal time to the critics... Sent to me in an email. Name withheld...
"This is my first time posting to LM_NET, but I can't help myself. _I_ shuddered to read your response posted in your blog. This is a community for support and suggestions. It is reprehensible to point the finger at another's work and/or posting in this way. I'm sure that the original poster was expressing her frustration with the extra paperwork and manpower involved in these circumstances refunding long after the fact. Her policy is a reasonable one, and nowhere does she suggest that she acted unprofessional or unreasonable.
Of your post, however, I cannot say the same."
Also from my e-mail:
"Another mediaitis:
I called a media specialist in our district about an assessed fine on a
student to see if it was about a lost book. She replied, no, the student had
returned the book, the fine was assessed for his ATTITUDE!!!!"
From another email - with permission.
____________________________
Hey Doug,
In response to the writer of the target, and your response to the last one, what if you have set up an expectation in advance? I teach my students that with every privilege a responsibility is attached. Checking out books means that you have promised to return them on time! There is no arguing about that, it is a fact! When they say I forgot my book, or I didn't know it was library day, I say, "Mrs. Eason says?" And the whole class responds, "Bring your books back every day!" They know it is important to be responsible and they have no excuses as to why they did not follow the rules, other than their choice to do so.
I don't raise my voice, chastise, demean, or otherwise put the child down. I tell them to either put what they have back, or if the items out are not long overdue, or sent to lost by the system, I may even check out to them again. But not the last month or so of school, I am trying to get as many of those overdue items in as possible, and leaving the library without a book makes a big impression on little kids.
I treat parents, even irate ones the same way. I remind them of the rules they signed and talked over with their child before they were allowed to check out books, and what it means to be responsible even as a four year old, which we have in our building along with 13 year olds. I expect all kids to be responsible for what they have decided they want to be responsible for in the first place! No bad PR, just raising adults, not children!
In all honesty Doug, it seems like we are raising a bunch of kids who will not be able to handle anything, future drug addicts! Just a grandmothers honest opinion.
Colette D. Eason, Librarian, TX
(Colette's response was to this original LM_Net post...
Just after school I had a parent call from one of my other 5 schools that I am in
charge of. She was upset that I had been telling her son every week that he had an
overdue book. She commented that he is just in third grade and shouldnt be held
responsible for such things and that my reminding him every week "stressed" him
out. I told her I was just doing my job by trying to collect overdue books
etc...needless to say we both hung up very upset....
Isnt it our job to try to get the kids to be responsible for the books that they
check out? Am I out of line by reminding the students that they have overdue
books? This parent just blew my mind...and frankly really *issed me off!!!
If anyone has any suggestions on how to handle such things without getting upset
pllllleeeaaasseee!!!! let me know.
Veronica
We are no longer allowed to accept personal checks for library fines/lost books ( district policy)... too much hassle with bounced checks, refunds, etc , I guess. We'd save the checks for a month or so, then turn them into the business office. At that point, someone entitled to a refund would have to fill out paperwork , apply to the board office for a refund, with proof from the librarian they were entitled to it, etc. Made for auditing nightmares, I think. Now it is CASH ONLY. Makes refunds easier. I generally refund the money if the book is returned ( in good condition) within the same school year. My circulation system ( Destiny) tracks paid for items, and refunds, so the bookkeeping is not a hassle.
Depending on the family situation, I will refund money at any point into the next school year.
The thing that peeves me is when I try to make contact with someone at home about a very overdue book.. contact through email, voice mail, snail mail, try to be sweet about it, " if you'd like to set up a payment plan, please call me and we can always work something out." It is the families that NEVER BOTHER TO RESPOND, that I am a stickler with the rules (no report cards, no more books, for students with LOST items. ) If a family would just CALL/EMAIL ME - "sorry, we looked and cannot find the book, Johnny is pretty sure he returned it". I'm not willing to take it off said child's record, but may not remind the child as often, and will let child continue to borrow one or two at a time.
Also, when child and parent BOTH insist, the book was returned, I usually make note of such "claims returned" comments. They are very adamant about it. Most of the time, it shows up in the child's room on a bookshelf, in the car, IN THEIR CLASSROOM desk, etc, a few months later. I wish I could just get an apology from someone ... Gee, we're sorry , we were sure Johnny returned the book.
Sure fire cure for stressing over overdue books--post circ stats for all to see. I can almost guarantee the mediaitus will be cured, and books will be circulating like crazy with a great big smile.
I have found that whether you are really strick or not so much, one's loss rate at the end of the year is pretty much the same. I prefer encouraging the positive, and treating kids with respect. I also believe one of our roles is to encourage reading, and you can't perform that role by denying check out priveldges. When students at my library do have books several months overdue, I do cut them off, asking them to return, replace or pay for the book. If students claim they have returned a book, which isn't in the library, I put a note on their record, tell them they are still responsible for finding the book, and will continue to allow checkout priviledges. Most ofthen the book does return. However, other students do steal books, people pick stuff up and out it in places the borrower isn't aware of. If the book really is lost, even if the student's life depended on it, its lost. They might appreciatge a little empathy. No one likes paying for a lost library book. Yes, its a major pain to refund money for a paid book, I figure its just part of the job. Grin and bear it. If I didn't have the refund policy, few would pay for the book and my circulation would go down.
And we wonder why media specialists are considered problems and barriers --
this makes me sick -- and the folks who responded that Doug was wrong with his response ---
shame on you folks -- too --
It is time we all speak up on these types of comments msfe to students and teachers.
Bravo Doug!
Dr. Johnson,
Another valuable post! How do you "hit the nail on the head" so many times?!!
Thanks, Doug, for pointing out the spirals we get into sometimes while being "good stewards" of our library collections. Sure can cause bad feelings with staff, students and parents. I don't charge fines and some teachers actually want me to at the High School level (I'm 6-12) to get students more ready for college...
Anyway, check out our friend Gail Dickinson's article in the Feb. 2006 (24.5) issue of LMC: Library Media Connection, p. 20-22. It's titled "Doing the Job without the Job Doing You In' and lists the 8 things library media specialists do to lose friends and decrease influence.
The article is included in _School Library Management, 6th ed_ from Linworth, 2007. Gail, as always, is right on the mark
Thanks, Sara. I enjoyed Gail's article very much.
You might also like this one in a similar vein:
http://dougjohnson.squarespace.com/dougwri/niceness.html
All the best,
Doug
Doug,
Glad you pointed to Scott's blog post because I think too often we aren't really keeping our mission in mind, and not thinking of our students as customers.
Sometimes it's hard in schools to balance our roles, but I think it's really important that we keep in mind what we want students to comprehend about libraries.