Welcome (and welcome back) to the Alfred and Lyman Elementary Libraries!
I hope everyone was able to enjoy the Summer weather and got a chance to get together with friends and loved ones over break. I’m so excited for a new year with our amazing Alfred and Lyman students! I am gearing up for another great year.
During the first week of school, I will be frantically attempting to get all kinds of wonderful new books on the shelves to entice our awesome readers. Starting the 2nd week of school, your student will be visiting Library as one of the 4 Specials in rotation. In the first few weeks of library, your student will learn/review library policies and procedures and practice fire drill and lock down. No books will go home the first week as we focus on this review. Students will begin to take home library books the week of September 16th.
Books are checked out for 1 week and are expected to be returned at their next regular library class. The following are the book check out limits. (Renewals ARE allowed, there is no set limit for renewals as long as the book is not on hold and the student can present the book and show that they are in fact still reading it if needed.)
Check-out limits:
PK & K: 1 book at a time
1st-3rd: 2 books at a time *(1 “just right” and 1 free choice)
4 & 5th: 3 books at a time
*just right books are books that are at or just about at a student’s current reading level/ability. Students in grades 1 and above must check out a book that they can use to practice their reading skills. They are also allowed at least 1 free choice book!
We spend time in the first couple of classes talking about all of the appropriate ways to care for library books and I encourage students to share and practice these guidelines at home. We want to keep these wonderful resources around for as long as possible and the only way to do that is to treat our borrowed books with extra care.
I do allow 1st-5th to check out books within their maximum limit, regardless of whether they returned all of their books. For example, if a 5th grader has 3 books checked out, but returns 2, I will allow him/her to check out 2 new books. I will not refuse your child a book as long as they have room on their account to get one. Notices go out when a student has reported a book as lost or it has been longer than 4 weeks since a book has been returned. The maximum check out limit still applies. If they are allowed to take out 2 books, but one is lost, they can still take out 1 until the other book is returned or replaced. Notices will continue to go home about the missing book until it has been returned, reimbursed or replaced, but the student may continue to get just one book in the meantime. (This does not apply to PK and K as they are limited to one book).