MYRNA CAVENDER

GRADUATION YEAR

1987

CURRENT POSITION

Librarian
Elm Grove Elementary School
Hays Consolidated ISD

CONTACT INFORMATION

cavenderm@hayscisd.net

AWARDS

2002 Teacher of the Year

FURTHER EDUCATION

M.A. in English Education from UT-Austin.

DESCRIPTION OF CURRENT YOUTH/CHILDREN'S SERVICES

One of the most successful programs we have is our Library Student Assistants' program. Students are recruited at the end of their 3rd grade year, and the duties and time needed are explained to them by the librarian. They are then told to discuss this service opportunity with their parents and see the librarian later if they'd like their name placed on the potential library student workers list.

Then, at the beginning of 4th grade, all "potential" library student workers and any additional students who are new or who didn't contact me but have now checked with their parents, are gathered into the library and once again (in more detail) the exact responsibilities and time frame for service are explained to the students. Those students who are still interested are kept on the list while those that change their mind are removed.

From this list, (this year we had 29 or 30 spaces needed), groups of 6 students at a time (mixed boys and girls) are selected to work 6-week to 2-month shifts. These students come to the library by 7:25 (when the buses dismiss students) and immediately begin work. On their 1st day of training, all 6 are given a brief "test" of their shelving abilities: 2 Easy Fiction and 2 Fiction books to shelve. The rest of that day is spent going over location of areas, reading the "schedule calendar" and noting where the map of the school and the pony mail is located.

The next morning when the students arrive, they are given their "area" of responsibility. We divide the Easy Fiction and the Fiction into 3 sections; therefore, we have 3 Easy shelvers and 3 Fiction shelvers. Their shelving and straightening duties are to be performed first, then they go to the calendar to check to see which Book Boxes or student books need to be picked up for the day. Sometimes, mail or animals (from ESC) are to be delivered; sometimes, catalogs need to be labeled with the school name and date. We're now in Dirty Book Month, and all the front and back covers of returned books are lightly cleaned with a windexed cloth before they are shelved. We have also had them boot the computers from the Start menu to the OPAC (although now I'm doing it, since hitting the network is getting more inconsistent by the day). When they finish, we're supposed to hear, and usually do, "Is there anything else I can do?"

Each week, students are given a short note of thanks (with sticker), which details where we saw good work, like helping out with someone's section that was late or absent as well as letting them know what's up for the week. Their names and pictures are listed in the school yearbook, and at the beginning of their tour of duty, their names and a brief overview of their duties are listed in the school newsletter. At the end of the "tour," they are treated to a breakfast taco breakfast with muffins and juice and receive a couple of small "thank you" items (stuffed animals are great). Finally, at the end of the school year, they receive certificates of appreciation and are recognized at our awards assembly and they also have a "sundae" party, and receive a goodie bag full of assorted items: paperback book from the book fair, pencil, blow-up globe, puzzle, etc. We provide these items from the profits of our twice a year book fair.

We feel that this program provides opportunities for students to be of real service to the school, helps them feel more ownership of the library, helps them become more familiar with how the library really operates (sometimes student workers assist kinders or 1st graders in locating a particular book by its call number), helps with their self-esteem (we saw one girl's attitude really "turn around" last year while she was working), and their invaluable work helps our library run much more efficiently.