It’s the end of the school year and you are frantically trying to get all of your library books back on the shelves. I’ve got 5 tips on how to get those books back quickly without losing your sanity (which is hanging by a thread at this point, right?) ;-)
1. Change “Overdue” status to “Lost”
I do this the day after all library books are due back. Our district uses Follett Destiny as our library management system and as soon as the Ceiling Due Date has passed, all books are marked as “Lost”. This generates a bill complete with how much students owe to replace the books. It never ceases to amaze me how fast students bring their library books back after they receive a bill of $60 to pay for their three hardcover library books!
2. Email the Parents
Parent emails are automatically synced to Follett Destiny in our district through our central administration office. I simply go to the “Back Office” in Follett and set it up to send emails to students with lost/overdue books. I actually do this at the end of every marking period and it’s super effective. Some parents do not even look at the 10 printed overdue notices that are in their child’s backpack, but an email sure catches their eye! Depending on your district and what management system you use, directions on how to do this would vary.
3. School-Wide Announcements
Have some fun with this! It can be as simple as announcing daily how many overdue books have still not been returned. Or you can jazz it up with some music:
I hope these tips will help you get those library books back in no time! What great ideas do you have to get books back at the end of the year? I’d love to hear them!
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