Library Aides

Library Aides can help give your library a book store look by displaying books facing out to create interest

The library is frequently the place where teachers or office staff send students to "help" when students have time on their hands. And there are almost always tasks to be performed in the library, but what many educators don't realize is that a number of those tasks need some kind of training. And training takes time. I imagine most all librarians have created extra work for themselves when a student claimed to know how to shelve books, and then proceeded to shelve them incorrectly. Sometimes it took weeks before I realized that it wasn't always irresponsible library patrons re-shelving books haphazardly, but rather some of my student aides who actually didn't know how to shelve books correctly.

The librarians in my previous school district never had adult aides to work alongside them. We did everything ourselves, from managing the circulation desk and collection development to teaching lessons on researching and information literacy, so we often depended on student help to keep up. Twice a year - right before the Christmas break and before inventory in May - I put the books in correct order so for a brief moment in time, all was right in the world. Just kidding, but it sure felt good to have everything in order. I wanted to make sure when those parents called to tell me, "Junior said he turned that book in," that I could confidently say, "I'm sorry, but it's not in the library shelves," because I knew every book was where it was supposed to be and not lost/mis-shelved at that particular time.

Through the years I've had a number of student library aides assigned to me. Some of the students created a lot more work for me, but most of them proved helpful. The gamut ranged from self-starters (too few) all the way to the ones I had to tell when to breathe, but most were scattered between those two extremes. Too often I learned things the hard way when working with student library aides, so if you are new to having student helpers, keep in mind the following:

• In choosing or accepting a library aide, make sure they actually want to work. I've had some student aides that I would've liked the authority to fire because I had to stay on them constantly to do their work. One student would take some books to shelve, and then hide in the stacks to read. I'm glad she loved reading, but she had the attitude that library work was interfering with her favorite past-time. Another came in day after day to sit down at a table waiting for me to tell him what to do, like he assumed he didn't have to do anything until I told him each day. I talked to him regularly about what it meant to show some initiative. 
• Assume new library aides know nothing about working in a library. Even though they've been coming to the library for years, that doesn't mean they're trained in library work. 
• If a student claims to know how to shelve books, let them demonstrate those skills to you so you can confirm it. 
• Whenever possible, SHOW them how to do something, don't just tell them. I learned that even honor students often misinterpreted what I said when I just "told" them what to do.
• Have a written list of expectations for your library aides, and go over each one. That way if they come in and see work that needs to be done within their realm of responsibilities, they can start immediately instead of waiting for you to tell them what to do. 
• Train them in whatever tasks they are capable of doing - shelving books, processing books, helping with inventory, displays & decorations, dusting shelves, etc. 

Some librarians have very capable students who can handle the circulation desk. That was an area I rarely handed over to students because I could find mistakes that students would overlook. Last year I managed two middle school libraries, which meant I was at one library for two weeks and would switch with a paraprofessional to be at the other one for two weeks. My para and I used student aides at the circ desk occasionally because the workload was so heavy, or to cover while I was teaching a class a lesson, but the potential for mistakes was magnified since I was only at each school half the time.  For example, I thought a student had lost an expensive inter-library loan book during the first month of the school year. He kept telling me he had turned it in, but he had a history of being loose with the truth so I really didn't believe him. In December, another student checked out this particular book, and when my student aide scanned it, I just happened to be standing there and noticed the title didn't match the book. It ended up being the lost ILL book, which had been checked out constantly since the original student returned it because its bar code number was the same as another little-used book's bar code number in our library. My student aides would never have noticed the discrepancy since the computer scanned the bar code correctly.

One of the most exciting times for my student aides was when we received new books. I let them use the packing list to check off each title to confirm that all the books had arrived, and they stamped them with the school stamp and displayed them in the new books cart. They were the first ones to peruse and choose what new books they wanted to check out, and they loved that privilege.

Working in the library is a great way for students to learn skills they may use in a job later: good organizational skills, becoming proficient in numerical and alphabetical order,  public relations, personal service, good job etiquette, showing initiative, marketing, helping with equipment, and more. Your library aides should demonstrate improved levels of skills at the end of the year, and if they don't, remind them that the habits they learn in school-- good or bad, are the habits they will take into the workplace. They're already revealing what kind of employee they will make later.

Don't forget to thank and reward your library aides at the end of the semester or school year. I usually had a lot of leftover items from Book Fair displays that they were thrilled to choose something from. And I usually wrote them a personal letter in which I praised their strengths, mentioned any areas they needed to work on, and encouraged them in their educational and job endeavors in the future.