Work Smarter, Not Harder: Elementary Edition

When I think of all I have to do in a day whether it be for home, personal, work, etc. I get overwhelmed. My to-do lists are always endless and though I try and break them down into smaller chunks, it can seem like a mountain that I have to climb and I’m not wearing any shoes. 

So how do I personally work smarter, and not harder? Well, I do work hard. Very hard. I think all of us who are in education do. We sacrifice a lot of things to be stellar at our jobs. But this post isn’t about that – it’s about how you can help yourself lighten your load. 

In a previous post, I Get By With a Little Help From My…Students, I describe several of the ways they help me. But I realize not all of us are high school librarians, some of us work with middle school and some elementary. Having worked as a librarian across all grades from K-12, I’ve gathered several strategies for involving students of all ages to help me get by. 

Where and How I Find My Kids 

But, before I tell you how my elementary school students help me out, I have to tell you how I find them. First, during their library time, I look for the students who help without being asked, the go-getters, and the kind and compassionate kids. Kids show their true selves when they think no one is watching and that is very telling to me, who is watching and looking to recruit them as a library worker. 

I also look for students who, during library time, when finished with the lesson, and activity for the day, and have checked out their books, are done early. Even if for just 5 minutes. A lot can be done in 5 minutes. 

The biggest way that I get kids to help for more than a couple of minutes at a time is their recess time. Believe it or not, there are students who do not like recess (for a variety of reasons) and they are looking for something to do instead. These are the students who can be the biggest help since they would work for me for a longer period of time, so much more can get done. Having students help during their recess period does require a conversation with both their teacher and principal to make sure everyone is on board. 

I’m also open to the possibility that students may want to go outside at times. As long as they give me a heads up, even if it’s as they are running out the door, then I am good with it. Kids need to be able to change their minds. The only thing I ask is that if they want to start going to recess more often than helping in the library, we have a conversation about it and they (more than likely) won’t be helping in the library long-term. It all depends on them. I never want to kill a love for the library with any student. 

As an elementary librarian, I worked in three buildings, so though I worked hard to know every kid’s name and a little about them, it, sadly, never worked. So when students came to me or I saw them exhibiting the qualities I was looking for, I went to their teachers and asked if they thought the student would be a good fit to help and complete tasks. I brought with me a list of jobs that I wanted students to do/help with, showed the teacher the list, and let them tell me if they thought said student would be able to do those tasks and work to their best ability. 

The final piece of selecting students was, of course, speaking with them about whether they’d even want to work in the library. Though I did not do a formal interview with them (see information on that in my middle and high school editions of this post), I did show them the task list and asked them what they might feel comfortable doing. 

I did not ask my Kinders or 1st graders this question, as I knew the list would be perhaps too overwhelming. Looking back, I might have pulled a few of the simpler tasks out from the big list and asked them about those (such as sharpening pencils, putting supplies away, pushing chairs in, etc.). I also asked all students why they might be interested in working in the library with me. 

Before I go any further, I want to be clear – at all grade levels I’ve had student workers, they do not have to have a love for reading. They may not even be readers, and that’s okay. My goal is to get them to foster a love of the library as a safe space for them and then perhaps that might grow into a love of reading. But, it is not a necessity. 

As I am considering different students, here are some of the qualities I look for: 

  • Responsibility
  • Follow through
  • Attention to detail and accuracy (though this is something that can be taught)
  • Willingness to help
  • Nice 
  • Polite
  • Follows directions (to the best of their ability)
  • Trustworthy
  • Respectful (of space, materials, and other humans)

The kids I look for and inquire about can have any mix of these qualities – one of them, two of them, more, less, or all of the above. 

So now that you know how I select my student workers, let’s continue with how they helped me out.   

Library Organization and Operations

Cleaning up: Something as simple as selecting one or two students who are consistently good about cleaning up can go a long way. Have them remove or organize items on each table, wipe the tables down, push in chairs, organize flexible seating areas, etc. to ensure that the library looks great and is also welcoming. 

Shelving: Select a group of older students to shelve fiction books for you (once you have trained them). They may know their alphabet better than some high schoolers (hah!). If you don’t feel comfortable with students shelving books, have the students organize by genre (if you are genrefied) or by a wide view of the author’s last name (such as all the A’s together, B’s together, etc). I personally have students organize the books on the shelving cart so that it keeps the tables clear for students who need them, but it can also be done on tables in your library. 

Straightening: Students of any age can straighten up the shelves by standing the books upright, placing bookends, and aligning the books near the front of the shelves. I’ve also had students “adopt” a shelf to ensure all the books are tidy, organized, and in the proper order. Additional ways for students to help organize and straighten can include checking if all makerspace supplies, STEM supplies, papers, and other items are in their proper places. You can also have students sharpen pencils.

Lost and Found: Inventory can be a hard time of the year (at least for me). It’s the end of the year so many things are happening in and outside of the library and school. To help you out before you begin inventory, ask students to locate misplaced books by checking the shelves for incorrect placements at a basic level. For instance, books that are not in their correct genre, or books that are not in the wide view of the author’s last name. For example, if you are in the section of authors with A as their last name, they would pull a book(s) with an M or another letter that doesn’t belong in the A section. 

Book Delivery: Ask the classroom teachers to either select a student(s) or make it a classroom job to have a student bring down all the books to be returned to the library on that class’s library day. It was super helpful to have all those books come down and get them checked in before the class came down for that day. 

Library Promotion

Creating Displays: Let your students run wild by helping you with displays. They can come up with the display idea/theme, design what the display looks like, create the display, pick the books or materials that pair with the display, or do it all. Students become invested and excited when they have ownership over something in their school that everyone will see. Even something as simple as Fall in Love with Books for either the fall season or Valentine’s Day works beautifully. 

Content Creators: To get students excited about reading, have them create book reviews, posters, or book talks to share with their peers. They could read the book review or book talk aloud to their class during library time, film themselves giving the information, or create a book trailer. The techie versions could be shared via school social media or school announcements. 

Students can also help out by designing posters, bookmarks, and/or decorations for the library. Bookmarks can be expensive so give students blank cardstock and let them go to town coloring, drawing, painting, etc. You could even ask students who created book review posters if you can hang those in the library.

Creative Contests: Ask students to help you develop contest ideas for the library. You can also give them the contest idea and have them create the promotional materials, guidelines, etc., and let them come up with the prize for the winner. 

Contest Ideas:

  • Guess the Book in the Jar – students select the book
  • Poetry or Writing contest – students could come up with the parameters and help advertise
  • Decorate a library shelf: students would create a design on paper and the winner (could be judged by students, staff, or both) would be able to make their design a reality and left up for a month
  • Bookmark design contest
  • Reading challenge contest: students can come up with the guidelines and qualifiers
  • Library mascot naming challenge

Note: Because content creation and tasks that involve creativity (including designing displays) can be very personal, don’t let other students finish a creative project another student has started unless you speak with the original creator before. If you’re in a total time crunch and need the task completed ASAP, then you need to speak with the original student creator to let them know about the time crunch prior to them starting the project so they know that it is a possibility that another student might finish it. Be okay with them saying they don’t feel comfortable with that and have a backup plan. That may be putting a small group of students on that project you are under a deadline for and letting the original student know they will have the next creative project available. 

Feedback Providers 

Elementary school students are particularly honest (sometimes to a fault), so who better to ask their opinions and feedback about the library and its happenings than them? 

Have students create a dedicated space where they and their peers can request books, genres, or authors they’d like added to the collection. Ask students to create a colorful suggestion box with simple forms or cards where they can write or draw their ideas, favorite books, or what they’d like to see in the library. As an extension of this (or instead of) have students create a station where students can rate books they’ve read by using smiley faces, stars, or stickers.

Get student help in creating an interactive feedback wall (or it could be digital if you don’t have space or walls). Students can help create the prompts for the wall. Answers can be written on post-it notes. 

Prompt examples:

  • I love the library because…
  • I wish the library had…

Depending on the task and their age, you will have to train students on what you are asking them to do. For example, showing Kindergarteners where supplies are kept or how to sharpen pencils. Don’t assume that anyone, regardless of age, knows how you want these tasks completed. The way your supplies are kept will be different than the way their teacher’s supplies are kept. 

Set yourself (and them) up for success by modeling what you’d like done and exactly how you’d like it done. I encourage students to ask me questions about anything when it comes to training and I let them know that I would rather answer the same question 100 times over so we all know the expectations. Make sure that you check in with them several times as they are learning how to do the task to make sure they are following your directions and don’t have questions. 

However, even with the detailed training and checking in, know that whenever you have kids helping you nothing will be perfect. And that’s okay. We all have to let go of that. Especially if we want our to-do list to diminish and be able to keep a sense of sanity and balance. 

There are so many additional ways you can take some of the load off your plate by asking your elementary students for help. Even if it seems silly to you or you know it would only take you a few minutes to do, ask them for help. All those minutes of time your students can save you really add up. It also gives your students ownership of the library, teaches them responsibility, and allows them to become leaders not only in the library but also in the building. 

Stay tuned for part two of Work Smarter, Not Harder: Middle School Edition

One comment

  1. As a retired educator who spent 29 of her 30 years teaching elementary aged children, I’m delighted to see your post with so many suggestions of how to select students to help in the library and the types of tasks they can perform. I would hope that librarians/media specialists would also consider ESL students or Special Needs kiddos to help in the library.

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