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How Do You Get Those Books Back~!~???

Posted by gwyneth jones on April 27, 2009 at 8:30am
I need help writing a new newsletter request to parents for end of the year help getting Media books back...i'm tapped out of ideas and don't like my old newsletter messages.. what do you say? also, along those same lines last year, i also go this from a Media Specialist friend of mine about end of year getting books back: "Hey Gwyneth. I was wondering how you handled getting overdue books back at the end of the year. Any ideas for rewards/incentives? Thanks." my response: hi sweetie!" all books are due back by memorial day then i start on the TV show announcing the numbers of each grade's overdue books... to start a bit of competition, i do that for a week or more - announcing all books are now overdue and please GET THEM IN or ms. jones will come looking for you! muwwaaaaa! (this message is repeated in different ways also in conjunction with giving english teachers a list of kids who have overdue books so they can nag them, too....) then the last few weeks i go personally to each english class and i pull the kids out that still have overdue books and and i ask with mock fierceness like an interrogation: where's the book? (if it's in the locker - go get it now!) if it's at home - where is it at home? did you check under your bed? in the closet? bring it tomorrow! do i need to call home? (put on your list what the answer was H=home, C=call, T=tomorrow etc.) next day, follow up....same questions...this usually brings in like half of the books at least. after that...giving them some chances to bring it in....i have a handful left....THEN i call EVERY kid's parent/guardian on the remaining list and ask for help getting the book back also telling the price in case they need to pay for it but i emphasize and always say "i'd rather have the book than the money" in the end, i usually end up losing about 20- 30 books a year :-( but that's my population/kids..i've made peace with that...some of them keep favorite books because they can't own them any other way....and really, don't tell them i'm sorta cool with that.... oh and if a kid returns a book within a year, i give him/her the money back i don't like to give prizes for getting books back, because that's what they're sposed to do anyway...though i have tried giving a prize to the first english class of each grade to have NO overdue books...but that hasn't made much of a difference sadly..... it's a LOT of work, but i do like to get our books back..... in the end, i re-order the books that don't come back if they're popular, not dupes or needed... those are some of my tricks, what are yours?
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