Library operations checklist
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Essential contact information
Gather all the contact details you need for the library, including cellphone numbers and email addresses wherever possible.
School and library contacts
Internal contacts include:
- library team members, such as the Teacher with Library Responsibility (TLR), library volunteers and student librarians
- school staff, including the caretaker and cleaners
- your school's coordinator for the National Library Lending Service — this may be part of your role
- your school administrator or the executive officer who looks after budgets, invoicing and other financial matters and procedures
- school first aiders
- your Health and Safety Officer or whoever is responsible for emergency evacuation or lock-down procedures.
External contacts
Contacts outside your school include:
- people or groups who use the library after hours, such as homework or book clubs
- National Library Services to Schools for:
- school library support
- Services to Schools facilitator
- the courier you use for National Library Services to Schools loans
- suppliers you regularly use — the section on suppliers has more information about what other information to gather
- technical support people or organisations for your library's:
- computers
- Integrated Library System (ILS) — including the vendor, helpdesk and local support group
- network and email
- photocopier.
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Library usage and layout
Library usage
Information about how you use your library could include:
- the opening and closing hours
- what needs to be turned on and off each day, including the alarm system
- procedures for issuing, returning and reserving library items and teacher resources, including holiday borrowing
- loan limits — how many items students may borrow and for how long
- how you manage overdue, lost or damaged items
- a template for timetabled library bookings — this could be print or electronic
- an information sheet for relievers working in the school.
The layout of your library
Confirm and document:
- how your collection is organised and shelved
- a floor plan of library, with each section labelled.
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Logins, passwords and online systems
You may need to work with your technician or Integrated Library System (ILS) vendor to gather this information.
Logins and passwords
Make a note of:
- the library computer login, including information about local file storage, printing and email access
- logins for your library's web page, the school website, Intranet, Blog, Wiki and other content curation tools — also include information about who has access and who contributes to these
- how to log on to your photocopier, wifi and other in–school networks
- logins for online resources, for example eBook platform, EPIC databases at the National Library, Journal Surf and any other password-protected resources
- the code for deactivating the library alarm, especially if it's separate from the school alarm
- the logins for any online booking or survey tool and when you last used them
- the online cataloguing services, such as Record Manager and the Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS), that you use, including their email, logins and subscription details.
Cataloguing service for schools — includes how to use Record Manager
Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS)
Your Integrated Library System
You'll need information about your ILS, including:
- the login
- how you access issuing and returns, and administration and cataloguing
- what the different levels of access are, what they allow and who has access
- the ILS report and update settings, including:
- the email address that reports are exported to
- internet provider, and
- Internet Protocol (IP) addresses
- how the the connection between your ILS and Student Management System (SMS) works so you can import and delete borrower files.
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Integrated Library System (ILS)
As well as contact and logon details for your ILS, make a note of:
- the name of system, and what version you’re running
- the annual service fee and upgrade schedule
- the URL for system manual or user guide and help videos.
Also gather information about how you:
- import and delete names of borrowers via your Student Management System (SMS)
- import and delete catalogue records — there's also information about this under Resource cycle
- run recall notices, overdues and replacement cost letters, including the dates that you do these
- make back-ups, including who does these, how often they happen and who tests ‘restore from back-up’.
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Resource cycle
Document the detailed steps for how you handle resources. Include visual examples wherever possible.
Selecting and receiving items
Keep information about how you:
- select resources, for example lists of suppliers and book review sites, and how you handle student and staff recommendation forms
- receive items — include how they're delivered, invoiced and stamped with school stamp, for example where in a book it goes.
Cataloguing resources
Document your cataloguing processes, including how you:
- import catalogue records — depending on your ILS you can get instructions from your vendor or instructions from National Library when you register for Record Manager
- amend catalogue record fields — include preferred format and media types, collection locations and classification, details of the purchase and replacement cost
- process catalogue items — note your suppliers, materials used and examples of where you put the spine label and barcode.
Managing library resources
Describe how you:
- mend items — include the minimum standards needed before you replace or weed an item
- weed or withdraw items — note who, how, what and when you do this
- do a stocktake — include recommendations from your ILS and school financial officer.
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Suppliers you use regularly
Keep information about suppliers your library uses, including:
- booksellers
- eBook platform suppliers and administrators
- magazine distributors, and
- businesses that supply:
- stationery and library consumables, including barcodes, covering materials and labels
- signage
- library shelving and furniture
- ICT equipment.
As well as their contact details, you could note information such as:
- titles and publishers the supplier carries
- costs or discounts for both print and digital resources
- what specific consumables they supply
- special services they offer, for example bilingual signs.
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Professional support
List all the places you go for professional help and support, including:
- National Library Services to Schools — the website, helpline and services to schools facilitator
- your local school library network coordinator
- School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (SLANZA) — include your membership details, their website and Schoollib listserv
- the children’s or young adult librarian at your local public library
- Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) — include details of your membership and professional registration (RLIANZA) and their website
- the New Zeland Educational Institute (NZEI) field officer for your area.
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Calendar of tasks, activities and events
Set up an online calendar of regular and one–off tasks and events that occur throughout the year. You could:
- note where you’ve stored the instructions for managing these
- put lead–in times in the calendar if they're needed.
Put dates in your calendar for tasks and activities such as:
- the opening and closing dates for the library, including your Summer Reading programme and when the library will be open for that
- orientation for new staff and groups of students
- selection of student librarians and their training, scheduling, tasks, responsibilities and rewards
- the regular stages of your resource cycle — cataloguing, processing, mending, weeding and stocktaking
- when you run recall notices, overdues and replacement cost letters
- deadlines for library news items in school newsletters, on the intranet or in your school's daily notices
- when you update the library web pages on the intranet or write blogs — note who contributes
- request and return dates for National Library Services to Schools loans
- when reports need to be delivered, including your annual report and budget
- when you do performance appraisal and performance planning.
Don't forget to gather dates for:
- regular school activities, such as teacher-only days, and
- one-off events, like Book Week, book fairs and Kids Lit Quiz.
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Library guiding documents
Keep on file and up-to-date all library guiding documents, library-related policies and plans.
These could include:
- library guiding documents
- job descriptions for all members of the library team
- annual budget — to inform and guide spending
- your collection management plan — to inform and guide management of the collection
- how-to procedures listed throughout this checklist
- school community profile — to identify the characteristics of your students, teachers and local community
- your school’s charter and annual plan
- bring your own device (BYOD) policies and procedures
- digital citizenship agreement
- citation protocol used throughout your school, for example APA.
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Find out more
Mrs. ReaderPants: New School Librarian? 10 things you should do first – blogger and experienced librarian Leigh Collazo offers advice to new school librarians.
