Training Manual for the

Venus Elementary
Library Paraprofessional

created by Megan Walker

 Table of Contents

Introduction p. 3

Mission Statement p. 4

Role of the Library Paraprofessional p. 5

Role and Purpose
Qualifications
Major Duties and Responsibilities
Lesson Plans and Scheduling

Using Follett Destiny System p. 7

Prepare Computer for Circulation
Adding and Updating Teacher and Student Records
Adding new homerooms and teachers
Updating returning students
Adding new students
Circulation p. 9
Checking in books
Checking out books
Overdue books
Cleaning and shelving books
Processing New Books using Destiny p. 11
Creating Accelerated Reader Labels
Managing Records in Destiny

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 Introduction

Welcome to the Venus Independent School District Library

System. Our system is made up of four campus libraries and one
community library. At this time, the staff of the libraries consists
of one certified district librarian and five campus and community
library paraprofessionals. Each of our libraries is unique to its
campus and outstanding in its resources and its service.

As a library paraprofessional, you will find yourself a very busy

person.

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 Mission Statement

The mission of the library program of the Venus Independent

School District is to provide access to materials, technology, and
services which complement and enhance all phases of the
curriculum, meet the information needs and interests of students,
school staff and the community, and encourage the lifelong
enjoyment of reading.

The mission statement of Venus Elementary School is to foster

future leaders by finding and building on the strengths of our
students through dedication, a positive attitude, encouragement,
and respect for others.

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 Role of the Library Paraprofessional

Role and Purpose: The campus library paraprofessional

provides support and assistance to the director of libraries,
campus principals, and district administration in the day-to-day
operations of the campus libraries. The library paraprofessional
also supports student learning inside and out of the library.

As the face of the library, your primary objectives are to help

students become skilled users of the resources the library has to
offer, able to navigate the collection and find the materials that
suit their needs. You also are here to help children satiate their
desires to read and to learn, to help them explore the curiosities
that do not get explored in the classroom, to empower students
to follow their own interests in free-choice learning. You are to
help facilitate students reading simply for the joy of reading by
helping them choose the perfect books for them.

Qualifications: The campus library paraprofessional must have

the equivalent of two years of college, basic computer and clerical
skills, and must be able to work cooperatively with
administration, faculty, staff, and students. One year experience
working with children is preferred.

Major Duties and Responsibilities Include:

Assist and supervise students as needed, including OPAC
searches, research needs, computer instruction, book
selection, Internet assistance, library curriculum, and
scheduled story time.
Collaborate with teachers by providing curriculum-related
materials as requested, creating bibliographies, and by
pulling and reserving materials.
Provide before and after school access to the library as
campus schedules and duties allow.
Schedule classes for library use.
Input and maintain computer library records for all students
and faculty.
Supervise and train all student library aides.
Maintain special sections, shelving system, and orderly
atmosphere of the library.
Monitor circulation, maintenance, repair, and inventory of all
library materials and equipment.
Catalogue and process new materials, including MARC record
input, labeling, stamping, covering, and shelving.
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 Weed collection as needed.
Contribute to special projects and programs, including book
fairs, author visits, and marketing projects.
Aide in preparing book orders.
Assist with annual inventory.
Perform other duties as requested by campus or district
administration and director of libraries.

Lesson plans and scheduling:

At this time, students visit the library as a part of their Specials
and PE rotation. The principal will create the master schedule
each year, and this will determine when classes visit. Once
specials begin each day, your day will be very full. Ideally, the
schedule will allow time for cleaning and shelving books, but kids
always come first.

You will be required to create lesson plans. Your technology

training during new staff inservice will show you the expectations
for how you will submit your lesson plans.

To create your lesson plans, you will use the library curriculum
guidelines and scope and sequence charts provided by the
district. The director of libraries will be very involved in this
process, sitting down with you each six weeks to create a the___
six-weeks at a glance outline and then help you create short
lessons. These lessons should cover library skills, literacy skills, or
could address what the grade level teachers are working on in
class. Be prepared for lots of changes in your week. Being able
to adjust quickly is a necessary skill in the library.

After a brief library lesson, the students will want to check out
books for the week. The majority of your time in the library will
be spent delivering library lessons, fielding reference questions,
helping students find books, and managing circulation. The
following information will help make the technical processes
involved easier to manage.

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 Using the Follett Destiny System

To prepare computer for circulation:

If it has not already been completed, power up the
computer. This will not be necessary most days because the
computers are typically only locked in the evenings to allow
updates and scanning during off hours.
Go to the Destiny icon on the computer used for circulation,
or go to your campus website and click on library.
Scroll to the catalog
Click on the elementary school library
Click on Log In in the upper right corner

This username and password will be set up for you by the district
technology department. Without this username and password,
you will only be able to view the catalogue.
You may also use the administrators sign in. Ask the library
director about this.

Adding and updating teacher and student records

Your first job of the school year as an elementary library
paraprofessional is to update and enter new student information
into the Destiny program. The library director will globally update
the grade levels for each student and move the previous years
5th graders to the Middle School. After this has been done, you
will update the homeroom teachers and add new students to their
classes. You cannot do this until you get the class rosters from
the office. While you wait for the rosters, you can update the
homeroom teachers and delete teachers who did not return.
Adding new homerooms and teachers:
Go to Back Office in Destiny

Click on Manage Homerooms

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 Scroll down the list and delete teachers not returning.
Additionally, you will also need to delete the circulation
records of teachers who did not return.
To add a new homeroom, type the teachers name into the
Add Homeroom dialog box and save.

Updating returning students:

Student rosters will not be available until just before the new
school year begins. Student visits to the library usually will not
begin until at least the second week of school. This will give you
an opportunity to get students and classes entered and updated.

Once you have the class rosters, open Destiny and go to Back
Office. This will automatically show Patron Management.

Type the students name or ID number into the search box.

Once the patrons name comes up, click edit to make

changes

The first thing to check is the students grade level. Be sure

grade and grade level are the same.
Then, check the students graduation date. This is important
for globally updating.
Finally, change the teacher and homeroom to this years
teacher from the class rosters.
Save all changes for each student.

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Adding new students:
If you get a No Match Found message when searching students,
you will need to add the student.
Go to the far right of the page and click the add new
patron button and add as much information as possible.

Most information is on the roster, but some is unique to the

library, like assigning a username and password. This will
enable the student to check out e-books.
The username should be the first initial and the last name.
Sometimes, however, you will have to use an alternate
username, such as jsmith2 or jsmith22.

The password should be the student ID number. Dont get

confused that you are not saving the password. It will not
show up when you go into the record, but there will a
message that says that the password was assigned.
Be sure to add your new teachers using the same method.

Circulation

At this time in the elementary library, we allow students to check

their books in and out themselves. We have two computers set
up with scanners. Students are taught to check in due books at
one circulation station, walk through the stacks to search for new
books, and then to scan their IDs and books barcodes to check
out their book at another circulation station. It will require a
good bit of time at the beginning of each year to teach the second
grade students to do this.

Checking in Books:
In the Circulation tab in Destiny, select the check in option
on the left of the screen.

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 Scan the librarys barcode label on the book.
Check the computer screen to make sure the book scanned
properly.
Checking out Books:
In Destiny, select the Circulation tab at the top of the page.
Click on the checkout option on the left side of the screen.

Scan student ID card. Students without IDs may not check

out a book.
Check for overdue or lost books. Students with overdue
books or fines will not be able to check out additional
materials.
Next, scan the librarys barcode label on the book.
Remember to check the computer screen to verify that the
book has been scanned.
Books may be checked out for two weeks. Please encourage
students to keep any books they have not completed for a
second week. This should allow students to finish the books.
Students may renew books one time.
Overdue Books
When students have overdue books or have lost a book, the
student may not check out additional materials until the fine
is paid or the book returned.
Students will only accrue a fine if a book is lost or damaged.
Students do not receive fines for overdue books, though
they may not check out additional material until the overdue
books are returned.

If a patron wishes to pay a fine, you must select Edit Fines

and enter the amount a student wishes to pay. Then, click
Update. Each fine must be highlighted and paid separately.
If printer is connected, be sure to give patrons a receipt.

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Cleaning and shelving books:
When not busy with other responsibilities, clean books and
check them for damage.
Place cleaned books on reshelving carts and reshelf the
books as time allows.
Students can help clean the books and put them in order on
the reshelving carts.
Students can also learn to shelf Easy and Fiction books.
Shelving nonfiction is more complex and should be handled
by the library paraprofessional and adult volunteers.
Since the circulation is very high on the elementary campus,you
will rarely end your day with all the books cleaned and back on
the shelf. You will circulate about 1,500 books a week.
Processing new books using Destiny:
Begin with the new books received and the packing list from
the vendor. Check off each book received on the packing
list, sign to verify that all books were received, and give the
original copy to the district librarian.
Make a copy of the packing slip for yourself so you will have
the information needed.
Creating the AR label:
To process books for the elementary, it is easiest to do the
Accelerated Reader labels first.
Go to ARBookfinder.com
Check Librarian

Scan the ISBN number into the search screen

Sometimes if processing a Follettbound edition, you will
not find the book using this method with the ISBN
number. Once a book is rebound, the ISBN changes. If
you cannot find the title using the ISBN number try
these steps:

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 Type in either the name of the book, the author of
the book, or the original ISBN found on the
copyright page (usually opposite the title page,
but sometimes it is found in the back of the book)
and scroll until you find the correct book.
You can also go to advanced search and type in as
much information as you can.
If all these methods fail, you can assume that the
book is not part of the AR program. If you decide
it is not AR, place a large black dot on the back of
the book where the AR label would usually go, on
the left hand side near the top.
Once the title of the book is found, save it to the book bag
by clicking on the + - sign at the bottom of the entry.

Continue to search and build the list in the book bag until
you have located the Accelerated Reader information for all
books to be processed.
Now, click on the book bag icon on the left of the screen.
This will produce a list of all the books you have entered.

Print the list with the print with book cover option. Having
the picture handy makes it much easier to stay organized
when creating labels.

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 Using the circulation desk computer, click on the Dymo
printer icon. This will bring up the Accelerated Reader
template. Simply change the information for each book,
click print, and attach the label to the back of the book on
the left hand side near the top.
Each AR book will also have a colored dot/paw/dog/bear on
the spine near the top corresponding to the level. Using the
chart on the circulation desk, place the correct color coded
sticker on the spine near the top of the book.
You will later need to add the AR quiz information into
Destiny so that it appears in the catalog record.
Managing record in Destiny:
You are now ready to enter the book into the Destiny system.
The process is rather lengthy.
Login to Destiny using district administrator username and
password.
Click on the Catalog tab, and then select Library Search.

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 Click on the number tag across the top of the screen and
select ISBN from the drop down box.

Scan the ISBN number on the book. It is always best to use

the ISBN number tab rather than the title since different
books may have the same title, but they will never have the
same ISBN number.
If a copy exists in your district, a house icon will appear, and
you only need to add a copy of the book to your library by
clicking on the Add Copies button.

If a copy exists in your own system, you will simply

duplicate the copy, scan a new barcode label, and apply that
barcode to the back of the book.

If no copy exists, select Add Title on the left hand side of the
screen.

Once again, scan the ISBN number on the book or type in its
title. Again, it is always better to use the ISBN number
since books may have the same title, but they will never
have the same ISBN number.

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 Usually a record will pop up. If none does, set that book
aside to be entered by hand later.
Once the record is located, save it.

Click on Add Copy, place a new barcode on the back of the

book, and scan the barcode.
Add the call number. It usually automatically loads
everything except for author information. If not loaded, look
at the top of the record to find the call number.
Use only two numbers past the decimal point, except
for sports books and holiday books.
If there is a / or any other marks, delete them and
simply use the digits.
For books categorized as easy books, you will see an
[E]. Delete this, and add just an E and the first three
letters of the authors last name.

Type in price of the item. You will find this information on

the packing list.
Add category information by using the dropdown box to
check the appropriate category box/boxes. There can be
any number of categories used.

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 List sublocation by using the dropdown box.

Use the dropdown box to add vendor information. This is

available on the packing list.

Add funding information using the dropdown box. Unless

otherwise directed, funding will always be tagged as budget.

At this time, it is important to save the record. Click save at

the top of the page.

Now, you may add AR information to the record.

To begin, click on Title Details tab.

On the right side of the page, click Edit Quiz

information. Select Add Quiz.

_______________________________________________
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 Add the information that was used on the AR label. Be
sure to note that the point value and reading levels are
opposite of the AR label previously created.

Interest level is the dot level that was added onto the
spine, such as dark blue, green, bear, or paw.
Save the record again at this time. The quiz information will
now appear in the title details. This is the final step in
adding the record and copy information into Destiny.

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