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Library Development Manual Peace Corps Cambodia2013Letter to the ReaderHello Peace Corps Volunteer of the future! I am Diana Broberg, from the K5 group of volunteers in Cambodia 2011-2013. While developing my library in Svay Antor, Prey Veng, this is a resource that I wish I had. So in the hopes that I can make your job a little easier, I enlisted the help of PCV Emma Krane, K5 in Kampot, and we put together this manual. In this manual, you will find one (but not the only) step-by-step process of developing a library. There are also pictures and personal stories from myself and from Emma.Library development is a very popular and very useful project in Cambodia. It is not an easy project or a “small” secondary project, but, when done correctly, it is sustainable and can benefit staff and students for years after you’re gone. I want to encourage future volunteers to add to this manual. Update NGO and grant information, and add your own personal stories to help the next generation of library conquerors. Best of luck!Peace, Love and Rice,Diana Broberg Table of ContentsAssessment………………………………………………………………………………………….3Counterparts……………………………………………………………………………………..…4Space………………………………………………………………………………………..…….……5National Textbooks……………………………………………………………………………...7Funding…………………………………………………………………………………………….….8Painting…………………………………………………………………………………………..….10Bookshelves……………………………………………………………………………….……….11Acquiring Books………………………………………………………………………………….13Organizing Books………………………………………………………………………..………15Shelving Books…………………………………………………………………………..……….18Book Inventory……………………………………………………………………….…………..19Furniture……………………………………………………………………………….……………20Library Rules………………………………………………………………………….……………21Keeping Log Books……………………………………………………………….……………..22Lending Books…………………………………………………………………….………………22Library Workers………………………………………………………..……..…………………25Schedule………………………………………………………………………….………………….25Training…………………………………………………………………………..…………………..26 AppendixInventory List Chart…………………………………………………………………..29Library Cards……………………………………………………….…………………….30Assessment Obviously the first thing you need to do is find out the current state of your library. Find out all you can about the library, and how it currently functions. Find the answers to these questions:Is there a library?Where is it?What kind of books are there?How many books are there?What furniture, if any, is designated for the library?In what condition are the books?Is there a librarian? Who is it? What are his/her responsibilities?What is the purpose of the library? Is it a library for independent reading, or just a storage room for old textbooks and broken desks?Perhaps this goes without saying for any Peace Corps project you take on, but no matter how much your school needs a library you cannot expect develop a library without their desire and support. This includes support from students, your school director, and most importantly, teachers and counterparts. And by support, I don’t just mean a general thumbs up. I mean active participation in the planning and development process.Do not rush the assessment stage of your project. The above questions seem easy to answer, but be aware that you might not get truthful answers at first. You may need to track down specific people to answer the questions, such as the librarian himself or the school director. Also, you will need to go see things for yourself. The school staff and even students may not give you full truths at first, either out of embarrassment or simply because they don’t even know the true situation.Personal StoryAfter being at site for a month, I knew I wanted to look into a library development project. I started the assessment process. I began by asking students and my co-teachers about the school library. They told me that there was a functioning library, and that students borrow books every year. From there, I went to my school director and asked if I could see the library. He told me no because they were still preparing it. I waited nearly another month and asked again. Again he told me no, they were still preparing it. Then, on one of those fun days when I went to school in my sampot, only to find that school was cancelled and students were given the task of cleaning the school, I saw that students were lugging piles and piles of books clear across the campus. They were locked up in a classroom, and I still didn’t get a chance to see anything. Finally, after another week I convinced the school director to let me and a counterpart borrow the key to check things out. And we discovered… a mess! There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of old, dirty, literally chewed up textbooks strewn all across the floor. That is when I learned that the school director was keeping me away from the library on purpose because he was embarrassed that the school was not taking care of its books. He was actually afraid that I would tell on him either to Peace Corps or to the Ministry. So, from this I learned to take my time with assessment. Always earn trust from the people you are working for, so that you can get the whole truth to the questions that need answering.Personal StoryWhen I first got to site and was finally allowed to see the library, it was in a disaster state. The room had a cement and dirt floor, termites, and piles of unused, untouchable books. There were some Room to Read books obtained by a K3 in the library, but they were in unorganized piles and covered in dust. When I requested to move the library to a different room and reorganize and get rid of some of the books, my then school director said no. He would only agree to replace the whiteboard and clean up a little. The library remained mostly unopened and unused my first year. It was only during the summer vacation that a library project became a possibility again after talks with my new school director. He was behind moving the library and actually putting in the time and effort. It was with this encouragement and support that my counterpart and I decided we would write a PCPP and attempt a library development project. As much as students and teachers said they wanted a better, more useable library during my first year, I don’t think it would have been possible without the support of the school director and a willingness to make bigger, distract changes, such as moving into a new room and a willingness to get rid of some books.CounterpartsChoose your counterpart extremely carefully. He or she needs to be extremely reliable and hard-working. Be honest with what they are signing up for. This is a project that takes months, and requires many full days of work. If possible, try to get more than one counterpart involved. That way, if one of them is busy or loses interest, you still have a chance of getting some work done. Also, a mild interest in the project is not enough. Your counterpart should show excitement and a desire to take charge.What if your counterparts are only mildly interested? Well, that is going to make it really difficult and maybe even impossible to carry out the library project. Perhaps you need to keep looking for a better counterpart, or even think about whether your site is really ready for this sort of project.Personal StoryI’ve been working on this project since the beginning planning stages with one co teacher. He helped with the initial planning, any questions I had while writing the PCPP, setting up meetings with the school director while writing the PCPP and now he continues to assist with supply buying. This counterpart was a part of all facets of the project, including organizing all the new materials and training of librarians, teachers and students. My other co teacher/counterpart did not begin helping with the project until after the grant was submitted and planning was already underway, but he has been a committed part of the project since then. He was a big part of the painting portion of the project and continued to be a huge part of communicating with the school director, teachers, and students as we moved on with the project. I’ve been incredibly fortunate so far to have two invested counterparts, and do not recommend moving forward with a library project without counterpart support. This is not the type of project I think is possible without a lot of support from at least 2 counterparts.Personal StoryI sat down with a co-teacher, and told him about my idea for developing a library. I told him all about the PCPP grant system and how we can get money from that. I told him I wanted to paint a classroom, and then use the PCPP money to buy bookshelves, and then take a trip to Phnom Penh to buy new books. I was pleased to see that my co-teacher was really into it and wanted to get started right away! What I didn’t realize is that the only thing he really heard was “free money,” “free trip to Phnom Penh,” and “free books.” The first 2 months went by pretty smoothly, but after that he lost interest. He kept asking “when are we going to Phnom Penh to buy the books?” And I kept answering “as soon as you help me clean out this classroom and organize the school textbooks.” He never did help me with those things. He stopped answering my phone calls, and would tell me he was busy every time I went to his house. Eventually, I had to enlist another counterpart. The new counterpart helped me get the work done, and then accompanied me to Phnom Penh instead of the old one. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was such an insult to my old counterpart. Honestly, the whole situation destroyed our working relationship and trust. If I could go back and do things differently, I would be more honest with how much work needs to go into developing a library before that fun stuff like buying books can even be considered. Also, I would enlist both counterparts right from the beginning. It is certainly a big enough project to have 2 counterparts for.Space A conversation needs to be had with your school director about which room can be designated to the library. The library room must:Be a cement building, and not wooden. There are too many cracks in wooden walls, and wooden buildings don’t last long.Have cement or tiled floors. It’s nearly impossible to keep delicate books clean where there are dirt floors.Have lockable doors and windows. This is for security reasons.Not have any large disrepair, like holes in the roof.Extra points if:It is on the ground floor. It is near the School Office. Students will have more respect if the office is nearby. Also, librarians will be less tempted to skip their library duties, just to avoid a long walk.It is not too near football fields, basketball and volleyball courts, or synchronized swimming pools. Keep the noise level down.It is not directly next to a classroom, especially a middle school classroom.Clean-upOnce you have your designated room, you’re probably going to have to do some serious cleaning. This is your first full workday. Get students and at least one counterpart enlisted to help you. Talk to your school director, and find out where you can put those old broken desks, and sewing machines from the 80s. If you are keeping the same room, you may want to temporarily remove the books to do a real good scrub-down of the place. Make sure plenty of brooms are available, and you have a bucket, access to water, and a few good mops. If you come across any good tables, bookshelves, desks, or chairs in the room claim them! That’s less stuff you have to buy with your grant money.Sweeping the walls before painting *Ang Sdok, KampotPersonal StoryThe location of my library changed twice through the process. First, it was in a storage room for broken desks, dirt, dead animals, and textbooks. Then they moved all the books to the building farthest from the center of school, to a second story classroom. At first I thought this was great because the classroom was big, fairly clean, and got a good breeze. But then students were too lazy to walk clear across campus to help me work in the library. Teachers and staff paid no attention to the work because it was out of sight, out of mind. The staircase leading to the second floor was often locked, so I couldn’t even get up to the library. And finally, going up and down the stairs carrying books and bookshelves is a real pain. One bookshelf actually wouldn’t even fit up the staircase. So that’s when the library moved back to the original storage room. We cleared out that room as best as we could. Now the library is on the first floor in a building about 50 meters from the director’s office. There are no classes in that building. The other rooms are used as garbage storage and a long meeting room. It is not perfect. There are cracks in the tiled floor, and birds are always building nests up in the ceiling and pooping on the floor. Also, the building is right next to the wild, ruthless 8th graders. But, it was the best we could do.The cleaned up classroom *Svay Antor, Prey VengNational TextbooksChances are your library is going to be full to the brim with national textbooks. Now you are faced with a really challenging job as a foreign volunteer. You need to organize the textbooks by grade and by subject. Then, you need to determine which of the textbooks are still in use, and which textbooks have been replaced. The Ministry of Education comes out with new editions of each textbook (except English…) every few years. Textbooks from the 80s and 90s are not used anymore. Khmer students can be very helpful at this step, because they can easily read book titles and subjects in Khmer and can help you organize. Also, make sure you involve the librarian. The librarian can help you determine which textbooks are still being used and which are not.Once the books are organized, you need to get rid of the old textbooks. This will likely be harder than it sounds. The faculty at your school might be worried to get rid of the old books in case the ministry comes knocking, asking to see the old books. If your school director won’t let you throw out or burn the books, ask if you can give them away to students, or at least stick them in another room. If you already have a bookshelf, this might be a good time to put those books on the shelves to get them out of your way. Make sure there is plenty of room for new books in each grade. Label the shelves in Khmer to make it easily accessible.Some volunteers choose to keep the national textbook library completely separate from the independent reading library. If your school has the space for this, it might be a good idea. Keep in mind though that your librarian will then have to work from 2 different libraries, and may not be able to open your library on schedule every day.Students organizing the National Textbooks *Svay Antor, Prey VengPersonal StoryMy school director and I were able to come to a compromise about Ministry donated books. Any books that were destroyed and just so gross that nobody would want to touch them let alone read them we moved to a storage room next to the library. We also moved lots of unused French books and traffic law books to the other room, but kept several nicer copies in the library. This way if the Ministry ever does come to check up on the books as the school director fears, we still have some in the library and others easily accessible but out of site. We are keeping current, not destroyed textbooks in the library, but we have cleaned and reorganized them by grade and subject.Funding If you have all the furniture and supplies that you need, but are just short on books, you may not even need funding. There are a few organizations that donate books to libraries. Two that I know of are Asia Foundation and Room to Read. Many of the books they give will be very good, but you should know that there will also be a lot of calculus, microbiology, and college physics textbooks, all in English. Most of those will be useless to Khmer students, but it’s worth it for the other books they give out. You can find applications for both organizations on sharepoint and on the internet.If you have bigger things to do in your library, you’re going to need a grant. PCPP and SPA grants both work just fine. For a larger, more expensive library, I recommend trying PCPP. Every budget is going to be different, based on the things you already have available, and the things you need to buy. Keep in mind though that the things your school already has (desks, bookshelves, etc) can count as in-kind donations toward the 25% Community Contribution.Sample BudgetPartnership Contribution Community ContributionMaterialCategoryQuantityNeededUnit CostTotal CostMaterialCategoryQuantityNeededUnit CostTotal CostPaintEquipment13$4$52Labor Labor505$250PaintbrushesEquipment11$1$11BookshelfSupplies1$260$260Meter SticksEquipment2$3$6TablesSupplies2$62$124NailsEquipment1$1.25$1.25DesksSupplies5$20$100Plastic TableclothsEquipment--$6.25ChairsSupplies24$5$120MopEquipment1$2.25$2.25WhiteboardSupplies1$20$20Lock and KeySupplies1$1.25$1.25Total$874BookshelvesSupplies3$260$780TransportationTransport2$22.50$45Total Project CostsBooksSupplies263$2.83$759.50% ContributionTotal CostOffice Supplies (markers, pens, scissors, stamp pads, etc)Supplies--$27.25Partnership Contribution67%$1741.96PostersSupplies6$4.118$24.71Community Contribution33%$874Library CardsSupplies1,000$0.02$20Total 100%$2615.96Step StoolsSupplies4$1.375$5.50Total1741.96Creating a budget for a grant isn’t easy, because in many ways the necessary columns don’t apply to a library project. Here are a few further tips:Separate your books into sections, for example: $200 for English fiction, $300 for Khmer fiction, $100 for science, etc. You may not follow this 100% when you actually get to the bookstore, but it makes your grant clearer, and it forces you to decide with your students what types of books they want.You can’t possibly know how much each book is going to cost. I suggest you take a trip to a bookstore before you make the budget to get an idea of what the average book price is. Somewhere in the $2-$3 range is probably safe. Note: Khmer story books tend to be cheaper than English books.You may need to further break down your office supplies. Transportation costs will be whatever it costs to get a Taxi to Phnom Penh and back with the books.If you are interested in the World Map project, you might want to tie it into your library project. It’s easy to calculate a few extra dollars in for paint and paintbrushes. Also, the library is a great place to paint a map, whether you put it on an inside or outside wall.Labor can count as an in-kind donation. The quantity can be the number of full work days you predict to have. Then the unit price should be a fair but modest salary. You might just have to make your best guess as to what that might be.If you’re getting furniture made for your library, go get an estimate from an actual seller. Your counterpart’s guess might be way off.Personal StoryI worked on my budget with my counterpart. We drew the layout of our library, and decided on the measurements of the bookshelves we wanted. I asked him how much one bookshelf would cost. He told me about $100 per bookshelf. So we planned on getting 5 of them. Well, later in the project we actually went to the metal worker. We gave him our measurements, and he told us it would cost $1700, which was our entire library budget! We gave up on 2 of the bookshelves, and made the other 3 bookshelves smaller dimensions, but we still paid almost $500 more than what we were expecting. Try to keep yourself from having surprises like that. Check with the seller before you fill out the budget.Students painting the World Map outside the library *Svay Antor, Prey VengPersonal StoryWe over budgeted but in the end it turned out to be a good thing. The school ran out of money, but there were still enough PCPP funds to cover the cost of one last long wooden table. We also had enough to go complete one more big book buy. You can always find more to buy but it is definitely not as easy to find more money in order to do so. PaintingThis is another long workday, maybe even two. You definitely need the help of a counterpart and somewhere between 5 and 10 students. You don’t want too many students, because you will end up with students without anything to do but goof off. Paint and paintbrushes are both pretty cheap in this country. Most local markets have paint shops. Your counterpart or even a student can go with you to help you find the right shop and barter. Be careful that you buy the right paint. Tell the seller you are painting on concrete, and not wood (lee-up t’nam lur t’maw).Painting is a great opportunity to step aside and let your counterpart take the reins. There will be many steps later on where you will be in charge, so let your counterpart take this one. Let your counterpart set the day, rally the students, and choose the colors. Encourage a colorful atmosphere, and go with what they say.Before beginning to paint, you need to wipe down the walls. Make sure there are no spider webs hanging from the walls. You also need to think about covering the floor, especially if your floor is concrete, since is it very difficult to clean up drips. If you have tile floors, paint drips can be easily cleaned with a metal scraper, or even a metal ruler.If you are mixing colors, try to think ahead about how much paint you will need. Make more than enough. If you run out of paint and need to mix more, it will be very difficult to get the same exact shade as before.Don’t be a perfectionist. No one is going to go up to the wall and point out that spot where someone went way over the line onto the windowpane. Once all the furniture and books are in place, it won’t even be noticeable. Students painting, while the counterpart over-sees the progress *Svay Antor, Prey VengPersonal StoryMy school was not supportive or enthusiastic about a World Map Project, but people were excited about an Alphabets Mural with both Khmer and English letters outside of the library entrance instead. It took one morning to prepare the area and paint two coats of white, another morning to draw the lines so students would know where to paint the letters and paint the first coat, and one more morning for a second coat and finishing touches. Using stencils is possible, but it was fun doing everything free form and added a more personal touch to each letter. Students and teachers alike were at first nervous about just going for it and painting a letter, but soon got very into the project.The front of the library *Ang Sdok, KampotPersonal StoryThe painting part of the library process was still early on, so letting my counterpart be in charge was very beneficial. He was still excited, and he was very efficient. He was even excited to choose the colors. I asked him what color he wanted. He responded, “yellow. And blue. And light green. And dark green.” My first reaction was “ahhh too many colors!” But we found a way to make it work, and it turned out great. We painted half the room yellow, half blue, and then we painted the support beams light green and the door and shutters dark green. After that, we decided we wanted to paint at the entrance of the library as well. I again asked him what color he wanted. I was expecting one, or maybe 2 colors, and preferably colors we already used. But no. He wanted blue, dark green, and PINK. I went with it. And I’m glad I did. It’s fun and colorful. But more importantly, it’s their creation. The front of the library, all painted *Svay Antor, Prey VengBookshelvesIf you already have enough bookshelves that came with your library room, congratulations. You can skip this section.If you don’t yet have bookshelves, you’re probably going to need to get some made. There are 2 different materials that shelves can be made of- wood and a metal/glass combination. There are pros and cons to each. You need to decide what works best for your library and for your budget. Here’s the breakdown:Wooden ShelvesProsCheaperEasy to clean and repairConsCan be eaten by termites, rats and birdsCan be damaged by waterOften do not have doors to close the books in away from dustMetal/ Glass shelvesProsMore sturdy and durableSliding glass doors protect books from dust, water, and rodentsUsually are built on wheels, so they are easy to moveConsExpensiveGet dirty quickly, with student fingerprints all over the glassThere are a few more options for shelving. Some volunteers purchase the small shelves built of wood and wicker. This is a good cheap option, but I discourage you from filling your whole library with wicker shelves. They are very weak, and aren’t likely to last more than a few years. The wicker shelf might make a good “return table” or “return shelf,” or might be a good place for magazines. If you do need to put books on a wicker shelf, you might want to also have a piece of cloth that can cover the books on the shelf when you close the library, to keep the books away from dust and gecko poop. Also, if you find that you have a little extra budget money, you should take a trip to IBC or other similar stores and check out their shelves. IBC has interesting magazine racks and other small display furniture.Your counterpart should be able to help you find a woodworker or a metalworker in town. When you order the bookshelves, you need to be prepared with measurements. Before ordering the shelves, you should draw out a map of what your library will look like. Figure out how many shelves you need, and where they will be placed. It might be a good idea to bring the woodworker/metalworker to your library so that they can envision it, and also help you make the right decisions.Be careful not to spend too much money on shelves. As a general rule, your budget for books should be larger than your budget for shelves. Keep in mind that many of the books you buy will be thin soft-cover books that do not take up much space. Personal StoryWhen drawing up the layout of my library, I decided I didn’t want to cover all the walls with bookshelves. Instead, I covered only one wall with 2 bookshelves, and I put another one a few feet away from that wall, in the middle of the floor. The middle bookshelf was double sided, so books could be on both sides. Having a double-sided bookshelf was actually cheaper than getting two separate bookshelves, and I like how it divided the room between the books and the sitting area.Double-sided metal/glass bookshelf *Svay Antor, Prey VengWooden bookshelves *Ang Sdok, KampotAcquiring BooksAs mentioned in the Funding section, there are a few organizations that will donate books to your library for free if you fill out the application. Ask your program manager for information on Asia Book Foundation and Room to Read.TransportationPhnom Penh is the best place to buy books. If you live close enough to Phnom Penh, try to make it a day trip with your counterpart and 2 or 3 students. A personal taxi is the easiest way to do this. The taxi gets you to Phnom Penh and back quickly, and can also drive you between destinations while you are in Phnom Penh. The books you pick up along the way can easily be stored in the trunk. Taking a taxi might be more expensive than taking a bus or a van, but when making your decision, be sure to take into account how much you would need to spend on tuk tuk rides from place to place once in the city.It is important to take your counterpart and some students with you. They can act as representatives of the students and teachers at site, and what they like to read. This is useful, particularly for the Khmer books.BookstoresThe best stores to visit are IBC, PBC and Monument Books. These stores will give you a 10% discount if you are buying for a library, and you spend more than $300 in their store. Visit their store websites to get contact information. You can either call or email. Make sure you print out any email confirmation you get that says they will give you a discount.Monument Books is on Norodom Blvd, very close to the Peace Corps office. They carry a lot of excellent English reference books and English picture books. They have some really great National Geographic books in very simple English. Monument Books is expensive, but it is worth it to spend at least $300 to get a pile of quality books.IBC has a few different locations all around Phnom Penh. Check the website to see which one is most convenient to you. IBC is fantastic for buying Khmer books. They have a huge variety, and they are very cheap. Make sure you direct your students and counterparts to the Khmer non-fiction section. They have many history and science books, biographies, and arts books all written in Khmer. Some great brands you will find in IBC are Sipar, Reading Book, Dreamland, and Idea. You can also find a lot of cheap non-fiction English books in IBC. Most of these books were written in India, so the English isn’t perfect, but most of the students will just be looking at the pictures anyway. IBC also sells cheap English grammar books, some classic English fiction, English picture books, maps, posters, and magazines. IBC is a good place to spend the majority of your budgeted book money.Peace Book Center (PBC) on Monivong has a large selection of English language books, as well as Khmer language folktales, longer fiction, and history. In addition to a large selection of books, they also have office supplies, posters, and maps. They will also give you a 10% discount if you buy a lot. If you can’t get in touch with them in advance about the discount, just ask when you arrive and before you start choosing books. There is a lot of overlap between what you can find at IBC and PBC, but PBC especially caters to more advanced Khmer readers.What Subjects to BuyWhen you were making your budget, perhaps you made a list of subjects you wanted to get, and how much you wanted to spend on each subject. Bring that with you for reference, but don’t worry too much about following it exactly. Use it just to keep yourself on the right track. For example, if you budgeted for $100 for sports books, but you realize you don’t have any yet, make sure you pick up a couple before leaving the store.Your Khmer counterpart and the students you bring should do most of the choosing of books. Ultimately, you have the final say, but let them browse the shelves. Keep a basket near yourself, and let them bring you books that they are interested in. Quietly put back books that are ridiculous, or exorbitantly expensive, and tally up the books you’re keeping as they bring them to you. To prevent getting doubles and triples of the same book, the counterpart and students should stick together. Give them 1 or 2 bookshelves at a time to look through, and slowly make your way through the store. Try not to spend all of your book money in one day. Save a little bit in case you have an unexpected cost down the road. Even if you don’t need that money down the road, it’s good to buy some extra books after the library has been open a little while. You can observe and see which books are most popular, and buy a few more of the same genre with your leftover money.Personal StoryI made the trip with one counterpart and 3 students. The students I chose from my English Honor Society class. We took a taxi in and out of the city, and the taxi drove us around in the city too. We started in Monument Books, then we went for lunch at Pizza Company (I treated) and then visited IBC in the afternoon. If I could go back, I would switch the schedule. I wish I had gone to IBC in the morning, while the students still had tons of energy and weren’t yet tired of shuffling through hundreds of books. The selection at IBC is much bigger and the books are cheaper. By the afternoon, the students were exhausted and I had to practically drag them around the bookstore. We went back to site that day with about 50 Khmer fiction books, and about 100 English fiction books (plus a ton of non-fiction books). These 3 students are very good in English and chose a lot of English fiction books. However, after the library opened, I noticed the English fiction books were barely touched, and the Khmer fiction books were a hot commodity. Even the good English students were more interested in the Khmer books. I think at the store, the 3 students were trying to seem studious and intelligent either to each other or to themselves. I had some money left over, and used that to buy more Khmer fiction books, but even still I wish I had more, and I wish I had known how popular they would be! Then maybe I would have bought 100 Khmer books and only 50 English books.Other popular books are cooking books, history and culture books in Khmer, English science books with pictures (especially of animals), and proverbs/self help anizing BooksAlmost all libraries in America are organized in the same way with the Dewey Decimal system. However, most volunteers find this complex method unnecessary for their small school libraries. You have the freedom to organize the books any way you wish, but it is important that your method is simple and neat. There are 2 levels of book organization; the macro level and the micro level. You need to first decide how many macro level sections you want, and what you want those sections to be. Macro Level OrganizationHere are some possibilities:Fiction / Non-fiction (languages are mixed)English / Khmer (fiction and non-fiction books are mixed)English fiction / Khmer fiction / Non-fiction (languages are mixed in non-fiction)English fiction / English non-fiction / Khmer fiction / Khmer non-fictionKhmer / Easy English / Medium English / Difficult EnglishOrganize your books at the macro level right away. Looking at your books like this will help you decide what will work best for you at the micro-level.Micro Level OrganizationIt is possible to skip organizing at the micro level. If you have very few books, organizing at the macro level might be enough. But if you have more than a couple hundred books and in a variety of subjects, you should consider further organization.Here are some possibilities:The Dewey Decimal system separates into 9 subjects, that are further broken down into topics. The left chart shows the 9 main sections, and the right chart is an example of topics within a subject. Each book in the library would have a 3 digit number on its spine that corresponds to the subject and topic of a book, as well as the shelf it is placed on. A google search can help you find further information on the break-down of the Dewey Decimal system.SubjectCode500- ScienceCode Reference000General Science500Philosophy100Mathematics510Religions200Astronomy520Social Sciences300Physics530Languages400Chemistry540Science500Geology550Technology600Fossils560Arts and Recreation700Biology570Literature800Botany580History and Geography900Animals590The simplified Dewey Decimal System would just use the chart on the left, and the code number would be simplified to 0, 1, 2, etc. The books need to have the number on the spine, or somewhere else visible, and the shelves need to be labeled accordingly as well. You can also personalize it further. Make your own list of subjects you have, and give every subject a number. Then once again each book should be given a number that will tell which shelf it goes on.If on the macro-level, you organized your books by difficulty, then in the micro level you can further organize your books using either a number code or a color code. For example, easy books are under 1, or the color green. Medium books are under 2, or blue. Difficult books are under 3, or yellow. Each book can be labeled with a colored tape, or with a numbered sticker.A color coding system can also be used in the place of the Dewey Decimal System. Make a list of the larger subjects you have, and assign colors to those subjects. If there are topics within the subject, they can be further broken down into numbers. For example, all science books are purple, but physics and chemistry are purple 1, Earth Science is purple 2, Space is purple 3, etc. To take it further, you can also use a purple K section to organize science books in Khmer.An example of a color-coded system *Svay Antor, Prey VengEnglish fiction books are most commonly organized in alphabetic order by the author’s last name. That can be simplified with either numbers or letters. For example, in the picture above you can see that all English fiction books are white, and have a white sticker. Also on that white sticker can be a number or a letter to further organize where the books go on the shelves. Books for which the author’s last name starts with A can have a printed A or a 1 on the sticker. B authors would have a B or a 2. This is not necessary if you only have a few English fiction books, but if you have many, this is a good way to keep them more organized.Khmer fiction books are difficult to organize alphabetically. Instead you can organize them by difficulty or by publishing company. Again, using a color or number system will help keep books evenly distributed and neat on the shelves.You may choose one of the above methods for your library, or you may create a mix of the methods. There is no single correct method. You have the freedom to decide what will work best based on what you know about your community, as well as the type of library inventory you have.Many of the methods mention stickers to put on each of the books. Small white stickers can be found very cheap at IBC. If you choose the color method, markers can also be purchased at IBC.Personal StoryAt the macro level, I organized my books into 4 major sections; English fiction, English non-fiction, Khmer fiction, and Khmer non-fiction. Then I made a list of the different subjects I had, and assigned colors. To further organize, I used numbers for topics. English fiction books are all white, and the stickers have the first letter of the author’s last name. I organized the English fiction books like this because it is easier to keep doubles and triples of books together, and also encourages the librarians to put the books back on the shelves neatly. Khmer fiction books all have a yellow sticker, and a number based on the shelf it belongs to. Those Khmer fiction books are not organized in any specific way. I used the numbers to keep an equal and manageable number of books on each shelf.Each book in my library has a color sticker, and the shelves are also labeled with the colored stickers. My librarian who cannot read any English can easily put English books back. The pack of stickers in IBC is really cheap. I bought one pack and had more than enough for about 1,000 books.If I could go back, I would use fewer colors, and use more topics within a subject. For example, health could have been organized as purple 6, and Religion and Philosophy could have been organized under orange 3. I also learned that putting a small piece of scotch tape over the colored sticker makes it last a lot longer.Khmer Science books with their colored sticker and a piece of tape *Svay Antor, Prey VengPersonal StoryAt first the main librarian and I attempted to organize the books alphabetically first by author and then by title, but this even this sort of seemingly simple system quickly proved too complicated to be sustained. Students, and even teachers, have difficulty putting books back where they found them, so we had put into place a much simpler and color coded method of organizing. Over on the Khmer bookshelf there are four different colored dot stickers in use. Purple with a “K” is all non-fiction/reference in Khmer. Green is all Khmer/English fiction, further broken down into “K/E 1” for lower levels and “K/E 2” for more advanced books. Bright orange is Khmer fiction, with the same “K 1” and “K2” distinctions. There is also a very small “K/F 1” for Khmer/French lower level reading in a light orange. On the English bookshelf there is purple with an “E”, green with an “E 1”, and bright orange with an “E2”. All the ministry textbooks are isolated on their own bookshelves organized by grade and subject.Another color-coded system *Ang Sdok, KampotShelving BooksBooks come in all shapes and sizes. It’s up to you, based on your inventory as well as the amount of shelf space you have, to decide how to set up your books. For example, large hard-cover books look great standing up with their spines showing out. This way, students can read the title on the spine, and they take up very little space on the shelves. However, thin soft-cover books do not stand well, and you can’t read the title on the spine. If you have the space for it, you can lay the soft-cover books face-up so that students can see at least a portion of the title or picture on the front. If you don’t have the space for it, don’t sweat it. You can buy bookends at IBC or PBC that can keep your books standing up. As you’re shelving the books, try to keep in mind the books that will be most popular. For example, if you have a ton of molecular biology textbooks written in French, maybe you could put that high up on a top shelf. More popular books should be easily accessible. Easy reading books should be on a shelf low enough for your youngest and shortest students to comfortably browse.Once the books are all shelved, you can label the shelves. Labeling stickers can be bought in larger bookstores, same as the small circle stickers. On the label should be the appropriate color/number/code, as well as the subject written out. If the books are in Khmer, the label should also be in Khmer.Shelving options *Svay Antor, Prey VengBook InventoryThis is a tedious job, but it is necessary. You should create a master list of all the books you have available in the library. The easiest way to do this is to organize the pages by topic, section, or shelf number. Some schools organize their lists alphabetically, or by the date the books were required, but this makes it very difficult to check back for rmation that must be included on the inventory list includes: title, author, quantity, and price. You decide if you want more information, such as publishing company, or date acquired. English books should be listed in English, and Khmer books should be listed in Khmer. Many Khmer books and even some English books do not have an author. If this is the case, you can either leave it blank, or put the publishing company in the “author” column. As you make your inventory list, make sure you leave room for the library to grow. On each page, leave a number of blank spaces for new books in the future.Bookstores in Phnom Penh sell binders with clear page protectors. These work great for an inventory list. Print out a template (a sample template can be found in the appendix). With your students and counterparts, write down all the books you have, and then slip the pages into the page protectors. The page protectors are good because they will keep the paper nice longer, and it is also easy to take out a page and edit it, or move it to a different location.Inventory Page *Svay Antor, Prey VengFurnitureLibrary furniture includes all tables, chairs, benches, desks, whiteboards, stools, and posters. If possible, try to mix it up, and have a combination of tables and chairs, and desks. Desks can be placed in corners for more quiet, independent reading. Long tables and chairs can be put in the middle or in front of the whiteboard for group work or for classes.Don’t forget that you will need furniture for more than just sitting. You might want to have a “bag table” next to the door, where students can leave their bags as they enter the library. You also should plan on a “return table” where students can put books after they are done reading in case they don’t know the correct shelf. For convenience purposes, try to put the return table in the middle of, or at least near, the bookshelves. If you have tall bookshelves and short students, you should purchase a few step stools. You can probably find them in your local market for just a couple of dollars. A whiteboard is also something you should have, especially if you plan on using this space for club meetings or private lessons. Finally, you should decorate the walls with informational or inspirational posters. Map posters are a big hit. If possible, nail these to the wall. Strong tape could also work, but tack will not last more than a few days.Personal StoryAll my library furniture was given by the school, which saved me a lot of money. I took 2 long tables, 24 plastic chairs, 1 short table, and 4 desks. I bought table covers and my counterpart helped me attach them to the tables. The only negative thing about it is that sometimes I have to share this furniture. When there are big meetings at the school, the school director always takes the library furniture, and brings it back a few days later. I’ve learned to be flexible about this, but I also taught my librarians to advocate for the library and always make sure the furniture is brought back in good condition and in a timely manner.Library Furniture *Svay Antor, Prey VengLibrary Furniture *Ang Sdok, KampotLibrary RulesRules should be clearly posted in the library so that a student walking in could not miss them. To ensure understanding, rules should be written in Khmer, or even both Khmer and English. The librarians should have all the rules memorized because they are the ones enforcing them. You can make up your own rules based on the set-up and needs of your library, but try to keep the rules as concise as possible. Here are a few possible rules for you to think about.Keep quietLeave your bag and shoes at the doorSign in and sign outNo food or drinkTake ONE book and sit down to readAfter reading, put your book on the ‘return table’No writing in the booksLibrary Rules *Svay Antor, Prey VengKeeping Log BooksThe trick is to keep organized and accurate log books that track all library activity, without overdoing it with too many different lists and functions. Here are some example logs you will need to keep.Attendance book- Every student who enters the library should sign their name, so that the library can keep track of how many students visit the library in a certain period of time. It can also help identify who was at the library at a certain time if a problem occurs. The attendance book should have the date, student’s name, class, time enter, and time exit. The students come back to the book on their way out and write the time that they leave. Keep a clock or a watch near the book if you can.Borrowed Books Log- When students borrow a book from the library, they must write their information as well as the book’s information so that the librarian can keep track of all books leaving and returning to the library.Money Book- If you have a lending policy with a fee for late or lost books, you need a log to keep track of money going in and out of the library. Library card List- This is an ongoing list from the opening of the library that says which students have already received their library card for the yearLogs 2-4 are explained in more detail in the next section. All the logs should be kept at the librarian’s desk, and that desk should be located right next to the door. The librarian should be stationed at the desk as much as possible during library hours in order to help students fill out all the logs correctly.Librarian at her desk right next to the door *Svay Antor, Prey VengLending BooksTo make your life, as well as your librarians’ lives easier, you might decide to forego allowing students to borrow books from the library. Admittedly, lending books is the easiest way for books to be lost, and it requires a lot of attention. However, if you think your librarians can handle it, borrowing books can be very exciting and beneficial for the students. Students who borrow books are more likely to take longer or more difficult books. They are also more likely to take non-fiction books over the short-story books.If you have a very small quantity of books in the library, you should not have a lending system. But if you library is larger, students can be allowed to borrow books. If you are unsure if you have enough books, or if you are unsure whether younger students can handle the responsibility, a good thing is to limit the students who can borrow books. For example, only students in grades 10-12 can borrow books. Students in grades 7-9 can come to the library to read, but cannot take a book home. Also, there can be a limit on the number of books a student can borrow at a time. One book per student should be plenty for most libraries.To best avoid lost and stolen books, you must have a clear and simple system for keeping track of the books being borrowed and the students borrowing them. Every system should include a log book. In this log, the student should write the date, their name, class, title of the book, section the book was found, and return date. Including the section is important in case the book is lost and needs to be crossed out on the inventory list. It is much easier to find the book if your inventory list is organized by section. To make signing a book out easier, keep a calendar, and a section reference chart near the librarian’s desk. Then when the student returns the book, their name should be checked or crossed out, and then they can borrow a different book if they choose.A log book for borrowed books *Svay Antor, Prey VengYou must set a maximum amount of time that a student can keep a book. For example, books can be borrowed for two weeks. After two weeks (or the day after a holiday, if 2 weeks happens on a holiday), the borrower is late. To encourage students to bring books back in on time, you can implement a late fee. For every school day that a book is late, the student owes the library 100 riel. So, if a student’s book is due back on a Monday, but is not brought back until the following Monday, that student would owe 500 riel. Again, holidays do not count. Another fee you should think about is a lost book fee. If a student loses a book, they must pay for the book (check the inventory for the price) plus an additional fee (perhaps somewhere between $1.00-$2.50). Having an additional fee is good for two reasons; 1) donated books that don’t have listed prices will still be paid for, and 2) it will prevent your library from becoming a book store where students think they can just keep the books as long as they pay for them. Money collected from the late fee and the lost book fee must be kept track of in another log book. The money can be used to help sustain the library with new supplies and new books.Another way you can keep track of the students who borrow books is to add a library card to your system. Students who are eligible to borrow books from the library can get a library card from the librarian. On the card is their name, class, phone number, and the librarian’s signature. In order to borrow a book, they must trade the card for the book. Cards are kept organized by class in a business card holder box. Then when the book is returned, they get their card back. Having library cards prevents students from borrowing more than one book at a time, and it helps you locate a student who is late returning a book. Keep a master list of the students who already received library cards, so they cannot get more than one in a school year. Then, only students who are responsible enough not to lose their library card are able to borrow books. In the appendix, there is a library card template you can use. On the back side of the cards are rules that can go along with the card. Those are translated here:Only students in grades 10-12 and teachers can receive a library card.In order to borrow a book, you must give this card to the librarian and sign out the book.You can only borrow one book at a time.You must return the book within 2 weeks.If you do not return the book on time, you must pay a fee of 100 riel per day it is late.If you lose the book, you must pay the price of the book, plus an additional fee of 10,000 riel.If you lose your card, you cannot borrow another book.Library cards organized in a business card box, purchased at IBC *Svay Antor, Prey VengPersonal StoryIn my library, I use both the log book and the library cards. The two systems work well together. I also use the late fee, and a lost book fee of 10,000 riel. I was happy to see that the fees really encouraged students to take care of the books and to return them on time. Every month, the library collected about $5 in fees, which is not much for such a big school. Every few months, the money was used to buy a few more books. To clarify, this is a summary of the system in my library. First, a student in grade 10 or higher comes to the library and asks for a library card. He fills out a card, the librarian signs it, and then his name is added to a list of students who already received a card (the list is organized by class). The student can then select a book. He brings the book back to the librarian, fills out the information on the log book, and gives the card to the librarian. The librarian puts it into the box. Two weeks later, he comes back to the library to return the book. His name is checked off in the log book, and he is given his card back. Now he can borrow another book at any time.A library card *Svay Antor, Prey VengLibrary WorkersIt is highly recommended that your library employs more than one librarian. With two or more librarians, responsibilities can be shared, the library can be open more hours, and the two librarians hold each other accountable and honest in their work. Talk to your school director if you only have one librarian. Often the office employs many part-time secretaries. Ask if one of those secretaries could be responsible for a few hours a week at the library.You can also employ the help of student volunteers. At some schools, students in each class have one or two blocks of free time. Sometimes those blocks are labeled as “mowng gayla” or “sports hour” but realistically it’s just free time. If you know that your library will be open at a certain time every day, you can figure out which classes have a free period at that time. Then offer the opportunity for a student to volunteer in the library. Not every hour needs to have a student volunteer. Some example responsibilities of student librarians can include: returning books to the shelf, stacking chairs, sweeping, etc). Student volunteers should attend your library training as well. ScheduleMost importantly, the library schedule should be predictable. If at all possible, open the library at the same time every day. For example, a good schedule would be Monday-Friday from 8:00AM until 10:00AM. This is very easy for students, librarians, and faculty to remember.Try to have a string of consecutive days that the library can be open. It does not have to be open every day if your librarians cannot do that. Tuesday-Friday would be fine, for example. It also should be open at the same time so as to avoid confusion. Two hours a day at least is best because students will always have the break between classes to return and borrow books if they need to. A two-hour opening would be enough to give them one full break to do what they need to do in the library. Then, students who do not have class can use the library during the study hours. Finally, if your school is the type of school that sees a large decrease in students attending in the afternoon, you should aim to open the library in the morning.Once you have a basic idea of when you want the library to be open, bring it to your librarians. Sometimes librarians have teaching hours as well, so you will need to work around that. That is another reason to have more than one librarian. The librarians do not need to be in the library at the same time. They can split the working hours between them.When the schedule is finalized, post it in the library or write it on the whiteboard. Include the librarian’s name, as well as the names of student librarians. This will hold everyone accountable for their times.Library Schedule *Svay Antor, Prey VengTrainingAll librarians and student workers should be mandated to attend training before the library officially opens. Below is the plan I used for my library training. This training takes about 2 hours to complete. It is separated into 4 sections: Book Tour, Getting to Know the Library, Library Function Tour, and Scenarios. Not everything here will apply to your library, but use this to get ideas and help you organize your own training event.Book TourMacro organization- Show where the English books are, versus Khmer books, as well as fiction versus non-fiction.Stickers- Every book has one that correlates to where it is kept within the library.Title and Author- Show them where this information is, especially on English Fiction books.Re-shelving books- Put books back with the spine pointing outwards if they are standing books, or lying with the cover up if they are stacked like that. This information may seem obvious, but it isn’t. Really make this as clear as possible.Getting to Know the LibraryLibrarian’s Desk- There should always be one librarian sitting here.Sign-in book- Every student must sign in and out.Bag Table- The table next to the door where students must put their bag before entering the library, in order to prevent stolen books. The librarian is also the security guard.Textbooks- Show the bookshelves with the national textbooks, and explain the organization system (by grade, subject, etc).Shelf Labels- Walk around the library, reading through every shelf label, and translating the ones in English. Afterwards, make generalizations together about where the topics are located (ex. all the science books are on this side, and all the history books are over there).Section Chart- Direct attention to your poster or chart with the subjects listed along with their assigned color/number/code. This poster will help direct students if they come to the library looking for something specific.Inventory List- This is also organized by subject and labeled with the subject color/number/code.Return Table- The table where students put their book when they are finished reading. They must place the finished book there before they can take a new one from the shelf. Only librarians or student librarians can return books.Library Function TourRules chart- Read through the rules and check understanding. Also if there are more unwritten rules, go over them now (ex. no more than 25 students at a time, keep quiet outside the window also, or the librarian can ask a student to leave at any time).Sign-in Book- The librarian needs to draw and label new columns as the pages fill up.Library Cards- Distribute a card to each attendee and read through the rules on the back. Check for understanding.List of Students- This should be a small notebook organized by grade. As the students receive their card, they add their name to the list.Borrowing Log Book- The student fill this out in blue or black. Then when the book is returned, their name is checked off in red.Card Box- Show how the box is organized by grade, and that there is also a section for teachers. The card is taken from the student borrowing a book, and placed safely in the Card Box until that student returns with the borrowed book.Money Box- If possible this should be kept in a locked drawer. Money collected is to be used for library repairs, printing new cards, and new books. The Payment Book also goes with the money box. Every time money is added or taken from the box, it should be notated in the book.Re-shelving the books- Further explain the color/number/code system, especially if the English Fiction books are somehow categorized by author. Also, when returning books they should look for doubles. Doubles should be kept together.Schedule- Review the schedule. Make sure everyone writes down when they are responsible for the library.Routine- After opening the doors to the library, what happens? Before students are allowed in, the librarians and student librarians must sweep, un-stack chairs, and open the windows. Then before the library doors are closed, they must return all the books, close the windows and the doors to the shelves, and stack the chairs.ScenariosBefore the training ends, you should run through some scenarios with them, to review all the processes of the library. Here is a list of some scenarios you can do.Returning Books- Take random books off the shelves, and leave it to the attendees to return.Lost Sticker- Take a sticker off a book, and watch as your librarian replaces it.New Book- Bring a new book (or pretend an old book is new), and help your librarians put it in the inventory, give it a sticker, and add it to the shelf.Make Library Cards- Every attendee can make their library card at the training session.Sign-in/Sign-out- To make this simple, pretend you are a student. Let the librarian tell you what to do. Put your bag on the table, and sign in.Borrow a Book- Let someone borrow a book, or you pretend to borrow a book.Return a Book- Return the book, check off your name, and get your card back.Return a Late Book- Give an example of a certain amount of days late. Figure out the fee, and then practice recording it in the payment book.Lost Book- Pretend you lost the book that was borrowed. Find it in the inventory list to cross out, and then figure out the fee based on the price and the additional lost book fee. Lost Library Card- Pretend you are a student who has lost his/her library card and wants a new one. Can that student get a new one?The only thing that is left to do now is to open your library. Congratulations! During the first few weeks of the library being open, plan on making yourself available to the library as much as possible. You may want to spend the entire first week with your librarians. Then, as your librarians start to get more comfortable with doing the work themselves, slowly step away and give them complete control. Svay Antor, Prey Veng Ang Sdok, KampotTitle ???????Author ??????????Quantity?????? Price ?????97790254000 ??????_______________________ ???????????______________ ??????______________ ?????????????????___________ ???106045258445 ??????_______________________ ???????????______________ ??????______________ ?????????????????___________ ???97790254000 ??????_______________________ ???????????______________ ??????______________ ?????????????????___________ ???106045254000 ??????_______________________ ???????????______________ ??????______________ ?????????????????___________ ???97790262255 ??????_______________________ ???????????______________ ??????______________ ?????????????????___________ ???106045257810 ??????_______________________ ???????????______________ ??????______________ ?????????????????___________ ???97790264795 ??????_______________________ ???????????______________ ??????______________ ?????????????????___________ ???160237257175 ??????_______________________ ???????????______________ ??????______________ ?????????????????___________ ????. ?????????????? 10-12 ??????????????????????????????????. ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????. ????????????????????????????????????????????. ?????????????????????????????????????????????2????????.??????????????????????????????????????????? 100? ?????? ????????. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????? ?10,000? ?????.?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????. ?????????????? 10-12 ??????????????????????????????????. ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????. ????????????????????????????????????????????. ?????????????????????????????????????????????2????????.??????????????????????????????????????????? 100? ?????? ????????. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????? ?10,000? ?????.?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????. ?????????????? 10-12 ??????????????????????????????????. ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????. ????????????????????????????????????????????. ?????????????????????????????????????????????2????????.??????????????????????????????????????????? 100? ?????? ????????. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????? ?10,000? ?????.?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????. ?????????????? 10-12 ??????????????????????????????????. ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????. ????????????????????????????????????????????. ?????????????????????????????????????????????2????????.??????????????????????????????????????????? 100? ?????? ????????. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????? ?10,000? ?????.?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????. ?????????????? 10-12 ??????????????????????????????????. ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????. ????????????????????????????????????????????. ?????????????????????????????????????????????2????????.??????????????????????????????????????????? 100? ?????? ????????. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????? ?10,000? ?????.?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????. ?????????????? 10-12 ??????????????????????????????????. ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????. ????????????????????????????????????????????. ?????????????????????????????????????????????2????????.??????????????????????????????????????????? 100? ?????? ????????. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????? ?10,000? ?????.?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????. ?????????????? 10-12 ??????????????????????????????????. ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????. ????????????????????????????????????????????. ?????????????????????????????????????????????2????????.??????????????????????????????????????????? 100? ?????? ????????. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????? ?10,000? ?????.?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????. ?????????????? 10-12 ??????????????????????????????????. ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????. ????????????????????????????????????????????. ?????????????????????????????????????????????2????????.??????????????????????????????????????????? 100? ?????? ????????. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????? ?10,000? ?????.???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ................
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