2. Introduction
The Beijing BISS International School Library aims to support the school’s
mission statement “To educate and empower our students to attain
personal excellence and positively impact the world”. The Library will also
aim to support and lead the school in their aim to create students that are
inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-
minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced and reflective. Hence The Library will
aim to provide resources to reflect the diversity of cultures, languages
spoken, ages, curricular and non-curricular needs as well as interests of the
BISS community. Equally, Library staff will support curriculum creation,
development and evaluation.
This procedures manual for the BISS Library attempts to codify the policies
and procedures of the library to provide for the orderly functioning of its
program and services, especially in light of the regular addition of new staff
to the school and library. This is the first edition of the manual, drafted in
April 2011.
Position on Intellectual Freedom
The BISS community supports the American Library Association Library Bill of
Rights in their affirmation that all libraries are forums for information and
ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.
I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest,
information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library
serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background,
or views of those contributing to their creation.
II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points
of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed
or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their
responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with
resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because
of origin, age, background, or views.
VI. Libraries that make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the
public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis,
regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting
their use.
Adopted June 19, 1939, by the ALA Council; amended October 14, 1944; June 18, 1948;
February 2, 1961; June 27, 1967; January 23, 1980; inclusion of “age” reaffirmed January
23, 1996
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3. Description
As of August 2009 BISS has two libraries, one named “Elementary Library”
and the other “Secondary Library”. They are located on the 2nd floor of the
building. The rooms have gone through refurbishing and readapting to the
school needs. In the Summer of 2009 the previous Library saw a split
between the Elementary and the Secondary sections. The latter moved to
the MMR (Multi Media Room), which was already under the supervision of
the librarian and housed a computer lab and some resources. Space is
limited however we have worked hard to maximize the use of the space we
have.
Both libraries use the Dewey Decimal System to classify the materials and
are then divided into Fiction and Non-Fiction sections. Appropriate signage
has been used to guide patrons to find the resources.
The Library Management System “Destiny” from Follett Company was
acquired and installed in early 2010, allowing patrons to search for Library
resources online.
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4. Collection development
The BISS Library collection includes approximately 25.000 titles. There are
also magazines and paid for online resources. Titles in Chinese, Japanese
and Korean are also available. The library is developing a parent section
that includes books on parenting as well as Chinese culture and issues
pertinent to the expatriate community.
Patrons
Users of the Library include students, teachers, staff and parents in the BISS
community. The collection should be developed to reflect the diversity of
cultures, languages spoken, ages, curricular and non curricular needs as well
as interests of the community. Materials with a wide range of difficulty,
levels of instruction, diversity of appeal and points of view will be made
available for users.
Categories and call numbers
A number of categories are used to classify materials. BISS Library uses a
simplified version of the Dewey decimal system. Alterations are made with
fiction books as well as with Biographies, which are traditionally not labeled
920. An effort has been put into deleting different call numbers, but the
catalogue may still include some older materials with old call numbers.
These are the categories currently in use and some of the ones that have
been changed to integrate them into the general categories:
• E: Easy or Everybody books. This category includes picture books.
• JF: Junior Fiction. This category includes fiction titles (chapter
books) for Elementary students.
• J Dewey #: Junior Non-Fiction. Non-Fiction titles for Elementary
students. Often used by Secondary ESOL students as well.
• F: Fiction: Fiction titles for Secondary students and adults.
• REF: Reference titles.
• P: Not yet active. Parent oriented books, including books on living
abroad, living in China and parenting books.
• PROF: Professional titles. Teaching books and materials.
• DVD: DVD materials.
• CH: Chinese language titles.
• K: Korean language titles.
• N: Japanese language titles.
• AB: CD-Roms. Gradually withdrawn.
• T: Teacher materials. Gradually re-labeled as PROF.
• A/CD: Audio materials. Gradually withdrawn.
• AV: VHSs videos. Copies have been withdrawn.
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5. Circulation
The circulation policy aims to reflect and respond the borrowing needs
of the school community. Borrowing times and amounts can be adjusted as
requested and upon agreement with the TL.
• Students up to G1: One book for one week
• Students G2 through G6: Three books for one week
• Students G6 through G12: Three books for two weeks
• Staff: Three books for two weeks
• Parents: Three books for two weeks
• Faculty: unlimited books for six weeks.
The DVD and professional collection will be borrowed by teachers and staff
only.
Generally, items need to be returned before new ones are borrowed. No
fines will be issued for overdue materials.
Patrons can check at any time what items they have checked out by logging
into Destiny. Teachers also have the privilege of request materials online
through Destiny Quest. Tutorials can be found on Appendix IX.
Resource lists for all the different PYP Units of Inquiry have been created
and can be accessed and updated on Destiny. They need to be updated by
the Teacher-Librarian when new resources come in as well as on yearly basis
This is particularly important when the direction of a UOI changes, to make
sure that the resources fulfill their purpose. These lists also need to be
attached to the relevant UOI records on Atlas Rubicon every time a UOI
finishes.
Teachers can create their own resource lists. A tutorial on how to do that
can be found on Appendix IX.
Access to materials
Patrons will have access to different parts of the collection according to
their age, maturity and needs. Elementary students will be encouraged to
use exclusively the Elementary library. In the upper Elementary grades
however, situations will arise which require students to make use of
materials located in the Secondary section. At these occasions the TL will
make use of his/her professional judgment to allow access to these
materials by making sure that no inappropriate materials are used by young
students.
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6. Secondary School students will be encouraged to use the Secondary library.
However they have access to the Elementary library and its materials as
required.
All students will have restricted access to DVDs and materials on the
Professional section. Students will be able to use the parents section but
they will be monitored to make sure that non appropriate materials are nor
being used.
Exceptions can be made upon consultation with the TL.
Circulation procedures
The issue desks of both Elementary and Secondary librates have a printed
list of students, which is regularly updated to reflect changes in student
population. When a patron joins the BISS community, a record is created
according to Destiny specifications.
• Each student has a unique and nontransferable number given to
them by the school and reflected on their ID card. This number will
also be used as library number and will be printed on the
aforementioned list.
• Parents will have a unique number as well, but since they do not
have an ID card, their number will be automatically created by
Destiny when their record is created.
• Faculty and staff have an ID number like students but this is not as
widely used as for students. For example, teachers’ account number
for Studywiz is different to that on their ID cards. Hence their
username will be the first part of their email address (ie “NSurname”
for “Surname, Name”). This is subject to change is the school starts
using the ID card or any other number across the board in the future.
Patrons will be able to borrow items as long as they do not have overdue
materials. While exceptions can be made, every effort should be made to
retrieve items on time. Items will be scanned individually when borrowing
and when being returned to the library to add or delete them from the
patron’s record.
Borrowing data is automatically kept by Destiny and reports can be
produced by the TL.
Every six weeks a rotation of materials occurs when PYP teachers borrow
resources for the UOIs. The Teacher-Librarian should keep an eye on the
dates to be prepared and try to be aware when the dates have been
modified. The Teacher-Librarian will communicate with homeroom teachers
to find out when they need the resources and how they want them,
especially if this occasion can be used for teaching Library skills. In the case
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7. of more than one homeroom teacher per grade level, the Teacher-Librarian
investigate how they want the books issued. In the past, issuing alternate
UOI books to each teacher has resulted on materials being lost in other
classrooms. Teachers being asked to pick up their materials in pairs (so that
they can choose whichever books they want issued to whom) has not proved
extremely successful either, resulting on fewer materials used in the
classrooms. An agreement need to be reached between the Teacher-
Librarian, the teachers and the management as to how to proceed with this
in 2011-12.
Lost or damaged items
BISS has a policy on lost and damaged items that staff and students need to
sign. The School’s policy will be followed. Money is collected for lost library
items will be placed back into the Library budget to replace lost copies by
the Accounts office.
Teachers and staff will be responsible for items that have been issued in
their names, including those for classroom use such as UOI books. The policy
form can be found on Appendix X.
If a student at the end of the year has not returned their borrowed items,
he/she will need to pay for it. Their clearance form should not be signed
until the items are paid for.
Destiny records for parents will be checked before the last week of the year
to make sure they have returned all their items. They will be contacted
otherwise and their child/ren form will not be signed until all items are
returned.
Materials lost by students will need to be paid for. Parents will be informed
by the Teacher-Librarian directly and the homeroom teacher will be advised
about this communication.
An effort will be put into making sure that items are not lost:
1. All items will be returned before the end of the academic year.
2. Teachers are encouraged to keep all Library items to use in their
class in one place. They are given a sign labeling that place as well as
a “Class borrowing sheet” (Appendix XI) which helps teachers and
teaching assistants keeping track of the library books they borrow and
lend to students. However, it is ultimately the teacher’s
responsibility to return the borrowed books.
3. The Library assistants will distribute an overdue list weekly through
the homeroom teachers’ pigeon holes. It is the teachers’
responsibility to communicate their overdues to the students but the
Library Assistants and Teacher Librarian will keep an eye on the lists
to follow up on really overdue materials. In the case of overdue
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8. materials on teachers accounts, the teacher will not be penalized to
not taking items out, but they will reminded to return them. Overdue
lists are issued to them weekly in the same way that students are.
The option of sending overdue notices through email needs to be
considered in the future.
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