THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 1, 1995 TAG: 9502280096
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
Thirty students looking for the same book on dinosaurs the day before an assignment is due used to be a librarian's nightmare.
Now, librarians are staying one step ahead of the kids and their assignments by having the needed materials ready and waiting.
Is it ESP?
No. It's just a case of good planning through a new program called Assignment Alert, started this year at the Great Neck Library.
All city libraries hope to offer the program eventually.
``We're trying to get more in sync with the schools around here,'' said Jackie Lewis, the Great Neck area librarian who ``borrowed'' the idea for the local program from another state. ``It's better if we (the schools and libraries) work hand-in-hand, because we're educating students too.''
In September, Lewis mailed off Assignment Alert forms, in pads of 100, to each of the seven schools in the Great Neck area. She included a note explaining how to participate.
``It used to be that I would write a little note and send it across the street to let them know something was coming up,'' said Joan Nolan, the head librarian at Lynnhaven Middle School. ``Now, with these sheets, the teachers do it on their own.''
When Nolan received her forms, she distributed one to each teacher.
The Lynnhaven Middle school library has routinely asked teachers to fill out a sheet with upcoming school projects so that the needed books could be reserved ahead of time or put aside for in-school research. That's the same concept and reasoning behind Assignment Alert, Nolan said.
The forms are pre-printed and ask basic information such as teacher, grade, school, description of the assignment, due date and any suggested reading.
Teachers are asked to submit the forms at least a week before the assignment begins. Forms can be dropped off at the library or faxed. by CNB