Hours of Operation
Tawnya works on Mondays and Tuesdays. Our goal is to have the library open every day at lunch! If you know an adult who can volunteer, contact Tawnya! Below is a breakdown of the weekly schedule:
| Weekly Library Schedule 2007-2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| Tim (2/3) 9:15-9:55 |
Robin (4/5) 9:15-9:55 |
Available for Classes | Available for Classes | Available for Classes |
| Maya (2/3) 10:00-10:40 |
Open/Prep 9:55-10:20 |
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| Deni (2/3) 10:45-11:25 |
AJ (4/5) 10:20-11:00 |
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| Recess 11:25-11:40 |
Open/Prep 11:00-12:00 |
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| Nobie (K/1) 11:40-12:20 |
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| Open for Lunch 12:20-1:30 |
Open for Lunch 12:00-1:30 |
Closed No Volunteer 12:00-1:30 |
Closed No Volunteer 12:00-1:30 |
Open for Lunch (When Volunteer is Available) 12:00-1:30 |
| Brendan (K/1) 1:30-2:15 |
Jessica (4/5) 1:30-2:15 |
Available for Classes | Available for Classes | Available for Classes |
| Laura (K/1) 2:15-2:55 |
Early Release Day | |||
| MS Study Hall Rotation 3:10-3:35 |
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Library Policies
- Borrowing Books:
- K/1: 1 book for 1 week; books stay in the classroom and do not go home.
- 2/3: 2 books for 1 week; students may take books home.
- 4/5: 2-3 books for 1 week, sometimes more if they are school-related; students may take them home.
- 6/8: 3 books (more if school-related) for 3 weeks; students may take them home.
- Adults (staff and parents): up to 20 books; books are due at the end of the semester.
- Overdue and Lost Books
- Books should be returned on their due date, but there are no fines for overdue books.
- Students and adults are expected to pay for lost books. Bills will be sent home periodically, and SFUSD policy allows the school to withhold report cards for students who have not paid for lost books (applies to middle school only).
- Donations
- The library welcomes donations of money, time, books, magazines, and media items (DVD's, videos, etc.)!
- Materials should be in good condition-- either new or gently used.
- The library will decide how to use the materials: add them to the collection (usually new, hardback books), use them for the Grab 'N Go book bins (paperbacks), save them for giveaways, or donate them to charity.
Staff
Tawnya has been the librarian since January of 2002. From 1997 - 2001 she was a 3/4/5th grade teacher at SFCS (back when there were three grades per classroom!). Tawnya earned her CA Multiple Subject teaching credential from San Diego State University. She also holds an MA is Social Science from San Francisco State University and a BA in American Studies from Wesleyan University. She is currently earning her Masters in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University. Tawnya is living proof that education is a life-long experience!
Parent volunteer Deena Gwin has been a part of the library since Tawnya became the librarian in 2002. Deena is the mother of Trevor, now a 7th grader at SFCS. Deena spends one entire day of her week in the library, and all would be chaos without her. She straightens shelves like a reverse tornado, obliterating destruction and leaving order in her wake. She checks out books, shelves, and is the only person in the library who can flawlessly apply plastic book covers to new books.
When Deena is not working her magic in the library, she and her husband Barry own and manage the San Francisco Scooter Centre.
Grandparent Barbara Levy has been volunteering for our school since her grandson Jonah, now a senior in high school, first started kindergarten at SFCS. Her younger grandson Jeremy is now in 8th grade. Like Deena, Barbara dedicates an entire day each week to helping in the library. She checks out books for all the younger students, and processes new books during every spare minute she has. She is a dedicated regular volunteer (except during baseball season, when she occasionally types "SF Giants" into the computer instead of a student's name). We are very happy to have Barbara back after recovering from her broken wrist!
Bob Conklin, Senior Volunteer-About-School and Master Tuesday Envelope Man, helps out whenever he can. Bob is the dad of middle schooler Brendan and fourth grader Marion. He filled in for Barbara when she was injured, shelves madly when hiding from all the papers in the main building, and can sometimes be seen playing string games with students during lunch.
History
The SFCS library was started around eight years ago by Robin Sharp, a former Head Teacher at Community School. She obtained books from several sources, including discarded books from other libraries as well as through grants and state monies. The library was originally located on the 3rd floor in what is now Gretchen's room.
After several years, the library was relocated to the bungalow so that all classrooms could be in the building and students could have easy access to the library at recesses. A parent was hired to organize the books and host classes to come check out books using a card system.
In January of 2002, Tawnya Dudash, who had been a 3/4/5 classroom teacher at SFCS for four years, came back from maternity leave and began working in the library three days a week. She has been here ever since! The funding sources have gradually changed, and in the Fall of 2007 the librarian position (two days a week) is funded solely through Prop H money.
Many of the original books in the library have been replaced with newer books. In 2003 and 2004 Tawnya, together with some phenomenal volunteers, automated the entire collection. That means that instead of using a card catalog to find books and cards and pockets to check books out, the entire system is computerized.
Our Collection and Circulation
Today the library has 8,070 books! We've processed over 300 books this fall alone! Anyone can view the collection of books we have in the library (see the top left orange link above) and the computer keeps track of which books are checked out and to whom. You can search for a book and see if it is currently checked out.
Students are checking out MORE and MORE library books! In the fall of 2006 a total of 1,789 books were checked out. One year later, in the fall of 2007, there were 4,007 books checked out! That's more than DOUBLE the number of books! Which means that SFCS students are reading more than ever before!
The library has no annual budget from the school, so books come from many sources: from money earned at book fairs, through donations, from state allocated money, and through wonderful resources such as the Children's Book Project.
In the fall of 2007, we were lucky enough to be the recipients of the annual book drive held by the San Francisco office of McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. Contact Amy Borngesser spearheaded the effort, which resulted in six large boxes of books! Thank you, McCarthy!
