General Rules:
Students who use the library’s resources–the space, its materials, and the guidance of the staff–are expected to comport themselves respectfully, with consideration for those around them, and to work quietly. Consumables must be handled responsibly. Lids are required when patrons handle beverages, and patrons are responsible for any damage/clean-up due to spills/messes. Students may sign-out EHS library materials with their own ID cards only; people may not sign out library materials for other individuals.
Circulation:
Regular circulation time is three weeks, and there is a five-cent fine per day* for overdue materials in this category. Such materials can be identified by their white due date card. All fiction books fall into this circulation category.
Overnight circulation materials can be identified by their orange due date card. There is a one dollar per day fine* for overdues of this type. It is especially important that students return these materials in a timely manner because they are often part of a collection pulled especially for a particular class project. Other students may wish to use the same materials during the same time period. *See special fine section at bottom of page.
The only other circulation special circumstance involves a blue due date card. This signifies a week-only circulation time period, which is almost exclusively reserved for DVDs. The fine for items with a blue due date card is a dollar per day, to be adjusted as needed.
Reference books do not circulate. Students are invited to photograph pages with their cell phones in order to use them for research.
Books checked out at the very end of the school year are not due back until the beginning of the next school year. There are no designated library hours over the summer break. Contact the main office to schedule your visit with the library administrative assistant.
Study Hall Passes:
Study hall passes are honored when the library has one or fewer classes scheduled in its main space. A total of four students (first come, first served) from each designated study hall will be permitted per library period open to such passes. Students initiate passes to the library using the online ehallpass system, and these are approved either by study hall proctors or by subject teachers who wish their own students to use the library’s resources specifically for a class project (This latter situation is the only type of pass honored during a student’s lunch). There is more latitude by the library staff given to students on study hall passes not issued by subject teachers; that is, such patrons are not necessarily expected to be diligently working on specific projects. Students may surf acceptable web sites (no violent games, please!) and/or talk quietly. All visitors must have their ehallpasses tagged as “arrived” upon their arrival and designated as “returning” upon their departure at the library’s entrance. One visit per school day is encouraged in order to accommodate all students wishing to enjoy the library’s resources.
Students can learn which study hall periods are available to them by checking the daily announcements and inquiring about the email sent to faculty/staff by Ms. Bower near the end of each school day.
Students whose names appear on the library restricted list may not work in the library on a study hall pass until their library obligations are resolved. The restricted list is updated every month. Students on pass restriction may not visit the library.
Computer Use:
A handful of computers (10 HPs with Windows 2011) are available for general student use between 7 AM-block 1, during study halls, and after hours (The library currently closes at 3 PM). There is one catalog quick search machine for patron use.
The library has one photocopier machine, several black-and-white printers and one color printer for student use. There is a fee of ten cents per page for the photocopier and twenty cents per page for the color printer. Black-and-white copies are free to students (up to ten pages per research article); a fee of ten cents per page is assessed for amounts over the ten-page limit for black-and-white copies. Color print-outs are 20 cents per page. Students are encouraged to share documents electronically via Google Drive, rather than print, whenever possible.
The EHS Library adheres to the rules of the East Penn School District and its current Acceptable Use Policy. Near each library computer is an easily-read reminder containing the information immediately below.
Concerning electronics use, the following are not permitted:
- Personal E-mail (EPSD gmail acceptable)
- non-educational videos, games and forums/blogs, especially sites that feature/encourage violence
- Flash drives
- Chat rooms
- Any other external device
- phone calls/photography using personal devices for non-academic purposes
Google Docs is the best/most reliable way to transport information to and from Emmaus High School. Saving information to the district’s network (H drive) under their ID# is another option, but students should be advised that they will not be able to access this drive from home.
Fines
As previously stated, the color of the card slipped into the book jacket at checkout hints at the fine for overdue materials.
White due date cards generally denote a nickel-a-day fine; colored due date cards indicate a stiffer, dollar-a-day fine for higher-demand items.
When late materials are returned to the library, a fine that has accrued to reach the cost of the book is generally halved. An exception to this occurs with DVDs for the junior-year Life on the Silver Screen project. Because “holding these items hostage” for longer than the one-week circulation time severely hampers other students’ ability to use them, the dollar-a-day fine stands in full until the fine reaches the purchase price of the DVD.
Patrons who have lost library items have 60 Destiny catalog days during which to replace the item in kind rather than in cash/check form, if desired. After 60 days, the library will only accept monetary reimbursement (update to the EPSD Board Policy – summer 2018).
When can students visit the library?
When can a student visit the library to complete a quick task(s), such as selecting a book, renewing a book, claiming an ID, settling a debt, or printing? There are FIVE options!
1. During the time between the library’s opening (7 AM daily) and the start of block 1.
2. During Hornet Homeroom, on any day except Thursday. An ehallpass or yellow paper pass from the HR teacher will admit a student for quick in-and-out tasks, like the ones mentioned above.
*Students wishing to stay for the entire homeroom should get a pass from the academic teacher for whom they need to complete work. This restriction is due to space limitation, as the library is home to three Hornet Homerooms every day plus a HH coverage on many days.
3. During the student’s academic class. An academic teacher can send his/her own student to the library for a quick visit during actual class time using an ehallpass or a yellow paper pass. This holds true whether the library is OPEN or CLOSED. If the teacher doesn’t mind the student missing a few minutes of class, neither do we!
4. During a study hall. If the library is OPEN, the student can accomplish his/her task at any point during a library visit. If the library is CLOSED–and we need to be sometimes b/c of class coverage and meetings–we STILL accept students who present passes from their academic teachers. Our more veteran teachers may recall that we used to refer to this as a “pre-signed pass.”
So, for example, a student can visit us during a study hall using a pass made out from his/her own social studies teacher to the EHS Library…and the work done in the library must be for social studies. This is an opportunity for specific, sustained academic work or the quick completion of an academic task; students using this option to socialize only will be returned to study hall. Acquiring a pre-signed pass requires a little planning on the part of the student but is well worth it if the need for library time is indeed great.
5. After school. The library is open until 3 PM every day except Monday (when we are closed for faculty meetings).