Student Library Visits -- Accountability and Statistics

As a librarian, you know that you have many students that come to the library without being part of a class.  Perhaps, it is to use the computers, read a magazine, take a test, or check out a book.  It may be beneficial to be able to account for these students both to show how many students visit the library per hour, per day, per month, or per year and / or to produce a list of the names of the students who came to the library during a particular period on a specific day.

There are a couple of methods to accomplish this; however, you will need to determine whether or not you need statistics for these visits, but not the specific names of the students, the specific name of the students, but not the statistics or both.  To achieve just a list of the student names, the Report Method show below will enable you to record the names, but no statistics will be gathered.  The Generic Statistics Method will just provide statistics The Student Pass Method which is discussed last will provide statistics and will let you look at a particular patron's history to see the dates and times and how many student pass items are listed, but will not yield a report of the student's names that were in the library during a specific period of a specific day.  You will need to use both methods simultaneously to have a list of the patrons who were in the library for a set time period as well as to record the student visits statistically.

Report Method

Karen Ries of Bay Port High School in Wisconsin uses the Patron Reports to provide an hourly list of students in the library and we appreciate her sharing this idea with us.

1.  Go to Tools on the menu bar and select Reports 

2.  Click on the Patron tab and then on the General tab.

3.  Click on the Add icon (+) at the bottom left of the window.

4.  Make the following selections:

     . Report Type:  Patron List - 1 Line

     . Sort By:  Last Name

     . Select By:  Barcode List

5. As students come into the library, make this report window the current window and scan the barcodes of the students as they enter the library.

6. At the end of the class period or day, click on Print.

7. Unlock the report by clicking on the Lock icon on the tool bar at the top of the report and edit the report header information as desired – perhaps to show the period instead of the time or to add the word Attendance.

8. From the File drop-down menu, select Print.

Generic Statistics Method

While not tied to any specific student, an "accountability item" could be set up for Students to Library with a Policy of Accountability and assigned a single barcode which, when scanned, represented one student visit to the library. This barcode could be scanned while in the Statistics (Y) mode and this would generate a statistical representation of the number of students who have come to the library for one reason or another during the school year. This shows usage of the library that might not be reflected in circulation/use of library items since it might be to take a test, study, or use the Internet, but you are still supervising the students.  You will want to deduct the number of items "used" having a Policy of Accountability from your total usage statistics so that your usage statistics reflect item circulation only.  The Usage by Policy section of the Super Summary will provide this information.

Student Pass Method

Lisa Lopez-Carickhoff of West Chester B. Reed Henderson High School in West Chester, Pennsylvania, shared a procedure that she uses to check students into and out of the library.  

While the procedure below reflects a generic student visit, this method could be expanded to be very specific as to the purpose of the visit.  For example, the first letter of the "item" could reflect the purpose of the visit -- A for reading Magazine, B for checking out books, C for computer usage, D for research, etc.  Of course, you would want to instruct students on how to use these codes and post them near the self-service computer for easy reference. If you decide that this alternative method would provide valuable information, then you will want to make an item record for each specific student pass purpose (i.e. Student Pass - Computers, Student Pass -- Research, Student Pass -- Reading, etc.)

Remember, you will want to deduct the number of items "used" having a Policy of Accountability from your total usage statistics so that your usage statistics reflect item circulation only.  The Usage by Policy section of the Super Summary will provide this information.

Creating the Student Pass Item Policy

• Go to Edit on the menu bar and select System Preferences.

• Click on Policies in the Circulation category.

• Click on the Add (+) at the bottom of the Item Policy pane of the window.

• Give the new policy the Policy Name of Student Pass and Policy Short Code of PASS.

• Click on OK.

• Set the following preferences for the Student Pass policy as:

·       Transaction Period of Same Day Checkout

·       Replacement Cost of $0.00

·       Fine Rate of $0.00

·       Declare Lost after set to 9999 days

·       Uncheck box on Holds tab.

·       Set Reservations tab fields to zero.

·       Save the policy.

Creating the Student Pass "Item."

• Go to Show on the menu bar and select Items.

• Click on the Actions Menu icon (gear) at the bottom of the Items List pane and select New Record (Manually).

• Enter Student Pass in Title field.

• Set Policy to Student Pass.

• In Medium Field, click on the drop-down menu arrow and select Add NEW  medium.

• On the Medium Search window, click on Add to List in the bottom-left corner.

• Enter Student Pass in the field provided and click on OK.

• Click on Save in the upper-right corner of the window.

• When Asked if you want to add a copy, click on Yes.

• Change the Barcode to A000.

• Click on Save, then click on Save on the Item Record window.

• Click on the Actions Menu icon (gear) at the bottom of the Items List Pane and select Duplicate.

• Make certain that Duplicate Copies is the option selected and change the Beginning Barcode to A001 and the Number of copies to 999.

Using Student Pass

Students enter the library and log in on a circulation computer with the following procedure:

• Enter barcode (which is the student's ID number) and press <enter>.

• Type A+ last three digits of the barcode/Student ID number and press <enter>. This checks out the Student Pass copy with that number.  On a rare occasion, you may have two students in the library with the same last three digits, then, just have them use the next "barcode" numerically.

• Type in X and press <enter> to clear name before next patron uses the station.

Students leave the library and log out with the following procedure:

• Type A plus the last three digits of barcode/Student ID number and press <enter> to check in the Student Pass.

• Type in X and press <enter> to clear the student's name before next patron uses the station.

At the end of every day, run a Loaned Items report selecting by Title "Student Pass" so that you can manually check in any student pass items that were not checked in properly by the students throughout the day. This is key, so that you get a more accurate time in/time out report for each day, going forward.

Just a reminder, you will want to deduct the number of items "used" having a Policy of Accountability from your total usage statistics so that your usage statistics reflect item circulation only.  The Usage by Policy section of the Super Summary will provide this information.

Thanks, Karen and Lisa, for sharing these fabulous tips!