Library Staff:  

                Ms. L. Jackson  (Teacher-Librarian)

                Ms. P. Turner  (Library Technician)

Library Hours:  

        Library hours may change each Quarter, depending on whether Ms. Turner can get a lunch when Ms. Jackson is here. We try to keep media centre closures to a minimum and lasting no longer than 30 minutes during the school day.  Ms. Jackson is teaching French 11 in Blocks D and E.   

Library  hours are as follows:

        Day 1:  7:50am  - 3:20pm

        Day 2:  7:50am  - 3:20pm  

Library Collection:  McMath Library holdings number 14 381  titles (as of  June 27, 2007), support all areas of the curriculum, and are very current.  We also have the very beginnings of a French Immersion collection (2 668 titles as of June 27/07).  We have a photocopier available for student use (15¢ per page) to save packing home some of the larger reference books.

Students may print from the computers at at 10¢ per page.  (Please note:  Only the Parent purchased iMac computers are capable of printing.)

Behavioural Expectations:  An atmosphere conducive to quiet reading and working is the goal at all times.  McMath Library also supports the three B's of McMath Pride:

        1. Be respectful of yourself, all people, and property.

        2. Be here on time, prepared, and ready to work.

        3. Be safe.

Internet Policies:  The twelve student use computers here in the library are all multi-purpose and may be used to access the Internet for curricular purposes.  Students must sign up at the circulation desk and present their Agendas, with page 7 signed by a parent, in order to do any independent internet searching.   No student email use permitted on the library computers!  Please check the Student agenda for the complete Acceptable Use Policy of the school / district.

District policy prevents any saving of student material on the library computers.  The Acceptable Use Policy discourages the use of email on library computers, though occasional exceptions can be made.  A memory stick / flash drive is the preferred location for saving and recovering student work.

The library also has AlphaSmarts available for use in the library, the school, or to take home for overnight use.  These allow students to do their word processing anywhere, save the file on the AlphaSmart, and then download, via USB port, to any computer word processing program for editing and printing.

Borrowing Policies:  All printed holdings may be signed out by students.  Library cards MUST be presented at the circulation desk in order to sign out or renew library materials. Cards from previous years may be used only as back-ups.  The teacher-librarian is able to print replacement library borrower cards at a cost of $1.00 per card.  Students are strongly urged NOT to sign out books for other people.

        Regular Loan Materials:  These include all books from the regular library shelves plus the paperback racks.  Students may have a maximum of 5 items out on loan (2 on the same subject or by the same author) at any one time.  The loan period is two weeks  (14 days), and items may be renewed for another two weeks.  An overdue charge of 10¢ per item per day is assessed upon the return of the overdue item.  There is no maximum fine.  Books reported as lost will be assessed a replacement cost charge plus a processing fee OR accrued fines, as deemed appropriate by the teacher-librarian.

        Reserve / Reference Loan Materials:  These are materials that are located on specially designated shelves within the library collection and include all nonprint items and specialty loans such as magazines, videos, vertical file, etc.  Students may have a maximum of 2 of these items out on loan at any one time.  The loan period is from after school on the current day to before period one the next school day.  An overdue charge of 25¢ per hour, up to a maximum of $1.00 per day is assessed upon the return of the overdue item.  There is no total maximum fine.  Items reported as lost will be assessed a replacement cost charge plus a processing fee OR accrued fines, as deemed appropriate by the teacher-librarian.

Overdue Policies:  A list of all students owing overdue materials and/or fines is posted weekly in the library  (on the bulletin board opposite the entrance to the media area) and on the window facing the rotunda.

Students with overdue materials and/or fines may continue to borrow materials provided:

        • no Reserve or Reference materials are overdue;  and / or

        • no more than 3 items are overdue at any one time; and / or

        • no overdue obligations exist from previous years; and /or

        • the total accumulated overdue charge is less than $2.50.

Students who frequently have overdue books and/or take a long time to pay their fines will find that the number of items in their borrowing limit is reduced for a time equal to their delinquency.

At year end, books not returned by the last day of regular classes will be deemed lost and charged as such.  They will be subject to a $10.00 nonrefundable processing fee, plus the actual cost of replacing the resource.  Students who have not resolved their library obligations by June 16 may not receive their yearbooks at the same time as their classmates.  Students are strongly urged to resolve all library obligations well before the distribution of the annuals so that they can participate in this social event.