New Town High School Textbook Management

	New Town High School Textbook Management System Textbook Barcoding Day (cont.) \| Library Book Shelving Day ....
Barcoding day at New Town High School was an outstanding example of TEAMWORK and the implementation of vision for Total Textbook Management. Using technology to effectively and efficiently manage resources, barcode symbology, and Follett's Textlink software, the New Town High School community will be able to: Access information about textbook holdings/ownership Inventory textbooks within hours rather than days Increase student accountability for textbook loans Determine, at any given moment, the circulation status of a textbook Increase textbook acquisition efficiency Search for specific textbook title in a matter of seconds Generate computerized reports such a circulation status, outstanding obligations, inventory, etc.

Components of a Total Textbook Management System include the following: (1) the database, (2) barcode symbology, (3) student ID cards with patron barcode, (4) textbooks, (5) computer and barcode scanner(s), and (6) TEAMWORK
1. The Database Total Textbook Management begins with the building a database of holdings using Follett's Textlink software. Beginning in April 2003, the Office of Library Information Services began populating the database with bibliographic and vendor information for the textbooks purchased for New Town High School. In order to do this task in advance of shipment of textbooks to the school, copies of purchase requisitions were provided to the Automation and Media Processing Center by the Office of Purchasing.
	With the database complete, the barcoding team of 47 BCPS employees began the work. Thanks to Bill Groth of Technology Support Services, 12 library media specialists (Towson University School Library Media Cohort), 19 teachers, 10 support personnel from the Pulaski Warehouse, and 5 staff members of the Office of Library Information Services, the task of barcoding and moving textbooks in the departmental storage areas was a most successful operation.
2. Barcode Symbology Barcodes are an integral component of the Total Textbook Management system. A unique barcode label is affixed to every textbook (back cover and verso of the title page). Once every textbook is assigned a unique barcode number, the barcode number range for the set of textbook titles is scanned into the database record.
	Commercially produced plastic covered barcodes are affixed to all textbooks in two places - back outside cover and verso of title page.
3. Student ID Card Every student at New Town High School will be issued a photo student ID card that has a unique patron barcode. When students check out textbooks and library books, they will use this card for the transaction. The database record for items checkout to the student will be matched to the student's barcode number and name.
	New Town High School students will be issued a student photo ID card prior to the first day of school. Letters to parents are on their way!
4. Textbooks According to the database as of July 15, 2003, 767 unique textbook titles comprise the New Town High School inventor. A unique title may represent 1 - 100+ textbooks.
	This photo represents only one cafeteria table of textbooks shipped to New Town High School. 27 pallets of textbooks were unpacked on July 14, 2003.
5. Computer and Scanner With the database mounted on the computer, portable scanners are used to check out textbooks to students by scanning the student ID card with the textbook record. Also, portable scanners are used to conduct an inventory with speed and efficiency.
	The Follett Textlink software will operate on the school network making it accessible to all departments within the school. Staff will have access to portable scanners to checkout textbooks to students and to conduct inventory.
6. TEAMWORK The following photos illustrate the work performed (and the fun had) by the team on July 15 to barcode and move textbooks to departmental storage areas.