Overdue Library Books

Here is how a school librarian who knows the Marvin Marshall approach uses it to have students return books. Before adopting this smart approach, the librarian would send out overdue library notices on three different colors:The first color was a notice that the book was overdue.

The second colored notice announced that a book was really late and that the next notice would be a detention.

The third was a notice that the book was three weeks overdue and that the student had to serve a detention.

The process had turned into a bit of a joke with students who learned that the first two notices really didn’t count. The librarian was sending out more than 200 notices each week.

This is what she wrote in the announcements with a smart approach:
“What would a responsible student do today to renew or return a book before overdue notices tomorrow?”

The only problem with the approach was that the librarian was overwhelmed with students returning or renewing their books that day.

She sent almost no late notices the next day. Wow!

If we would only remember that positivity, choice, and reflection are less stressful and more effective than older, negative, and threatening approaches!

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