Procedures Policies & Expections

Prodedures Policies & Expectations

Fiction and Non-Fiction Sections of Media Center

Teachers: Login

The Media Center opens at 8:00 am and closes 4:00 pm. Students may go to the Media Center when they enter the building in the morning if they have a pass. They may stay after school if they have permission and as long as they are busy and follow the behavior expectations listed below. Most teachers provide classroom time for students to use the Media Center when they make assignments that require research or a need for students to use the Media Center's equipment.

Kearney Public Schools
Library Media Program Mission Statement

The library media program plays a critical role in the teaching and learning in Kearney Public Schools. The mission of the program is to ensure that students and staff become locators, evaluators, and users of information to solve problems and to become information literate life-long learners. Additionally, the library media program strives to foster an appreciation of reading and literature in our community of learners.

Checking Out Materials from
the Media Center

All print materials in the Sunrise Middle School Media Center may be checked out by students and staff members. Students may check out regular fiction and non-fiction books for approximately three weeks. Checkout periods are set so that regular books are due each Wednesday. Reference books may be checked out at the end of the school day and are due at the beginning of the next school day. Back issues of magazines maybe checked out for one week; current issues may not be checked out. A Date Due slip is placed in books at the time of checkout which shows the date the item is due. Students are also reminded during morning announcements at the beginning of the day. Staff members may check out materials for as long as they are needed. All materials must be returned at the end of the school year.

Materials that are not returned on time or are lost are subject to the provisions of the Kearney Public Schools Overdue Materials/Lost Materials Policy.

Kearney Public Schools Library Media Centers

Overdue Material/Lost Material Policy

1. When items are kept beyond the checkout period, a fine of $.10 is charged for each school day the item is late.

2. Fines cannot total more than the purchase price of the item or $3.00, whichever is less.

3. When items are lost, students are charged the original purchase price of the item ($2.00 for all magazines) plus a replacement fee of $3.00 for books or $2.00 for periodicals. The replacement fee is charged to help offset the additional costs that are incurred when items need to be reordered (i.e. shipping and handling, new computer records, price increases, etc.). The replacement fee is also in lieu of any overdue fines that have been incurred. Students are expected to pay for lost items promptly, so that the ordering of replacement items can be expedited.

4. If lost items are found and returned, the original purchase price of books or $2.00 in the case of periodicals is returned, but not the replacement fee. If lost items are returned soon after being reported lost, the replacement fee may be waived and replaced by an overdue fine at the discretion of the Library Media Specialist.

5. If a student damages an item, a charge for repair or rebinding may be made at the discretion of the Library Media Specialist.

6. Students are notified of overdue items and/or fines through the teacher/advisor meetings at KHS, their teams at HMS or their QT class at SMS. Parents or guardians are notified by mail when appropriate.

7. Students with overdue items or fines that haven't been paid may have their library media center privileges restricted or revoked.

8. Each building may institute their own procedures so that this policy is carried out fairly and efficiently.

Student Behavior

The behavior expected of students in the Media Center is based on the Three R's of Sunrise Middle School---Respect, Responsibility & Resourcefulness. Students will be courteous to Media personnel, requesting assistance when needed and waiting patiently to be helped. Students will use an acceptable voice and appropriate language, refrain from unnecessary physical contact and respect the property of others persons and the school. Students will return books on time, paying fines on late items with a positive attitude and acceptable disposition. Students will maintain on-task behavior, working quietly and bothering others. Students will inform teachers or Media personnel of damaged items immediately. Students will treat computers appropriately. Students will use problem solving skills and will learn a variety of ways to research topics and identify available resources. Students will make use of available media supplies and will return media property that is found.

INTERNET USE

Sunrise Middle School believes that access to the Internet is an important educational resource for its students. We also understand while the Internet contains many valuable educational resources, there are also some which are unacceptable and offensive. Student use of equipment, computers, network resources, and the Internet is a privilege, not a right, and inappropriate use will result in a cancellation of that privilege. Students are expected to abide by the following rules:
1.    Internet use must be related to school assignments
2.    Sending or knowingly receiving any materials that are in violation of any law is prohibited
3.    Commercial activities are prohibited
4.    Accessing material that is obscene, harmful to minors or inappropriate for education is prohibited
5.    Use appropriate and polite language; no profanity and nothing abusive
6.    Don‚t reveal your real name, address phone number, or those of others; protect your own privacy that of others
7.    Be aware that E-mail and storage of your documents is not guaranteed to be private
8.    Security is very important; do not tell your password to anyone else; do not use another person‚s account
9.    Only use electronic mail, chat rooms and other forms of direct electronic communications for the purposes related to education within the context of a Kearney Public Schools related assignment or activity.
10.    Permission of a staff member must be obtained before downloading of files or printing documents
11.    Vandalism---any malicious attempt to harm or destroy data or hardware---will not be tolerated
12.    Spreading of viruses, „hacking‰ and/or attempting to otherwise compromise any computer or network system‚s security is prohibited
13.    Permission is required before uploading any programs to the system; U.S. Copyright Laws must be obeyed.
Students who knowingly violate the above rules will be dealt with according to the Sunrise Middle School student discipline policies, or any applicable Civil or Criminal Laws. Such violations may result in termination of the student‚s account/access, suspension, expulsion, or any other appropriate school penalties, or legal prosecution. By using the computers or network system participates agree to hold Kearney Public Schools harmless from any claims or damages arising from such use. Kearney Public School District makes no warranties for the information or the services provided. Students will receive a written agreement to sign and return for Rules of Internet Use. Details and definitions of the full Kearney Public Schools Acceptable Use Policy 5400.10 can be reviewed at any media center in Kearney Public Schools.