top of page

Knowledge Center Policies and Forms

 

Our mission is to empower students, staff, and community members to be life-long learners, informed decision-makers, users of information technologies, and enthusiastic readers.  

 

The Knowledge Center is a Preschool through Grade 8 library, which means that patrons, interests, reading abilities and needs of many kinds must mingle within one space.

 

Checkouts

Student patrons are allowed to check out a number of items depending upon their grade levels:

 

Kindergarten:    2

First Grade:        2

Second Grade :  2

Third Grade:       3

Fourth Grade:    4

Fifth Grade:        5

Middle School:  6

 

Students may continue to check out items if one or more are overdue, but may not check out items beyond the numbers above.  This is to encourage personal responsibility and to develop the habit of returning what one has borrowed.

 

Preschool students check one item out per visit that is kept in the preschool classroom library.

Textbooks

Math, Science, and Spanish textbooks are distributed in the homerooms, but are checked out to students using the library system. 

 

Checkouts for textbooks are visible on a student's record.  They are checked out with a due date of the end of the year.  These checkouts do not count against the titles that a child may check out from the library.

 

At this time, it is not possible to check out textbooks to parents or students in grades other than the one designated for the textbooks.  Checkouts of textbooks over the summer must be approved by a teacher.

Donations

The Knowledge Center was built on the generosity of others.  For years, the KC's holdings were updated thanks to the book donations of families and community members here at the school.

 

Thanks to our annual Book Fairs, the Knowledge Center thrives and is able to purchase a steady supply of durable books from library book suppliers.  These books are bound and processed in ways that ensure they will last.

 

It is now our turn to pay the local community back for its generosity to the Knowledge Center.  We no longer accept donations of used materials for our library, but we encourage you to donate your gently-used books to your child's classroom or to other schools in the area.  The Knowledge Center donates its own used materials to other schools in the Ahwatukee and greater Phoenix area that are in the process of building libraries -- just as we were fifteen years ago.  We are happy to help you locate these schools and send your books on to new homes.

You've probably seen the Better World Books donation boxes all around our community.   Better World Books is a reputable organization that resells used books to the benefit of charitable literacy organizations in developing countries.  I personally buy from them frequently. 

 

Treasures 4 Teachers is a local organization that also accepts used books.

Young Adult Titles

Young adult books are those that are considered to be best suited for Grades 6 and up.  This designation is made by the publisher.   Typically, young adult books are more mature in theme and may contain episodes of violence, inappropriate language, or mature situations involving relationships.

 

In the Knowledge Center, these books are kept in a Young Adult section of Fiction.  Students in Grade 6 and above may check these titles out.

 

If a younger student wishes to check out books from the Young Adult section, s/he must have a parent's consent.   Please read and fill out the Young Adult Permission Form to grant your child consent to check out books from this section.

 

 

 

Overdues, Damages, and Lost Materials

The Knowledge Center does not charge fines for overdue materials.  All we want is to get the books back in good condition.

 

However, we understand that there are times when this isn't going to happen :-).  Books that are more than 60 days overdue will be considered "lost."  Replacement costs for the materials will be charged.  Payment can be made with cash or check made out to the Knowledge Center.  At this time, we are unable to accept PayPal or bitcoin <grin>.  However, if you wish to charge the replacement costs to a credit card, we can arrange for billing through the front office.

 

We use the replacement pricing of our book jobber, Follett, to determine pricing.  This replacement price includes the costs of processing the new book to be used in the library, such as adding a mylar jacket or plastic cover.

 

If you prefer to replace the lost book, an exact copy must be provided.  Prior arrangements for this should be made with the librarian.  The Knowledge Center is no longer able to accept any other donated item in lieu of payment.

 

If a lost book is found after payment, the Knowledge Center is unable to issue a refund.  We invite you to keep the book for personal use or to donate it to a classroom.

 

Sometimes a book isn't lost -- it's just damaged.  Often a book can be repaired if a page is just torn or if the binding comes loose, and we expect this kind of normal wear and tear.  Just let us know when the book is returned.  We can fix just about anything.

 

However, there's one kind of damage that is hard to fix.   Water damage is often fatal unless a student brings the the book to the library while it is still damp.  This is the one true "library emergency."  If I can get ahold of a book while it's still damp, I can often dry it is in such a way that the damage is minimized.  If you should discover a library book at the bottom of a backpack that has had an encounter with a water bottle, your best course of action is to "fan" the pages repeatedly until they dry.  (See why it's an emergency?) 

 

Books that have been damaged by any other liquid or substance other than water must be discarded.  Honesty is the best policy where this is concerned.  If a book is turned in with damage and no mention is made of it, we will contact you to discuss replacement.

 

Accounts with outstanding charges will be unable to receive report cards or transcripts until payment is made.  At the end of the school year, all outstanding charges are automatically billed to the family's account in the business office.

 

These procedures will help us to equitably and effectively serve our community. 

 

bottom of page