Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 15, 1990                   TAG: 9003161977
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: N-1   EDITION: NORTH 
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CLASS IN LIBRARY SKILLS MAKES RESEARCH FUN FOR STUDENTS

Ralnesha Harrington brought up the rear, but the others had had a head start on her.

The four Breckinridge Middle School sixth-graders ran across the school's library and over to the card catalog. Once there, they each pulled a drawer out, leafed through the cards and raced over to the shelves.

Aaron found his book first. It was about clipper ships and captains. Ralnesha had a copy of "The Arabian Nights," and Chris came up with a volume about water beetles. Drew's book wasn't on the shelves, but he looked again, just to make sure it had been checked out and he hadn't just missed it.

When they had reshelved the books, they begged Dorothy Lipscomb, the school's librarian, to let them do it again.

The idea of a group of middle-school students enjoying themselves in a library might seem a strange one, unless, of course, the children themselves are the type who prefer an afternoon spent with a copy of "War and Peace" to playing Nintendo.

But the four children are really no different from other 11-year-olds, Lipscomb said. Chris, for instance, collects baseball cards.

Their enjoyment of the library is not unusual, she said. Since the beginning of the year, Lipscomb has been teaching a class in library skills to all the sixth-graders in the school, and it seems to be a hit.

While the students agreed that while the six-week library course is not as much fun as the computer class they have taken, it is a close second.

"They seem to enjoy it," Lipscomb said. "I think students really do like to learn things. Some days, they don't want to leave." Some of the students don't like the class at first, she said, "but that doesn't last long. I'm grateful for that."

Lipscomb and Principal Helen Townsend came up with the idea for the class together. "It's all part of the middle-school concept," Townsend said.

The middle schools attempt to provide a transition between elementary school and high school by tying the students' learning experiences together.

"The library is the pulse point for their academic careers," Townsend said. "It's not a place to be `sent' to, but a resource for them. The skills that need to be developed are very applicable to the classroom."

Lipscomb said that most of what she is teaching is not new to the students. Library skills are taught in elementary schools, she said, and "you add to it as they grow." But her class is the first time it all comes together for them.

The students learn the parts of a book, how to use the card catalog, and how to find books using the Dewey decimal system, the most commonly used library filing system in the world.

They learn where to find encyclopedias, atlases and almanacs, and how to use the library's vertical files, where shorter works are found. Some classes even learn to use the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, an index to magazine articles, Lipscomb said.

She also explains the use of microfiche, which has replaced traditional card catalogs in most area libraries, and about computers, which soon will replace the microfiche.

Lipscomb said she uses videotapes to teach certain subjects instead of teaching them herself. Some of the students, she said, respond better to the tapes. "They're receptive to that."

"It helps you learn faster," Aaron agreed.

One of the most important results of the classes, she said, is that the students learn to find things in the library without help. "They're so proud of themselves" when they do, she said.

"Before, we had to come to our teacher first," Aaron said. "Other people stand in line, but you can do it yourself."

"It takes less time" to find books now, said Chris.

"Now we go straight where we want to go," said Drew.

"It feels great," Ralnesha agreed.

Chris said he has already used what he has learned to help his cousin find books in the public library, Drew has researched topics for a class debate, and Ralnesha, who hasn't finished the course yet, has looked up the Egyptians.

Aaron was so interested in the class, Lipscomb said, that he decided on his own to do a research paper on black Americans and Nelson Mandela. He might turn the paper in for extra credit, he said, but if he doesn't he will "keep it and use the information later."

The class, Lipscomb said, should "better prepare them for high school and college."

This is the first year the class has been taught.

"I hope we will be able to see a difference" in students' research skills in the next few years, Lipscomb said.

She said she also hopes the class will make students more comfortable in the library. "I would like them to be able to come in and do what they would like to do for their own benefit," rather than just completing class assignments, she said.