Summer is winding down, and that means one thing for library staff: back-to-school season is here! Whether you’re running a school library, a public library gearing up for after-school crowds, or a resource center supporting teachers or homeschool families, the weeks before the first bell are some of the busiest of the year. A little preparation now can save you a lot of scrambling later. Let’s look at getting your library ready for the rush.
Get Your Collection Ready
Before your students even arrive, make sure your shelves are in their best state.
- Refresh Your Displays: Whether you’ve got a batch of freshly cataloged books or are working with what you’ve already got, now is the time to build strong displays to attract new or returning patrons.
- Hot tip! As you’re locating books for display, keep an eye out for books and resources that will work for fall as well. It’s right around the corner!
- Check Your Textbook and Curriculum Tracking: If your library tracks textbooks or curriculum kits, back-to-school is the moment to confirm every item is checked in, condition notes are current, and assignments from the previous year are cleared out. For a deeper look at keeping this process organized, we’ve written about it before in Tracking Textbooks with Your ILS.
- Audit Your Sublocations: For school libraries, the new school year means new classroom assignments. If you use sublocations to organize materials by room, grade level, or department, now is the time to make sure they still reflect reality. We covered the basics of this feature in Using Sublocations to Increase Discoverability.
Set Your Patrons and Staff Up for Success
New students, new teachers, and new volunteers all need to learn your system fast. We’ve thoughtfully built Surpass Cloud to help you streamline your work processes, but after years of watching what libraries struggle with most at this time of year, we have a few suggestions that should be helpful for all libraries.
- Batch Import Your Patron Lists: Rather than entering new students or staff one by one, use your ILS to import class rosters in bulk. This is one of the biggest time savers of the entire school year.
- Train Your Volunteers Early: If your library relies on volunteers, get them comfortable with your system before the crowds arrive. We shared some helpful tips in Volunteers and Your ILS.
- Point Teachers to Your OPAC: Teachers are some of your best partners in getting students reading. Show them how to search your online catalog and partner to build classroom-ready resource lists and curriculum support materials. Make sure to remind them that your catalog is available even when you’re not.
- Communicate Early and Often: Due dates, orientation schedules, and library hours all change at the start of the school year. Automated reminders and notices through your ILS keep everyone on the same page without adding to your workload.
- Invite Classes for Library Orientation: Partner with teachers to bring in their classes for live catalog search demos. Make sure to cover circulation basics here so that your students are not intimidated by the checkout process.
Conclusion
Back-to-school season moves fast. With your collection organized, your patron records ready, and your communication tools set up in advance, you can spend less time troubleshooting and more time doing what you love most: connecting students and staff with the resources they need. Here’s to a smooth start to the school year! Serving K-12 schools? Learn more about how Surpass supports K-12 libraries.
About Surpass
Surpass Cloud is the easy-to-use, cloud-based library management system for libraries of all types and sizes. Whether you’re a school, church, museum, business, or any other organization with resources to lend, Surpass is likely a good fit for you. We pride ourselves on being affordable and flexible, with an expert support team ready to help you at a moment’s notice.
