Book Retriever, or any other classroom library manager for that matter, manual or electronic, can certainly help keep track of your books. Having a classroom library management system is a good start, but if the students are not fully using your system lost books will still be a problem. So here is a quick tip that will help to reduce your loss books rate tremendously.
The Book Retriever Scanning App now has a Student Mode which lets you set up a scanning station for your classroom library. Kids love scanning books, which will translate into a much higher use rate for your system, and a huge reduction in your lost books rate. You may never get to zero lost books, but you can make huge impact on it!
If you are a Book Retriever user, but haven't used the Scanning App, give it a whirl, it is completely free, and it is available for iOS, Android and Kindle devices. For more information on how the scanning app works, visit our Scanning App Help Document.
Setting up a scanning station
Setting up a scanning station is easy. First, you need a device to run the Book Retriever Scanning App. A smartphone will do, but much better is small tablet. An old iPad or Android tablet works fine. If you don't have one, you can pick one up at any electronics retailer very inexpensively for well under $100 used, and under $50 used. Just make sure you get one with an autofocus camera so it can focus up close and get sharp image of the barcode.
In the coming months we'll be talking to our teachers to see how Book Retriever has helped in reducing their lost books. If you have a story to tell, or tip you want to share, please comment below.