School Handbook

Before you begin

Please use the Contents on the left side of the screen to navigate to a particular section on this page.

Still can’t find what you’re looking for? Use the magnifying glass in the upper right corner to search the site.

Welcome

The following guide contains information on the following topics to start your school year:

Download the Welcome Back School Library Staff guide

August 2024

How to Run Your School Library

The Operations Manual is designed to support staff who work on the front lines with patrons at RSA member libraries.

Go to the Operations Manual page

The Documentation Index contains a list of every RSA document on this support site.

Go to the Documentation Index page

Circulation

User Registration for School Libraries Standard

Students attending RSA School Libraries are permitted to have a card both at their local public library and at their school library. September 2024.

Download the User Registration Standard for School Libraries standard

User Registration for School Libraries Guide

Instructions on how school libraries should register student and faculty users in WorkFlows. September 2024.

Download the User Registration for School Libraries guide

User Registration for School Libraries Video

Watch the video “User Registration for School Libraries” 10:41 minutes

Circulation Overview for School Libraries Video

Watch the video “Circulation Overview for School Libraries” 46:16 minutes

Discarding a Lost Item from a Graduated Student Procedure

Note: This should only be done with items that belong to your library. If it belongs to a different library, please contact them about the issue. September 2024.

Download the Discarding a Lost Item from a Graduated Student procedure

Special Due Date Helpers

This guide discusses how to use the special due date helper in the checkout, renew user, and renew item wizards.

View the Special Due Date Helpers page to download the guide or watch a video

Learn on YouTube

Head over to our YouTube channel to find a playlist curated just for school libraries.

Cataloging

Cataloging Links

Cataloging At-A-Glance

Cataloging Chats

Cataloging Parameters

Cataloging Policies

Cataloging Site Visits

Cataloging Training

How to Catalog in WorkFlows (Cataloging Handbook)

For more info beyond these topics, see the Cataloging Handbook.

Reports, Data, and Statistics

Monthly Statistical Reports page – updated monthly, these downloadable reports share collection, hold transit and circulation info.

System Generated Reports page – a grid/matrix documenting all the reports that RSA sends out through our system.

Annual Requirements

Illinois State Library Annual Certification 2024 (closed)

A comprehensive guide to completing the certification can be found at this external site.

It is anticipated that the window for completing the 2025 certification will be between January 1st and March 31st.

In compliance with Illinois statutes and administrative rules [23 Ill. Adm. Code 3030.200], annual certification is required of ALL library system members in order to retain system membership and eligibility for grants administered by the Illinois State Library. Examples of Illinois State Library grants include public and school library per capita grants, and public library construction grants. Completion of the ILLINET Interlibrary Loan & Reciprocal Borrowing Statistical Survey is a prerequisite of certification.

The Illinois State Library Annual Certification form has been streamlined and moved to the Library Directory and Learning Calendar, (L2), https://librarylearning.org/.

RSA Schools Grant Survey 2024 (closed) 

All School, Special, and Academic Members must fill out a short survey to provide your Collection Budget total and Service Population for the school year.

Every year, RSA provides data to help RAILS determine the total grant to RSA.  We need data about your enrollment and collection budget.  In 2024 the survey was due by COB 25 September. 

Providing this data is about the most important thing you can do as an RSA member.  In 2020, RAILS grant funds for School, Special, and Academic libraries ranged between $5,499 and $9,571.  Libraries who don’t provide data result in a loss of grant funds for your library.

You must submit ONE survey per RSA Member.  If your library has branches, please fill out the survey with the combined data for all the branches automated in RSA (i.e. using WorkFlows).  Non-automated buildings ARE NOT included in your counts.  Your response should be the total of all the branches covered by your RSA membership (2 libraries for AC Central, 3 libraries for Abingdon – Avon, etc.)

This survey will be sent out via email, so be sure to subscribe to updates.

End of Semester Dates

Update from August 2024

It is not too early to start planning for the end of the year and the summer break.

• End of Semester dates for ALL school libraries who use them have been adjusted to 5/16/2025.
• If you wish to set a different End of Semester date for your school, you must send an email to the RSA Helpdesk notifying us of the date that you wish to use.
• Make sure to backup your Workflows Configuration Folder and make sure that it’s somewhere that you can find it at the beginning of the new school year. See below for instructions.
• You may start submitting your closure dates for the 2024/2025 school year as soon as you know them. To Submit closure dates, please send an email to with the closure dates listed. Please do not send calendars.
• If your library will be providing services after Friday, May 16th and need to continue to place/receive holds, you must contact both the RSA Helpdesk AND the Delivery Helpdesk to set up exceptions to these dates.
• Friday, May 23rd is the last date of delivery to school libraries. If you have questions or need assistance, please email the Delivery Helpdesk .

During the summer break, the RSA cataloging department will not place holds on school libraries’ items that are cataloged on brief records, for the purpose of upgrading them to OCLC records with full bibliographic description.