The Best Way to Code Textbooks

School districts have millions of dollars of instructional materials to inventory.

The best way to code textbooks for a school district is by implementing a textbook inventory tracking system. It will allow the school district to eliminate wasteful spending, streamline the textbook issuing process, and place that data in a centralized website location for decision makers to easily access.

Function

A textbook inventory system is utilized by public schools to track the assignment of textbooks. This allows a school district to code each textbook with a bar code and track the student in possession of the book through a computer system, providing greater accountability and streamlining the process of issuing textbooks to the students.

Prevention/Solution

Lost and damaged textbooks carry a huge price tag for school districts. According to an article in the "Los Angeles Times," the Los Angeles Unified School District spent nearly $10 million dollars in lost books and purchasing excess books. Coding textbooks with a textbook inventory system allows a school district to track their textbook resources and make buying decisions based upon data.

Features

A textbook inventory system has hardware components which consist of a scanner and bar code labels. The second component is a software component, which allows administrators to track instructional materials on the web.

References

• Los Angeles Times: LAUSD textbooks
• Hayes Software: Products Overview