You Can Always Take Time To Read......

The fall is such a busy time of the year for students and teachers! With the start of school, sports, band and drama, after school jobs, homework and friends who has time for much else? But there is always time to read and it seems as if the school community feels that way as well! We have had one of our best starts to the year in regards to book checkouts. Students are eager to read and checking out books left and right! I love to see the excitement on a student's face when they have finished a book and want to discuss it. We have wait lists and requests in at other schools for books students are eager to get their hands on. With the long weekend coming up we are excited to see how many books kids and staff will take out!!

Create by Mr. Wong, all books used are in the library!

Research, Reading and Relaxation......

RESEARCH

Now that the school year is fully under way, the research/teaching collaboration has begun! Teachers are booking library time for their classes for lessons connected to a writing and/or research project. I love to see the library calendar fill up with a variety of classes from different disciplines. Teaching students to make connections between what they know, what they learn and what they can now newly create with research is so exciting for me as a teacher. I want them to know research is so much more than just "Googling" information and rearranging the information in their own words. A big shout out goes to Mr. Rufo who was the first teacher to sign up for the library, his students are researching different regions of France and sharing the information on a wiki!! Your prize is on its way!!!

http://regionsdefrance.wikispaces.com/

READING

STUDENTS AS READERS Begins!!
The first meeting of Students As Readers was this past Wednesday (Sept 10th). Ms. Carrick and I welcomed back many familiar faces while getting to know a whole bunch of new ones! The lively group discussed some great reads from over the summer and were given the title of the book for October's meeting.  All students are welcomed!!

We will be reading: Out of the Easy / Ruta Sepetys

Josie, the seventeen-year-old daughter of a French Quarter prostitute, is striving to escape 1950 New Orleans and enroll at prestigious Smith College when she becomes entangled in a murder investigation.  

RELAXATION

The library has been overflowing with students signing in for studies. Whether it is first block where 70 students are studying or last block where they are all relaxing waiting for the end of the day, the library is typically packed. We love seeing all the students using the library as a place to be. We also want to remind students that when you sign in for study you are here for the full study. Please remember to sign out if you are going the bathroom or to your locker and remember most students who are here are here to study and work on projects.

Students Are Not The Only Ones Summer Reading!!!

It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.

–Oscar Wilde

While summer is definitely a time to relax, have fun and enjoy some down time, students are also required to do their summer reading. While I always hope that everyone reads because they WANT to, I know this is not always the case! Hopefully most students found some good books they enjoyed this summer. We want to let students know they are not the only ones who were reading this summer. Thus, the annual Staff Summer Reading Display is up in the library! Each year we ask staff members to share what they have read over the summer. We include the complete list of books from each teacher, along with the books displayed if we own them. Many teachers like to include a few lines about the book. This is one of our most popular displays as it sparks a lot of conversation not just from the students but between staff members as well. It is a great way to get to know each other when you can talk about a book you have both read. In addition the students love to see what their teachers have read and will often choose a book because a teacher they admire has read it.

Welcome Back Display to Greet Students and Staff in the Library!

There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.

–Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

WELCOME BACK!!!

"The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives." ~Robert Maynard Hutchins

Summer is over and we are back into the swing of school as if we never left! While the summer for me was filled with trips to the beach, parties with friends and watching my children simply enjoy being kids, it is time to move back to school life. It was truly wonderful!! 

The library is already a hub of activity! It is great to see the new seniors embrace their position at the top of the pack. They are all working hard and filled with enthusiasm, excitement and determination as they prepare for this important year. The freshmen are finding their way around, eager to learn the ropes of their new school, meet their teachers and enjoy being a high school student! 

The favorite part of coming back to school is seeing the students we have missed, having them come into visit and tell us about their summer adventures! It amazes us to see how they have grown and what they have done over the summer! It means a lot to us to have these bonds with the students.

And on that note, I wanted to share something that was given to us by a graduating student. Francesca was one of my Com Sem students, an incredibly talented and intelligent student as well as being an amazing artist. She was a constant visitor to the library. She presented us with one of her original artworks and we are proud to have it hanging in the library!


"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself."  ~John Dewey

Happy Summer!!!!!!

Well, I can't believe it is that time, summer is here!!! This will be the last post until school starts up again in the fall. This blog has been one of my favorite things this year. I love being able to communicate all the amazing projects, lessons, thoughts that have happened this year. I hope it has been enjoyable for all of you to read!

So as we move into the summer I would like to end with some quotes about libraries, reading and research. It has never been more important to understand and appreciate the value of libraries, library teachers and the research skills it takes to be an effective student in today's world. Have a lovely summer, read, research and relax!!!

Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.

–Ray Bradbury

A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert.

–Andrew Carnegie

To build up a library is to create a life. It’s never just a random collection of books.

–Carlos María Domínguez

“Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all    your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms.”
^{- Angela Carter}

“It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations--something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own.”
^{- Katherine Patterson}

“A book is the most effective weapon against intolerance and ignorance.”
^{- Lyndon Baines Johnson}

"Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought."

      -Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Get Your Read On!!

It is almost vacation! And what will you be reading this summer? The library has many great books available for the summer. One of the shifts I made when I began working here was to allow books to go out over the summer. I firmly believe the books should be used and the summer is a great opportunity to take some time for oneself and read some of the books you couldn't get to during the school year. With this change, we have many students who now will take a bag full of books home for the summer. It is great to see the enthusiasm for reading! In addition to the print books, we have just loaded our elibrary through OverDrive with 200 more titles! There are now over 300 books available for download!! Any student or staff member can access the ebook library and "check out" any of the offerings. Ebooks can be downloaded onto a number of different devices such as, laptops, smart phones, and tablets. The link to access OverDrive is the following: https://natickma.libraryreserve.com/10/45/en/SignIn.htm?url=Default.htm
The link can also be found on the front page of the library website, along with all of our resources. For those that have some summer work to complete, don't forget you have access to all of our online databases and digital books 24/7! 

The Fault In Our Stars.....but really it's all about John Green!

Today is the day so many young adults AND adults have been waiting for, the movie release of "The Fault In Our Stars" I have not seen this kind of devotion to a movie and it's book since Harry Potter came to our world! And with the devotion to Harry Potter, there was also a fascination with author J.K. Rowling. Her "rags to riches" story enamored the public and gave much deserved accolades and kudos to an author! I would suspect that John Green has garnered even more recognition, hype and star status! John Green has created stories of young adults where the characters are real, flawed and like many of the people we run into every day. The adults in his stories are not behind the scenes, or some crazy individual who has created a hostile and dangerous environment where kids have to overcome impossible odds. And while this is a reality for many teens, it is nice as an adult to read a story where the parents play a healthy and supportive role. His appeal to both young adults and adults has risen him to an almost cult like status.

So I would argue that although the excitement for the movie is insane, I believe it is the book and more importantly John Green that has driven it to legendary heights. John Green's ability to connect and relate to young adults in all forms, through Twitter, Tumblr, Skype, email etc makes him accessible and real. He is an adult teens can understand because he himself is flawed and doesn't hide it. His devotion to his fans, his craft and to creating realistic characters is his gift to the world.

The following is an article about John Green from The New Yorker. It is comprehensive but worth the time to read. It brings to light the man, the myth and I would say the future legend. He has put young adult literature back on the map where it so richly deserves and I hope through him, other young adult authors will be recognized for their contribution to such an important genre.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/06/09/140609fa_fact_talbot?currentPage=all