Authors/Writers Visiting The Library

I have recently had two visits (and I have three more to come before the end of the year). I have been motivated by other librarians talking about how great the visitors they have had. I wanted to help create a buzz about the library and literacy.

Visits aren't cheap - from about £300-£500 in my experiences so far, so I don't think its unreasonable to have high expectations of the day.

Our first visit was a Slam Poet, recommended to me by another school librarian. I had thought it would be just the thing to excite some of our non-library users. His performances were great but the workshop activity was too challenging (I would struggle to write a poem unaided on demand!). There was even a fight that broke out during this time, which is what can happen when students are no longer engaged and have time to get themselves into trouble. Overall I was disappointed.

The second visit was a storyteller. He worked harder at engaging them compared to the poet, but a lot of it went over the students heads. The older Gifted and Talented group seemed to really enjoy it, but the other groups didn't seem that impressed.

So far, I wouldn't re-book either, the first as the activity wasn't structured enough and the second because it just didn't suit the majority of my students.

I am hoping the next three will be more rewarding for the kids involved!

Small moments

I have had a week off from work, and we have had half term so it had been two weeks since I had seen the kids. I had a few lovely moments, that too often we let slip by without appreciating.

1) A 6th form asked where I had been, told me they had missed me (missed having someone to argue with - said with a grin!)

2) One of my student librarians who didn't use to ever read had a great discussion with me about a book series we have both been devouring. I remember the girl who said she didn't really read, and she seems so different to the girl recommending another book to me. As an aside, we have been loving The Hunger Games, and are struggling to find anything else that matches it.

3) I recommended a book to a student, and we had a great discussion about Islam and honour killings. Reminded me that books have the power to open our/their minds to things outside of their direct experience.

Holocaust Library Display

This was a request from a teacher, to go with a unit of work they were teaching, but it also coincided with Holocaust Day. This was made by my Library Assistant, and is just a spare book trolley we use for display.

Connect 4 Championship in the Library!

During the last week of term we hosted a Connect 4 Championship. We have puzzles and games available at lunchtimes, and I had noticed how popular our Connect 4 was. Students had to sign up in advance, and there were certificates for every contestant (getting bigger the further they got!).

It was the first competition we ran without an actual prize, and we were astounded with its success. We had many students wanting to sign up on the day, and they were all good sportman about it all.

I have since bought more Connect 4s for use at lunchtime. I think it is popular as it is quick, requires next to no skill to take part (although can use skill to win more!) and is quick to set up and clear away.

Baby steps to creating a reading community

Now that the library is more or less 'set-up' and stable, I am working on ideas to allow the bug of reading to spread (if only it spread as easily as a cold!).

To create a shared reading experience I wanted to try and get tutors reading aloud during form time. Ideally I would aim for them to be all reading the same book. The first stumbling block was to consider which text. We have vertical form groups, which means that each form has students from each year (from year 7 to 6th form). The book needs to use language that is easy enough to allow year 7s access, but a theme/plot that is interesting enough to grab the 6th formers.

I chose 'Once' by Morris Gleitzman, which is a book I read this year and adored. The language is accurately childlike, but follows the tragic story of a Jewish child during WWII.

I emailed staff, asking for volunteers who were feeling brave enough to trial reading aloud. I was surprised by the response. I had expected a couple, but actually got 11 at last count. I didn't have enough copies, I had about 6, so the other teachers have had other texts. I did use Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo for some, and other teachers had a request for a theme (one philosophy teacher wanted a philosophy text to read during class).

I hope that it is a success (we haven't really started yet due to the snow!), and can hopefully look to roll it out with other staff later.

My Grand Opening

So my Grand Opening was last week (yes we've been open since September, but this is just a celebration of it!). I found the organisation of the event quite stressful, as I didn't know what to expect, but it was deemed a big success in the end!

Here are a few pictures:

The table for Guess the Visitor. 10 plates had 10 clues on (for literary characters) and you had to guess who each guest was.



An example of a plate - one of the easy ones!



The event had a 'Alice in Wonderland' theme - here is the Queen of Hearts.


Here is the sweet table:


The drinks table:


The savoury table

Caught Reading

I mentioned the Caught Reading Poster Campaign before, and it has now ended. We have displayed all of the posters on an empty library wall.

The next poster campaign is Born Reading, where students have to guess staff from their baby photos (and a quote about their favourite childhood book).