Welcome back to the resource centre. We hope you like our redecorating. Hang onto your hats because there is more to come, but it will take time. As they say in Africa…”Slowly , slowly catchee monkey”! Over half the library has been recarpeted over the holidays and we redecorated a little to celebrate. Seniors now have their own space/place to study. Mr Shenton is pictured below standing beside our new plants, which we hope will not only oxygenate the library but will make the place more attractive.
This year is the National Year of Reading and our first theme in the library will centre around all the books being made into movies this year. I’m looking forward to The Life of Pi (Yann Martel) and The Hunger Games (Susanne Collins) in particular. It’s important that we read fiction – at least one novel a month, starting in Year 8 and for the rest of our lives! Try to read a journal/magazine each month too. It could be any periodical but most adults read the journal(s) that relate to their chosen profession to be life-long learners and grow in their understanding of their jobs. We’re reading for pleasure, knowledge, interesting facts and insights about all kinds of people and places, which will in turn make us more interesting. But research has shown that people who read widely have better social skills and they perform best on unseen tests LIKE the core skills test…OR the Naplan tests. Author, Yann Martel ,shares his ideas about reading in this short clip.
We’re making a Reading Taipan this year. We’re asking everyone staff and students to write their favourite quotes from literature on our paper snake to see how long it can grow. If you’d rather do it online, we’ve got an online BOOK WALL where you can stick a post it. Try to cite the title and author of the book at least and if you’re keen, a quote or a comment – and your name too! We’re also going to feature celebrity readers, so call in and swap your books often to find out who is the latest celebrity reader. Everyone is encouraged to use the National Year of Reading logo in your signature file to spread the word.(Edit your signature file in MS Outlook – File – Options – Mail – Signatures)
Our new Library management software (V-library) upgrade is even more interactive. Investigate our hyperlink “Using the Library” at the top of this blog or just ask staff how you can view films from the library catalogue and also “log in” to check the status of your loans and reserve books that are unavailable. The Library OPAC icon is located on your desktop but you may also use our handy little netbook computer, located on the last bay-end in Non Fiction to search for books anytime.
If you enjoy using the Web 2.0 tool “Linoit” to write quotes on our BOOK WALL , then you may also enjoy these similar tools. Your teachers may use some of these from time to time for an activity called a “Backchannel”. This means that you can express your opinions and ask questions silently on the projected wall, so that all the class can see them and so the teacher can respond.
Here’s a national year of reading blog with a big ambition . The owner is going to post an Australian poem on this blog every single day this year! Pretty neat, maybe you can check it every day and by the end of the year, you will have read over 300 poems. We featured some Australian texts in our first book display of the year. Watch for upcoming changes to our Resource Centre webpages to guide you through the Noosphere!
