Book Week Scotland is always an exciting time in any library, and especially welcome in 2020! We weren’t able to celebrate in the library as we normally would (such as last years Books and Bubbles Party!) but there was still plenty happening over the week online!
The theme of Book Week Scotland this year was ‘Future’, which inspired some of the activities we had during the week. While pupils weren’t able to come to the library and see our BWS display, featuring books set in the future, pupils were able to browse a virtual display! These virtual displays have helped to bring the library to pupils digitally, and Book Week Scotland was a great opportunity to show off what the library has to offer! That being said, looking at the books, the future would appear to be… unwelcoming…
The library also hosted a competition throughout November, inviting all pupils to share their stories of the future! There were some great responses, with top stories published in our December newsletter. Much like our ‘future’ fiction, our pupils envisage a bleak future for us all…
Book Week Scotland is a great time to get more involved in reading and writing, so pupils were given the opportunity to check out author talks, featuring some of their favourite authors such as David Walliams, Liz Pichon and Malorie Blackman! The great news is that these videos are available all year from Authors Live on Demand, which means pupils will always have the opportunity to learn more about their favourite books from their favourite authors (which is my way of saying if you haven’t checked it out yet – you should!)
The biggest hit of the week was our JPA Big Book Quiz! With a £10 National Book Token up for grabs, and a new round of the quiz every day, our pupils were quick to test their bookish knowledge throughout the week! The quiz rounds covered book covers (image), first lines, movie adaptations, blurbs and emoji titles! Lots of pupils entered, making for a fierce competition, ultimately won by S1 pupil Shrika with a very impressive score of 26/30 points, narrowly beating the competition to win the prize! It was wonderful to see how well our pupils know their books!
Hopefully in the future – or rather, next year – we can celebrate Book Week Scotland in the library again. Either way, the Big Book Quiz will definitely be making a comeback in 2021, so start your preparations now and READ! READ! READ!