Events: Events and activities that took place in the School Library during March

 We delivered a range of events and activities lined up for this year’s World Book Day week. We teamed up With the English department’s literature trail scavenger hunt for S1s. Pupils were given a list of clues and tasked to find posters of book covers displayed in various windows around the school for a chance to be entered into a prize draw.

We hosted our own World Book Day activities in the School Library as well:

• World Book Day 5 Word Book Review: Pupils were invited to write a review about any book of their choice using only five words for a chance to be entered into the School Library prize draw. We received over 50 submissions and the reviews can be read on our 5 Word Book Review post.
• World Book Day Quiz: Our annual quiz saw over 30 people in attendance. There were three rounds: a general literature knowledge, emoji book titles, and a Shakespeare or Young Adult quote taster round in preparation for our Shakespeare week quiz.
• Annual Bookmark Design Competition: Our annual bookmark design contest is now in its 5^th Designs were uploaded onto Teams and voted on by pupils. The design with the most votes becomes our official Shawlands Academy School Library bookmark for 2024-25 school year. We received six brilliant bookmark designs and it has been a very close competition. Winner will be revealed April 15^th after the Spring break.

Shakespeare Week Quiz and choice board: We uploaded an interactive choice board for pupils to explore more of Shakespeare’s works and hosted our first Shakespeare Week quiz. Pupils were to guess whether a quote was from a Shakespeare play or a Young Adult novel. We’ve included a selection of quotes below, can you guess which ones were from a Young Adult novel and which ones were from one of Shakespeare’s plays? Answers are at the end of this blog post.

1. “Courage does not always roar. Valor does not always shine”

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi or William Shakespeare?

2. “No legacy is so rich as honesty”

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus or William Shakespeare?

3. “So wise so young they say, never do live long”

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera or William Shakespeare?

4. “You’re not living if you’re not regretting”

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon or William Shakespeare?

5. “Even death has a heart”

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak or William Shakespeare?

Swatch: Our Spring 24 issue of Swatch, the Glasgow School Libraries eMagazine is now available. Here are some links to our previous issues: Winter 23, Autumn 23, Summer 23, Spring 23, Winter 22, Autumn 22, Summer 22, Spring 22, Winter 21, Autumn 21, Summer 21, Spring 21, Winter 20, Autumn 20.

What’s Trending? Popular and recently borrowed books this month

Assassination Classroom by Yusei Matsui – ‘This is the best manga series’

The Body by Stephen King – ‘We’re watching Stand By Me in English. I want to see how the book is different’.

Carrie by Stephen King – ‘My grandmother recommended Stephen King to me’.

Cobra Kai: the Graphic Novel by Denton J. Tipton – ‘I wanted a book about martial arts and found this. Now I’m going to watch the show’.

Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis – ‘I thought this was really creepy’.

Book of the Day: Featured pupil recommendations

4^th: Finding My Voice by Aoife Dooley 

7^th: Jays Guide to Crushing It by Ruby Clyde 

8^th: Sad Ghost Club by Liz Meddings 

11^th: American Born Chinese by Gene Leun Yang 

14^th: The Changing Man by Tomi Oyemakinde 

15^th: Murder On A School Night by Kate Weston 

21^st: Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco 

22^nd: The Headmaster’s List by Melissa De La Cruz 

25^th: Ellie Pillai is Brown by Christine Pillainayagam

27^th: Thieves by Lucie Byron

28^th: Booked by Kwame Alexander 

Author of the Week: Chosen by pupils

WB 4^th: Vashti Hardy

WB 11^th: Alice Oseman

WB 18^th: Jason Reynolds

WB 25^th: Louisa Reid

Series of the Week: Chosen by pupils

WB 4^th: Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell

WB 11^th: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

WB 18^th: Who Let the Gods Out? by Maz Evans

WB 25^th: Maze Runner by James Dashner

Recent Arrivals: New Book Highlights

An Emerald Sky by Aneesa Marufu

Groosham Grange: The Graphic Novel by Anthony Horowitz

Horrible Homes by John Wood

Kismet Connection by Anany Devarajan

Murder on a School Night by Kate Weston

Literary and Cultural Celebration Booklists for March: Booklists to tie into various literary and cultural celebrations.

Anti-Racism Book List: Anti-Racism fiction and nonfiction.

International Women’s Day Book List: Fiction and nonfiction books about women’s history, feminism, and equal rights.

Neurodiversity Book List: Nonfiction and fiction books featuring neurodiverse characters.

Ramadan Reads Book List: Fiction and nonfiction books by Muslim authors and featuring Muslim characters.

STEM Nonfiction Book List: STEM nonfiction.

Trans & Gender Nonconforming Book List: Nonfiction and fiction books featuring transgender and gender nonconforming characters.

Trending Booklists: Monthly highlights and new releases

Epic Reads – New Releases

The Guardian – Children’s Book Roundup

Love Reading for Kids – Books of the Month

Scholastic – Books of the Month

Scottish Book Trust – Book Lists

Toppsta – Our Favorite New Children’s Books This Month

Waterstone’s – Books of the Month

Recent Awards: UK book award winners, shortlists, and longlists

Inclusive Books for Children Award – Winners

British Book Awards – Shortlist

UKLA Book Award – Shortlist

Women’s Prize for Fiction – Longlist

Women’s Prize for Nonfiction – Longlist

YOTO Carnegie Medals – Shortlists

Competitions: Writing competitions for young people

Foyles Young Poets of the Year Competition

Henrietta Branford Writing Competition

Poetry By Heart Competition

Book Buzz: Latest book news from major media outlets and book websites

BBC

Book Riot

Buzzfeed

Epic Reads

The Guardian

Huffpost

The New York Times

What’s On in April

Pop-Up Library: Exams will be taking place in the library starting April and throughout May, but pupils can visit our Pop-Up Library stall (location TBA) for book returns and collections as well as weekly activities.

Talk Like Shakespeare Day Activities: We’ll be creating Shakespeare masks and Elizabethan ruffle collar using the templates from Talklikeshakespeare.org and uploading a list of Shakespearean phrases still commonly used today.

Teams Quizzes: Our Quizzes will be uploaded to Teams using MS Forms in lieu of exams.

National Pet Month Quiz: Learn fun facts about our furry, feathered, and leathered friends.

World Art Day Quiz: Test your knowledge of artists, paintings, and styles. Comes with an accompany list of links to famous museums and galleries from around the world.

International Guitar Month Quiz: For serious guitar aficionados, this quiz is packed with facts about one of the world’s most popular instruments. The interactive answer sheet included is jammed with links with further information and videos.

Displays and Booklists for April:

Planet vs Plastics Book List The theme for this year’s Earth Day is Planet vs Plastics to raise awareness on the health and environmental risks of plastics.

Stress Book List: Stress Awareness Month calls for a greater awareness of the negative impact of stress. Our booklist features some Nonfiction titles to help young People manage their stress.

Autism Book List: World Autism Month and Autism Awareness Day (April 2^nd) aims to celebrate Autism awareness and acceptance. Our Junior, Young Adult, and Senior + Staff booklists feature nonfiction and fiction titles featuring Autistic characters.

Shakespeare Quiz answers:

1. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
2. All’s Well That Ends Well by Shakespeare
3. Richard III by Shakespeare
4. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

As part of our World Book Day festivities, pupils were invited to write a five word book review for a chance to be entered into a prize draw.

We received over 50 submissions. Below is a list of the books they’ve reviewed.

1. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner: Decadent, multi-faceted, opulent, feverish, majestic 
2. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins: Dystopian, love., page turner sad, tragedy 
3. The Beast of Buckingham Palace by David Walliams: Royal, dystopian, funny, British, rebellious 
4. The Boy in Stripped Pyjamas by John Boyne: Sad, dramatic irony, realistic, friendship, abuse
5. The Boy in Stripped Pyjamas by John Boyne: War, WW2, Germany, death, Jewish
6. The Call by Peadar O’Guilin: Brutal, myth, retelling, satisfying, intriguing 
7. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon: Weird, surprising, mysterious, sad, entertaining
8. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon: Simplistic, slightly mind numbing, Kafkaesque, martyr complex, original 
9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney: Funny, easy to read, relatable, family, interesting 
10. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney: Funny, grumpy, relatable, happy, entertaining
11. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney: Comedy, family, friends, drawings, funny 
12. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney: Funny, school-life, diary, wants to be rich 
13. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney: Wimpy, sporty, dilemma, funny, humorous
14. Face by Benjamin Zephaniah: Intriguing, interesting, thrilling heartwarming 
15. Face by Benjamin Zephaniah: Prejudice, judging, acceptance, interesting 
16. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore by JK Rowling and Kloves, Steve: Mysterious, adventure, script, complete
17. Five Survive by Holly Jackson: Mysterious, funny, suspenseful, thrilling, dark
18. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling: Witchcraft, wizardry, pain, power, death 
19. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling: Magical, Fantastic, frightening, remarkable, thrilling
20. Haikyu! By Haruichi Furudate: Sporty, exciting, engaging, amazing, thrilling
21. Homegrown Herbs by Tammi Hartung and Holt, Saxon: Informative, DIY, creative, medicinal, herbal
22. Huda F Are You? By Huda Fahmy: Creative, interesting, funny, insisting, lovely 
23. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: Exciting, dystopian, survival, death, very good
24. Keep This to Yourself by Tom Ryan: Thrilling, mystery, eerie, immersive, exciting 
25. Last One to Die by Cynthia Murphy: Suspense, thriller, historic, mysterious, romance 
26. The Last Wild by Piers Torday: Beautiful, classic, nature, mythical, depressing
27. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien: Exciting, action, suspense, absorbing, addictive 
28. My Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi: Exciting, fast, cool, fun, superpowers 
29. My Hero Academia Vigilantes by Hideyuki Furuhashi: Funny, mystery, suspicious, villains
30. Naked Lunch by William S Burroughs: Disgusting, traumatising, trippy, transcendent, beautiful 
31. Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman: Dramatic, frustrating, gut-wrenching, melancholy, missed opportunity
32. The Nowhere Emporium by Ross Mackenzie: Thrilling, heart wrenching, entertaining, understanding, magical 
33. One of Us is Lying by Karen M McManus: Trilling, intriguing, suspenseful, exhilarating, fast-paced 
34. One Piece by Eiichiro Oda: Treasure, pirates, devil fruit, swords, overpowered 
35. One Piece by Eiichiro Oda: Treasure, friendship, pirates, marines, map
36. The Outsiders by SE Hinton: engrossing, interesting, unique, emotional, entertaining 
37. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster: Mysterious, strange, funny, action-packed, exciting 
38. Renegades by Marissa Meyer: Sci-Fi, dystopian, sad, action, tragic 
39. A Single Thread of Moonlight by Laura Wood: Love, romance, crush, cold, heart 
40. Scarlet and Ivy by Sophie Cleverly: Intriguing, mysterious, phenomenal, mischievous, engrossing 
41. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo: Teen, fantasy, dramatic, page turner, entertaining
42. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han: Summer, beach, love, holiday, family
43. The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by Liz Pichon: Amazing. Interesting. Funny, kind, cool
44. Trash by Andy Mulligan: Interesting, detailed, surprising, lots of characters, exciting 
45. Trash by Andy Mulligan: Brilliant, exhilarating, heart stopping, you never know what’s next, realistic
46. Trash by Andy Mulligan: Adventurous, poor, dumpsite, money, stealing 
47. Trash by Andy Mulligan: Boring, time wasting. Dramatic, stealing 
48. Trash by Andy Mulligan: Interesting, trash, poverty, dull, adventures 
49. Trash by Andy Mulligan: Adventure, suspense, mystery, police brutality, death
50. Trash by Andy Mulligan: Poverty, corruption, teamwork 
51. Ultimate Football Heroes: Bellingham by Matt and Tom Oldfield: Funny, dramatic, inspirational, sportive 
52. The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli: Heartwarming, cute, comfort, romantic, predictable 
53. What Beauty There Is by Cory Anderson: Thriller, romance, real world, crime, heart-breaking
54. What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli: Love, crush, cute, universe, meant to be 

Here’s a roundup of what’s been happening in Shawlands Academy School Library during February.

MYSP meet and greet: Our LGBT Youth Scotland MSYP representative held their first drop-in surgery during lunchtime, where pupils could come and discuss important issues.

Shawlands Acaddemy Anti-Racism Association: Shawlands Academy’s Anti-Racism Association group meets in the Library every Thursday during lunchtime where they discuss issues and plan events for the school. They were excited to unbox the new books we ordered as part of our participatory selection which will be added to our Equality and Empowerment collection:

Hot Comb by Ebony Flowers

Let Me Hear A Rhyme by Tiffany D Jackson

War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

City of Stolen Magic by Nazeen Ahmed Pathak

Brown Girl Like Me by Jasprett Kaur

American Born Chinese by Gene Lurn Yang

Stolen History: The Truth about the British Empire and How it Shaped Us by Sathnam Sanghere

Whale by Myeong-Kwan Cheong

Black Skin, White Mask by Frantz Fanon

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

SfL Book Group: Our S3 book group in collaboration with Support for Learning continues as we select different short stories from Horowitz Horrors, a collection of spooky stories by Anthony Horowitz.

Pupil Library Committee: Members of our Pupil Library Committee have been busy helping tidy the library this month and prepping for our upcoming March display for International Women’s Day, British Science Week, Anti-Racism Day, Ramadan, and Neurodiversity Celebration Week

School Library Mascot reveal: Congratulations to Candice for the winning design of our School Library mascot! Each participant received a small prize for their amazing entries.

What’s Trending: Popular and recently borrowed books this month.

One of Us is Lying by Karen M McManus – ‘Saw this on TikTok and wanted to read it’

Heartstopper 5 by You Are A Champion: How to be the best you can be Alice Oseman –  ‘I’ve been waiting ages to read this book! So excited to see it in the Library’

My Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi – ‘My favorite Manga series’

Glitter Boy by Ian Eagleton – ‘I laughed. I cried. Great book for LGBTQ+ teens!’

You Are A Champion: How to be the best you can be by Marcus Rashford, Carl Anka, and Katoe Warriner – “This is a nice book”

 ‘Book of the Day’ chosen by pupils: Featured pupil recommendations.

Huda F Are You? by Huda Fahmy

Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun by Tola Okogwu

Diary of a Confused Feminist by Kate Weston

The Weirn Books, Vol 1: Be Wary of the Silent Woods by Svetlana Chmakova

Five Nights at Freddy’s: The Silver Eyes by Scott Cawthon

A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll

Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf

Recent Arrivals: New book highlights.

Stand Up by Nikesh Shukla

All About Romance by Daniel Tawse

I Feed Her to the Beast by Jamison Shea

Mythopedia: An Encyclopedia of Mythical Beasts and their Magical Tales by Good Wives and Warriors

City of Stolen Magic by Nazeen Pathak

Trending Booklists

Epic Reads – New Releases

The Guardian – Children’s Book Roundup

Love Reading for Kids – Books of the Month

Scholastic – Books of the Month

Scottish Book Trust – Book Lists

Toppsta – Our Favorite New Children’s Books This Month

Waterstone’s – Books of the Month

Recent Awards

Excelsior Award – Shortlist

Klaus Flugge Prize – Shortlist

Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize – Shortlist

YOTO Carnegie Medals for Writing and Illustration – Longlist

Book Buzz

BBC

Book Riot

Buzzfeed

Epic Reads

The Guardian

Huffpost

The New York Times

What’s On – March

World Book Day week:

Annual Book Mark Contest – Each year during World Book Day week, the School Library hosts a book mark design contest. Submissions are posted anonymously on the Teams Library Channel for pupils to vote their favorite design. The design with the most votes becomes the official School Library bookmark for 2024.

5 Word Book Review Prize Draw – This year, we’re encouraging pupils to submit book reviews of some of their favourite or most recently read books using only 5 words. Each entry goes into our World Book Day prize draw. The reviews will be displayed outside the library on our bulletin board.

World Book Day Quiz – We’ll also be hosting our annual World Book Day quiz, hosted by members of our Pupil Library Committee during lunchtime.

Shakespeare Week:

Choice Board – Pupils can learn more about Shakespeare and his work using our interactive choice board which will be posted on our Teams Library Channel.

Shakespeare or YA Quiz – Participants must guess if a given quote was featured in either one of Shakespeare’s plays or from a popular Young Adult novel.

Displays and Booklists for March: Booklists of monthly cultural and literacy events.

Anti-Racism Book List: Anti-Racism fiction and nonfiction.

STEM Nonfiction Book List: STEM nonfiction.

Neurodiversity Book List: Nonfiction and fiction books featuring neurodiverse characters.

Ramadan Reads Book List: Fiction and nonfiction books by Muslim authors.

International Women’s Day Book List: Fiction and nonfiction books about women’s history, feminism, and equal rights.

Trans & Gender Nonconforming Book List: Nonfiction and fiction books featuring transgender and gender nonconforming characters.

We have some exciting events and activities lined up this year at Shawlands Academy.

February: A special drop-in surgery from our newly elected MSYP from LGBT Youth Scotland during LGBT+ History Month. We will announce the winning design from our School Library Mascot Design competition voted by pupils. We will also share booklists for LGBT History Month and Children’s Mental Health Week (5^th-11^th).

March: We will organize some fun activities as part of World Book Day week (4^th-8^th), including a quiz, a 5-word Book Review competition, and a Bookmark Design Competition. The winning design will be the official School Library bookmark for 2024. As part of Shakespeare Week (18^th-24^th) we’ll post an interactive choice board linked to information about Shakespeare and his works. We’ll also host a lunchtime Shakespeare or YA quiz where participants will guess whether the quote is from one of Shakespeare’s works or a popular YA novel. We will also share booklists for International Women’s Day (8^th), Ramadan (starting 10^th), British Science Week (8^th-17^th), Neurodiversity Celebration Week (18^th-24^th), Anti-Racism Day (21^st) and International Transgender Visibility Day (31^st).

April: For World Book Night (23^rd), we will host a special ‘Biblio Bistro’ during lunchtime where pupils can ‘sample’ a variety of books from our book menu. We will host a 50-word short story competition to tie in with National Tell a Story Day (27^th) and a fun activity to celebrate Talk Like Shakespeare Day (23^rd). We will also share booklists for Stress Awareness Month, World Autism Day (2^nd), and Earth Day (22^nd).

May: We will host a quiet reading hour during lunch as part of Mental Health Awareness Week (13^th-19^th) and Keep the Heid and Read, a celebration of reading across libraries in Scotland to take the pledge to read for just 6 minutes. We will also host a Star Wars-themed quiz as part of Star Wars Day (4^th) and an Edgar Allan Poe or YA quiz for World Goth Day (22^nd). We will also share booklists for International YA Literature Month, and World Goth Day.

June: We will show some livestream author events as part of the annual Empathy Day (6^th) celebrations. The library will host a Reading Picnic as part of National Picnic Week (17^th-25^th). We will also share booklists for Audiobook Month, National Crime Reading Month, Pride Month, Refugee Week (17^th-25^th),  Windrush Day (22^nd), and South Asian Heritage Month (17^th July – 17^th August).

We’ve curated several themed booklists that have been uploaded to our Library Channel in Teams to help pupils looking for reading recommendations. We will add new ones throughout the year to tie in with various literacy and cultural events, with input from our young people. The lists have a wide range of titles for Junior, Young Adult, and Senior and Adult fiction and nonfiction. Access the booklists on the Glasgow School Libraries Book Lists article on our blog.

It’s been a very busy few weeks here at Shawlands Academy School Library. With over 3800 book issues and renewals and 2270 visiting numbers throughout the two-month period, the library is the hub of the school community illustrating just how much School Libraries are essential to our pupils.

In addition to our regular book borrowing periods and lunch/break-times, other highlights over the past few weeks include:

Libby Inductions: We delivered Libby inductions at S1 English classes, ensuring pupils have access and choice to either physical or digital books.

Advanced Higher English Mitchell Visit: We arranged for Miss McDonald’s Advanced Higher English pupils to visit the Mitchell Library where they learned how to access the resources essential to their dissertations.

SfL Book Group: We’ve continued to work closely with the Support for Learning department on our weekly book group. The pupils are really enjoying reading and discussion Horowitz Horrors by Anthony Horowitz, a collection of short horror stories.

Book Week Scotland: Members of our Pupil Library Committee created and delivered a well-attended quiz during Book Week Scotland. We also launched our Library Mascot Design competition and received six amazing designs from our talented pupils. The designs have been posted on S1-3 Year Group Teams where pupils can cast their vote on their favourite design. The winning design will be announced in January 2024.

Pupil Library Committee: Our Pupil Library Committee have continued their brilliant work on creating monthly displays. October saw Black History Month, World Space Week, and Horror Stories for Halloween. November saw an array of nonfiction books for Nonfiction November, Transgender day of Remembrance, Dyslexia Awareness Week, and a selection of adventure stories to tie in with this year’s Book Week Scotland theme.

Autumn Writing Competition: Members of our Pupil Library Committee have also launched this season’s writing competition on the theme of ‘Autumn’. Winners will be announced this month.

SAARA: The School Library has been working with the Shawlands Academy Anti-Racism Association to choose additional anti-racism books that will be part of our Equality and Empowerment section.

Swatch: Our Winter 23 issue of Swatch, the Glasgow School Libraries eMagazine is now available. Here are some links to our previous issues: Autumn 23, Summer 23, Spring 23, Winter 22, Autumn 22, Summer 22, Spring 22, Winter 21, Autumn 21, Summer 21, Spring 21, Winter 20, Autumn 20. 

Trending Booklists:

Book Lists – Scottish Book Trust

Books of the Month – Love Reading For Kids

Books of the Month – Scholastic

Books of the Month – Waterstones

Children’s Books Roundup – Guardian

New Releases – Epic Reads

Recent Awards:

Booker Prize – Winner

Books Are My Bag Reader’s Award – Winner

Information Book Award – Winner

Royal Society for Young People’s Book Award – Shortlist

Book Buzz:

BBC

Book Riot

Buzzfeed

Epic Reads

The Guardian

Huffpost

The New York Times