Author Archives: Mrs Marshall

May you enjoy your new books

May in Eastbank Academy has been a super busy month as the seniors are all studying for exams – meaning the library reverts to being a much quieter space than usual. But that doesn’t mean nothing is happening ….

In the May bank holidays, Mrs Marshall enjoyed reading a couple of the Yoto Carnegie nominated titles and is looking forward to representing the Scottish Branch of the Youth Library Group at the Yoto Carnegie Award ceremony in June. Here are the reviews of 2 of the books in contention for the Award.

Book Review – Steady for This

What a funny book with wonderful storylines. I loved it so much that I was laughing out loud when I was meant to be overseeing a study session in the library.

Steady for This

MC Growls is the main character who is trying his best to win a rap contest and get prize money to help his mum out. However, Growls does not have the “usual” style of rapping and some of his beats really leave the reader howling. He streams one of his practice sessions inadvertently which end up with his dirty laundry being exposed in public – literally.

Although funny, the book tackles friendships, family struggles and the challenges faced by young carers in the main storyline. However this doesn’t take away from the humour, and isn’t a heavy read at all. Instead, you’ll be flying through the pages and chuckling away in no time ! This copy is currently available to borrow in the school library.

Book Review – Away with Words

And another wonderful title nominated for the Yoto Carnegie Writing Award is Away with Words by Sophie Cameron.

Gala has just moved from Spain to Scotland, where her Dad has moved in with his partner. However Gala doesn’t speak English and starting school is very difficult for her. So she makes friends with a girl called Natalie who has selective mutism. This is a fascinating tale of friendship and the challenges they both face being unable to communicate at school. It’s a must read and available in the school library now !

Eastbank Winners !

We’ve won a couple of book prizes from our x posts this month ! You can enjoy the really fun Magicalia and also The Stone Age Clash, and you can read along with both books using the fun bookmarks sent to us by the publishers. Lucky Eastbank School Library!

May the books be with you !

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Wow, what a lot to fit in to one month.

At Lochend, May is such a busy month. We have lots going on, so sometimes you may think it’s hard to fit reading into your day or you don’t have time. Don’t worry, the library has the answer. Why don’t you grab one of our Quick Reads?

Quick Reads cover all sorts of different subjects and genres, so there is something to suit everyone. From wanting a quick story to read before bed, to not enjoying longer books, Quick Reads aren’t restricted to a single group of pupils. I use some Quick Reads stories to tell to pupils as well, I think they are great. And many of the books are also on dyslexia friendly paper too – so if you have dyslexia, the background printing of the stories should make them easier to read. Check them out the next time you are in the library !

Senior Fiction. Our seniors section has had some new books too, both for non fiction fun and reading for pleasure. Some are enough to make you hungry. Check out this beautiful book with great, easy to follow instructions. It might even inspire you to start your own business. However if you do make one of the cakes – save a piece for the librarian !

A local author next – from Glasgow – who has made it big in the international art world and even modelled for Manfred Thierry Mugler. This senior title is a true story of resilience from Juano Diaz, telling of his upbringing with his mother, who had substance abuse challenges and loses her partner in a terrible accident. Afterwards, Juano was taken into care in a children’s home and describes the difficulty fitting in, worrying about his mum and wondering what would happen to him next.

Juano was adopted by a Romany Catholic family from Glasgow and the main narrative of the book describes how he recognises his sexuality and how this isn’t something compatible with his adopted family’s beliefs or way of life. As a young teenager he leaves home, ending up homeless and sharing bedsits / flats with addicts. However, Juano fights his way away from the lifestyle. To find out what happens next, you just have to read the book. So much packed into one novel. It’s available in the library, but be quick, this is such a great biography it won’t be on the shelves for long.

And of course, it’s exam season in all schools just now, so the library is very quiet with everyone studying for their upcoming exams. Good luck Lochend – we know you can do it ! And remember, taking a break from studying to read a book helps relax your mind and can aid in getting to sleep. So build reading into that daily routine, and before you know it, you won’t be able to go a day without it 😊

Drawing with a difference at Lochend

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In April, we were very lucky to have a visit by the super talented artist and author Neil Slorance. Neil had our pupils’ attention when he first came to the school as he has an impressive CV –including writing for the Doctor Who comic and publishing his own comic titles such as Dungeon Fun. Here are some of the pupils paying full attention to Neil’s talk about his life as a comic artist and what inspires him.

By talking through his character making in terms of both drawing the characters and creating a story line the pupils were very keen to create their own characters.

Step by step drawing instructions as well as offering ideas for starting off stories helped produce some brilliant character drawings.

The pupils enjoyed making these characters so much that Neil was keen to guide them onto the next step – creating a short comic strip with their very own characters. Again, after showing examples and talking about what a comic strip could contain, Neil helped our pupils create some amazing short comic ideas. Look at these ! With such a great session, the pupils are enthused to keep creating and reading more at Lochend.

All go at Eastbank on the shortest month

What a fabulous February we’ve had at Eastbank School Library ! It’s such a short month, but we’ve packed so much into it here at Eastbank.

Spring is coming soon and Mrs Marshall our School Librarian has been spring cleaning – or refreshing – some of our favourite sections of the library. First of all, the senior section is looking so much better. The shelves have been tidied and books refreshed with some new stock. The display is looking far more contemporary and the addition of the new stock has really brightened the place up.

There is even a new area now showing all the senior arrivals. Hopefully the students don’t get too distracted from their studies by hunting for books with so many great choices displayed in front of them.

And there’s plenty of new books for all the other students to enjoy as well.

These manga were loaned out within 2 days!
2 of the new Black Clover books didn’t even make this photo as they were loaned out the same morning they came in….

Some great new books about beauty and transport also were a welcome addition to our stock. They look amazing and I’m sure they’ll be popular too.

Following on from January, our staff book club is going from strength to strength.

In the library on the last Tuesday of the month we all gather and talk about all things bookish, and compare reads and recommendations. We also participate in the entirely voluntary book dare scheme ! It’s a great example for the pupils to see how many staff, across all different subject areas in the school, love reading too. And the staff really enjoy showing off their, “Ask me what I’m reading?” badges as well.And that’s not all. Also, we’re really looking forward to World Book Day in March. The tokens have just arrived ! Watch this space and we’ll tell you what we get up to all through next month.

Lochend loves February

We end February here with a bit of mystery at Lochend Community High School. We all love a new book, and what better sight than a brand new Peter’s delivery box landing on the library desk. I wonder what’s inside this time? You’ll need to wait until next month !

We’ve been lucky enough to have lots of new books in the past month which have been flying off the shelves. Our quick reads section is one of our most popular areas in the Lochend Library. With so many quick reads books arriving in February, it was easy to highlight the choice in both subjects and length of books available here at our inclusive library. Just check out the amount of quick reads we have to choose from on the trolleys !

Our book of the month for February though is the wonderful 100 Tales from the Tokyo Ghost Cafe. This quirky title is an unusual mix of manga and traditional novel styles, with cartoons then followed by a chapter of writing. The story itself is great too. It’s about Julian who meets a rabbit called Chie-san who leads him to the Tokyo Ghost Cafe. There Mama-san welcomes them to this strange and unusual place, and tells them that she has found a young boy called Akira-San who has wondered into the cafe and told her that he is lost and needs to go home. Mama-san asks them to guide Akira-San home. However, this isn’t straightforward as Akira-san doesn’t quite know where home is and no-one really knows who he is. As each trip progresses, Akira-san seems to remember more and more about home along the way. However the group are met by set backs such as tigers, temples, crocodiles and snow blizzards – which stop them in their tracks. You’ll love this action packed adventure – with the unusual styles and Japanese words to learn thrown in – you won’t be able to put it down… Lochend loves it !

And of course we are looking forward to World Book Day early in March ! Our tokens have already arrived, and Mrs Marshall is guarding them in a secret location….. The books will land at Lochend on the Friday (as the library isn’t open on a Thursday) – and there’s lots of exciting plans for then too. Here’s a taste of what’s to come …….

January’s author visit and more in 2024

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Eastbank School Library was super lucky to have Neil Slorance as a visiting author this month. Neil is an illustrator who has worked with many well known clients such as the BBC, STV, Titan Comics – and contributed to the official Dr Who comic books.

Our S3 pupils took part in a session where Neil demonstrated how to build characters. The pupils went on to draw their own ideas with guidance and tips from Neil, finally creating an individual comic strip narrative. You can see how interested and hard working our pupils were during the session below. And thanks go to the Scottish Book Trust Live Literature Scheme, who part-funded the session.

We would love to have Neil back again soon.

It has been such a busy start to 2024 in the library here at Eastbank Academy. I think with everyone being off school in the Christmas break, they’ve tidied their rooms and brought back lots of books at the start of term. In one single afternoon, from a tidy desk at midday, the library returns desk looked like this !

But on the other hand, January often is a time when we’re stuck inside as the weather is awful, we can’t get out and play sports or anything – so instead we like to have some of our favourite books to read and enjoy. I think all these things have combined together and left our football book spinner as bare as last year’s Christmas tree in January ! Pupils – please bring back all the overdue books as soon as you can, especially the football collection, manga and the Wimpy Kid books. Other pupils are waiting to read them and the bookcase is missing being full.

Last, but by no means least, we have more brilliant books just added to the library bookshelves. Come and see them soon. In particular, we are loving Ultra Wild by Steve Mushin. Even the cover art is amazing ! Ultra Wilde is a series of very detailed comic strips which give wild, extreme and wacky ways we could help to return cities to the wild and combat climate change. Although lots of fun, it really highlights the problems we have with urban environments co-existing with nature. Steve’s narrative describes how we got to where we are today in modern cities, and how science around bringing nature back in to cities is possible. It’s such a fun book as the ideas are taken to the extreme with instructions even on how to put a cannon into your toilet – so much fun! But again, it gives lots of interesting ideas and data on climate change as well, making it really useful. Get it out on loan today – you will love it.

** For more information on the illustrator Neil Slorance please visit his website – www.neilslorance.com

***And for more information about the Ultra Wild book please see www.ultrawild.org

Lochend Loves Books Even More in 2024

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Here at Lochend we love reading. Library visits happen on a Monday and Friday when Mrs Marshall, our School Librarian, is here. But that means on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we can’t visit the library to take books home. However, we’ve got a brand new system of Book Boxes in January in every English Classroom. This means we can enjoy reading in the classroom on the days Mrs Marshall isn’t here. Here they are, looking great.

Also in the spirit of the New Year, Lochend’s comics and graphic novels section were badly in need of a re-arrangement and a general tidy up. Now they’re looking so much better, with the graphic novels on our right hand bookcase and the comics on the left. This will make choosing our favourite reads so much easier.

And we’ve had such a great start to our new year of reading with some fabulous new deliveries which are in stock in the library now. Just look at this pile of amazing books below ! These and more can be borrowed from the library and if you’re not sure what to pick, Mrs Marshall will be happy to help you. (But I think she’d pick Finding Bear herself !)

Lochend getting in the Christmas mood

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At Lochend Community High School there is no lack of Christmas Spirit. Even the library desk is looking festive. We have been really enjoying some new non fiction arrivals over the past month, especially the new Harry Styles book and a great book about Spectacular Scottish Women.

There’s lots of time to de-stress and read over the holiday break. Tucking into some new titles from Libby is a great idea to take it easy when you have some down time. There are so many new books to choose from, you’ll think Christmas has jumped onto your Libby App.

And then we have 2024 to look forward to. Coming back to school, there will be some more new books to look forward to, as a big delivery of 2 boxes full of books came today. Happy Christmas and enjoy your festive break – don’t forget to do some reading – and look forward to what the school library has in store for “24 !

It’s gonna be a green Christmas at Eastbank Academy Library

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November was so busy in the library, with Book Week Scotland happening in the middle of the month. Our Reading Leaders were kept busy distributing the free “Adventure” book from the Scottish Book Trust. Filling up our leaflet holders with extra free copies was a great idea to get books into pupils’ hands.

Great job Amber and Autumn-Bailey !

And Christmas is just around the corner ! Bearing in mind the #greenlibraries campaign and wanting to be as environmentally friendly as possible, our Reading Leaders decided to make most of the Christmas decorations in the library. They gave up their free time over several breaks and lunchtimes to make some paper chains from damaged books which otherwise would have been thrown away. And we managed to decorate our tree by sourcing all the tree decorations from a free community site. Doesn’t it look great !

Happy Christmas and enjoy the festivities from all of our team at Eastbank Academy library. Enjoy de-stressing using your spare time to read – and don’t forget you can access lots of ebooks on Libby during the holidays.

All change at Eastbank – library refurbishment

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Come and see our transformation in the Eastbank Academy Library !

Through the summer, Mrs Marshall and her many helpers (thank you librarians and janitorial staff !) worked to transform the library space at Eastbank Academy. The whole project involved recycling unwanted bookcases from other libraries with little or no money spent. Some bookcases work so well in a different space and our library has a new lease of life. At the start of the project, when you decide to change a library space, you have to move lots – and lots, and lots – of books !

And when the books are off the shelves, then the shelves are the next thing to dismantle. What a job that was! It involved lots of helpers to take down the bookshelves which had been at Eastbank for several years. Being a green school, we saved some of these shelves for other projects. Here’s how the shelves looked all piled up after taking the bookcases apart.

One by one we built the new bookcases and got the new spinner book cases into place. The library definitely was looking quite different now. The light colours of the bookcases definitely looked brighter and gave us more room to relax while choosing books.

In addition, the library was provided with 2 brand new small bookcases which will become home to special collections in the library, such as our Shelf Help selection of books.

Finally, this week, the last bookcase arrived to complete our transformation ! It’s looking great and certainly makes the non-fiction more attractive and easier to see.

Overall, the pupils’ feedback has all been very positive, and they enjoy coming into the new space to choose their books. The library now is far more attractive, but also far easier to use. With a new layout instead of just rows of books and new signage, book borrowing is a better experience. The library itself is a lovely space to be in. We are all looking forward to the rest of the school year in our the new library space.