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March 2024 Roundup – Whitehill Secondary School Library
Events: Events and activities that took place in the School Library during March
To celebrate World Book Day, the School Library invited pupils to write a review about any book of their choice using only five words for a chance to be entered into a prize draw. Read the reviews on our 5 Word Book review blog post. We also hosted a quiz featuring 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.
Shakespeare Week Quiz and choice board: We uploaded an interactive choice board for pupils to explore more of Shakespear’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.
- “Reading would make me brilliant, but writing would make me infinite”
Juliet takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera or William Shakespeare?
2. “All that glitters is not gold”
All That Glitters by Lucy and Lydia Connell or William Shakespeare?
3. “If love is like a possession, maybe my letters are like my exorcism”
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han or William Shakespeare?
4. “My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations”
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green or William Shakespeare?
5. “If music be the food of love, play on”
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan 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.
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.
Recent Arrivals: New Book Highlights
Forensic Science by Chris Cooper
The Illustrated History of Ghosts by Adam A Boardman
The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland
Kicked Out by AM Dassu
The Minecraft Ideas Book by Thomas McBrien
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
Book Buzz: Latest book news from major media outlets and Young Adult book websites
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 2nd) 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:
- Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
- The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
- To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
- Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
March 2024 Roundup – Shawlands Academy School Library
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 5th 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 15th 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.
- “Courage does not always roar. Valor does not always shine”
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi or William Shakespeare?
- “No legacy is so rich as honesty”
One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus or William Shakespeare?
- “So wise so young they say, never do live long”
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera or William Shakespeare?
- “You’re not living if you’re not regretting”
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon or William Shakespeare?
- “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
4th: Finding My Voice by Aoife Dooley
7th: Jays Guide to Crushing It by Ruby Clyde
8th: Sad Ghost Club by Liz Meddings
11th: American Born Chinese by Gene Leun Yang
14th: The Changing Man by Tomi Oyemakinde
15th: Murder On A School Night by Kate Weston
21st: Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco
22nd: The Headmaster’s List by Melissa De La Cruz
25th: Ellie Pillai is Brown by Christine Pillainayagam
27th: Thieves by Lucie Byron
28th: Booked by Kwame Alexander
Author of the Week: Chosen by pupils
WB 4th: Vashti Hardy
WB 11th: Alice Oseman
WB 18th: Jason Reynolds
WB 25th: Louisa Reid
Series of the Week: Chosen by pupils
WB 4th: Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell
WB 11th: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
WB 18th: Who Let the Gods Out? by Maz Evans
WB 25th: 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 for various literary and cultural celebrations. Interactive booklists available on the Library Channel on Teams
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
Book Buzz: Latest book news from major media outlets and book websites
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: Interactive booklists available on the Library Channel on Teams
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 2nd) 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:
- Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
- All’s Well That Ends Well by Shakespeare
- Richard III by Shakespeare
- Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
World Autism Acceptance Week
World Autism Acceptance Week runs from 2nd to 8th April 2024.
Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world. More than one in 100 people are on the autism spectrum and there are around 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK (source).
Unfortunately, the school being closed for a well-deserved spring break means that our pupils will not be in the library to explore our collection and display for this week, but school librarians can be trusted to make sure autism visibility and acceptance are important elements of our stock representation all year round. Here is a gallery of fiction and non-fiction books which feature autistic characters, or are written by autistic authors!
March in Hyndland
World Book Day 2024
Hyndland library celebrate World Book Day with a Big Book Quiz at lunchtimes throughout the week. The Friday Finishers also created this wonderful display to celebrate the day.
World Book Day Display
World book Day quiz
March in St Paul’s
March was an extremely busy month in the library. We had various World Book Day events and two amazing author sessions. Let’s have a look 😊
World Book Day 2024
The library was very busy during the week of World Book Day. We had a book themed Scavenger Hunt, a Big Book Quiz and an Easter basket full of goodies that was raffled off to teachers. All of the events were organised and ran by our Senior Literacy Ambassadors. Congratulations go to them, they did an absolutely fantastic job 🥰
Winners of the scavenger hunt
Big Book Quiz
Easter Basket Winner
Author Visits
During March the library hosted not one but two fabulous author visits. The first author was Hiba Noor Khan talking about her book ‘Safiyyah’s War’
Hiba talking about Safiyyah’s War
Our second author visit was from Brian Conaghan talking about his book ‘Treacle Town’. Brian’s visit was part of the Library Young Team Project supported by the Scottish Library Improvement Fund.
Brian Conaghan talking about his book Treacle Town
The Library Young Team- Alan Bissett @St Mungo’s
As a part of the The Library Young Team project, the second session was led by author Alan Bissett.
He engaged with a group of S3 pupils, involving them in a discussion about toxic masculinity, lad culture, and consent. Drawing from his latest book, “Lads: a Guide to Respect and Consent,” as well as his collaboration with Police Scotland’s campaign, “Don’t Be That Guy,” Alan Bissett talked to young boys about understanding women’s safety issues and offering guidance on respectful behaviour towards girls and women.
He also addressed how societal expectations and gender roles can create barriers that hinder young men from discussing their emotions and mental health, potentially leading to harmful outcomes.
His intervention was empowering, not accusatory or preachy, aiming to help boys navigate their teen years into adulthood with informed choices.
The Library Young Team with Alan Bissett, and more
Bannerman High School is among 10 secondary schools across Glasgow City Council and Renfrewshire to take part in a project co-run with Renfrewshire School Libraries. The project is called “The Library Young Team” and it is supported by the Scottish Government School Library Improvement Fund.
Our second session for this project consisted in a brilliant visit from Scottish author Alan Bissett, where a group of S3 boys engaged with topics such as toxic masculinity, lad culture, and consent. Alan Bissett used his most recent book “Lads: a Guide to Respect and Consent” and his collaboration with Police Scotland’s campaign “Don’t Be That Guy” as foundations for a conversation with young boys on empathizing with the issue of women’s safety and giving advice on how to behave respectfully around girls and women. He also spoke about how socio-cultural expectations on boys and gender roles create a damaging barrier that prevents young men from talking about their emotions and mental health with potentially dangerous consequences. This useful advice was intervaled with some light-hearted banter and our S3 responded very positively to this visit – we all enjoyed it, thank you Alan!
This Project is supported by the Scottish Government School Library Improvement Fund.
Genre tasting at the Parents’ Evening 🍽
More events happened in the library! Ms Greer from English and Ms Bortolato organised a book trattoria in the library for the latest parents’ evening and family learning.
The library got transformed in a little restaurant where parents and their children could choose from a menu of genres, familiarize themselves with junior fiction books and talk about their thoughts on the books they tasted.
The Manga Club contributed to this evening with a Manga Appetizers station where patrons could snack on manga history (typed up by our wee club members!) and famous comics while they waited to be seated. 🥡🥢
St Roch’s Reads: March
Word book day
March means World Book Day time! The library has handed out lots of tokens and they’re available until the end of the month. WBD token can be used to claim a free book in bookshops an participating shops until 31st March. You can find out about the books and shops here.
To mark the day, this year pupils competed in quizzes and joined in some bookish games of Tumbling Towers. Every block had a question or action and we had some delightful reading dares as forfeits. Big thanks to all the pupil library assistants who helped out as activity leaders.
Yoto shortlist
On 13th March the Yoto Carnegie award shortlist was announced and the pupil assistants have jumped right in. We’re reading Away with words , The door of no return and Steady for this at the moment, you can find out more about these titles below. Stay tuned for next month’s blog to see what we thought.
Away with words by Sophie Cameron
Gala and her dad, Jordi, have just moved from home in Cataluña to a town in Scotland, to live with Jordi’s boyfriend Ryan. Gala doesn’t speak much English, and feels lost, lonely and unable to be her usual funny self. Until she befriends Natalie, a girl with selective mutism. Set in a world where words appear physically when people speak, AWAY WITH WORDS explores the importance of communication and being there for those we love
The door of no return / Kwame Alexander
Eleven-year-old Kofi Offin loves these things above all else: his family, the fireside tales of his father’s father, a girl named Ama, and, of course, swimming. But when the unthinkable occurs during a festival between rival villages, Kofi ends up in a fight for his life. What happens next will send him on a harrowing journey across land and sea, and away from everything he loves.
Steady for this by Nathanael Lessore
Shaun (aka MC Growls) is ready to drop his best bars and smash the competition at Raptology. That way, he’s convinced Tanisha, his crush, will finally give him a chance.
But when a livestream practice goes epically wrong, Growls’s dirty laundry is literally exposed. He’s finally achieved his dreams of going viral – not in the good way.
Now Tanisha won’t look at him, he’s the joke of the school and there’s no way he can show his face at the competition. Will he ever catch a break?
Happy Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, taking place in March and April this year. It is a holy month which Muslims observe by giving, fasting, worship, studying the Quran, spiritual reflection, prayer and helping others. The end of Ramadan will be celebrated in April with Eid al-Fitr – the Festival of the Breaking of the Fast. Remember to be considerate of your Muslim friends during Ramadan, as they may be fasting during the day.
Many St Roch’s pupils are observing Ramadan this month, including some of our library volunteers. They put together a lovely library display to share information about Islamic culture and promote Muslim authors. Well done to Rose & co for their work.
The holidays will soon be upon us, we hope you all enjoy a well earned break. Time to rest and recharge before getting ready for exam season!
Ramadan Mubarak & Happy Easter to everyone celebrating.
World Poetry Day
Celebrate World Poetry Day this year with these fantastic YA Novels-in-Verse:
