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World Autism Acceptance Week

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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 St Paul’s

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Library Young Team Project – Alan Bissett Visits!

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This year, ten schools across Glasgow and Renfrewshire are taking part in a project aimed at S3-S6 pupils which addresses a range of topics, from toxic masculinity and misogyny to gang culture and crime. The project has been named Library Young Team and is supported by the Scottish Government School Library Improvement Fund. Over the course of three months, three thought-provoking authors will visit each school to discuss their books and their individual journeys through difficult circumstances and how they are able to reflect on that part of their lives now. At Knightswood Secondary, we’re very lucky to be one of the schools involved in this project.

This week, on March 20th, Knightswood was privileged to have its second author visit with Alan Bissett. Hailing from Falkirk, Alan has become well-known for his unique perspective on Scots dialect writing. His newest book, Lads: A Guide to Consent and Respect is his first non-fiction title. It is aimed at teenaged boys to help them navigate the often fraught world of relationships, misogyny, incel culture, boundaries, and what it means to be a “good man”. As he described it to our group of S3 pupils, “If [I] leave here today and get hit by a bus and die, this is what I’d like to leave as advice for my sons.”

His hour with us proved to be interesting, enriching, and quite often, funny. He’s a brilliant speaker who draws on examples from his own life to really demonstrate the ideas he’s putting forward.

Our next (and final) author event in this series comes in April, so stay tuned for that!

World Book Day @ St Mungo’s library!

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This year, the English department and the library decided to celebrate World Book Day over a week, from the 4th of March to the 8th of March. Many activities were planned in the library for everyone to enjoy, such as quizzes, a door dress-up competition, book giveaways, book tastings, and even cool stories to listen to at lunch time!

However, the highlight of this year’s celebration was undoubtedly the “book tastings.” Pupils from S1 English classes were cordially invited to the transformed library, now resembling a charming French café. Here, they were encouraged to explore and “taste” various literary genres, opening doors to new worlds and expanding their literary horizons. It was like taking a bite out of a new adventure with every page turned!

March @ Castlemilk Highschool Library

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What’s been happening this month

World Book Day 2024

World Book Day is all about celebrating the magic of storytelling and the joy of reading. It’s a chance for book lovers of all ages come together to share their favourite stories, discover new adventures, and explore the wonderful world of books. Every year during March, you can claim a FREE book from book shops and participating retailers. All you need is a World Book Day token- and there’s lots of available in school.  You can collect tokens from your English teacher or the school library until March 31st. Check out what books are available to choose from here. 

Equality & Pride @ CHS

The CHS Equalities group provides a welcome space for all LGBTQ+ pupils and allies to meet every Wednesday at lunchtime. The group has been meeting in the library recently, where
they’ve made a new LGBT+ book display, bringing a lovely bit of colour to the shelves. This month everyone has been reading Heartstopper by Alice Oseman. The latest book in the series is in high demand, so if you have to wait, you can try one of Alice Oseman’s other books like Loveless, Solitaire or Radio Silence.  

 

Heartstopper/ Alice Oseman

Charlie and Nick are at the same school, but they’ve never met … until one day when they’re made to sit together. They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn’t think he has a chance. 
 
But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is more interested in Charlie than either of them realised. 

International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is held annually on 8th March. The aim of IWD is to raise awareness for gender equality and challenge stereotypes. It is also an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women across the world, both from the past and the present day. These can range from female leaders to pioneers in technology to the women in our everyday lives, like female friends, mothers and grandmothers.

We have two spotlight lists for IWD this month. Our ‘heroines’ list features stories with inspirational women and girls, chosen here for their bravery, conviction,and smarts. Our HERstory list features books about real women who have done amazing things throughout history in science, art, politics and society.

You can view both lists on our School Library Padlet.

 

Made with Padlet

 

New Books

There are loads of new books to choose form this month, particularly if you like a murder or a lol in your stories! Here’s some that we’re most excited to read this month.  

The black queen / Jumata Emill 

A dark and twisty murder mystery – Ace of Spades meets Riverdale

Catch your death / Ravena Guron

Trapped in a mansion with a murderer and a family of liars – how would you survive? A mind-blowing thriller from the author of THIS BOOK KILLS, perfect for fans of Holly Jackson and Karen McManus.

Deadly little scandals / Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Shocking twists, family secrets, a fish-out-of water protagonist and a page-turning mystery combine in Little White Lies and Deadly Little Scandals (The Debutantes Duology) – perfect for fans coming from THE INHERITANCE GAMES series looking for their next addictive read from the Master of YA Mysteries, Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

Loki : a bad god’s guide to ruling the world /  Louie Stowell

Loki’s third doodle-packed diary in the number one best-selling series.

Worst week ever! : Monday / Emma Amores & Matt Cosgrove

The first book in the hilarious new seven-part highly-illustrated series for fans of Tom Gates, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the Treehouse series.

The totally disastrous school-trip of Lottie Brooks / Katie Kirby

Lottie Brooks continues to navigate the many perils of growing up in this fantastically funny illustrated series, filled with friendship, embarrassing moments and plenty of lols. 

 

Happy reading!