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Glasgow School Libraries eMagazine

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The Spring edition of Swatch is now here! The new edition of our Glasgow School Libraries eMagazine features a fab interview with our very own author, Melissa Cassidy. Pupils from Hillpark asked Mel about her inspiration for writing a book, the process for getting it published, and what advice she has for young aspiring writers. The eMag is also packed full of book reviews, author interviews, pupil contributions, and all the latest news from schools across Glasgow. Check it out here: https://online.fliphtml5.com/kukmo/hjud/#p=1

Holyrood library – ‘Book chat with S6, and World Book Day fun’

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This month we’re chatting to some of our wonderful S6 Pupils about books and reading. Thank you S6 for sharing these thoughts.

Taiba : “I like reading because it allows me to stand in other peoples’ shoes and experience someone else’s life for a while. I always struggled to decide what I wanted to pursue at university. Reading books written by many different professionals in their careers, such as ‘When Breath Becomes Air‘ made me feel  I could make a more educated choice. Reading has also prepared me for the university application process and has given me things to talk about in interviews”.

Manisa: “For me, reading helps me escape reality and also helps me be more creative. I got into reading by finding my types of books in the school library. Reading gives me a perspective that I haven’t seen before”.

Maryam: “I sometimes prefer books to their movies/ TV shows because it allows my imagination to visualise the plot which is different to when a movie dictates what you see. Another thing that I like about reading is that you’re able to appreciate the thoughts of each character, and you are put in their shoes, which can be interesting!”

Holly: “You may think you don’t enjoy reading because you have always viewed it as a task, but once you find a book that you love and are interested in, it can be a perfect escape from reality”

Miss K. :  “Seeing our S6 pupils studying in the library and hearing their feedback about books is one of the best things about my job. They can often be found encouraging younger pupils and doing paired reading with S1. Thanks also for the great idea of doing a Book-Tok display. Can’t wait to get started!”

On 3rd March, we celebrated World Book Day. As part of their Literacy project, S1-S3 pupils were asked to read a book set in a country other than the UK. Some borrowed books from the school library, whole others chose to access the E-library using their I=pads. Ms Longo also ran a project asking all year groups to recommend a favourite book from a different country. This truly reflects the diverse, multi-cultural and welcoming nature of our school.

Our EAL Book Group continues to meet at lunchtimes when we have fun chatting, eating lunch and finding new books to enjoy together.

 

On library Teams, we’ve enjoyed nominating our favourite places we’d like to visit, as part of the ‘Strange Worlds Detective Agency’ competition. These have included New York; the Eiffel Tower in Paris; Italy, the Maldives, and Bali in Indonesia. I feel as if I’ve travelled the World, from my desk chair.

Thanks to all pupil helpers S1 – S6 who have contributed so much time and energy helping in the Library this month.

JPA Library – February Update

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That was a cold one!

I don’t want to jinx it, but fingers crossed that the weather heats up a little as we head into Spring.

Until then, however, you can browse this library update with everything we got up to in February!

RPG Club

Due to popular demand from our pupils, we have now started a brand-new RPG Club (that’s role-playing-game for the novices amongst us).  Pupils have been working this month on creating their own Dungeons & Dragons characters, and we’ll hopefully be starting our first campaign soon!  The character creation process has been very involved, and actually temporarily taken over our Comic Club too!  However, character creation is an important part of the comic-making process so it’s all relevant!  Next month our pupils will have transformed into bards, warlocks, rangers and sorcerer’s ready to dive into as yet unknown fantasy worlds!  Keep updated with their progress in this blog.  This will be my first time as Dungeon Master and the pupils first time playing so we’ll all be learning something new while we play!

EAL Book Club

Project Cinderella continues!  Our pupils have now finished reading the three best known and classic versions of the story from France (by Charles Perrault), Italy (by Giambattista Basile) and Germany (by The Grimm Brothers).  They have been plotting their mind maps and jotting down ideas for their own twist on the story.  Now we are looking at and discussing modern adaptations of the story!  We have started with Cinderella Is Dead, by Kalynn Bayron, a dark feminist fantasy retelling that explores Cinderella’s choice in the story, and Gender Swapped Fairy Tales, by Karrie Fransman and Jonathan Plackett, looking at how changing gender could change the story.  We are all agreed – glass trainers are probably more comfortable than glass heels, but still entirely impractical.

Volunteers

 

Our library volunteers have formed a great wee team and have been working hard in the library throughout February.  They have helped create great displays, such as this one for LGBT+ History Month, and have done their best to make sure the library stays tidy and organised.  I am very grateful for all their help!

One of our volunteers has gone above and beyond, and has made a new mascot for the library – please meet Bellamy Book Bear!  Bellamy is now a part of the library team and has loads of book suggestions (such as these ‘beary’ good bear-themed books (and yes, you can expect a lot more un’bear’able puns from me!)).

Blind Date With A Book

For Valentine’s Day, the library had a Blind Date With A Book display!  Pupils were able to read the first line of a book, and a couple bullet points of information about it, before borrowing, and plenty of pupils got involved!  It might not have always been love at first line, but we had fun either way! 

March is set to be another exciting month, now that we have four clubs on the go and World Book Day to celebrate!  You can check out everything that’s coming up in the March edition of Bookmarked – the school library newsletter.  

February 2022 Roundup – St Margaret Mary’s Secondary School Library

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A relatively uneventful month this time around with the February break and use of the school library space. But we’ve bene having a blast with the pupils during breaks and book borrowing times. Our s1-2 pupils have created their own Book group called ‘They Both Read at the End’, inspired by Adam Silvera’s hugely popular Young Adult novel, They Both Die at the End.

Pupil Library Committee – Members of our Pupil Library Committee have been gaining experience of library work through their volunteering as part of their Duke of Edinburgh awards, where they’ve been learning how to process and display new stock. They’re also helping to prepare for the upcoming World Book Day festivities where they’ll be hosting a pop-up library in the Fuel Zone and help with the zine making workshop.

EAL Book Group – Our EAL book group is continuing with the non-fiction book, YouthQuake: 50 Children and Young People Who Shook the World by Tom Adams and Sarah Walsh as part of the Inspiring Lives series by Nosy Crow. In this project, each pupil has selected five inspiring young people that they’d like to learn more about. We research two people per session, looking at their biographies, videos and other online multimedia resources to get a sense of who they are and what they’ve achieved. It leads to some very engaging discussions with the pupils.

 

February Booklists:

February 2022 Booklists – BookTrust

Best new Children’s Books – Toppsta

Bookbug’s Books of the Month – Scottish Book Trust

Books of the Month – LoveReading4Kids

February Roundup – Love Reading

Book of the Month – Scholastic

Books of the Month – Waterstones

Children’s Book roundup – Guardian

 

Upcoming events:

African Festival of Emerging Writers (March 17th-19th) – ArifFesti (Cameroon)

British Science Week (March 11th) – British Science Week (UK)

Earth Hour (March 26th) – Earth Hours (International)

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (March 21st) – United Nations (International)

International Women’s Day (March 8th) – International Women’s Day (International)

Jaipur Literary Festival (March 5th-14th) – Jaipur Lit Fest (India)

LitFest 2022 Mini Children’s Festival (March 11th-12th) – LitFest (UK)

Shakespeare Week (March 21st) – Shakespeare Week (UK)

World Book Day (March 3rd) – World Book Day (International)

World Poetry Day (March 21st) – UNESCO (International)

World Storytelling Day (March 21st) – (International)

 

Past events:

Alasdair Gray Day (February 25th) – Gray Day (Scotland)

Emirates Literature Festival – (catch up on YouTube)  Emirates LitFest (UAE)

International Festival of Children’s and Youth Literature (Catch up on YouTube) – FESTILIJ (Spain)

Jewish Book Wee (February 26th-March 6th) – Jewish Book Week (UK)

 

Literary Awards & Prizes:

American Indian Youth Literature Award Winners – American Indian Library Association (USA)

Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Winners – Asian/Pacific American Library Association (USA)

Blue Peter Book Awards Shortlist – BBC/BookTrust (UK)

Bookbug Picture Book prize announced – Scottish Book Trust (Scotland)

Caldecott Medal Winners – American Library Association (USA)

Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Award Long Lists Announced – CILIP (UK)

The Klaus Flugge Prize Long List Announced – Klaus Flugge Prize (UK)

The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards 2022 (the Lollies) – Scholastic (UK)

Prémio Autores/ Authors Awards Winners – Sociedade Portuguesa De Autores (Portugal)

Waterstones Children’s Book Prize Shortlist 2022 – Waterstones (UK)

 

In the news:

17th Century Buddhist Texts for the Illiterate: how ‘Buddhist Emoji’ made the Sutra Legible for those who couldn’t read – Open Culture

Bologna Children’s Book Fair (March 21-24th) – Bologna Fiere (Italy)

The Book of Kells, has been digitised and put online – Open Culture

Campaign for every Scottish Secondary School to receive a copy of Me and White Supremacy (YA edition) by Layla F Saad successful – Lighthouse Bookshop (Edinburgh, Scotland)

 

February 2022 Roundup – Shawlands Academy School Library

LGBT+ History Month – During February, the Pupil Library Committee and LGBT+ group pupils curated their own display for LGBT+ History Month, creating their own poster, bunting and selecting books to highlight from the Libraries collection. The school library also curated a digital booklist for Young Adult Fiction and Graphic Novels to add to Mr Lynch’s LGBT History Month interactive choice board, that enables pupils to learn about significant events, activists, and literary figures from the LGBTQ+ community. The Library also hosted an LGBT History Month quiz to highlight the history, social change, and figures with prizes to be won.

EAL Book Group – Our EAL book group completed two books. The House of Clouds by Lisa Thompson, a beautiful story that explores friendship, bereavement, and imagination. Our other book, Under the Skin by Cathy MacPhail, discusses bullying and refugee issues within a Scottish context. In the story, our main character Omar writes about how much he loves living in Scotland to his cousin Chat, which we modelled for our letter writing activity.

Reading Schools – The school library continues our Reading Schools journey. Our committee met to plan a wealth of activities for the upcoming World Book Day week. The Pupil Library Committee is heavily involved in this years WBD festivities, hosting pop-up Libraries, helping with arts and crafts workshops, and creating displays to promote an array of literary events taking place throughout March.

February Booklists:

February 2022 Booklists – BookTrust

Best new Children’s Books – Toppsta

Bookbug’s Books of the Month – Scottish Book Trust

Books of the Month – LoveReading4Kids

February Roundup – Love Reading

Book of the Month – Scholastic

Books of the Month – Waterstones

Children’s Book roundup – Guardian

 

Upcoming events:

African Festival of Emerging Writers (March 17th-19th) – ArifFesti (Cameroon)

British Science Week (March 11th) – British Science Week (UK)

Earth Hour (March 26th) – Earth Hours (International)

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (March 21st) – United Nations (International)

International Women’s Day (March 8th) – International Women’s Day (International)

Jaipur Literary Festival (March 5th-14th) – Jaipur Lit Fest (India)

LitFest 2022 Mini Children’s Festival (March 11th-12th) – LitFest (UK)

Shakespeare Week (March 21st) – Shakespeare Week (UK)

World Book Day (March 3rd) – World Book Day (International)

World Poetry Day (March 21st) – UNESCO (International)

World Storytelling Day (March 21st) – (International)

 

Past events:

Alasdair Gray Day (February 25th) – Gray Day (Scotland)

Emirates Literature Festival – (catch up on YouTube)  Emirates LitFest (UAE)

International Festival of Children’s and Youth Literature (Catch up on YouTube) – FESTILIJ (Spain)

Jewish Book Wee (February 26th-March 6th) – Jewish Book Week (UK)

 

Literary Awards & Prizes:

American Indian Youth Literature Award Winners – American Indian Library Association (USA)

Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Winners – Asian/Pacific American Library Association (USA)

Blue Peter Book Awards Shortlist – BBC/BookTrust (UK)

Bookbug Picture Book prize announced – Scottish Book Trust (Scotland)

Caldecott Medal Winners – American Library Association (USA)

Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Award Long Lists Announced – CILIP (UK)

The Klaus Flugge Prize Long List Announced – Klaus Flugge Prize (UK)

The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards 2022 (the Lollies) – Scholastic (UK)

Prémio Autores/ Authors Awards Winners – Sociedade Portuguesa De Autores (Portugal)

Waterstones Children’s Book Prize Shortlist 2022 – Waterstones (UK)

 

In the news:

17th Century Buddhist Texts for the Illiterate: how ‘Buddhist Emoji’ made the Sutra Legible for those who couldn’t read – Open Culture

Bologna Children’s Book Fair (March 21-24th) – Bologna Fiere (Italy)

The Book of Kells, has been digitised and put online – Open Culture

Campaign for every Scottish Secondary School to receive a copy of Me and White Supremacy (YA edition) by Layla F Saad successful – Lighthouse Bookshop (Edinburgh, Scotland)

 

February events

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Hello Readers,

Here we are at the end of another busy month… February has marked many events and celebrations, and so many ideas have been going on. So here is a wee summary of what our busy Library Assistants have done to celebrate the following events.

LGBTQI+ History Month

Our permanent book display has seen some new titles added and a wonderful new poster made by one of our new library team members. We have also helped our LGBTQI+ school group distributing LGBTQI+ friendly door display for teachers! Our librarian has also been rewarded with a beautiful mug and these kind words:

” Ms Spaltro, our librarian. Thank you for all that you do for our LGBT+ pupils. We have a greatly stocked library of LGBT+ reading materials, thanks to you. And thanks for being so supportive of the community. Nominated by many pupils. “

Harry Potter Night Event

Harry Potter event decorations: a witch hat and a poster saying "Hogawarts" made by the pupils.

Molly and Abigail, two wonderful senior pupils, have worked tirelessly to organise and deliver a fantastic Harry Potter event on the 3rd of February. They did such a good job including everyone that even the most reluctant participants enjoyed our event. A special mention goes to one of our EAL pupil, who was initially afraid it could have been to hard, but he ended up been in the winning team! Attached a wee picture of the decorations that our pupils have used to make our library magical! We are also very grateful to the Drama department that has let us use some of their costumes to make the scene more suggestive.

Languages Week Scotland

Multilingual book display for the Languages Week Scotland.

Our multilingual assistants have made a beautiful display to mark this celebration. Full of multilingual books and smart quotes to highlight the importance of learning languages. They have also involved our library regulars into creating multilingual welcoming posters that have been displayed at the entrance of the library.

Unfortunately, the lights aren’t great, so you will need to visit us to admire them!

Welcome to the library posters in different languages

These are only few of the many tasks that we have completed in the library, but many more are to come!

Please stay tuned to see what we are planning…

LGBT+ History Month

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Every February, Scotland celebrates LGBT+ History Month -a chance to connect and to reflect on the past and present of the LGBT+ community. 

Whitehill Secondary School is currently working towards LGBT Charter Bronze award, as a way to ensure inclusivity for all pupils. In the school library, there’s a great range of non-fiction and fiction LGBT+ books available for pupils to borrow. You’ll always find something great to read in our display area, which highlights books with LGBTQ+ themes and characters. And there’s even more books in the digital library! Here’s a sample of some titles you can download and read during the month. 

You can access e-books and audiobooks from anywhere, using the Libby library app. New to the digital library? Check out this handy video on getting started with Libby. If you need any help using the eBooks or getting set up on Libby, remember you can visit the library on Thursdays and Fridays and chat to the librarian.  

Happy reading!