Earth Day was the perfect time to look at how we can become more environmentally friendly in the library, and also to celebrate books and reading.
Earth Day book display
S1 volunteers created an excellent book display, selecting their favourite books on climate change, sustainability, plastic pollution, and oceans. They were keen to include books with beautiful illustrations, as we feel these are a powerful way to make people care more about the environment.
We had great discussion about what everyone can do to help the Planet, such as reducing use of plastic and energy consumption. We ended our session with some wonderful artwork and an acrostic poem. Well done and thanks to Niamh, Zaynab, Freya, Matilda, Eliza, Julia, Kaneez, Mya and Alfie for this
Creative writing Our lunchtime group wrote ‘A Thank You letter to Planet Earth’.
Throughout the year, we’ve been thinking of ways to cut down on waste and be more sustainable, very much inspired by our fantastic PT Learning for Sustainability, and pupil Eco-Team. Here’s our Holyrood 3 step #GreenLibraries action plan:
Making our own posters for events
- Print less and make our own posters, recycling scrap paper and magazines where possible. When printing is necessary, print double sided, or in booklet form.
- We make our own bookmarks by recycling old books, cardboard, and packaging. These are very popular!
Recycled bookmarks
- All pupils and staff have access to the Libby reading app. The free magazines are especially popular. In a recent Staff survey – all agreed that one of the benefits of Libby is that it’s kind to the environment (no more magazines going into the bin). You can get help with Libby here in the Library, and also from both the English dept., and Support for Learning. Join up in about 20 seconds – great for the holidays!
Download the free Libby app
What I’m Reading
‘When I First Held You’
‘When I First Held You’ by Anstey Harris begins in a Repair shop. Judy, the owner, has experienced loss and tragedy in the past. Can she find a way to mend the damage? Will her story end like those of her customers, who get to see their broken objects restored?
Our Book Group loved the cover of this book, and think the golden thread shows how beauty and value is added when an object is repaired. With a bit of research, we found the Japanese word for exactly this ‘kintsugi’ – mending broken pottery with gold.
In Western culture, we sometimes tend to value things that are new, and often over-buy, without considering what items we already have. I’ve also enjoyed books by both Marie Kondo, and Helen Sanderson. Both books tackle the modern day problem of having too many possessions and how we can live more sustainably and find joy with less.
The display is looking far more contemporary and the addition of the new stock has really brightened the place up.
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.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgensten “I really loved this book. It’s the definition of a fantasy book. It’s so magical and really transports you to another world. Definitely my favourite book.” Isha, S4
Lunchtime Reading We were delighted to win 10 copies of Rebel Skies by Ann Sei Lin. We hope to read and review this book together. Happy to share our spare copies!
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”.
Our EAL Book Group continues to meet at lunchtimes when we have fun chatting, eating lunch and finding new books to enjoy together.
On National Poetry Day we had a visit from Anita Govan. Ms Longo’s S3 put their heart & soul into improvising and performing their own poems. Anita presented us with a copy of her book. What a fantastic day.
Alex Nye visited us for Book Week Scotland. S2 & S3 loved Alex’s ‘Art of the Ghost Story’ workshop. Miss Cameron & Mr Clarke’s classes came up with brilliant questions. A fascinating insight into being an author. Well done all!
A December highlight was a visit from Metaphrog (John & Sandra). It was amazing to learn all about the creative process. Our audience included our EAL Book Group, and our own published graphic novelists now in S4, who had worked with John and Sandra previously. It felt like a lovely family reunion.
Thanks to Abdou, other pupils have now enjoyed this series too!
Azeem likes “ all the Roald Dahl books, also comic books, and books about football”.
Denis and Mahmod both enjoyed a book that they read in class The Housekeeper’s Lunch – “this book was really funny and great because the housekeeper couldn’t have his lunch because the crows ate it all”.
