Tag Archives: Glasgow

Happy New Year from St. Andrew’s!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year and found time to relax with a good book!

We have largely been closed since we came back from the break to accommodate prelims. However, we can still provide books! Aside from reintroducing the class boxes – a bespoke selection of books for each class – we are also bringing back our click and collect service. Click on this link, fill in the form, and collect your book!

Alternatively, we have QR codes dotted around the school and also on our Twitter page which will also take you to the form.

There are also vast selections of eBooks and Audiobooks available on Libby and BorrowBox – both of which are available on your iPads. You’ll need your library card number or your PIN, so if you don’t have those then email me at gw19mcgregormark@glow.ea.glasgow.sch.uk

More updates in February where we will be back up and running to full capacity plus the return of the Manga Club, the EAL reading group and other exciting events!

End of the year post!

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You might have noticed that I have been a bit quiet on the old blog front lately. I have been busy trying to devise the weird and wonderful ways in which I can continue to provide a service to you in times of social distancing.

As we well know, things are not set in stone and everything is subject to change. However, assuming that we are sticking to our current plans, then the library will look slightly different for a little while.

Firstly, we will need to provide you with books remotely. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to browse books in the way you used to. On the plus side, everyone will be able to request any books or authors they want and if you let me know what sort of books you enjoy reading then I can do all the work for you and find something I’ll think you enjoy! These will likely be done on a class to class basis and I can even also bring your requested books down to you. Any individual requests can be made by emailing me directly: gw19mcgregormark@glow.ea.glasgow.sch.uk

We will also be further promoting our online services to you throughout the year. The good news is that we now have Borrowbox and Freegal on your school iPads and we are hoping to have more by August! You can access any of the eLibrary features here: https://libcat.csglasgow.org/web/arena/home. To access them, all you need is your library card number (the D00… one above the barcode) and your PIN (I can provide that! Just let me know).

Events might also look different but we will work with everyone to make sure that we can still bring you some excellent author events throughout the year, regardless of what restrictions may or may not be in place!

As for clubs, namely the Manga Club, we will need to have a look at where we are in August but it is my sincerest hope that we can get any clubs or groups back up and running as soon as possible.

Finally, I would like to again take an opportunity to thank all the pupils and staff at St. Andrew’s for making me feel welcome and part of the team in my first school year. It has been a challenging year and next year looks set to come with its own challenges but we will get through it and can look forward to a Library Grand Re-Opening party when everyone is allowed to visit the library again.

Enjoy your summer break everyone. You’ve definitely earned it!

St Andrew’s Library during Lockdown!

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Hi all, I thought now would be as good a time as any to dust off the old blog again. Here, I can provide more detail than I can on our Twitter page plus share any other interesting or useful information from the library itself or farther afield. If any of the teachers know of any budding writers in the school then get in touch! It would be great to get some young people to contribute to the library blog.

Since the end of normal service, I have been encouraging both teachers and young people to make use of the eOffer via the Glasgow Libraries site. Using your library card number and PIN, you can access a number of eBooks, eMagazines, audiobooks and music. I will have a record of individual pupils’ details if needed so please get in touch if you need it! Here is the link.

I am also using this time to plan and develop some exciting new projects for next year and I am hoping to work with staff and pupils as much as possible in the coming months in order to develop these.

Also, for those who don’t have it, the library Twitter page is: https://twitter.com/standrew_schlib

I am already excited for what next year holds and dying to get back into the library!

Fàilte gu Bloga Leabharlainn Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu!

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Welcome to the Glasgow Gaelic School library blog page! I will be using this blog to keep everyone up to date with the goings on with the library whilst we are in lock down and without a physical library (and beyond).

Firstly, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I would like to draw everyone’s attention again to the Glasgow Libraries eLibrary feature which pupils can access using the number on the back of their library card and their PIN. I can provide both so please get in touch with me at gw19mcgregormark@glow.ea.glasgow.sch.uk if you need either. It is a great service and gives you access to a range of features including books, magazines, audiobooks and music. Here’s the link to the main page.

Secondly, the Glasgow School Librarians have gotten together and compiled a Lockdown Reading list for your enjoyment! There are some good reads in here for adults and young people alike. It can be found here.

Finally, I would like to take another opportunity to thank all of the pupils and staff at the school for making me feel most welcome in my first few months here and I hope we can continue to improve the library and its services into the next school year!

EAL Event at Springburn

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Springburn Academy Library recently hosted an event in partnership with Skills Development Scotland which provided information for EAL pupils, parents and guardians on their post school options. The EAL department at Springburn has identified that pupils from overseas, including asylum seekers and refugees, do not have the same access to opportunities as everyone else, often due to legal and financial constraints.

Much of the information and advice given to them needs to be tailored to their circumstances.

There were several speakers, including the school’s EAL Teacher, Graham Park, who opened the event, and Stephen Coyle, Careers Coach, who explained the SDS service offer to pupils. Graham Thomson from Glasgow Kelvin College, covered the various learning pathways offered by the Further Education sector, and his colleague Norma Stewart, described the ESOL programmes and the application process. Shukrya Addow of SDS delivered a presentation on the benefits of undertaking Foundation, Graduate and Modern Apprenticeships. She was followed by Paula Blair from the University of Glasgow, who discussed the university application process and widening access to Higher Education. Ian Maclellan of the University of Strathclyde, discussed their Asylum Seeker Scholarship Fund, and Angeline Mwafulirwa spoke about how she benefited from the Fund and her subsequent career path. The final speaker was Alan Reekie of SDS, who touched on funding issues and the eligibility criteria for learning opportunities for asylum seekers, refugees, EU citizens and international students.

Interpreters supported the event and the languages covered included Arabic, Portuguese, Mandarin and Urdu.

St. Andrew’s February Round-Up

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February has seen a little ‘re-jigging’ of the library lay-out. We have moved our Shelf Help section to the front of the library, making it easier to spot and more accessible for young people and hopefully encourage them to reach out to our excellent selection of literature dealing with mental health issues and exam stress.

In its old spot, we have set up a ‘Gaming and Coding Corner’ which includes game guides, computer game-inspired fiction and various books on coding and programming. Not only will this provide a clear resource for those interested, it also gives yours truly a chance to discover more about what makes our young people tick with regards to games and coding. For this section, I got some of our lunchtime crew to pick out images of their favourite computer games characters to go on the wall.

This month also marks LGBT+ History month and we have set up a small display at the front of the library to mark this, complete with both fiction and non-fiction material covering LGBT themes. Its important that young people from all walks of life feel welcome in the library and that the diversity within the school is reflected as much as possible in the libraries’ resources.

March will most likely see a weekly, or bi-weekly, update as there will be a lot to cover! Next week we will be welcoming Neil Slorance and John Wagner to the library as part of the Wee Write! Festival as well as World Book Day on the 5th. Furthermore, Amnesty International’s Words That Burn poetry project will be kicking off in St. Andrew’s from the 11th!

St. Andrew’s Library Returns!

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After a rather uneventful couple of weeks due to the prelims, the library at St. Andrew’s is back up and running in its full glory! It has been a busy week but it was great to see everyone back using the library again.

During the prelims I ran a ‘Mobile Library’ system in which I visited some classes with a selection of books for them to borrow. The system was such a resounding success that one of our Drama teachers, Mrs. Little, asked if we could make it a permanent fixture for the Safe Space she operates from her classroom Wednesdays after school. This gives pupils who are struggling with social anxiety issues a chance to benefit from the services that the school library provides in a more ambient and relaxed environment.

Wednesday also saw the return of our Manga Club which we are hoping to branch out from being primarily a drawing class, to include games, videos and discussion. I have also been giving the club first dibs on new arrivals!

In other news, on Thursday we had renowned author Kwame Alexander visit the school. This was organised by our Literacy department but it was a pleasure to be there and Kwame’s talk for the S2 pupils was excellent. I was sure to stock up on plenty of extra copies of some of Kwame’s books in preparation. I’m glad I did too as his books have been flying off the shelves since!

There are many more exciting things to come over the next couple of months so watch this space!

Book Week Scotland @ St. Andrew’s

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As Book Week Scotland comes to a close, my first as a school librarian, I can safely say that the week has been a great success and a lot of fun. All week we have been running a book swap station where staff and pupils have been encouraged to bring in old books in return for new ones. We also had a BWS Manga Club Special with the young people designing their own Manga book covers.

However, the highlight was definitely the Reading Lunch on Thursday, run along with our PT of Literacy. The turnout was excellent and it was great to see so many young people and staff come along with their books, ready to discuss them over a spot of lunch.