Tag Archives: school library

Volunteering at Holyrood Library, December Update 

Our Library Volunteers have been working hard on some great projects to brighten these dark, Winter months. 

Reader of the Month notice board

Rand and Tafsirr created a Reader of the Month noticeboard, to recognise enjoyment and effort in reading.

This month’s award winners – Balint (S2), Egbert (S1) & Melissa (S3), will each receive a book of their choice from the book vending machine.  

 

Book Swap here!

Thanks to Filza, Gia and Izza who created this beautiful giant sign for our Book Swap table during Book Week Scotland. They used the lighthouse logo to represent ‘Hope’ and added their own style and flourish. The Book Swap was a great success. 

 

 

Book swapping at interval

Enjoying books together at the Coffee morning

Our Staff Coffee Morning was a hoot (thanks to Ms Ford for bringing Hedwig along), and S3 Volunteers helped serve refreshments, and gave out copies of ‘Hope’ kindly gifted by the Scottish Book Trust. There was plenty of great chat between staff and young people, who love sharing book recommendations together .

 

S4 Volunteer Lucy, working at the issue desk

Our 14 Volunteers, ranging from S3 – S6 have a lot of fun, but there’s also a goal to achieve, which is completing their Duke of Edinburgh Award at either Bronze or Silver level; or for S6 – their Caritas or Leadership Award.

 

 

 

Like all school librarians, I’m always proud to support our young people with their volunteering, and see this is a key aspect of our School Library Service, offering  “a wide range of interesting and fun volunteering experiences that help others develop new skills and make new friends”. A Vision for Glasgow Life Libraries, April 2023

Our October Volunteers’ Survey asked –  What is your favourite thing about volunteering?

“Meeting new people and becoming friends. The Library is a really inviting space and the people I’ve met are all amazing.” (S3 Volunteer)

“I really enjoyed the creative tasks like wrapping a gift and putting up the posters. But also the less creative tasks like taking record of newly ordered books so all in all I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything!” (S6 Volunteer)

In the survey, our young people agreed that they had achieved some, or all of the following outcomes through volunteering :

1. Of benefit to the school community 2. Teamwork 3. Helping other people 4. Learning new skills 5. Good for my mental health 6. Good for my confidence

 We’ll have more projects and book recommendations to share in 2025. Happy Reading!

November books and more at Lochend

In November, we celebrated Book Week Scotland at Lochend.  The timing of a delivery of new books from our supplier was ideal, and the pupils were able to choose their books for Book Week Scotland from this amazing array of new titles on display. 

A particular pupil favourite this month has been The Final Year by Matt Goodfellow,   Told in verse form, it follows the main character, Nate, as he starts Secondary School, has difficulties with his friends and is devastated when his younger brother becomes seriously ill.  If you want to find out how Nate deals with all these, grab a copy at your school or public library.  Matt Goodfellow does it again, and our pupils (and their librarian !) are loving his book. 

 

If that lovely book selection wasn’t good enough, there is such a choice of reading material at Lochend.  The shelves of fiction titles seem to go on for miles, and with them being split into different genres, it makes choosing a book so much easier.  Just look for the genre (style of book) that you like and the books are right next to the genre signs.  Here’s the impressive shelves – they go on for ever !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, there are loads more new books still to come at the end of November !  Just look at the boxes waiting to be processed and fly onto the shelves !  A new display will perhaps be coming for festive reads, but meanwhile just imagine what brilliant reading will be added to the stock. Come to the school library and see what you can pick up, there are books to suit everyone.

 

 

October has been such a busy month here at Eastbank Library.  You would think with a full week’s holiday in the middle of the month that things would be quieter – but that’s not at all the way things have worked out.

First of all, we have a new team of Reading Leaders comprising of S1 pupils.  The girls worked really hard to get their positions.  They came to the library after responding to an appeal for help, completed application forms and finished 2 full weeks of training.  They covered how to check in and check out books on the Library Management System; where books are shelved and what the special sections of the library contain – such as our Equalities, Anti-Racism and Graphic Novel bookshelves.

They have learned really quickly and been reliable too.  Here they are proudly with their Reading Leader badges on their ties.  Celebrations too for our Senior Reader Leaders who enjoyed last year so much they have come back and helped train our new recruits. There is only 1 Senior Reading Leader in the photo, however we do have 3 in total.   Our full team of 7 will make the library an even more brilliant place to be ! Well done to them all !

Our Anime Club started up at the end of September and interest is growing all the time.  Here are some of our attendees watching the latest anime screening in the library.  This month there was a chance to sample some Japanese sweets too.   Luckily one of our Anime Club members speaks Japanese and was able to translate the flavours on the packaging to help everyone choose which sweet they wanted.  Without her we would have been so puzzled.   Team work makes the dream work !

 

Also at the end of the month we celebrated Diwali in our chilled colouring corner.  We decorated the area with flameless candles to symbolise the Festival of Lights.  In addition, a choice of Diwali colouring sheets were available to pupils to allow a chilled colouring in period with some beautiful images to colour.  This activity was really popular and on the first day of the sheets being available, they had to be replenished.  It is amazing how the library can provide a calm atmosphere in such a busy school.

 

 

At the end of October is of course Hallowe’en.  A spooky time was had in the library as there seemed to be many books just “disappearing” in pupils’ bedrooms, never to be found again.  Indeed the haunting seems to be getting worse, as it has extended to the books disappearing from school bags and classrooms as well !  Just as well we will be in November soon, and maybe the library ghost will mend its ways and disappearing books will return to the shelves again !

October @ Holyrood Library

We’ve had a busy month so far, with plenty to celebrate in the Library.

October is Black History Month, so our S3 Duke of Edinburgh Volunteers -Tafsirr, Rand and Lauren created this fantastic book  display. 

They wanted to highlight books that were joyful and celebratory, so included biographies of famous actors, sportspeople, scientists, musicians and World leaders. And some history books, celebrating art and culture, but also remembering the sad and unjust parts of Black history in a respectful way.

 

In Holyrood, we feel that it’s very important to provide diverse and anti-racist books.  So in a survey, when asked what they would like to see in the library, our Senior pupils made these suggestions :

  • A section focused on highlighting ethic minorities like biographies or books on cooking
  • More books in different languages, and also books to encourage people to learn more about other cultures
  • Scottish brown and black boys/girls everyday experiences
  • Maybe more history books on Scotland’s involvement in the slave trade.

Some of the books purchased so far:

 

Higher ESOL requests

Our readers are passionate about seeing voices of all different nationalities and cultures represented on the library shelves. Mrs Cooper’s Higher ESOL class asked for a selection of books by black authors for the classroom. Here are some of the authors they are currently enjoying: Malorie Blackman, Jumata Emill, Sharon Flake, Danielle Jawando, Shade Lapite, Jason Reynolds, Efua Traore, Alex Wheatle.

And we often like to discuss favourite authors and poets in our library Teams chat. We thought these words were very inspiring: “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive: and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style”. Maya Angelou

At the start of October, we also celebrated Dyslexia Awareness Week with a pupil-led outreach library in the Fuel zone.

This showcased the books we have available in a dyslexia friendly format; and Mr. Lang provided a Quiz about famous people.  We also had a Design Your Own Superpower competition, to show that all skills and talents are valued, such as super strength, invisibility, telekinesis, talking to animals, being kind, helping one another, and putting your rubbish in the bin. So many skills – what a talented bunch!

Well done everyone

Miss Kindness

 

 

 

Spooky Tales!

The days are getting colder, the nights are getting longer, and the vibes are getting spookier – join in with these spooky tales, available from your school library!

Just click on the cover to learn more about the book:

                                                        

Looking for more?  Here’s the Glasgow Libraries Halloween selection for teens – available here on Libby! 

It’s the end of term and the library is unusually quiet due to the October holidays.  In Lochend, flying off the shelves just now is Vampire Diaries. It’s back on TV again, and lots of our students are possibly discovering it for the first time.  Full of page turning stories, the books tell of Elena and Stefan and their adventures, being teenage vampires and navigating their strange world – and their relationship !  Don’t go into a cemetery late at night like these teens did – it always ends badly !  Go on, read it for Hallowe’en !

Have you ever wondered what the library looks like when the pupils go on holiday?  Tidy I hear you say?!   There’s always lots to do, but looking at the library today, it’s splendid and we’re lucky to have such a good library space.  Stunning shelved fiction Here’s our very beautiful section – the fiction shelves – which are arranged by genre to help you find your next read more easily.   There are hundreds of books to choose from, and if you’re not sure what to pick the School Librarian will help you.   Thank you to the library assistants in schools who often help us tidy up.

 

Finding your way round the library space can be a bit daunting at first.  However as well as our fiction all arranged in one area, our non fiction books are just the same.  Spread over a series of shelves, our non-fiction books are arranged by the Dewey Decimal System, that’s how the numbers on the side of the books are arranged.  Dewey can seem a bit difficult at first, but don’t worry, that’s another thing the School Librarian can help you with.  If you want to learn more about the Dewey Decimal System – here’s a great site to help you out –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuRmTY4UJwQ

Non Fiction Display

Sometimes the best way to get to know the library is by simply walking round a few times and looking at things that catch your eye.  Today, I’ll leave you with a post of the seating area and the non-fiction area to give you a fuller view of our fantastic space.Spacious Seating Area

COME TO THE LIBRARY !   We look forward to seeing your soon !

News from St Paul’s

September was a busy month!

Lots of things happening in St Paul’s library this month. We’ve had loads of new books delivered, made new displays and had award winning author, Danielle Jawando visiting.

New Books

Lots of exciting new books delivered for our lovely pupils to choose from.

Lovely new books!

New Displays

New books mean new displays. As the nights are drawing in and the season’s change, the leaves begin to change colour and fall – Autumn Means Orange.

Autumnal display

Our second display says exactly what it is – New Stuff to Read 😆

It’s new. It’s stuff. Read it.

Author Visit

On 13th March we were lucky to have the award wining author Danielle Jawando visiting the library. Danielle spoke to a group of senior pupils about her books: When Our Worlds Collided, And the Stars Were Burning Brightly and her most recent book, If My Words Had Wings.

 

 

 

September in Hyndland

New Additions this September!

September has seen a number of new additions to the library. 🥳

New Books!

We have had a few deliveries this month and now have lots of great new titles to choose from. The Friday Finishers created this awesome display incorporating lots of lovely new stock 🥰

Some of our new titles

Friday Finishers display

Dungeons and Dragons 🧌 🧙‍♂️

There are 2 new D&D clubs up and running in Hyndland. The Tuesday Club have embraced the D20 and started their own campaign. It’s been running for a few weeks now and going well.

Tuesday library club starting their campaign

On a Thursday after school the seniors are running their own club which is open to all. If you would like to join just come along to the library at 2:45, everyone is welcome. 👋

You Said – We Did @ Holyrood Library

It’s been an exciting first month back – getting to know our new S1pupils, ordering new books and sorting through deliveries. Best of all has been seeing our keen readers borrow their first books, and the delight when they realise there is no limit to the number of books that can be borrowed (other than what can fit into your schoolbag)! With new books arriving regularly, there will always be great choice of both old favourites, or something completely new to try.

In June, 70 members of our outgoing S1 took part in a Library Survey. This was a goldmine of information, showing what’s been going well, and where improvements could be made. Here’s some examples from the survey:

You said Get more Dork Diaries & Wimpy Kid. More comics.

We did Ordered more comics, including Marvel, DC, Bunny vs Monkey, Star Wars.     

Our funny Diary & Joke books are now all shelved together in a clearly labelled special section to make them easier to find.

You said Have a rule to get people to talk quieter. No loud music. Have more of a chill out spot.

We did  Our quiet, Autism – friendly lunchtime now runs on Wednesdays. No phones, low lighting and quiet activities only. On other days, Librarian & Pupil helpers do a walk round and make sure everyone is being considerate and mindful of noise levels.

Quiet time to chill out

When asked ‘What do you like to do in the Library?’ the most popular answer was Chill out with friends, closely followed by Read, and Do Homework.

 

S1 Helpers planning activities

 

“The library is already amazing and I love spending time there”

All your comments are so valued! We’ll continue to have regular customer surveys to keep improving, and display all your suggestions and the corresponding actions taken on our You Said – We Did’ giant whiteboard.

The librarian is reading …..

Apple and Rain, by Sarah Crossan 14 year old Apple is having a difficult time with bullying, and events at home. A favourite teacher encourages Apple to read poetry and write her own poems. Writing helps her to find her voice, face some really difficult family problems and bravely seek help. I loved this book.

Reading can sometimes seem trivial when you’re faced with difficult events, but the right book, at the right time can be a lifeline. Any time you’re feeling a bit down, why not pop into your school or community library and have a browse. There will always be friendly staff on hand to chat, and you’ll not leave empty-handed. Happy reading!

Ms Kindness