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
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 !
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.
Welcome back to school Eastbank ! It has been a lonely library without you all. Can you believe our library actually looks this big? Isn’t it weird looking at it without any pupils in?
But what if your best friend starts doing things they shouldn’t really be doing? And it’s serious. Combined with trouble at home, the Final Year is a great read and one you can identify with concerning your first year at a new school.
What an amazing reader request has just come in to Eastbank. The graphic novel of Unfamiliar and it’s follow up have arrived. An adorable wee witch – Planchette – moves into a haunted house together with her familiar Marlow. Not a problem for a witch you’d think ! But a bargain haunted house throws up some funny problems for the young witch and her familiar. A cosy read about insiders, outsiders and all those in-between, there’s not much you can’t love about Unfamiliar. Ask Mrs Marshall to reserve both copies if you want double the fun.
Remember, the library is free and you can borrow books for 2 weeks, or longer if you need more time to read the books you have. Stuck for an idea what to read? Why not check out our display of new books? This table is where you find a selection of new books covering all subjects.
I’ve also enjoyed some time off to go on trips and celebrations including: