Stromness Academy Library

A new term has started with a flurry of activity in the library. Lunchtimes have been extremely busy with up to 50 pupils in the library (over 10% of the school roll) visiting the library to read, use computers, play chess or genrally chill out and relax. The atmosphere has been noisy(ish) but relaxed. Many of the new S1 pupils have made their way here and are proving confident in their use of the library so far.

S2 Responsible Behaviour

During the first week all S2 English classes re-visited the Library Code of Conduct during their library periods. The aim of this was to remind them of how to behave responsibly in the library, thus helping to create a calm, relaxed but workmanlike atmosphere in the library. In groups, pupils discussed various questions, then produced a poster of how the library can be used and indicating what rules were important to follow.

In a discussion on why we had rules, the pupils gave some good answers:

To encourage respectful and responsible behaviour and to be good.

For safety of yourself and other people.

To keep you safe; To look after equipment; We have to respect other people who are using the library; So we know what isn’t acceptable.

To keep it a nice quiet, relaxing place to study, relax and read.

Keep the library a nice atmosphere.

So others can enjoy and work in it.

To keep everyone safe and to keep the library tidy so nothing gets broken.

To keep order; To keep the library tidy; To keep it safe.

So that people can work without distraction.

So everyone is happy; To keep the place neat so nothing or no-one gets hurt; You can think to yourself when it is quiet; Sopeople know how to treat books.

To have a nice environment.

There are rules for safety reasons, show respect to others and to property of others.

Respecting other people and property.

S1 Library Induction

Pupils in S1 have started their Library Induction course which takes place during their English library periods over the course of 5 weeks. Last week pupils were issued with their library cards and introduced to the course and the Library Code of Conduct. The course will teach them how to use the library effetively, efficiently and independantly. Pupils carry out 3 activites each lesson and over the five weeks will learn about the layout of the library, how to borrow books, what resources are available, opening times, finding books – fiction and non-fiction, learning about the Dewey Decimal system and using the library catalogue.

Activities

Role-Playing games have restarted during Friday afternooon activities. There are three groups, one playing Warhammer, haveing set up their opwn tournament, a beginners Dungeons & Dragons game is being run by the Librarian, and another group are playing board games such as Risk and chess.

Tuesday after school sessions will be restarting shortly when a more advance D & D game will be run.

So, the last day is nearly upon us, as is the 26th Annual Band Competition. This amazing event involves the whole school as classes are suspended for the day. S1 and S2 classes have spent their music lessons learning instruments and songs to perform in front of the school audience and the judges. The theatre and foyer have been resounding to rehearsals for a while now and the countdown to tomorrow has begun. S1 perfom in the morning, whilst S2 have the afternoon slot. In between times senior pupils, many in established groups will perform. The Art department also gets involved and an array of colourful posters produced by the pupils have been appearing around the school.

The weather on Tuesday 23rd June dawned dry and sunny. Just what was needed for a day spent outside by most pupils. The library was used as a supervised area for some non-participants. On offer to keep them occupied were access to the computers, chess, board games and a game of Warhammer. Some pupils were in the library for the duration. Others flitted in and out depending on what events they had decided to take part in. Everyone was cheery and relaxed enjoying the time to ‘chill’.

The Primary 7 visits to the school library on 16th June proved to be very successful. It was a long day, but made easier with the help of some of the pupil librarians who showed exceptional maturity and confidence in their duties on the day. Thank you … you know who you are!

The pupils were briefly introduced to the library and the activities we had planned for them. They carried out an ‘anagram hunt’ searching for the letters in the different sections of the library to spell out the word ‘welcome’. They had an optional wordsearch and also filled in an online reading interest survey. All pupils left the library with a bookmark and a leaflet about the library.

The online survey which all the visting pupils filled in has provided some really nice comments which are shown below:

I enjoyed my trip to the library today. I found that it has increased my excitment of coming to the academy because i love to read.My first impression was that the library is very good and very imforative with the amount of books it holds. I cannot wait to come and have a shot of using some of the books.

It looks very helpful for my school work and fun for activities.

I think the library was very enjoyable.

I think it’s a really nice and relaxing.

I like the walls and it seems like a nice, friendly place.

I like this library much better than the primary school one because it has a bigger choice of books to read and it has alot more to do here.

I liked the library it was very organized and tidy, I think I will spend alot of my time here.

Libary has reasonably interesting architecture. Cool dinky laptops.

I was surprised of the size it is quite big I like the stairs they look cool. I like the computers

It was getting near the end of term so myself and a teacher decided to run a wee event in the library as a thank you to all the library regulars who have used the library, particularly at lunchtimes. What should we do? Well storytelling was a thought, but that happens at Hallowe’en time; poetry reading? That happens on National Poetry Day; so what else? There are a plentiful supply of board games (chess, draughts, monopoly) in the library and with a few others borrowed from the Maths Department (thank you) we organised ‘Something Different’, a games and gaming session along side presentation of Pupil Librarian certificates.

On the day, pupils and I brought our Xboxes in and interlinked them so lots of people could play games together in teams. The board games were all laid out and snacks were provided. There was a fun, relaxed and not particularly noisy atmosphere for the duration of lunchtime and all the pupils appeared to enjoy themselves.

I think the P7 visit was very good they all worked hard and got through the work as we asked. The P7 I think will be a good year group because there are few pupils and more help will be given to those who require. The pupils were very polite and communicated very well with us pupil librarians. DR

The primary sevens have come up to the academy and have been visiting all of the departments in the school including the library. I have been helping with the introduction to the library for the P7s and have overseen them doing a survey on what they like to read I think that it was a huge success. DJ

It is the time of year that Primary 7 pupils come and visit the school. As part of the visit, puils will spend half an hour in the library to get a general overview, do a mini treasure hunt and fill in a survey.

For the first time, this year the survey is online. Click the link below to go to the survey.

P7 Survey   (Survey Now Closed)

Thank you to all P7 pupils who visited the library on Tuesday 16th June. I hope you had fun. FS

Here is another batch of comments from the recent survey.

• A room to socialise

This is a school library, not a social area although we are much more relaxed in its use at lunchtimes than we used to be or compared to other school libraries. Is this more an issue about space to socialise in the school?

• Study area for younger pupils now and again

Ah! I think I could be at fault here, having not properly let you know that the study area upstairs is available to you if you ask permission to use it. During class time it is primarily a senior study area, but at lunchtime, if you want to do some work away from the hubbub of the Lower Library then please just ask and you will be allowed to work in the Upper Library.

• If we could talk a bit more
• If you could chat!

This was a fairly common comment. I presume some of you mean that you want to chat more during your library period. Well, library periods are there to help and encourage you with your individual reading which means you shouldn’t need to be chatting unless we are doing some sort of activity which requires discussion.

• A more relaxed attitude towards people who go to the library

Okay, fair enough but it works both ways. I have a much more relaxed attitude than I used to have but at the end of the day we are all human and will have ‘off days’. For me to be able to keep a relaxed attitude you need to play your part by following the library code of conduct and instructions given by myself or your teachers and ensuring that you use the library in a responsible manner.

• Longer opening times

Not quite sure what you mean here as the library is available to you from 8:40am in the morning until 4pm (4.30pm on Tuesday). The library is shut at interval (except when there are pupil librarian meetings) and for half an hour at 12noon (1.20pm on Friday) so I can have a break and my lunch.

• We could listen to IPods while we read.
• Be able to use IPods

I understand where you are coming from with this one as so many people nowadays listen to music through MP3 players / mobile phones, etc, but it is actually a school rule that during class time you don’t use them and in the library they are only permitted in the Upper Library when senior pupils are studying. (Younger pupils may ask permission to use the Upper Library for individual study at lunch times.)

It is also quite important that you don’t get used to using them all the time when you are reading or studying because you will not be able to use them in an exam situation and it has been known for exam performance to drop as a result.

Personal music players can be quite intrusive (and therefore not personal at all) if they are not turned down very low, or to anyone with sensitive hearing. If you use them, you often don’t hear any instructions, questions, etc

• Play some music in background quietly

I sometimes do play music (often around Christmas time quietly in the background and some pupils have said they like this to me in the past. It is played very quietly so you have to be quiet to hear it.

• If there were some games or something you could win a prize every month or year
• More activities to win stuff

Good idea! I have thought about this on and off, and have tried it over the years I have been Librarian here. Sometimes pupils are interested and sometimes they aren’t. I will have a think about trying some ‘mini competitions next session but you must support them!

Seating and Furniture

• Getting some new chairs
• Having more seating areas to chill
• Comfier chairs, more beanbags or something like that!
• A few more comfy chairs and beanbags
• More comfortable chairs in the fiction section to chill
• More comfy seating areas

Okay… this appeared to be a really common request and although I think it is a good idea we really really don’t have the space. You have to remember that at the end of the library is provided to support your school work which means we need more tables and chairs than soft seats.

Computers

There weren’t as many comments about the computers as I would have expected. Many appreciated the fact that you were allowed to play games on them during lunchtime which most other school libraries I know just do not allow.

• More computers so classes can all get on them

I agree, but we don’t really have the space. Where possible, though, and if your class teacher has requested it, we will book the laptops which means everyone can get access.

• If the internet blocking would stop blocking nearly every game site

Mmmm! I am pretty certain that “every game site” is not blocked. The computer users at lunchtime seem to find plenty of games to play online.

• More space at the computers

Yeah! I know… but we are a little limited in the room we have available for computers.

Most S1 and S 2 and some S3 pupils have now completed the online survey. There have been a number of good comments made by pupils and over the course of the next week or so I will post the replies here.

The first batch of comments relates to the books.

Resources

A lot of you commented on wanting more new books but you have to remember that money doesn’t grow on trees. The library buys around 300-400 new books each year and before they are shelved they go on the display shelves. Just ensure that you check these from time to time.

• More modern books available
• More well known books
• If there was more new books by good authors

We do purchase books by well-known authors. If you can’t find what you are looking for then please put in a request for it to be bought.

• More of the newer books, I don’t like reading old ones unless its a new edition, sorry, I can be a bit fussy

Fair enough, but as we only have a set budget, some popular books can get a little tatty and we do our best clean and / or repair them and will replace them if necessary.

• I would like the library to have more girls books for our age group
• A Bigger Selection of Girls Books

Umm! There are plenty of these on the shelves and in March ’09 we did receive a box of around 20-30 books aimed at teenage girls. They were prominently displayed for a while. Remember. You can borrow books from the displays!

• To get more books that are in diary genre
• More books like the latest films
• Manga

Good idea! I will keep these in mind when I start thinking about the book orders. If you have any specific suggestions then let me know!

• More books for my age

Well, sorry if I am a bit flippant here, but Duh! This is a secondary school library and the books are specifically selected for your age range. If you really think the books aren’t suitable for your age then please let me know or discuss it with your English Teacher/

• If there were more books on things that interest me

You really need to let me know what you like. Trends in teenage likes and dislikes can change so fast it can be hard to keep up.

• If we could take out any book not just the junior fiction ones

You are able to look at the senior fiction if you want to. S1/2 pupils who are good readers  need to speak to your teacher or the Librarian if you are interested in borrowing senior fiction. You may be required to get a letter of permission from your parents.

• Put books in sections by their genre, not by author’s surname, that way it will be easier to find

Books used to be shelved by some genres but they weren’t getting used much so it was decided to go back to traditional alphabetical order. You can use the catalogue to find books by genre.