January 20, 2017
by Mrs Sinclair
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Christmas has been and gone and is now but a distant memory as we settle down into the third term. The library is not so heavily booked as it was last term as departments, especially in the senior years, are preparing for prelims, folio work and subsequently the National qualifications later in the session. S2 Careers Library & Information Literacy Skills course will take place later this term. Pupils will be taught how to use the Careers section of the library as well as finding relevant information online. This is a part of the options process where pupils choose what they plan to study in 3rd year.
Junior years, in the main, still get a chance to use the library for personal reading during library periods in their English lessons. Most visit the once a week, however, they are also given reading time at the beginning of each lesson. It feels like loans are up on previous years; our S1 and 2 particularly borrow lots of books. Time will tell if this feeling is matched in the loan statistics when they are run at the end of the session.
New Books
A batch of new books arrived just before Christmas, and most have
now been processed and are on display and available for loan.
Stan Lee Excelsior Award for Graphic Novels & Manga
We will also be expecting eight new graphic novels very soon as we embark yet again on shadowing the Stan Lee Excelsior Award. This annual award for Graphic Novels and Manga is the only such award judged by 11-16 year olds. In Stromness Academy, pupils are encouraged to take part, extending their reading into a form they may not have tried before. Each participant will get a reward card which when filled (all eight books read and rated) will be entered into a prize draw for a gift voucher from a local shop.
Library@Lunchtime
The library continues to be a very popular place to be at lunchtime, with sometimes 40+ pupils visiting (more than 10% of the school roll) at a given time, but usually averages aroun 30. We try to keep it a relaxed space at lunchtime where a variety of different activities can take place. On any given day one can find pupils reading, working on the computers, playing boardgames (chess, draughts, Connect4, etc), gaming on the PCs – although work will always get priority, playing Magic the Gathering, doing homework or project work, or just sitting chilling or chatting.
Recently, some pupils and Mrs Sinclair, librarian, have been playing ‘D&D Shorts’. This is an abbreviated version of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, adapted by Mrs Sinclair to enable 20-30 minute short games. This proved popular with some pupils new to the game.
Library Activities – Dungeons & Dragons
Last period on Friday afternoons has been an enduring part of Stromness Academy for 30+ years. There has been an activity in the library in one from or another since the mid 90s when we started with Stable Management (theory) and A Christmas library Display group. When some pupils asked if they could play Dungeons & Dragons, I agreed and we haven’t looked back since, now going into our 17th year.
This term sees the Friday D&D group increase by another six pupils, having already gained similar number back in August, and another couple in October. We now have 23 players,as well as a group of five more experienced players on a Tuesday after school.
This activity could not run with these numbers with out the willing and able help of three pupils who lead games, whilst I run the fourth – our newest players. If they didn’t run the games, the activity would be restricted to 5 or six pupils at the most.
Each group will have the leader, the Dungeon Master (DM), and 4-6 players maximum. Groups could be bigger, but this would not make for a particularly good game experience within the time constraints we have. Our new players are keen, lively and even come in at lunchtimes to create or level up characters; something we don’t have time for during the activities session. I suspect there are a few budding DMs among them which will be useful when our seniors leave school.
thering, an RPG card game where opponents battle each other is still very popular, both at lunchtime and during Friday afternoon activities. It was introduced to the library in the late 90’s and has been played ever since. We have also run a couple of tournaments in the past, and the time may well be ripe for another one. Watch this space!
On Tuesday after school a small group of five experienced D&D players meet. This includes one of the pupil DMs so it gives him a chance to play as well. Currently we are playing the 
