Library Borrowing

Library Borrowing Day: Thursday

What to bring: Returned books and a Library Bag (helps us care for our books)

At St Thomas More’s I am constantly amazed by the reading culture and love of reading I see at our school each day. The ‘book chat’ between students and the sharing of newly borrowed books is lovely to be party to. Providing students with the opportunity to borrow each week allows students to be part of the borrowing process, where they are learning how to locate and borrow books they are interested in, helping them feel a part of our reading community by selecting, sharing and reading in the Library each week. 

To lift literacy performance children need to be exposed to the classics and 'real literature’; not just standard reading texts (home readers). Students need access to interesting books and materials. Sometimes, students get in a rut and don’t read beyond their favourite genre or author. When students are provided with the opportunity to borrow from our school Library each week, they interact more with books, spend more time reading, exhibit more positive attitudes toward reading, and generally exhibit higher levels of reading achievement. 

Some of the ways I promote reading as my role as Teacher-Librarian include:

• A ‘Bookflix’ wall showcasing all the new and popular reading titles with reviews and recommendations.
• Previewing ‘NEW’ books each week- students can easily view ‘new’ book titles, as they are displayed each week.
• Constantly updating our Library collection with new and interesting books.
• A book request list, where students can write down their book requests. 
• Reading aloud to students each Library lesson. (That doesn’t exclude reading to older students, too. Occasionally reading more difficult texts aloud provides opportunity for rich discussion and vocabulary development). 
• Themed Library Displays- like our current ‘Ocean’ book display. It’s incredible how showcasing books in creative ways increases the loans on these titles!
• Peer recommendations- the opportunity for students to share their favourite reads and recommend books to others. 

Some events and activities to look forward to next semester:

• Term 3- STM Student Book Club (Years 3-6) - It’s more fun to read the same book with your buddies! More information to follow.
• 17-23 October- Book Week ‘Curious Creatures, Wild Minds’ 
• 27 August - Storyteller visit:  ‘Valanga Khoza’: