“Build it and they will come.” (from A Field of Dreams)
Over the last year, Michelle and I have been keeping readers of the blog updated about the progress being made in the libraries at our schools. Milestones have included applying for book grants, securing book donations, and labeling books. In this latest post, we're going to talk about the most recent events that have taken place - OUR LIBRARIES HAVE OPENED!!!
(While the libraries at both Michelle's and my school have opened and have been operating successfully, this post primarily focuses on what has happened at my school.)
The library opened at my school and it was a smash! What follows are photos and a video showing what has been happening in the library since its opening.
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| These Learners Wait Excitedly Outside for the Library to Open |
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| Learners Perusing the Shelves |
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| A Library Helper Assisting a Learner to Find a Book |
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| Learners enjoying folk tales. The learner on the right is copying Cinderella from the book. She loves to draw princesses. |
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| Sisters enjoying a book together. The older sister is teaching the younger one how to read. |
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| A Library Helper Checking Out Books to Learners |
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| The First Teacher to Borrow a Book |
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| The school library shares a space with one of the classrooms. At the end of each day, learners are responsible for sweeping the classroom. This learner got distracted with a book before she finished sweeping. |
Fun facts:
- The library has been open for 4 weeks.
- To date in my school's library, 400 books have been borrowed.
- On average, there are 20 learners in the library at any given time.
- To date, 1560 books have been catalogued, labeled, and shelved. And these are all fiction books! When we started, the school had 100 books; of which were a mixture of fiction, non-fiction, and reference books.
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| These boxes show all the books that have yet to been done. |
In the time since the library opened, there have been many wonderful developments:
- learners borrowing books;
- learners simply hanging out in the library;
- learners excitedly showing their friends books they find interesting;
- teachers borrowing books for their own enjoyment;
- learners running up to me to show me the books they’ve read or are going to read;
- and by far my favourite, learners teaching other learners how to read.
Video of the Sisters
(Suggestion: Turn the volume all the way up; the audio is very soft.)
(Suggestion: Turn the volume all the way up; the audio is very soft.)
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Shout Outs
Thank you again for the book donations! Specifically, thank you to Michael & Emily Lavely-Holloway, Tiffany Lemmon, Paul Prociv, and Joan Benderson for your support in coordinating the book drives. With the arrival of these books and the opening of the libraries, many, many learners have had the wonderful opportunity to explore the world of reading.
Shout Outs
Thank you again for the book donations! Specifically, thank you to Michael & Emily Lavely-Holloway, Tiffany Lemmon, Paul Prociv, and Joan Benderson for your support in coordinating the book drives. With the arrival of these books and the opening of the libraries, many, many learners have had the wonderful opportunity to explore the world of reading.
