Many students took advantage of the library opening hours this summer and borrowed books to supplement their leisure reading. In fact 945 books were borrowed and this positive trend continued during the first months of the scholastic year, with many students visiting the library during break to borrow books or read in the library. 250 new books were added to the collection during the summer months and many more books will be added on a regular basis during the year.
We take this opportunity to thank those parents who forwarded the 'Agenda books for schools' vouchers to the library. These vouchers are redeemed by the school for exciting new books from Agenda bookshops.
Junior 6 students got off to a good start in the library following an orientation visit held during the first week of school. They are now attending weekly lessons in the library where they learn how the classification system works, how to differentiate between genres, how to look up information on their favourite authors, how to 'judge a book by its cover' (blurb) and how to carry out a critical analysis of different types of publications.
Many students are using the reference collection during break to look up information for projects handed by teachers. Judging by the amount of group work being carried out in the library many classrooms will soon be beautifully decorated with the colourful and interesting charts being prepared by students. Form 3 students are busy working on a Shakespearean theme while Form 1 students have been looking up Christian times during the Roman Empire. Form 4 students are tackling the Renaissance period and are using the history section extensively during lessons held in the library.
SMC library has recently set up a media area for lessons, a Sixth Form library section and a new layout with clear signposting of the different sections. The acquisitions, accessioning, cataloguing and circulation systems are fully automated. New material is purchased on a regular basis and there has been a constant increase in book loans statistics.
We take this opportunity to thank all the students, teachers and members of staff for their collaboration which has led to this success.