Celebrating Book Week 2014: Connect to Reading

Happy Book Week!

Congratulations to Shaun Tan for his gold-medal award-winning picture book, The rules of summer:

Illustrator Shaun Tan – ‘Rules of summer’ [HD] Books and Arts Daily, ABC RN

Our school library is being transformed by the arrival of many colourful and clever displays. The theme this year is Connect to Reading.

Week 33 Toy IIa
Click HERE to view a Flickr slideshow.

Book Week 2013

Aliens in library
Read across the universe!


Photo Peach slideshow by 5/6E

Here are this year’s displays from classes to help us celebrate Children’s Book Week.

Python by 3-5R
Python by 3-5R

Apollo by KP

Owl by KP
Apollo the powerful owl by KP

It's a miroocool by 1/2RH
It’s a miroocool! mobile by 1/2RH

A forest by 1/2IW
A forest by 1/2IW

Read across the universe by 3/4W
Read across the universe mobile by 3/4W

Coat by 1/2SA
The coat by 1/2Sa

Read across the universe by 1/2ST
Read across the universe by 1/2St

Pros and cons of being a frog by 3/4B
The pros and cons of being a frog by 3/4B

Whale shark song by 1/2B
The whale shark song by 1/2B

Read across the universe Culture Pod by 5/6E
Read across the universe Culture Pod by 5/6E.

Pod
Yes, it’s space culture – in a pod!

With Nan by KF
With Nan by KF

Lyrebird! by 3/4M
Lyrebird!: a true story by 3/4M

Tom the outback mailman by 3/4L
Tom the outback mailman by 3/4L

One very tired wombat by KB
One very tired wombat mobile by KB

We have also had a lot of fun with these hilarious picture books (from New Zealand) this Book Week. By Mark and Rowan Sommerset:

Smarty tablets and lemonade

Whatever you do, don’t accept smarty tablets from a sheep. Nor lemonade from a turkey.


Book Week 2013

Many happy returns

Returns

Just when I thought I’d finished with the blue paint and textured gel medium, I spent the weekend preparing, painting and varnishing a set of small MDF letters (from Spotlight) to match the circulation desk revamped signage – and to dress up the new Returns box. Not that it needed a lot of dressing up:

Lion and Returns box
The full story of the library lion is HERE!

I’ve read a lot of controversial comments about these BER-standard Returns boxes. Lots of schools seem to be very concerned about student safety when the box is emptied. A platform inside lowers automatically under the mass of returned books, and the lid is quite heavy. However, I never had the thought that the box in our library would be used every lesson. I had planned that, when borrowing recommences in 2011, students would continue to return their books in a pile at the circulation desk each library session – and that the lockable box is simply there for one-off returns, when no one is available to return items immediately through OASIS Library. I think the box is rather cool! And now, even cooler!

As for the “Just Back In!” boxes, these are my yet-to-be-shelved books. The divided interior of each box provides compartments for sorting. “Just Back In!” came courtesy of one of the schools in Kevin Hennah’s presentation on shoestring library makeovers, and when I first used the signage in the old library, it provided an immediate release of pent-up guilt. Suddenly, books didn’t have to be shelved (too) immediately, because the borrowers often perceive them as “Hot” titles and highly worthy of borrowing before anyone can actually re-shelve them!

Just back in
“Just back in!”

STOP PRESS: The picture book, “A rat in a stripy sock” by Frances Watts & David Francis, is very popular at out school. When I bought the book, the shop gave me a free rat-in-a-stripy-sock toy, and our rat and his colourful balloons (painted styrofoam balls and Fimo clay “nozzles”) now hang from the rafters of our new school library:

Rat in a stripy sock