International Day of Maths and other links

 First week done and dusted and we survived.  Just 10 more to go!  Enjoy your weekend and remember - READING lowers the blood pressure!  

Below are a few Weblinks for you to check out. 

https://www.bustle.com/p/7-reasons-libraries-are-essential-now-more-than-ever-43901

Just a quick promotion of Libraries and the benefits they offer.  It is talking mainly about Public Libraries, but a lot of the reasons are just as valid, if not more so, in a school library.

https://www.esafety.gov.au/safer-internet-day

This is celebrated in almost 150 countries around the world and encourages people to think about their safety and their presence online.

https://www.idm314.org/

March 14 is already celebrated in many countries as Pi Day because that date is written as 3/14 in some countries and the mathematical constant Pi is approximately 3.14.

The International Day of Mathematics (IDM) is a worldwide celebration. Each year on March 14 all countries will be invited to participate through activities for both students and the general public in schools, museums, libraries and other spaces.

Welcome to 2020

Well, here we go - the start of 2020 and a whole new year of opportunities for books, and reading.  How awesome is that?  In truth, it's a whole new decade!!

I thought I would start this post off with a quick reminder of some of the services we offer and maybe you could let your students know as well - or better yet, introduce them to this blog so they can find out for themselves.  Maybe you could get them to write a Twitter book review on a book they have enjoyed, or write a report about their class activities .... after all the written word ROCKS, however it is used..

Yes - we do loan books out. We LOVE to loan books out. Loaning books out is our whole rationale. (And not just books, either) Of course, we do want them to come home at some point and can get a little upset if they don't.

• Looking for a particular book? Come and talk to us. We can organise an Inter-library-Loan or help you find where to purchase it.  
• Resources: Books, Magazines, iPad sets, Digital Cameras, Video Recorders, Computer Mice sets, Boxes of Headphones, Data Projectors, Teacher Reference, Web Cams........
• IWB area, and a bank of computers and laptops that are available to be booked for classes. The laptop trolley in B3/B4 is only to be used in the Library area, however.
• Help with research, proofreading of assignments, suggestions for books to read - we are your people.
• Library Skills Activities/Boolean searching
• A place to display your amazing class work.
• Collation of websites for subjects/classes
• Anything else?  If there is something that you think we can help with, just come and have a chat.  We have learned to be fairly good at pulling rabbits out of hats and we also like a challenge, most times anyway.  There are some days .....

Students have a 3 week borrowing period while staff have a month. For most of the resources, we can adjust the loaning period for whatever is needed - at least till the end of term. However, this doesn't include the AV materials - that is a 1 week loan period only. Depending on what it is - Headphones, laptops, etc. are all due back at the end of the lesson. Students can borrow 2 items at a time and staff are pretty unlimited in borrowing.

One of my goals for this year is to attempt to make the library more relevant to the needs of the school. Hard call really, when I'm going up against the ingrained idea that Google can give you EVERYTHING!!  But I'm going to give it a shot anyway!  
So, now... some homework for you all.  Could you email or comment and give me some ideas on what you see as the purpose of the school library and my role in it?  I'd love to be able to make this a one-stop shop type of deal for everyone.

Below are a few quotes that I think sum up, to some degree anyway, my philosophy about libraries.  Enjoy!

"Google can bring you back 100,000 answers - a librarian can bring you back the RIGHT answer".   (Neil Gaiman)

"Libraries are full of ideas - which are perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of weapons".   (from the 'Throne of Glass')

and being a fan of Albert Einstein, how could I pass up this one?

"The only thing you absolutely HAVE to know, is the location of the Library"
(Albert Einstein)

Wishing you all a fantastic school year with lots of READING involved.  Now carry on being awesome.