As the end of the year approaches, we have some important library notices as well as updates on our latest initiatives.
End of Year Book Returns
Library books borrowed by Year 11, 12 and 13 students should be returned to the library by Monday 20th of October.
Books issued to students in Years 7 to 10 are due on the 14th of November.
Boys who are returning to school in 2026 are very welcome to renew their books for the summer holidays, but they must see library staff to arrange this.
Summer Book Bags
All students in Years 7, 8 and 9 will be able to borrow a bag full of books (and a few small treats) for the summer holidays again this year. Classes will come to the library at the end of November to choose their books and their bags will be ready for collection by the 3rd of December.
We would love to see lots of boys in Years 10 to 12 take home a Summer Book Bag too! Students should chat to Mrs Gardiner or Mrs Watts in the library to find out more.
Reorganised Fiction Collection
A long term project in the library this year has been to reorganise our entire fiction collection into genres (a process called genrefying). Instead of being shelved in an alphabetic sequence by author surname, our fiction books are now shelved alphabetically within one of 12 genres (Action, Classics, Dystopia, Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Humour, Life, Science Fiction, Sport, Suspense or War). This has been a significant undertaking, involving researching the pros and cons, updating catalogue records, and relabelling each book with a new colour-coded spine label.
Our main reason for genrefying is to make it easier for students and staff to find books they will enjoy reading. Feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive, and we are expecting to see an increase in the number of books being issued and read.
Large Print Books
Recent research in the US has shown that large print editions of children and young adult titles increase student engagement with reading. As well as often using cream coloured, dyslexia friendly pages, the larger print makes it easier for students to 'track' text across the page and decreases the likelihood of distractions. Because the large print editions have the same covers and are a similar size to the regular versions, students did not feel singled out as different by reading these.
Thanks to a grant from the Parents and Friends Association, we have purchased around 40 large print editions of popular titles for our students to try. They are shelved in amongst our other fiction, but can be easily identified by the publisher name (Thorndike Press) at the top of the spines. In our library web app a search for 'large print' or selecting the Large Print quick list will also identify them. We are looking forward to getting feedback from the boys and hope it will encourage even more of them to enjoy a good book.
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