General Information - Library Borrowing Reminder

Welcome to Week 4 in the library! Term 1 has kicked off and we have certainly hit the ground running, learning and establishing procedures for borrowing and returning library books!

A reminder this year that THURSDAY and FRIDAY are library days at St Joseph’s! Stage 3 students will visit the library on Thursday, and, Early Stage 1, Stage 1 and Stage 2 will have their library visit on Friday. During their class visit every student will have the opportunity to browse the selection of books available and choose suitable reading material to borrow for reading at home. It is an expectation at St Joseph’s that ALL students have a library bag on their library borrowing day. Thank you to the families who have already sent in a library bag with their child/children this week, I am truly grateful for your support in keeping our books safe. Remember a library bag doesn’t have to be anything fancy, as a simple shopping bag works just as well! The idea of the library bag is to provide protection for borrowed library books during their transportation between school and home; anything that will provide that protection is suitable for use as a library bag. I ask that you please ensure your child’s name is clearly marked on their library bag.

Term 1 Borrowing Limits

Early Stage 1 – two books each visit return weekly (increase to three books in Term 2)

Stage 1 – three books each visit return weekly

Stage 2 – four books each visit return fortnightly

Stage 3 – four books each visit return fortnightly

Lunch Time in the Library

This year the library will be open every day during the second break for those students who wish to come in to listen to a story, read a story, colour a picture, draw a picture, play a board game, have a chat, complete a jigsaw or construct something amazing with the construction equipment. You are most welcome to join us, we would love to see you there!

Premier’s Reading Challenge 2024

Only 7 days to go and the Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC) for 2024 commences once again. It seems like the PRC for 2023 has only just finished doesn’t it? This voluntary challenge involves the children reading a specified number of books from a particular list and keeping a log of the books read. The challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for pleasure in students and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge for children to read, to read more, and to read more widely. The challenge begins on the 26th of February and runs through to the 23rd of August 2024. If you would like more information about the challenge, visit the PRC website here.

Further information will be sent home in the coming weeks and there will be further updates provided in forthcoming newsletters. Don't forget that any books that you are currently reading or that you have read since the completion of last year's challenge may be included in this year's list.

Book Club

Our first Book Club for 2024 has now closed. Thank you to all those families who have taken the opportunity to order a book through Book Club, your books will be ready for delivery very soon.

Caring for Library Books at Home

Unfortunately, from time to time, library books can and do become damaged or lost. Below please find a list of suggestions to assist you in keeping library books safe at home:

Store your book in a safe place. As soon as you bring it home, put your book neatly on a strong shelf or table. Don't leave it on the lounge, a chair, or bed. Someone may accidentally sit on it and damage the cover or pages.
Don't eat or drink while reading. Stains and spills are difficult to remove. They can obscure the text and make the pages difficult to read. Keep the book away from your eating and drinking space during mealtime.
Keep your book out of reach of pets and small children. Animals can chew your book. Small children can draw on it or tear the pages. If you share your home with animals and/or children, place your book on a tall shelf, dresser, or bookcase when you're not reading it.
Keep your book in your bag when you're reading on the go. You don't want to leave your book at school, on the bus, or at a friend's house. Put it back in your bag when you're finished reading. Then, close your bag securely to prevent your book from falling out.
Don't write in your book. Avoid marking the pages or binding with ink, marker, or highlighter. Don't even make light pencil marks. You can unintentionally damage the pages when you erase.

However, in the unfortunate event that a book is lost or damaged please advise the school straight away.

Reading at Home

Don't forget that your child has 24/7 access to reading material through SORA and World Book Online.

SORA

The students at St Joseph’s are able to access ebooks, audiobooks and magazines through SORA, the Armidale Diocese digital library. SORA has an extensive collection of ebooks, audiobooks and magazines for students of all ages.

Instructions for logging onto SORA are as follows:

Getting started with Sora

Sora - get free ebooks and audiobooks from your school.

Step 1: Install the SORA app from Apple App Store or Google Play Store, or soraapp.com.

Step 2: When in SORA, click on I have a setup code, then sign in.

The “setup” code is cenetau

Sign into your School – Select ACEN from the dropdown box.

Step 3: Browse the explore tab and borrow a book. Your book will open so you can start reading right away.

Step 4: Close the book and go to the shelf to see all your books. From there, you can:

Select Open book or Open audiobook to read or listen to the book.
Select Options to renew or return the book and more.

© 2020 OverDrive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

You will need to use your school username and password to access this.

WORLD BOOK ONLINE

Our school has a subscription to World Book Online! This means you have FREE access to this wonderful resource from home or on the go with any internet-connected device. World Book Online may be accessed via the Oliver home page or by visiting the World Book website www.worldbookonline.com

World Book Online is a safe, trusted, 21st-century learning environment for students.

The World Book products our school has access to include:

Kids:

simple navigation
easy to read articles
translations
text to speech (with 10 voices)
educational games and activities
science experiments
a dictionary
an atlas
interactive maps
map outlines
a tool for comparing places or animals.

Student:

expansive reference database
multimedia library
games
behind the headlines
citation builder
research tools

Timelines:

over 650 timelines including Gold Rushes in Australia, Australian Prime Ministers, Cricket World Cup, Star Wars and Harry Potter. Edit or create your own timelines.

Our User ID: joseph2340

Password: joseph2340

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