Book Week

Book Week 2023, Read, Grow, Inspire 

Author Presentation, Q&A, Book Signing

On the Friday before Book Week we had Rebecca Lim, author of Tiger Daughter (who won the CBCA Older Readers Book of the Year 2022) visit the library to speak to students about authorship and writing.  Rebecca is also a contributor and editor of the anthology Meet me at the Intersection, studied in year nine English enhancement.  Her presentation began with a prompt, illustrated with books that she read in her own childhood which were filled with English protagonists.  This discussion led into her inspiration for writing Tiger Daughter – to critique structural, systemic and unconscious bias.  By shining a light on cultural representation/diversity and the migrant experience, there is a chance for young adult readers to see themselves in characters / themes. Equally as important, Tiger Daughter is a call for greater empathy.

Rebecca’s presentation was followed by a Q&A session with the Shadow Judges, where she invited questions from the audience and generously shared her knowledge.  I would like to acknowledge and thank the PFA for sponsoring this event, as it was a memorable experience for those students who participated.

Student Book Swap

The annual student Book Swap was held on Tuesday at lunchtime.  Students got the opportunity to bring in their pre-loved books and swap them with other students.  By all accounts everyone was happy with their transactions, acquiring newish books to add to their home reading collections. 

Library Trivia Quiz

Was held over Wednesday and Thursday with eleven tables competing for prizes and to get their team name on the Annual Library Trivia Quiz Championship Cup.  This year, there were two tables who tied for first place and a tie-breaker question settled the winning team.  Ultimately, The Original Quizards of Oz (who came second last year) prevailed and answered the prompt in lightning speed which elevated them to winning status.  The runners up – Get Over Yourself, were most gracious in defeat.  Other notable tables include - The Nom, Noms and The Awesome People, who were only a point or two behind the winning teams – it was that close! Thank you to everyone who participated and to our Master of Ceremonies, Mr Reeves who entertained the audience with humorous puns.

Student Book Buy

To wrap-up Book Week for 2023, the library held our very first Student Book Buy, where students were encouraged to select a new book to be purchased by the library.  These books were then purchased by our PFA and donated to the school library. Library staff are currently cataloguing these items, which include classic books such as Dracula and the Secret Garden along with new titles and some hotly requested Fantasy and Science Fiction series.  Again, a big thank you to the PFA for their fundraising efforts and making this event possible.

Post it Wall Mural

Our Post-it Wall Mural is taking shape and on track to be completed by the end of term.  In keeping with the book week theme of inspiration, this year’s Post-it Wall Mural is Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night, comprising of almost 1,300 super-sticky Post-it notes!   Watch this space for the completed masterpiece.

Sun Project Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Shadow Judging 2023 

Shadow Judging has wrapped up for another year with the book  Completely Normal by Biffy James taking out the prize for the winning book of the year Older Readers.  Below is the animated response from Biffy when she was informed about her win, which may allude to her engaging writing style:

‘AAAAAHHH!! What an incredible honour!  Oh, sweet baby kittens in a basket, this is so amazing. I can’t believe it! 

To be judged by TEENAGERS (always a totally horrifying prospect) and then having this as the result … just … wow.  I feel like I’m sitting with the cool girls at their lunch table. (But like, cool like Gretchen-cool, not Reena-cool.  Cos that’s not cool at all.)

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!’

Biffy James, 2023

The Library Team