Library News

Welcome to Term Two

The library has been incredibly busy this year, which has been fantastic to see. Borrowing has skyrocketed, many of our popular series have waiting lists, and the library is full before school and during breaks with students reading, studying, borrowing and asking for recommendations. This year we trialled a new layout for our book collection and there has definitely been a noticeable shift towards students engaging more with books and the library space.

The Premier's Reading Challenge is here

This term, all Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 students at PHS have been enrolled in the Victorian Premier's Reading Challenge. The challenge encourages students to read more widely, try new books and hopefully discover reading they actually enjoy.

Students are asked to read 15 books by September, with at least 10 coming from the Challenge list. The good news is that the list includes a huge range of titles - novels, graphic novels, manga, sport books, biographies, audiobooks and more - so there is something for every type of reader.

There is also a rumour that the class with the most books read at the end of the challenge may get a pizza party!

As our school librarian, one of the biggest things I am trying to build in the library is a culture where reading is normal, social and enjoyable, not just something attached to assessment tasks. Strong reading habits support literacy, vocabulary, writing skills, concentration, empathy and academic confidence across all subjects, but just as importantly, reading gives students a chance to slow down, relax and engage with ideas beyond a screen.

Parents and carers can really help by encouraging regular reading at home, asking students about what they are reading and helping them make time for it amongst everything else competing for their attention.

There will also be prizes and celebrations throughout the challenge to keep students motivated along the way. Hopefully, for many students, the challenge will not just be about finishing 15 books, but about finding books, authors or genres they genuinely connect with.

Students can log their Challenge Books via the link in the Library catalogue, which is always accessible via Compass. As of June 1, our students had already logged 415 books - amazing! Some of our students have even asked for their challenge quota to go up from 15 books to 50 books. How good is that? 

IDAHOBIT Day in the library

Earlier this term the library was awash with rainbows as we celebrated IDAHOBIT Day. This is the International Day Against Homophobia,  Biphobia, Intersex Discrimination and Transphobia. The aim is to stop discrimation and abuse against our LGBTQIA+ community. Students were invited to pin a rainbow to our library display to support their LGBTQIA+ classmates - and it was heartening to see so many get involved and put their rainbows where their hearts are.

Our Rainbow Alliance students also organised a special lunchtime activity session in the library, with badgemaking, rainbow makeup and other IDAHOBIT craft fun.  Thanks to all the students who came and got involved!

A moment to remember our Anzacs

While the mood in the library is usually light and fun, it took on a more reflective tone for ANZAC Day. Our display was supported by a series of war themed books from focused on the stories of boys and young men - many from our local area - who faced the realities of Gallipoli, while asking students a confronting question: Would you go?

Looking at photographs of these young men, many still in their teens and barely older than our senior students, alongside reading accounts of the conditions they endured and the lives they left behind, gave students an opportunity to connect with the human impact of war. By focusing on individual stories rather than statistics, the display aimed to encourage empathy, reflection, and a deeper understanding of the cost of conflict, especially for those who never came home. Lest we forget.

Because too much Manga is never enough

Students were recently given the chance to vote for which new Manga series should join our ever-growing library collection. The votes were fierce, the campaigning was real, but in the end there could only be one winner. And that honour went to The Summer Hikaru died, which students can now find nestled in our Manga spinners after it attracted more than 50 votes. In a special surprise for our Manga fans, I also added runner-up series Kagurabachi to the collection. 

Manga is, unsurprisingly, the most borrowed genre in our library. Students have officially borrowed a total 751 manga books so far this year, with hundreds more devoured during recess and lunch breaks in the library. Astonishing!

Do you have any jigsaw puzzles to donate?

The library is always looking for jigsaw puzzles to add to our collection. The puzzle table is very popular with students, especially now that the cold weather is here. In fact, it's so popular that we have already cycled through our small collection of jigsaws. To that end, if you have any 1000-plus puzzles gathering dust at home, please consider donating them to our school library. You can send them direct to the library with your child or drop them in to the front office. Our puzzle-mad students will thank you!

A reminder about our  LibGuides

We recently expanded digital library access through Compass Library Links, allowing students to browse the collection, reserve items, and access research tools more easily than ever before, including from home. And we introduced Lib Guides, directly supporting student classroom learning through librarian-curated resource pages. There are helpful online guides - available now or coming soon - for every book-listed novel studied in English across all cohorts. These are accessible through the library catalogue via Compass and are especially useful for parents who wish to help their child with English homework withut having to read the entire novel yourselves. 

Other curriculum-aligned pages also help guide students through Preston's respective DaVinci, Bandler Parks and Ada Years programs. Students have access to all these guides when logged into the library Infiniti catalogue through Compass. Ask them to show you the guides from their laptops at home or explore some of them here:

If you'd like some book advice or some help choosing a cracking read for your teen, please reach out via Compass email. I'm always happy to give recommendations or point students in the right bookish direction.

Nikki Protyniak

Library Manager