Library News

From Sea Dragons to Tasmanian Tigers

What do sea dragons, nudibranchs, storytelling, and Tasmanian tigers have in common? They were all part of a very special author visit for our primary students!

While our college was busy preparing for the Arts Festival, our students also enjoyed an inspiring visit from award-winning author Aleesha Darlinson. It was a wonderful opportunity to bring books and storytelling to life and to encourage our students to explore their own creativity.

Our younger students dived into the beautiful ocean world. They learned about some extraordinary animals, including the blue glaucus, a tiny creature sometimes described as a little sea dragon. After they listened to the picture book story of a sea dragon, students created their own colourful nudibranch drawings and discovered that the ocean is full of incredible creatures.

Our older students learned that the real thylacine was quite different from some of the myths and stories surrounding it. The author's passion for the Tasmanian tiger was infectious as she shared fascinating insights into her research and the latest findings on its history, evolution, and biology. The one question captured everyone's imagination: whether a thylacine still exists somewhere in the wilderness. Although there is no scientific evidence that the species has survived, it was lovely to see students embrace that tiny possibility of having a colony of Tasmanian tigers roaming our bushland.

Our young writers also had the chance to get creative during engaging writing workshops. They explored fun ways to generate story plots and develop ideas, turning a simple thought into an exciting story. It was wonderful to see students eagerly putting their ideas on paper and finding so many ways to describe what their senses perceive.

Author visits are a wonderful way to connect students with books and show them that reading is more than just turning pages. Meeting a real author makes reading exciting and meaningful, and we hope her visit has inspired many of our young readers to pick up a book, ask a few more questions, and perhaps even put pen to paper and create a story of their own.

Indigenous Literacy Foundation

Thank you, Mount Carmel Community.

A huge thank you to everyone in the Mount Carmel community who donated books and supported our Great Book Swap during Book Week and beyond.

It was wonderful to see the excitement on the children’s faces as they browsed the books and swapped a gold coin for a book to take home. Many great books have now found new homes!

We are especially grateful to have raised $230 from the Mount Carmel community for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. This wonderful organisation helps provide books and reading resources in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and distributes them to children and communities in remote parts of Australia.

Thank you to everyone who donated, participated, and helped make the Book Swap such a success.