Library News

Library Volunteers Needed

I have a confession to make... I don't enjoy covering books! I am calling on members from the St Mary's community who would like to come into the library during the week from Term 2 onward and help out with covering new and donated books for our collection. This will be an enormous help to me, so I can redirect my energy to other things like ensuring we have engaging library programs, reading challenges, book displays, updating the collection and more (without feeling guilty about the piles of uncovered books like I currently do!)

If you know how to cover books with contact and non-adhesive plastic, or feel you would be able to learn quickly, have some availability in the times below, and have a current Working With Children Check, please fill out this survey and I will be in touch. (You do not have to help for the whole time period)

Volunteer time slots:

Tuesdays 8.50am - 10.50am

Tuesdays 11.30am - 1pm

Tuesdays 2.40pm - 3.10pm

Wednesdays 2.40pm - 3.10pm

Thursdays 2.40pm - 3.10pm

Missing Book

When I was away at training a few weeks ago, a Kindy student borrowed this book but it was somehow taken home by another child. If you have a child in Kindergarten could you please check to see if this book is floating around at your place, as I have no way of knowing who took it with them by mistake.

No Borrowing in Week 11

I will be completing stocktake in Week 11, so borrowing will be closed for the remainder of this term. Students do not need to bring library books back next week. All returns will be processed in Term 2 and no overdue notices will be issued until Week 2 of Term 2, once students have had an opportunity to bring books back.

What We've Been Up To...

As the term is winding down I would like to share what we have been doing in library lessons across the school after our initial settling in and exploration of Safer Internet Day at the beginning of the term.

In Kindergarten we have been reading books about friendship and exploring how we can apply the themes from these books to our interactions with classmates and to our relationship with the library space. This week each class worked with me to develop a poster about being a good friend to the library based on ideas offered by students. We voted on a colour for the poster as a class and students helped to select images.

Stage 1 students have been exploring books about conflict and specifically observing and discussing how the illustrators show character emotion. They have finished off the term by coming up with their own characters and a conflict, and illustrating the conflict and the resolution.

In Stage 2 we have been reading books with a theme of belonging (Blue Flower by Sonya Hartnett, Leaf by Sandra Dieckmann and My Two Blankets by Irena Kobald). We have made connections between these texts and then made connections to our own lives. To finish the term we conducted research across a number of weeks to enhance belonging in the library. This has been a really great exploration, as students completed surveys and interviewed each other with focus questions based on the data we collected. The result of this work is a much greater understanding for me of what students would like to see in the library space, including books for the collection and lunchtime activities. The students have loved having input into what goes on in the library.

Stage 3 students have built on conversations around Safer Internet Day to develop their own mini-books that must include an online safety issue being navigated by their character/s. They have progressed through planning and drafting and are currently publishing. Their mini-books include an imprint page to develop awareness of copyright and a call number so they can apply the call number structure to their own surnames and deepen their understanding of how resources are organised in a library. 

Premier's Reading Challenge 

Last week students received login cards to access the Premier's Reading Challenge site so they can record books they have read for the challenge. All classes were walked through the website during library lessons, so I'm hoping a lot of them will have a grasp of what the challenge is about and how to record their reading. For parents who are helping at home, I've included some screenshots below to help you to record books read by your child (for K-2 students they can include books that are read to them by another person; books read during library lessons will be added to students' records for them during the challenge period by me). 

For more information about the Student Experience Site you can watch the video available here. If you are unable to access an appropriate device or internet connection at home for recording your child's reading, please ask your child to speak to me about a paper form for recording.

Adding Books 

Step 1: Follow this link to the Student Experience Site

Step 2: Log in using the button in the top right corner with the details on your child's PRC login card.

Step 3: To record books already read (you can include books that have been read earlier this year), click on the avatar in the top right corner, then click on "My Reading Log". NB: Books should only be added when they have been read from cover to cover!

Step 4: Start typing the name of the book read into the "Add a PRC Book" search, select the title from the drop-down menu and click "Add".

Step 5: If the book does not come-up in this search, it is not a PRC list book for 2025 and needs to be added as a personal choice book. Type the title and author into the fields and click "Add".

Library Lesson/Borrowing Days

ES1 - Wednesday

S1 - Thursday

S2 - Wednesday

S3 - Thursday

Library Opening Hours for Students