Love Your Library

Library Lovers revealed on Valentine's Day 

To coincide with Valentine's Day we asked some of our teachers to reveal a book they love. These books might not necessarily be a teacher’s ‘favourite’ book, but one that they love for special reasons as explained in each of their 'Library Loverswrite-ups: 

Mr Hanssen:

I’m a big fan of The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is not an easy read by any means, but I love the idea that it was formed from Tolkien’s desire to bring the Quenya and Sindarin Elvish languages to life. He believed that language and mythology are strongly tied to one another, so to bring these languages to life, he needed to have the history to give the Elvish languages a foundation to be built upon.

Ms Scheele:

Shantarham by Gregory Roberts is a book that has some true events based in it and I really enjoy true stories. I like books about travel and India and this is about a Perth man who was prisoned after turning to drugs to numb his pain after a marriage breakdown and losing contact with his daughter. He was sentenced to 19 years jail but he escaped and lived in a Indian slum in Bombay.  

Ms Collins:

My special book is Wheel Tracks" by W. W. Ammon because it was written by my grandfather and is semi-autobiographical as it depicts much of his early life driving trucks in north-western Australia when the camel teams were still on the tracks.

Mrs de Witt:

I love science fiction and especially “Leviathan Wakes” James S. A. Corey and the ones that follow in the series. Why? Because they present our lives in the future in such a realistic way - you can almost believe that that is what lies ahead in our future. The books also depict many different aspects of human nature and the issues that we are currently dealing with but set in the context of the human race moving deeper into the solar system.

Mr Maddess:

A book that is special to me is “Thief of Time” by Terry Pratchett because it is the first Discworld novel that I read. I fell in love with the creativity and humour of this series when I was in high school. The series is my go to comfort read and have read and re-ready every Discworld book many times. 

“Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it saying 'End-of-the-World Switch. PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH', the paint wouldn't even have time to dry.”― Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time

Drop by and say hi 

Have you seen our recently decorated Lunar New Year and the Year of the Wood Snake touches in the Library, bringing a touch of festivity to our space? 

Many thanks to Mrs de Witt and the Languages Department for sharing them with us! In other exciting news, we kicked off our LEGO Club last Wednesday in Week 2, and what a start it was! A group of enthusiastic Year 7 students have begun the ambitious build of the Rivendell set from The Lord of the Rings. To accompany the project, we’ve set up a dedicated book display filled with Tolkien’s works and related fantasy reads. 

Starting from Monday next week, we will have our first House Week for the year which will see students competing as representatives of their respective House in Interhouse Competitions. This week-long event will also bring the inaugural Interhouse Readers’ Royale – an excellent opportunity for avid readers from each House to get involved and contribute points for the annual House Cup competition. The Readers’ Royale will last from Term 1 Week 4 to Term 2 Week 4, with a yet-to-be-revealed event during Book Week in Term 2! Students can find more information in the notices section on SEQTA.

Be sure to drop by, say hello, and let’s make 2025 a great year for reading, creativity, and community!

Mr Alex Hanssen

Head of Library, Technology and Research Services