Library News 

Congratulations Readers!

These smiling children have received their Victorian Premiers' Reading Challenge (VPRC) Certificates and badges for 2023.  Well done to all who met their challenge by reading lots of books and recording this on the VPRC website.  Many also wrote book reviews and recommendations, improving comprehension and even writing skills.  We hope you have been inspired to keep up all the great reading.

New eco-friendly book covering

We have some great news regarding the plastic book covering we use on our library books to keep them fresh and cleanable and lasting for many years usage.  Instead of the plastic covering that has been used in the past, St.Joseph's have made a change to Biogaurd 80.  

The new book covering, known as Bioguard80® is the very first adhesive book covering that when placed in the right landfill or compostable environment will fully biodegrade without leaving toxic microplastics.  It is also fully recyclable. This means at the end life, the whole book can be placed into the recycling bin, compost or landfill for full biodegradation. Raeco have spent the last three years developing and testing a fully biodegradable book covering solution. Their secret “active biodegradable ingredient” makes all the difference. This active ingredient has been tested internationally against standards ISO 14855-1 for compostconditions ASTM D 5511:2018 for landfill conditions. These tests mean for full biodegradation to commence, Bioguard80® must be placed in either compost or landfill conditions. These environments contain the right mix of moisture, micro-organisms and temperatures that triggers biodegradation.  The result is complete biodegradation – no toxic microplastics, worms eat it and produce nutrients to enrich soils.  Extensive testing also shows that Bioguard80® will not biodegrade while on display, is being used or left in school bags – even in high humidity environments.  It will only break down when placed in the right compost or landfill environments.  The active ingredient produces a very slight texture, so it’s easy for teachers, students and parents to identify our books that are covered in Bioguard80®.  

We love our library, our collection of books and helping the environment.  This new product gives our precious books a longer life and is helping to save the planet one book at a time.

Book Fair November 2023 Competition

Our school is having a Scholastic Book Fair in November this year.  It is like a book store coming to school, which is very exciting.  It will be a great opportunity to perhaps buy some books as Christmas gifts.  The Fair will be set up in our library and all the students will have the opportunity to go and look at the books with their class. They will have the chance to fill out a wish list, naming the books they like, to bring home to discuss with their family. There is no obligation to purchase the books on this list, it is just to give you an idea and create a discussion about the books. This will be made clear to the students.   

Similar to the Scholastic Book Club, our school benefits from the sales at the Fair by receiving a percentage to be used to purchase new books for our library and classrooms.

 On Thursday 30th November 2023, the Book Fair will be open for students, parents or carers to come to purchase books if they would like to. It will be open before and after school from 8.30am to 3.30pm, or any time during the day. We will have eftpos payment available or if preferred, the books can be paid for in advance and the students can bring in a docket to exchange for the books. Brochures with the information on how to do this will come home the week prior. We would prefer for there to be no cash payments for the Book Fair please. However, there will be some second-hand books available for purchase by donation to the library if anyone wants to bring along some change. 

We are holding a colouring/decorating competition in the lead up to the Fair and there will be 4 prizes of a $15 book voucher to be spent at the Book Fair (one for each group of students in Foundation, Year 1/2, Year 3/4 or Year 5/6). There are spare “Book Fair arrows” to colour, decorate & cut out available in the office foyer.  All students are welcome to decorate an arrow and return it to the competition box in the foyer before Thursday 23 rd November, when the entries will be displayed around the school and the winners decided.

Thank you for supporting our library.