February is Love Your Library Month

There’s something romantic about our school library. Maybe it’s in the books and stories that surround you or the buzz generated by staff and students who come together to celebrate a love of learning.

Nowhere was this more obvious than on our Valentine’s Day card-making workshop, which was also an opportunity to celebrate Library Lovers’ Day. The event was a huge success enjoyed by many students and staff, as you can see in the article below.

The workshop came right after the announcement of an imminent lockdown, when we all appreciated a distraction and cheering up. Miss Maree’s calligraphy skills and guidance were magical and just what we needed.

We are marking February, also known as Love Your Library Month, with a 'Blind Date with a Book' display. Staff and students are lovingly selecting books that they have enjoyed, wrapping them and writing small clues on a heart tag before placing books on the display for others to borrow. Instead of judging the book by its cover, students are encouraged to borrow a book based on the clues. This will hopefully lead readers to a perfect match and another chance to fall in love with reading and books.

Teen Library Advisor Applications

As soon as the Teen Library Advisor registration link was made available, there was a flurry of students signing up. More than 80 excited students have already applied. The love and enthusiasm for our library is overwhelming with applications still coming in.

The cut-off date is Friday 5th March.

There is still time for students to sign up via the link posted on Compass. What an exciting prospect for us in the Library Team to be working with brilliant students who want to be leaders, who are dedicated in helping others and who want nothing more than to make our library and its programs fabulous. We look forward to reporting on our work together in the coming months.

Summer Reading Challenge

The love of stories and reading flows throughout the year, regardless of whether the library is open as a physical space. For example, we were thrilled to acknowledge students who took part in the Summer Reading Challenge with certificates and prizes. Some feedback about the program included:

“Engaging, fun and motivating.” Nidarshan (F10)
“It was fun to read lots of books and participate in the Summer Reading Challenge.” Hineni (H8)
“It was fun reading lots of books during the holidays. Thank you for the support.” Sitara (F8)
“It was fun finishing all of the challenges of the Reading Bingo.” Sabeera (C9)

Well done to all of our Summer Readers: Michael (F7), Sitara (F8), Hineni (H8), Sabeera (C9), Ivana (C9), Tharuki (E10), Swetha (F10) and Nidarshan (F10).

eBooks & Audiobooks

Under the careful guidance of Ms Gatward, our ebooks and audiobooks have grown in popularity. More and more students are loving them. In fact, borrowing did not stop over the Summer or any other time the school has been closed. Many students are trying them out and eagerly awaiting Ms Gatward’s post of the eBook of the Week.

As well as our official ebook and audio platform we have many links to free online ebooks and audiobooks you might like to try. If you don’t have time to visit the library, why not give them a try!

Dandenong High School eBook Library – The Wheelers Platform offers a collection of high interest ebook and audiobooks. Titles can be accessed on multiple devices, anytime and anywhere.

Issues in Society are PDF books, free for download, covering current Australian issues. Great for research but also for students who love reading non-fiction and want to broaden their general knowledge.

Readers’ Café – Visit this page on our library website for links to exciting free online ebooks and audiobooks.

We hope you will join us in celebrating Love Your Library Month by finding your perfect match in a book, story, ebook or audiobook of your choice.

Maria Papazoglou

Library Manager

Card-Making Workshop

On Friday 12th February, a card-making workshop took place in the LRC. As a couple of TLAs trickled in, we thought that it was going to be a quiet lunchtime… how wrong we were!

By 1:30, the place was buzzing, with many students making Valentine’s Day cards for their nearest and dearest.

There was cutting and pasting, the swapping of stickers, and red hearts as far as the eye could see. Some teachers even made their way over to see the creative juices flow!

There will be more workshops in the near future, including calligraphy, and the library staff will be happy to take requests on future classes in the LRC.

Miss Maree

Library Assistant

Year 9 Media