It's a New Year in the Middle School Library!

I am new to the Darlington Community this year, and I would like to begin my first blog post by thanking all of the teachers, students, parents and administrators who have made me feel so welcome in the Middle School and our school community as a whole. What a great place to work and learn!

The Middle School Library has been a busy and exciting place so far this year. I have received boxes (and boxes, and boxes…) of new books, and I have been slowly clearing a path to my desk as I process all the new reading material and get it out on the shelves. Students entering the library will see several displays on top of the bookshelves, which include both new books and books that were previously in the collection. There is a Middle School Summer Reading display, for instance, with copies of some of the optional and required books that Darlington read this year, as well as their sequels. For those who are looking for something to read, this is a great place to look. (And why not ask a friend for a recommendation?)

There is also a display of graphic novels, comics and manga. This is a section of the library that I am just beginning to build this year. You will see stand-alone graphic novels, a few comic series and some manga series. I will be experimenting a lot this year, purchasing a few volumes of various series to see what everyone enjoys and would like to read more of in the future. I welcome any feedback from students! And if you don’t know what a graphic novel is or if you have never read any manga, stop on by the library to check it out!

Don’t forget that the library has more than just fiction. We have a lot of really neat nonfiction books that have just come in, and many more on the way! There are books about brain science, archaeological findings, real life villains from history, survival stories and interesting people from history, just to name a few!

The last piece of exciting news from the library is the arrival of the new MacBooks for our 8th grade students. Cynde Reneau, our instructional technology coordinator, has her office in the library. As students and teachers have received their MacBooks, the library has been a fury of activities, questions and new computer lessons!

I am teaching a new course to the 8th grade students this year called Information Literacy, which will allow them to really explore and learn with their MacBooks. Students will learn how to search for information effectively, use technology to solve information needs and to research and present information, and to be effective digital citizens in the 21st Century. I am really looking forward to seeing how technology can play into the library, the school and these students’ lives in the future!

In closing, I want to invite everyone—including teachers and parents—to stop by the Middle School Library anytime. Students, if you haven’t been in this year, come by and grab a book. Look around. Let me know what you would like to see in the library this year. I look forward to getting to know all of you!