What has been happening in the Wilma Hansen
Learning Commons this year?
Thanks to the generosity of the Parent Association; our Library Assistant, Mrs. Wiebe has been able to purchase more items
for our collection than she would otherwise have been able to.
Mrs. Wiebe has also introduced the
Scholastic Book Club this year; she would encourage all students to consider
purchasing books from these flyers as the rewards they produce provide new
materials for our LC.
With these two extra means of revenue, we
have been able to add a number of new and gently used books in a variety of
genres and reading levels. It is a
challenge to consistently engage junior high readers as there is a vast
spectrum of reading levels, maturity and interests.
Some of the great new things you will see
are:
· - More graphic novels—this is a
hot new genre that is seeing lots of interest from students and young people in
general. Many people are visual learners
and there are many quality GNs that combine both good art and literature. GNs also have value in that reading at any
level is better than not having appealing books available. We know readers
become successful people, and so it is important to engage as many students as
possible, and make the Learning Commons an inviting and comfortable place to
be.
- Over 20 of “The 10 best, most,
greatest” books. These are high-interest
non-fiction books that deal with relevant material—both current and
historical. An easy, engaging read that
surprises the reader into learning something!
· -
Additional copies of high
demand books such as “The Fault in our Stars”, the”Divergent” series, the “Maze
Runner” series and others allow multiple students to sign out these books at
the same time. The dystopian genre seems
to be the choice of young adults right now, followed closely by fantasy. Also popular right now are series of books
that are not all written by the same author.
·
- Replacement books—over the
years, quality books in our collection have gone missing, often leaving series
with gaps in them or unfinished.
· - Periodicals—we will soon have
some new magazines in the LC for browsing.
While these needs have not been completely
filled, we can see a larger number of engaging reads now more readily available
in our Learning Commons. We hope
students will take advantage of these new additions, as well as discover the
many treasures that already exist in the LC.
