The Library: The Heart of Our Schools

"Without libraries, what have we?  We have no past and no future." -Ray Bradbury

When I was a little girl, I loved the library.  I have vivid memories of joining the summer reading club at my local library, checking out puppets and puzzles from the children's section, and regularly swapping out borrowed books and magazines.  However, our Pleasantdale school libraries look and feel very different than the library of my childhood memories.  While my nostalgic memories are all positive, it is a relief to know that our school libraries are ever-evolving to keep up with the rapid changes in education and society, while fueling our students' interests and fulfilling their needs.

Mrs. Steinmetz, our district's head librarian, has created a welcoming library environment at both the

Ms. Music & Mrs. Steinmetz 

 elementary and middle schools, while also expanding programming to draw more students and families into the library.  With the hire of our two new library aides, Ms. Music (middle school) and Mrs. Cooke (elementary school), there has been the ability to reorganize the library to align with best practices.  To help students easily find books in which they are interested, fiction books are now organized by genre, and nonfiction books are organized using common sense categories.  Popular book series and award books, like those from the Rebecca Caudill list, are also highlighted on prominent displays to generate interest.

The "Fantasy" Fiction Section

Over the summer, Mrs. Steinmetz hosted "open library" for the community, and there were specific classes offered as well, ranging from crafts (like paper cutting and bookmark making) to technology (start a blog or record a podcast).  However, the fun did not stop in the library when the summer months ended!  On Thursdays after school, two clubs regularly meet in the middle school library.  The Tech Tigers are becoming pros at making videos using the middle school's new green screen and are also having fun building our Lego Maze.  The members of Tiger Tales also congregate in the library on Thursdays to help shelve and organize books.

Trenton Lee Stewart at PMS

Some of the most exciting library-sponsored events are the wonderful author visits that Mrs. Steinmetz arranges.  Students are inspired by authors to write themselves, while also hearing about new books to read first hand from the authors.  Although it is only mid-October, the students at both the middle and elementary schools have already been fortunate to enjoy author visits this school year.  Mac Barnett made the K-2 grade students laugh with his stories and read-aloud at the elementary school on October 5, and Trenton Lee Stewart intrigued sixth and seventh-grade students as he shared tidbits about his newest novel The Secret Keepers on October 6.  On Thursday, October 20, author Bruce Coville visits and will be speaking to the third and fourth-graders at the elementary school.

Rebecca Caudill books
read by students & staff

But wait, there's more!  For the first time this year, the students at Pleasantdale Middle School will participate in a "Battle of the Books" against other LT feeder schools.  Teams from participating schools will read the same 16 books and will first battle it out at their own schools to answer trivia questions related to the book.  The winning team from Pleasantdale Middle School will represent the district at the final Battle of the Books contest against other school districts at Highlands Middle School in February.  The Middle School Readers book clubs are also in full swing with the first meetings taking place the last week of October during lunch periods.  Gone are the days where all students read the same book for book club!  There are twenty book clubs spanning fifth through eighth grade, which allow for students to read the book of their choice and discuss the book with other students and staff members.  Finally, the ever-popular Rebecca Caudill book reading tabulation is in progress, with students and staff members' names displayed in the library by each book read.

A huge "THANK YOU!" goes out to Mrs. Steinmetz for all she does to make our libraries such an enjoyable and inspiring place for our students.  We are lucky to have such welcoming libraries at the heart of our schools.

Students engage with author Trenton Lee Stewart on 10/6/16