VISION: THE ACTIVE LIBRARY
By Mary Alice Osborne, Library Media Specialist
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I wanted to show that as a faculty, we love to read. I took a photo of each teacher posing with a favorite book to show their personality or something that was important to them. I created posters using these images, some of which you can see above.
| As an Educator, my greatest strength is my ability to inspire and involve young people in the important ideas and information available to them in the library and in the outside world. My vision for the library is an inclusive, peaceful oasis, where students are enabled to develop their talents. My active library is a place where I encourage collaboration and celebrate diversity. As Head Librarian, I collaborate with students and teachers to create monthly themes that spark students’ interest, and celebrate the diversity of our school’s students. Our themes highlight student participation, books, information, and technology. I design the layout of the Library Media Centers I have led to facilitate small and large group activities and to make our library the "hub" of the school. Here are some examples of the library themes and the ways that students became involved and gained some new perspectives. |  |
You are My Hero was the theme in the Elementary School Book Week Program. We read about heroes: super, real-life and every day. Students decorated their classroom doors with selected book covers, participated in D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read), held a book swap, and dressed as favorite heroes in the culminating assembly. |
During November and December, the Secondary School students participated in our Book Bowl reading competition. Multi-age teams of students work together to read a variety of books chosen on the theme of courage (Click here for books in this year's Book Bowl). They also can gain points for their teams by creating bookmarks, book jackets, poems, letters and videos about the books they have read. Finally, student teams compete in a week-long Quiz Bowl event, answering questions about the books they have been reading. Winners celebrate with an afternoon of pizza and bowling. Last year, our Book Bowl theme was "Read Around the World," and books were chosen that portrayed young people around the world and how they live today. Book Bowl Overview
Our October and November theme was “Myths and Legends of Many Cultures,” designed to celebrate the diverse cultures at KAUST School and highlight enchanting and mystical myths and legends from all over the world. Many cultures have traditionally held harvest festivals in the autumn of the year, as they prepared for the cold weather, darkening skies and unexplained diseases and death which could ensue. Many Illustrated myths and legends were on display in the library and each advisory group wrote, performed and filmed a modern-day version of a myth or legend. .
This year, KAUST School libraries hosted a Poetry Celebration. Palestinian-American poet and author Naomi Shihab Nye and children's poet and author Margriet Ruurs came to our school during this time to help kick off the month. The two authors held workshops to help our students become inspired poets.
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Another theme I created in China, “Welcome back to the Olympics,” celebrated the Beijing Olympics and the extraordinary spirit of the games. The Olympics had just begun when we returned to school that August. We had many new, interesting sports books on display, as well as a display highlighting five different athletes who had made it to the Olympics "against all odds", from countries such as Somalia and Cambodia. This display encouraged understanding and empathy among our students for those who are not as privileged as we are, but who have incredible talents and perseverance. We set up a treadmill in the Library, and students ran in a first-ever SIS marathon! Classes competed to see which class could run 42.5 kilometers first. The marathon was a very competitive event, especially among the Middle School students. |
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| During Elementary Book Week, the theme was Reading Olympics and famous Olympic skater Chen Lu visited SIS for our culminating assembly. | ||
Monthly Library programs have encouraged our student community to interact and participate in meaningful world themes, which highlight and celebrate diversity and inclusiveness.
