Something on your mind? Students in grades 6-12 now have access to Cameron's Collection, a collection of e-books that address topics related to mental health and social-emotional issues.
Click on the picture to access Cameron's Collection! Use the passcode kenai
Click here to log in to Sora! Just use your computer username and password.
Click here to browse the Seward Middle School Library Catalog!
This video shows how to log in and place a hold in Alexandria: https://video.link/w/3Mhvb
Below are the twelve titles for the 6th-grade Battle of the Books list for the 2024-2025 school year! Most of these titles are part of our Sora collection, either as eBook or Audiobook or both. They can be found in a Sora collection called "AK BOB 5-6." We will soon have all of these books in the library, too!
Amari and the Night Brothers
by B. B. Alston
eBook and Audiobook
Love That Dog
by Sharon Creech
eBook and Audiobook
Beauty and the Beak
by Deborah Lee Rose and Jane Veltkamp
not available on Sora
Raising Lumie
by Joan Bauer
eBook and Audiobook
Because of Mr. Terupt
by Rob Buyea
eBook and Audiobook
Smile
by Raina Telgemeier
eBook
Best Nerds Forever
by James Patterson
eBook and Audiobook
Thief Lord
by Cornelia Funke
eBook and Audiobook
City of Ember
by Jeanne DuPrau
eBook and Audiobook
Unteachables
by Gordon Korman
eBook and Audiobook
City Spies
by James Ponti
eBook and Audiobook
Yummy
by Victoria Grace Elliott
eBook
Below are the ten titles for the 7th/8th-grade Battle of the Books list for the 2024-2025 school year! All of these titles are part of our Sora collection, either as eBook or Audiobook or both. They can be found in a Sora collection called "AK BOB MS." We will soon have all of these books in the library, too!
Alone
by Megan E. Freeman
eBook and Audiobook
Northwind
by Gary Paulsen
eBook and Audiobook
Disappearing Spoon
by Sam Kean
eBook
Storm Runner
by J. C. Cervantes
eBook and Audiobook
Holes
by Louis Sachar
eBook and Audiobook
Ungifted
by Gordon Korman
eBook and Audiobook
I Am the Walrus
by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman
eBook
Wednesday Wars
by Gary D. Schmidt
eBook and Audiobook
Last Mapmaker
by Christina Soontornvat
eBook and Audiobook
When You Reach Me
by Rebecca Stead
eBook and Audiobook
Click on the picture to access Cameron's Collection! Use the passcode kenai
(You may also be asked to sign in with your student number and password, just like signing into a school computer.)
Students in grades 6-12 now have access to Cameron's Collection, a collection of e-books that address topics related to mental health and social-emotional issues.
The publisher says about this resource, "Created in collaboration with the Cameron K. Gallagher Foundation, Cameron’s Collection on Gale eBooks provides targeted guidance on sensitive teen issues for students, teachers, and counselors. These titles are available remotely 24/7, allowing students to access what they need anytime and on their own devices. Helping students cope with everyday stressors and stay in the present moment through mindfulness are the core foundations of this collection."
As Library Aide at Seward Middle School, I am pleased to announce that SMS Library has been awarded the Alaskan Book Hook Grant, distributed by the Juneau Community Foundation!
The stated purpose of the grant is to support small libraries with purchases of books and other materials to better serve their library patrons.
The funds awarded to Seward Middle School have been used to expand the selection of manga and graphic novels in response to numerous student requests.
Honoring student requests for the collection goes a long way toward maintaining student interest in reading. Reading choice is so important in sparking a love of literacy and learning!
On behalf of Seward Middle School’s students and staff, I would like to thank the Alaskan Book Hook Grant and Juneau Community Foundation for their generous support of our library!
-Jessica Bamford
Library Aide
Seward Middle School
Have you seen the Enola Holmes movie or the new sequel on Netflix? Starring Millie Bobby Brown (from Stranger Things), these movies follow the adventures of Sherlock's younger sister - a detective in her own right!
The movies are based on the Enola Holmes book series by Nancy Springer, and we have these books at our library. Check them out!
Nothing beats a cozy chair and a good book, but try out our new Virtual Book Nook! Click on items to see where they go - almost everything contains a link!
The Seward Middle School (SMS) Library has been awarded the 2021 Alaskan Book Hook Grant, distributed by the Juneau Community Foundation! Seward Middle School Library was one of eight Alaska libraries chosen in the grant’s inaugural year. The stated purpose of the grant is to support small libraries with purchases of books and other materials to better serve their library patrons.
The funds awarded to Seward Middle School have been used to expand the selection of manga and graphic novels in response to numerous student requests, as well as to replace books that have gone missing over the years and to complete series.
Honoring student requests for the collection and filling in the holes from missing books in the collection will go a long way toward maintaining student interest in reading. Reading choice is so important in sparking a love of literacy and learning! A bulk-buy discount from Barnes and Noble & Classwork helped the grant money go even further!
On behalf of Seward Middle School’s students and staff, I thank the Alaskan Book Hook Grant and Juneau Community Foundation for their generous support of our library!
-Jessica Bamford
Library Aide, Seward Middle School
I am happy to announce that Seward Middle School Library was awarded the Alaskan Book Hook Grant, distributed by the Juneau Community Foundation! This grant will be used to expand our collection of manga and graphic novels, in response to numerous student requests! Interested students filled out a survey a few weeks ago, indicating which manga series they would most like to see added to the library. My Hero Academia was the winner! In addition to this long series (30 books in the series so far!), we were able to order a few other shorter manga series, including Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Quest Monsters+, and Wonder Cat Kyuu-chan.
This money has also allowed me to order replacements for books that have been lost over the years, and to complete series we had on the shelf that were missing books. Thanks to this grant, we will now have the complete sets of series like Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, Maze Runner, Wings of Fire, and the Bone graphic novels, among others! I expect these new books to be here in a couple of weeks!
April is National Poetry Month! While most of us think of poems as a short form of writing, there are actually entire novels written in poetry form! These are called novels in verse. Look for some of these novels in verse on Sora (see below). And if you're interested in reading more novels in verse, check out the following link to a long list of YA novels in verse at GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2212.YA_Novels_in_Verse
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
When Billie Jo is just 14 she must endure heart-wrenching ordeals that no child should have to face. This award-winning story is set in the heart of the Great Depression. It chronicles Oklahoma's staggering dust storms, and the environmental--and emotional--turmoil they leave in their path. An unforgettable tribute to hope and inner strength.
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Jacqueline Woodson tells the moving story of her childhood. Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement.
Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Ten-year-old Hà has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, and the warmth of her friends close by. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home, and Hà and her family are forced to flee to America. Hà discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food . . . and the strength of her very own family.
Crossover by Kwame Alexander
Josh Bell and his twin brother Jordan are awesome on the court. But Josh has mad beats, too, that tell his family's story in verse in this novel of family and brotherhood. Josh and Jordan must come to grips with growing up on and off the court to realize breaking the rules comes at a terrible price, as their story's heart-stopping climax proves a game-changer for the entire family.
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
A fiercely stunning novel that takes place in sixty potent seconds—the time it takes a kid to decide whether or not he’s going to murder the guy who killed his brother.
Solo by Kwame Alexander (with Mary Rand Hess)
Blade would give anything not to be the son of a washed-up rock star and drug addict with delusions of a comeback. The only thing Blade has in common with his father is the music that lives inside them. But not even the songs that flow through Blade’s soul are enough when he’s faced with two unimaginable realities: the threat of losing his girlfriend forever, and the revelation of a long-held family secret that leaves him questioning everything.
Loving vs. Virginia by Patricia Hruby Powell
In 1955, in Caroline County, Virginia, amidst segregation and prejudice, injustice and cruelty, two teenagers fell in love. Their life together broke the law, but their determination would change it. Richard and Mildred Loving were at the heart of a Supreme Court case that legalized marriage between races, and a story of the devoted couple who faced discrimination, fought it, and won.
Gone Fishing by Tamera Will Wissinger
Using a wide variety of poetic forms - quatrains, ballads, iambic meter, rhyming lists, concrete poetry, tercets and free verse - this debut author tells the story of a nine-year-old boy's day of fishing. Sibling rivalry, the bond between father and son, the excitement and difficulty of fishing all add up to a day of adventure any child would want to experience.
*Book descriptions were found on goodreads.com, edited for length.
It's National Shelfie Day! This is a day to celebrate reading by taking a picture of the books on your shelf, arranged in a fun way for a photograph - or a picture of you in front of your book shelf! I decided to make a double rainbow of some of the newest books in our library - A Rainbow of New Reads!
Total library checkouts for the 2019-20 school year: 1,265
Most popular fiction book: Crossover by Kwame Alexander
Most popular graphic novel: Amulet - Supernova by Kazu Kibuishi
Total Sora checkouts: 507 (This was the highest number of Sora checkouts in the district!)
Top Sora title by number of checkouts: Flying Lessons and Other Stories, edited by Ellen Oh
Top Sora title by hours of reading: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
William Shakespeare was one of the most prolific writers of all time. As a poet and playwright, he is credited with inventing or popularizing hundreds of words and phrases that we use on a daily basis. While we don't know the exact date of his birth, he is believed to have been born in April 1564. In honor of Shakespeare's birth month, check out some of his classic plays on Sora! They are part of the Always Available! collection, guaranteed to have no waitlists through the end of June.
On the last day before spring break, I updated one of the library window displays and I thought I'd share it here since students did not get to see it!
March is Music in Our Schools Month, so I decided to do a display using books in our collection that are about music or that featured instruments on the cover. I brought in a couple of instruments to put in the display, and Mr. CJ loaned a couple more from the music room.
I found a quote that I really like while building this display...
"Music and books: the original time-machines."
-Erin Van Vuren
