W. C. Friday Middle School Media Center
Welcome!
Welcome to our library! Keep scrolling to learn some important words and facts about our media center:
Media Center / Library
Is this place a media center or a library? Great question! Library and media center both mean the same place.
Finding Books
Fiction books are in alphabetical order by author's last name, and Nonfiction books are in numerical order by certain topics. (Every topic has its own number!) Keep reading to learn more about Fiction and Nonfiction books. There is a chromebook open to Destiny (the library catalog) in both the Fiction and the Nonfiction section.
Fiction Section
Our library has two main sections: Fiction and Nonfiction. Fiction books contain stories from an author's imagination. This means that while there may be some real events and people mentioned in those stories, the stories themselves are made-up. This is a great place to find books to read for fun.
The Fiction section is on the right when you come in through the main doors of the media center. You can tell if a book belongs in the Fiction by the call number on the spine. It will have begin with an "F" for fiction! All the books are in alphabetical order by the author's last names.
Nonfiction Section
Nonfiction books are about true events, people, and topics. This is where you can find books that have to do with many of the things you learn about in science class or social studies class. It's a great place to do research on a real-world topic. These books start with NUMBERS on their spine labels instead of letters. All the books are in numerical order by the number on the spine label.
The Nonfiction section is on the left when you come in through the main doors of the media center. You can tell if a book belongs in the Nonfiction section by the call number on the spine.
Destiny (Catalog)
You can use our catalog to help search for books. A catalog is list of all the books the library has. Our library's catalog actually has a name, Destiny. You can search Destiny in more than one way. You can search it using the open chromebooks in the media center, or you can search it using your own device. Just go to the link: https://search.follettsoftware.com/metasearch/ui/30201
Once you've found a book in Destiny that you want to find, you can find it by using the call number, or special code made up of letters or numbers that tells you what order it goes in.
Want to learn more about how to look up the books you want? Click here.
Types of Books
Different types of books, like graphic novels and young adult books, have stickers on their spines telling you what they are. Take a look at some of the book genres and formats that we have and how to identify them:
Graphic Novels
Graphic novels are books that are told through both text and images, usually in blocks of content called panels. You can tell which books are graphic novels because they will have a graphic novel sticker on them. You can only have 1 graphic novel checked out at a time.
Young Adult
Young Adult books are books that are a little more advanced and have some more adult content than the others. Think of them as having a "PG-13" rating like movies do. You can tell if a book is YA by the "YA" sticker on the spine.
If you are a 6th or 7th grader, you need a Young Adult permission form signed by your parent or guardian to read these books. If you are an 8th grader, you can read these books without a signed form - but you should keep in mind what your parents would and would not approve of you reading.
Genres
Not all of our fiction books have genre stickers on them, but many of them do. If you are looking for a particular genre of book, look the color of your favorite genre in the Genre Key:
Yellow = Fantasy & Adventure
Red = Horror & Paranormal
Pink = Romance
Gray = Mystery/Crime
Purple = Sports Fiction
White = Realistic/Contemporary Fiction
Green = Science Fiction & Dystopia
Light Blue = Humor/Comedy
Dark Blue = Historical Fiction
Circulation
Checking Books Out
The circulation desk is the place where you check books out to take home. "Checking a book out" means to get it scanned so you can take it with you when you leave. Tell the librarian or media assistant your last name and first name, and they will scan the books so that you can take them home.
Checking Books In
"Checking a book in" means to get it scanned so it can be put back on the shelves for other students. The book drop, or drop box, is the container in front of the circulation desk where you can drop off books that need to be checked in.
Book Benches
If you are picking out books and you decide that you don't want to check the book out, you should set it on one of the "book benches". There is one in Fiction and one in Nonfiction. I or one of my media assistants can shelve those books later. This is important to do because students often put the book in the wrong place, which means other students can't find it later.
Need more information?
If you want to learn about the library's rules, click here.
If you want to learn about W. C. Friday's librarian, click here.
If you want to know how to put holds on books or write reviews in Destiny, click here.