Odyssey Charter School
Library
Mrs. Susan Beckstrand, Librarian
Mrs. Susan Beckstrand, Librarian
See tabs above for more information.
Library Announcements
~~~ April 2025~~~
It is common for students to lose up to THREE MONTHS of overall educational progress over EACH summer unless parents and students take steps to avoid it! You can even Google it: “Summer Slide”.
The solution is to keep students’ minds engaged, and a fun, easy way to do that is READING; (it can even help a little with math, go figure!) Click here or here for some cool ideas online and use our Odyssey Summer Reading Bingo! There are some fun options like: Read a book “…in a fort” or “…in the kitchen” or “…that became a movie…”. Have reading fun all summer long! (It’s online HERE or on the bottom of the library page of the school website.)
(NOTE for experienced readers – every 200 pages may count for one book. So if they read a 600-page book, it may count for three books in our Bingo game!)
Students bring BINGO sheets to the library at the end of summer for prizes for each BINGO & BLACKOUT! How many BINGOs can your student get? A BLACKOUT? Two?
Double duty: Have 3-6th grade students choose Battle of the Books titles, as they will get a prize for reading 5 of those over the summer as well! (They will need to turn in a Memory Jogger for each title, which is available on the school website. Booklists and Memory Joggers are on the Useful Resources tab of this website.)
Have fun reading this summer!
~~~ August 2024~~~
We have still a few fun VOLUNTEER options for library committees:
Weekly Library Shifts - Job Description: Pick a weekly Library shift (various times T/W/Ts) to help students find books, put books away, and check books in and out on the computer. Volunteers must be there weekly and find a sub when they cannot come. NO preschoolers, please. Sign up online: https://signup.com/go/fQNZPtt
Weekly Home Reading Program (HRP) Shifts - Job Description: Weekly - pick a weekday right after carpool, (except Wednesdays when it's right before carpool), collect, check in and out HRP books on the computer and redistribute them. Volunteers need to be here weekly and find a sub when they cannot be here. WELL-MANAGED preschoolers only, please. Sign up online: https://signup.com/go/KwMkRfa
Book Fair Volunteers Job Description: Assist Book Fair chair in preparing the displays, manning the sales area, or other assignments as requested. These are during the weeks of Parent Teacher Conferences.to show interest in future book fairs, sign up at this link.
Battle of the Books Volunteers - Job Description: Assist with our annual Battle of the Books (usually in March). This may consist of reading questions to the competitors or assisting in a variety of other ways. For READERS: Good read-aloud skills are fundamental. Volunteers need to be able to focus completely on the Battles – preschoolers are discouraged. (Remember babysitter’s hours count toward your volunteer time.) The battles are held in mid-March. Sign up at this link.
Library Substitutes - We can occasionally use substitutes who will work as needed when available, and not as a regular weekly shift. (No preschoolers when classes are present.) Email the librarian for this opportunity: sbeckstrand@odyssycharter.net
~~~
You may explore our library offerings by going to our online library database.
Find LOTS of useful reading resources on my Useful Resources page!
~~~ OTHER USEFUL STUFF ~~~
Battle of the Books - see the school website for current info, including book list bookmarks and memory joggers that can be printed. These are also available on my "Useful Resources" tab,
Families are welcome to donate books at any time. Check our LIBRARY WISH LIST if you want to peruse our needs and wants.
Book Reports - see the Book Reports page on the OCS website for info, including a Schoolwide Book Reports List, very handy for parents of students across multiple grades!
Parents are ABSOLUTELY WELCOME to check out books from our library - just ask!
Did you know you can donate a book for your child's birthday? We'll put a birthday faceplate with their name on it in the book.
Curious about the Library policies? Parents signed the Parent Student Handbook during school registration. Search this document for the Library Use Agreement.