Library Support Plea

This year, the Home and School has been most generous in funding materials for the library. The library budget allowed us to get book carts, a new moveable book shelf, a new database, a magazine subscription, a portable scanner, and so many, many great books. HSA has contributed to large events like the author visit and smaller ones, like JuReMa Con, Harry Potter Quizzo, and the upcoming Poetry Soiree on Tuesday, April 18th.  Our school library is a vibrant, vital place.

In addition to the indispensable book fair volunteers and my dear high school library aides, I have some parent volunteers. Next year, there are changes coming in the library schedule, and I will be teaching one section of eighth grade and one section of seventh grade English. At heart, I believe I am our school librarian and believe that the critical thinking skills and sense of inquiry derived from working with library are necessary to a child's education. My schedule next year will be about 15 periods of rostered English—not Library Skills—classes. I promise that in the remaining periods, I will keep the library open and running for study, reading, and—with the cooperation of teachers—library skills lessons. Volunteer help is essential. If you can stop by to cover or repair books; if you can assist with the overdue fines (this can be done remotely); if you can be on hand when a class comes to check out books; I need you. Before the new school year starts, I can set up a meeting for a training period. Please fill out this Google Form if you are able and willing to volunteer at the library next year. 

In the meantime, parents are my lifeline to your children. Please encourage them to look at the library pages on the school website and to have the Destiny Catalog bookmarked to take advantage of important links and the bitmoji Library. I, in turn, will try to do better in keeping up with the blog, adding helpful information and videos on the website, curating bibliographies on Destiny Discover, and maintaining outreach through this newsletter. 

We are sending our children out into a world with misinformation and disinformation and they need the skills to determine what is true. In a stressful world, they need a place to escape, to relax, to live vicariously through leisure reading. They need skills to process getting information, analyzing it, and synthesizing it so they can be independent learners—for life. Libraries are interdisciplinary. Even scientists and mathematicians use libraries! The library is the great equalizer. And the school library is the place where our students can learn how to navigate this intense and glorious world of reading, writing, and learning. Masterman School Library is committed to fulfilling those goals.