Library Newsletter: Spring 2017

Library Newsletter 5: Spring 2017

Welcome to the latest edition of the library’s newsletter.

This edition reports on our successful author visit from Paul Cookson in January, provides a few reminders for the start of exam season, and introduces the library’s latest reading challenge: Book Award Bingo.

Happy reading!

Miss Skipper.

Year 8 Author Visit – Paul Cookson We were delighted to welcome the poet Paul Cookson to Campbell College on Thursday 26th January.

Year 8 were treated to an afternoon of interactive poetry, and particular highlights included enthusiastic renditions of ‘The Footballer’s Prayer’ and a poem about homework.

With humour, wordplay and a ukulele, Paul proved to Year 8 that poetry is anything but boring!

Following a question and answer session, Paul held a book sale and signing, and the amount of boys queuing to buy a memento of the afternoon was testament to his talents.

Book Award Bingo!

The shortlists for both the Carnegie Award and the Young Adult Book Award have been announced, and this term’s challenge uses both of them in a game of bingo!

How many of these titles can you read between now and the end of June?! There will be prizes for various line combinations (shown below), as well as for completing the card*.

Pick up your bingo card from the library, or download one from Firefly.

Key Dates: YA Book Award winner announced: 1st June 2017 Carnegie Award winner announced: 19th June 2017 *Please be aware that the Carnegie judges have given Beck

by Mal Peet and Meg Rosoff an advisory age of 16+; you can read their guidance notes here. This book does not have to be read in order to complete the card.

World Book Day The college celebrated World Book Day on Thursday 2nd March with a range of activities.

During the week, the library ran a ‘big competition’ for all pupils. This year, entrants had to work out who mystery book characters were in order to find a literary villain. Prizes on offer were a £10 book token, 642 Things to Write About (a book of creative writing prompts), and a Teethmarks bookmark. Congratulations to Jake, Ethan and Jamie.

In addition, the library ran a ‘big quiz’ competition for tutor groups in Years 8-10 to take part in.

Congratulations to winners Year 8 Alden’s and Year 9 Allison’s, and to runners up Year 8 School and Year 9 School. The library’s sixth form tutor

group even joined in the fun, playing consequences to come up with their own stories.

On World Book Day itself, we held a literary themed lunch in the dining hall, with items such as Fantastic Mr Fox’s Chargrilled Chicken Burger on the menu.

Finally, the library held a crafting session on the Friday, where pupils could recycle withdrawn books into bookmarks, and make their own notebooks out of a single sheet of A3 paper using a few simple folds and cuts.

Spring Reading As well as tackling the books on the Book Award Bingo card, there are a few other books I’ve been saving to start reading over the Easter break and in to the summer term.

Here are my top three.

Hidden Figures - Margot Lee Shetterly

Making It Up As I Go Along - Marian Keyes

It Can’t Happen Here - Sinclair Lewis

I recently saw this film, and was completely inspired to read the book as a result.

Sometimes you just need to read a book by an author that you know you’re going to love, and Marian Keyes is, for me, one of those writers.

First published in 1935, this novel seems eerily prescient – here’s the blurb:

Set against the background of the civil rights movement in the United States of America, this is the true story of the African-American women who played a crucial, yet overlooked, role in NASA’s space program, working as human ‘computers’ and calculating the numbers that would enable rockets to be launched – and astronauts to return safely to Earth.

The film was engaging, moving, and inspirational, and if this is anything to go by, the source material should be an excellent and interesting read.

This is a collection of essays and observations on modern life, and as each chapter is only a few pages long it’s perfect for dipping in to when you want to read something but don’t feel like tackling a whole book in one go.

Keyes’ writing should not be dismissed as light - she writes with a clever mix of observation, warmth and humour, and her essays (and novels) deal with some big issues at times.

‘A vain, outlandish, anti-immigrant, fearmongering demagogue runs for President of the United States - and wins. Sinclair Lewis's chilling bestseller is the story of Buzz Windrip, 'Professional Common Man', who promises poor, angry voters that he will make America proud and prosperous once more, but takes the country down a far darker path. As the new regime slides into authoritarianism, newspaper editor Doremus Jessop can't believe it will last - but is he right? This cautionary tale of liberal complacency in the face of populist tyranny shows it really can happen here.’

Exam Season With exam season just around the corner, here are just a few reminders.  For pupils in Years 12-14, please make sure that you return anything that’s been issued to you over the year on or before your last exam – if you don’t, you may be invoiced for replacements.  The library is still open to pupils on study leave who want to have a quiet place to study.  We have a range of revision guides for use within the library, as well as books on exam and study skills.  The library has produced a couple of booklets that you may find helpful, and you can access them via Firefly, or by clicking on the images to the right.  The library has also collated links to all the exam boards’ past paper sites – you can access these through the library’s Firefly page.

Good luck!

New Books!

Here are just some of the great new books that have been added to the shelves this term. Click on the covers to find out more about each title.

CCB Library in Numbers 

Total loans so far this year: 1958

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Year group with the most loans: Year 8 (545 loans)

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House with the most loans: School House (317 loans)

Top 5 titles 1. The Killing by Robert Muchamore 12 loans 2. Tom Gates is Absolutely Fantastic (At Some Things) by Liz Pichon 12 loans 3. The Maze Runner by James Dashner 9 loans 4. The Recruit by Robert Muchamore 9 loans 5. After Tomorrow by Gillian Cross 8 loans

Librarian: Cath Skipper Campbell College Library Belmont Road Belfast BT4 2ND Tweet: @ccb_library