Library newsletter 7

Library Newsletter 7: Summer 2018

As another school year comes to a close, this newsletter gives some highlights from the library’s activities during the Spring and Summer terms, as well as a few suggestions for summer reading and details of this year’s summer reading challenge.

Have a lovely break.

Miss Skipper.

OVERDUE BOOKS At the time of writing, there are 1,264 items on loan. Of these, 614 items are overdue – at an estimated potential replacement cost of at least £5,600!

Please remember to return your books promptly – or to renew them if you’d like a little more time to read them.

The library’s resources are provided for everyone to enjoy, and your help in making sure we continue to have a comprehensive collection is appreciated.

Letters will be issued during the holidays to those who still have overdue books at the end of term.

Author Visit On Thursday 8th February, we were delighted to welcome the author Dan Smith to Campbell College to speak to Year 8 about his life and books.

Dan told us some fascinating stories about his childhood growing up in various exotic locations around the world due to his father’s job (perhaps the inspiration behind some of his adventure stories!), as well as his own experience of being a boarder at school.

He also carried out a question and answer session, and very kindly signed books for the enormous queue of boys who purchased books from our bookshop partner on the day, Books Paper Scissors.

A captivated audience!

The boys thoroughly enjoyed the event (borrowing and reading of Dan’s books has increased infinitely since his visit), and feedback received from them following the visit was particularly pleasing: 53% of the boys in Year 8 said that they would be more likely to read for pleasure as a result of Dan’s visit, regardless of whether they already enjoyed reading. In addition, 66% of these boys who said they had been inspired to read more had also indicated that they were not keen readers – evidence of the positive impact an author visit and library can have on helping to change attitudes towards reading.

Queuing to buy a memento of the day.

DO YOU ENJOY READING FOR PLEASURE? Not at all 5% Sometimes 29%

Yes - a lot 34%

Yes - a bit 32%

AFTER THE VISIT, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT READING FOR PLEASURE? No change 46% More likely to read for pleasure 53%

Less likely to read for pleasure 1%

Chatting to Dan as he signs books.

World Book Day On Thursday 1st March, despite the best efforts of the Beast from the East, Campbell College celebrated World Book Day with the library being reserved at break time for the exclusive use of boys wishing to read for pleasure.

At lunchtime, pupils were invited to take part in a booky game of Would You Rather?, using prompts such as ‘would you rather be stuck on a deserted island without a book OR be stuck in a library full of books in a language you can’t read?’ and ‘would you rather drop your favourite book in the toilet OR watch it fall into a woodchipper?’ to get them started.

Our regular ‘big competition’ this year saw staff volunteering to wear badges for the day featuring either a book title or a character from a book. Pupils were asked to try and match the characters with their books, with a £10 book token on offer for completing the challenge - congratulations to Jason in Year 8!

Small prizes were also on offer to staff who managed to find their pairing.

Thanks to all who took part and helped make our celebrations a success this year!

** Textbooks ** Please remember that department textbooks (Maths, Physics, Geography) issued out through the library MUST be returned to the library in order to ensure that they are checked off your account. Miss Skipper will countersign the book return form for these items, so please remember to bring this with you as well!

Reading List Traditionally, summer holidays are the perfect time for adventures in new places. Why not try one of these books to help get you in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain - Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone This is a reissued classic from the Fighting Fantasy ‘You Are the Hero’ series (there are plenty of other titles to choose from!). Part novel, part game, this book requires 2 dice, plenty of paper, a pen and a little bit of patience!

You’re on a quest to find the powerful Warlock Zagor, slay him and take his riches. Every decision you make could take you closer to achieving your goal – or alternatively leave you hopelessly lost in his maze of caverns fighting off his fearsome monsters!

A perfect book for whiling away a few hours on an epic adventure over the summer.

Over Sea, Under Stone - Susan Cooper While on holiday in Cornwall, staying with their At times elusive Great Uncle Merry, three children stumble across a mysterious map hidden in the attic of their holiday house. Intrigued, they decide to investigate it further – but they are not the only ones who are curious about where the map leads.

This is the first in a classic series that combines elements of Arthurian legend with good old-fashioned adventure!

Where The World Ends - Geraldine McCaughrean

The Mystery of the Whistling Caves - Helen Moss

* Winner of the Carnegie Medal 2018 *

This is an adventure story in the same vein as Enid Blyton’s classic tales.

Scott and his brother Jack are packed off to stay with their Aunt on a sleepy island while their father works abroad during the summer.

The prospect of a long, dull summer holiday stretches out before them – until some valuable Saxon treasure is stolen from the island’s museum!

With a number of suspects and theories to investigate, can the boys solve the crime with the help of local girl Emily (and her dog Drift)?

Based on real events, this is the story of a group of boys who are sent to a remote sea stac to hunt birds to take back to their small island community off the coast of Scotland. The expedition takes place every year, and the boat always returns to collect them after three weeks. But this year, no one arrives to take them home.

What has happened to the boat? Will the boys survive?

Alone - D J Brazier

Excavation - James Rollins

Sam is returning home from the trip of a lifetime with his dad when disaster strikes and their plane crashes into the Amazon jungle.

If you like Indiana Jones films, you’ll want to give this book a go!

Alone, Sam must draw on all his courage, determination and memories of watching Bear Grylls’ shows in order to survive. Just as he’s at the point of giving up, a giant otter v and her cub appear. Although they boost his morale and make life a little more bearable, Sam’s still desperate to get home – but the jungle has other plans.

Gritty, gory and unputdownable.

An archaeological team working deep in the South American jungle stumble across a long-hidden treasure trove hidden in the ruins of a lost ancient city.

But the gold that’s hidden in the vaults underneath the ruins isn’t the only thing that’s been locked away – and their discovery could be the difference between life… and total destruction.

Northern Ireland Book Award Finale The finale of the Northern Ireland Book Award was held at Campbell College on the 26th June. After a closely fought interschool quiz where Sullivan Upper and Strathearn emerged joint victors, the winner of the award for 2018, as voted for by school book groups across NI, was announced as The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, a powerful novel inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement exploring racism and social injustice. Local author Kelly McCaughrain entertained the audience, made up of pupils from 8 schools, with tales from the circus and reading from her debut novel Flying Tips for Flightless Birds, followed by a book sale and signing with books kindly supplied by No Alibis.

Why not try one of these fantastic books for yourself over the summer?

SUMMER READING CHALLENGE Use this challenge to help keep reading over the summer break!

You can use the challenge in a number of ways: 1. Work through each stage from bronze to platinum to progressively read 20 items over the holiday period.

OR 2. Pick and mix challenges you are interested in from any of the stages and read at your own pace.

Bonuses can be used for additional reading, or as extra criteria for any of the challenges already listed (for example, read a biography that was published in 2018).

Have fun! Let the library know how you’re doing by tweeting us @ccb_library!

Parents’ Forum The librarian was very pleased to be asked to speak at the April Parents’ Forum on the subject of reading, literacy and pupil achievement.

New Books!

A few highlights from the 400 new items added to the catalogue since January.

There is a wealth of research that demonstrates the positive impact reading for pleasure can have on a variety of aspects of life, from academic attainment to health, and the presentation given highlighted some of the key points as well as giving some hints and tips to encourage reading for pleasure.

A poster summarising the presentation can be accessed via the following link:

CCB Library in Numbers 

Total loans this year: 1726

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Year group with the most loans: Year 8 (466 loans)

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House with the most loans: School House (384 loans)

Top 5 titles since January 1. Man and Ball: My Autobiography

by Stephen Ferris 6 loans 2. The Boy at the Top of the Mountain

by John Boyne 6 loans 3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 6 loans 4. Wonder by RJ Palacio 6 loans 5. One Of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus 5 loans

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

https://create.piktochart.com/output/29759520new-piktochart