College Libraries

De La Salle Libraries 2007

Welcome to Mrs Carmel Eyre who joined us in a permanent role as Librarian based at the Kinnoull Library. A major change for 2007 has been the creation of the Department of Information Services of which the Library is now a strand, along with Learning Technologies and Technical Assistance. These three areas within the College have long overlapped and intersected, and their amalgamation is a logical step. Our collections and services continue to evolve to include different formats and a greater reliance on electronic data. New resource lists are now sent by email, and this has resulted in a surge of interest and accompanying loans. Our move away from outdated formats continues with a new policy to collect DVDs rather than videos, as all teaching spaces will be equipped with PCs and data projectors by the end of this year. New photocopier/printers were installed in each Library at the beginning of the year, and each student’s ID card was credited with $10.00 for photocopying in black and white or colour. Black and white printing is gratis, and colour printing is not yet available to students. The number of PCs in each Library for student use has settled at 12, in an effort to ensure that the Library provides excellent access to all kinds of resources at all times of the day, and is not perceived as a default computer laboratory. This strategy has been highly effective. Our fiction collections remain well-used with loans continuing to increase each year. However there appears to be a drop in the popularity of our print journal collections, an area already marked for gradual attrition, as the electronic versions of these gain in popularity. Our poster collection at Tiverton has seen little use over the last few years, and we no longer collect in this area. We continue to strive to provide the best quality, most relevant print and electronic resources for our students and staff, acquiring as many new print titles as possible, as well as maintaining a solid, rigorous collection of depth and breadth. A new initiative for this year is the re-development of our Library webpage. Mrs Carmel Eyre is liaising with Miss Pauline Mulholland to create a more relevant and up-to-date webpage. This process is expected to take some time, however, we are confident that the new page will be an attractive and wellpatronised addition to the Library. We have also gained access to a program, Masterfile, which allows us to search for websites through our ordinary catalogue, AIMS. When students now conduct a search, they will see a number of websites, alongside books, which they may choose to access information. We are hoping that this will provide our students with access to educational sites in a seamless way. We are also hoping that this strategy will cut down on the amount of time spent aimlessly surfing the net. The Primary Library classes run by Mrs Clare Kennedy-Curtis continued as usual this year. A highlight for the Grade 6 boys was a visit to the Stonnington Library to hear Sally Rippin (author of Chenxi and the Foreigner, The Magic Mirror and many other titles) speak, and attend a workshop. The artists in the class really loved the opportunity to draw with her. Now considered an institution, the College reading club RIC RAC (Reading Is Cool, Readers Are Clever) ran this year under the leadership of our Literature Librarian, Mrs Betty Rudin. It now includes Years 7 to 12, and has increased to over 80 members. RIC RAC certificates of participation were presented to all members, as usual, at assemblies in Term 4. Book Week 2007: “READiscover”. Book Week 2007 was rescheduled this year to the last week of Term 2, and commenced with drinks and book raffle in the Library, raising $148 for the Victorian Winter Blanket Appeal. Our visiting author this year was Paula Hunt, author of two of our most popular non-fiction titles, Mongrel Punts and Hard Ball Gets: An A-Z of Footy Speak and Shirt Front: A Short and Amazing History of Aussie Rules. This was Paula’s first visit to the College and she was very well received by the Years 4 to 9 to whom she spoke. Book Week began as usual with a Book Week Breakfast for RIC RAC members. The Sixth Annual Book Week Literary Quiz was held in the PAC and attracted over 160 students and staff. The Daily Bulletin quiz drew much interest, and the major Book Week prize, a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling was won by Joseph De Girolamo in 9J. Br Bill presented the prize at the Academic Award Assembly.