Croydon Maroondah College

The first few months of this year has been a very busy time in the Library & Information Centre. Anumber of activities have been organised and have been received with great enthusiasm from our students.

Orientation
The Year 7‟s were introduced to the library through a library scavenger hunt. Each group had a different set of questions to answer relating to the library. They then shared their answers with the rest of the group. The Year of the Dragon display in the foyer generated a lot of interest as students identified the sign and personality traits from the year they were born in.
Speed dating with a book
Our book collection has been boosted with a wonderful range of new books selected by students through "speed dating with a book‟. Students rate the books according to interest and reading level and then place a "love at first sight‟ or "gets a hat trick‟ bookmark in their book of choice. The library purchases these titles and after they are processed the books can be borrowed as "first dates‟. Our bookseller was most impressed with the quality of our students‟ selection.
Donations
We are very grateful to the Rowlands, Hearne, and Weninger families who have presented the library with a wonderful range of books ranging from the Classics such as Jane Austen and Bram Stoker, to a great set of Australian history books and for those senior students and staff who love the murder mystery genre a fabulous set of books by popular crime writers. Thanks also go to student, Caitlyn Wyton who has presented the library with a copy of her first published book „Tumbles‟ – a great achievement Caitlyn.
Staff
There will be two new faces in the Library over the next few months. Nareen Bygraves is undertaking a Library Technicians course and we are delighted that she will be working in the library one day a week. Megan Pickthall a Year 11 VCAL student will also be working every Friday as part of the VCAL program. We welcome you both and look forward to your input and assistance.= Of course all the books that come into our Library have to be processed, so, a big thank you to Rhonda Black a parent volunteer who regularly collects our books and takes them home to cover. Thanks Rhonda.
Croydon Public Library
Our Year 9 students visited Croydon Public Library and were introduced to the resources and services that a Public Library can offer in addition to what is offered through our school library. Of great interest and value to the students, particularly as they approach the senior years of secondary school are the databases such as Britannica Online, ANZ Reference Centre and many other subject specific databases. These databases can be accessed from home through membership of the Croydon or any other Public Library. Link for online membership is as follows:

http://swft.erlc.sirsidynix.net.au/uhtbin/cgisirsi/0/ERLCHQ/0/57/122/2015/X?user_id=ER-WEBSERVER

It is a rewarding experience when our school can engage with the wider community and I would like to extend my thanks to Sue, Janet and the staff of Croydon Public Library for their time and expertise in the delivery of the program.

National Year of Reading
”The National Year of Reading 2012 is about children learning to read and keen readers finding new sources of inspiration. It's about supporting
reading initiatives while respecting the oral tradition of storytelling. It's about helping people discover and rediscover the magic of books. And most of all, it's about Australians becoming a nation of readers” www.love2read.org.au The organisation is aiming for 2000 activities in support of the National Year of Reading. Our school is registered and we have decided on a „Readers Olympics‟ for our activity. Our school has a committee of students who are working hard to organise this event .They have come up with some brilliant ideas already and I am sure it will be an exciting  xperience. In support of this activity I would ask that parents and caregivers encourage the benefits of reading as a life skill and promote a culture of reading at every opportunity. We had a fun day on May 4th as it just happened to be International Star Wars Day. Darth Vader was searching for his son and requested that any student named Luke be sent to the library. A sweet treat was offered for any Luke that presented himself. It wasamazing the number of students named Luke that we have at the school!

So on that note and until next time. “May the 4th be with you”!

Christine Lobato - Library and Information Manager.