Hand them over... Please!

I know it is hard to believe, but another school year is ALMOST over!
Please, please bring me your library books AND any textbooks you are no longer using and will not need for final exams.

All Book Club members are invited to the library at lunch hour on Thursday, the 19th for a small wrap-up celebration for this year.  Listen to the announcements or check back here for an update on the exact time.   If everyone is present, we will see about having a group photo taken at that time too.

Remember to check around for those stray books!

Twinkle, Twinkle, Goodbye Tree!

Well, sadly the great big library tree lovingly nurtured by the Sisters has dropped its leaves for the last time.  There was no big comeback for it this time BUT Chandra had the brilliant idea of decking the "skeleton" out with twinkle lights and giving it a second chance at life - so to speak.

Meanwhile,  even though I firmly stated that there would be only ONE annual Library Cupcake War (thus, the annual part) , I decided to relent and bake up some cupcakes for Book Club and wanderers-in to decorate with our guests from our sister-school in Japan.  Fun for all and a great lunch-time treat!

I am thinking it might be minion-making time as per Lilly's suggestion, now that all of the plastic Easter eggs are out!  I will be on the look-out over the next few days and see what I can find for supplies.

There will be LOTS more great books to look forward to over the coming weeks - I will portion them out so the excitement is spread out!

Congratulations to Syndney Duncan, Hunter, and Hayley Remus who were the winners of the "Blind Date with a Book" draw and each received a tub of candy and  a pick from the book stack.  If you are curious how people rated their dates,  have a look at the display board in the library.  I might add the key to my clues too (unless I decide I want to use them next year!)

And then it happened...

Today in Book Club we browsed through the Scholastic flyers and decided to write a progressive story while chatting about what we wanted to order for the library.  Working from a story starter and a folded-over paper that was passed from student to student here is the result:

The day dawned cold and clear over Rivier Academy.   Students freshly rested from a long weekend filed through the doors, unaware of the danger lurking within.  Indeed, none could have guessed what was ahead on this seemingly normal day as those doors closed behind them and they headed to the auditorium for morning assembly.

As they walked down the halls they heard a slithering within the walls.  As they continued to walk, the Chosen One felt something.  It was cold and unforgiving.  He knew he shouldn't tell anyone because they would just give him bad looks, so he just kept walking and being alert.

Meanwhile, in the air vents thousands of vipers were ready to invade the school.  Thick white fog began to trickle out of the larger wooden doors.  Then, the scariest thing of all crashed through the doors!  It was...

Hunter running through the halls with a sword while Lilly rode Glenn Forestwood, the library unicorn!

And that was the end of  noon hour and so the end of our story - fun!

Clipping Right Along!

It was craft AND book club time again in the library today!  We took Jessie's suggestion and created some VERY elegant paperclip bookmarks to fancy up the pages of our novels.  Super swanky.  Mai and Crysta even got in on the action later during their study time.  Who could resist boxes full of buttons?  Out of a box of 80 large paperclips I am left with around 35 - so I think a good time was had by all.  

And now,  just because I feel like it and it has been over three years (can you believe it!) since I first posted this on the blog - lets have another look at my favourite:

It does have a literary connection, after all!

Be My Anti-Valentine?

Instead of the traditional Valentine's Day blah, blah, blah, I thought we would celebrate our awesomeness and independence with a Book Club Anti-Valentine's Day Party on Tuesday!

And the party WAS awesome!  Lots of candy - maybe too much, teachers?

Lots of heart and broken heart cookies to decorate and EAT!  And THEN messing up
copies of romance novel covers and mad-lib love poems added to the ANTI-VALENTINE fun!
We are awesome all by ourselves!

YOU ARE ALL HAVING WAY TOO MUCH FUN OPENING THESE UP!

Magnetic Forces at the Library!

Today we began a new project in the library - gemstone magnets!  I made mine with an eyeball photo and grabbed some steampunk-themed books for us to discuss while our group got to work on an impressive variety of attractive refrigerator and locker decor!  We ranged from eyeballs to miniature animals, flowers and even Jack from the Nightmare Before Christmas, thanks to our collection of recycled magazines.

I will replenish our supplies for those of you interested in making more!

A reminder that Scholastic book orders are due this Friday, January 17th.  If you have noticed any books in the flyers that you think should be added to the library collection, please point them out to me so that I can be sure to add them to our school order.  

Today's chuckle:

Merry Christmas!

And hasn't our library been evolving this year!  So much activity and creativity!  You have all made my days here lots of fun.  From monster bookmarks to Christmas spiders, cupcake wars to the first annual Grade 10 Hunger Games and now our current Ollivander's Wand Shop we are having a great time in 2013/14.  You know that if you have ideas for projects or programs you would like to try I will always do my best to attempt to make them happen!  Who knows what the new year is going to bring?

A reminder to use the useful links!

Life is busy and you may not always think to scroll further down the page, but do remember to periodically check out the "useful links" on my page and also on the pages of your teachers.
The grade 12s, for instance,  may be interested in checking out the school division's Pursue Online Career website with info on scholarships, post-secondary choices, and career planning.

If you are at home or just too tired to make it downstairs to the library and require an atlas, try Canadian Geographic Atlas to look up what you need.

Working on an assignment for that Canadian history buff Mrs. Trumier?  Try using The Canadian Encyclopedia Online

Late at night and you totally forgot how to write a bibliography?  Try plugging your info into Bibme and it will format a bibliography for a book, article or website for you.

Saskatchewan Learning also makes available several databases for Saskatchewan schools.  To access them, go to Saskatchewan Learning and explore what they have.

These are just a few of the resources available to you if you take to time to explore the links on our blogs - so remember next time you aren't able to come down to the library!    All of the above are permanently linked on the right .

Library Creations!

The library has been a busy place this week and a productive one!  We had many creative projects started during book club on Tuesday and a few completed - some today after school!  Some of our senior students are even getting in on the fun during their study periods - Mai could not resist and has produced several lovely pieces of jewellery for herself!   I thought I would add a close up of the samples I made (the only ones left at the end of the day!)  Good job everybody :)

More Book Club Fun!

Those of you who regularly read the blog will remember my winter pictures of our family farm, so I thought I would add this summer one, taken at a 50th anniversary photo shoot for my parents (by Twyla Lapointe of Admire Photography)

Featuring my adorable six-year-old nephew, of course.  He regularly takes me down in light-saber battles, but then he ALWAYS gets to be Darth Vader, and Darth Vader ALWAYS wins.

Anyway, on to library stuff!  Book clubbers should be thinking about what passage of text you want to use for the jewellery project we are starting this week.  We can photocopy, print something out, or you can just use a page from a recycled book - give it some thought.   For those of you who want a reminder of what we are kind of aiming at here is a link at Julz Reads where she has used an old copy of Henry IV to craft her necklace.  This will probably take us more than one lunch hour, so don't expect to take your project home tomorrow!

Scholastic orders have been placed, so expect an influx of new books sometime in the next week to ten days!

Get Into a New Series!

We have LOTS of them in the library, including our newest purchase which we discussed at book club - the CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore. I told you a bit about the series while you were busy with your bookmarks, but you may be interested to hear the author himself tell you about it:

 As I told you on Tuesday, my son LOVES these books - he is on #11 right now and will be very sad when he is finished with the series. He assures me that they would appeal to both girls and boys, so consider putting your name down for them - it sounds like they are best read in order (I am numbering the spines.)

 I received an email from Random House which featured this infographic (all adult books), but it got me thinking that perhaps we could work on something similar at one of our book club meetings by tapping into all of your pooled reading experience - what do you think? I really like the look of this and it might be fun to do. Have a look at it here "What Do You Feel Like Reading Infographic"

A final reminder to book club members to hand in your bookmarks to me by the end of the day today if you would like them laminated - I will be taking them tomorrow and returning them to you next week.

Great Books Coming Your Way...Gradually!

Hello again!
We are going to try a book club meeting for Seniors today (Thursday) since we had such an AMAZING turnout of grade 7-9 students on Tuesday!  I think it would be more productive to split into two groups this year if we have some interest from older students as well.

Juniors, let me know what you think about incorporating the occasional small craft (such as bookmarks, etc.) into our meetings this year.  Fun?  or not so much - I don't have my Quinn at home this year to tell me what is cool and what's boring!

As a follow-up to our talk about the book Colin Fischer, which now has quite a long reserve list by the way, I read a few reviews (all positive) and found this little video trailer.  I hope all of you who put your name down for it enjoy it and I am now eager to read it myself!

Back to the Books!

Welcome to all students returning to Rivier Academy and especially to those exploring our halls for the first time this year!  What an exciting year we have ahead of us - certain to "go beyond" our expectations in so many ways.

As many of you are aware, the cataloguing of textbooks has monopolized my time for the last while so you have not had many new books out on display yet - but I promise they will be coming!  Mrs. Mengell has the Scholastic book orders out so make sure you have a look at those if you enjoy the experience of owning your own book collection.

Our first book club meeting will be tomorrow, Tuesday, at 12:05 in the library.  I think we will call for juniors and seniors together at this first meeting and see who is interested this year and then we can decide how we want to proceed.    I am looking forward to hearing about what all of you read over the holidays!

Quinn (my daughter) and Kenzie in the library for graduation formals in June.  Both are off experiencing THEIR challenging first weeks at university!

Almost Spring!

Or is it...
I took this photo at my Mom and Dad's farm on Easter Sunday - we have the old community hall in our farmyard and it is almost 2 stories high. This is how much snow had drifted around it:

Lots of fun for my nephew (and Quinn and Charlie!) but it was kind of a crazy Easter egg hunt!

Now that we are further along into "spring" here's what it looked like this Sunday:

I am all for fun in the snow, but enough is enough!  Let me just say that if that building is completely submerged when we visit next week I am heading south!  It is time for some serious thawing to happen.    (Meanwhile, Mr. C and Charlie were helping to dig trenches around the house to divert the anticipated water flow from the basement!)

And in library news, we have a super-fancy new library catalogue and you can search it from ANYWHERE!  How exciting is that?  For now, I have linked it here through the Loopy Library on the  top right.  Once you click on that it takes a minute and then you will be taken to the world of LIBRARYWORLD, or Rivier's little corner of it.  You can then enter your search terms in the box at the top, or just browse the latest items I've been cataloguing.  I haven't fully investigated whether you are able to reserve items from home or not - we will be learning together!

All of my noon hour regulars will be delighted to know that Model U.N. has wrapped up for now, so there will be no more of those meetings delaying your entry into the library!  We are back to 12:05 opening Monday to Thursday, unless unforeseen circumstances arise.

Finally, I am so enjoying your artwork on our bookshelves!  We even had our big group of exchange students from Japan decorate them for us - I thought I would share a couple of my favourites here:

Have a great day and try out that new catalogue link!

More New Titles For You!

We had another awesome book club meeting at lunch today! Anyone who missed out can pop by to see what's new and exciting. I thought I would post a couple of trailers for new books that may have been overlooked because they don't have a very "descriptive description" or perhaps I just haven't talked them up enough to the students who have come in looking for reading material... Anyway, some of you might be too young to remember Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, but it was VERY popular and he has now published another novel - the first in a series - called Who Could That Be At This Hour?
Have a look:


The other book I WISH more students would read is Wonder by R.J. Palacio. I have read this one and it is an excellent book about SO MANY THINGS - from not fitting in to the true nature of friendship and courage, I WANT YOU TO READ IT!!!
Here's the trailer:

Hello again!

Such a long time and SO MANY GOOD BOOKS since my last blog post! All of you book clubbers know that we have had a steady influx of new reading material over the past months and lots to talk about at our weekly meetings. As always, I love to hear your suggestions and requests and enjoy seeing your artwork on the ends of our bookshelves :) I also thought I would post a very belated photo from our book club Christmas party:

It's hard to believe we are getting close to Easter already!  

So, as we discussed at last week's meeting, the Newbery Award winner this year is a book    called The One and Only Ivan, which I just purchased and it is still available to be signed out if anyone is interested.

The story is told from the perspective of Ivan, a gorilla, who does not really miss his life in the wild until a new baby elephant enters his life and he begins to realize what he might be missing.  (Or at least that is what I am getting from the reviews I've read - I haven't read the book yet!)  

For those of you who don't come to book club - you may not always see the newest books because they are snapped up by the book club students first!  Keep checking those shelves over the encyclopedias for new titles, and never hesitate to ask me if we have a title you are after in our library!  I can put you on a waiting list if we do, and if I we don't already have it and I think it would be a good addition, I will put it on my "to order" list!  

Book Club News

A big thanks to Lilly for her delightful reading in German and English at Junior Book Club yesterday - and a talking cat story - perfection! I never cease to be amazed by our Rivier students. Senior Book Club will proceed as usual tomorrow (Thursday) at 12:05 and I do have a few new books to share with you. Quinn showed me this funny video last night with adults acting out scenarios told by children and it sort of reminded me a little bit of when we had worked on the "travelling story" years ago in our book clubs. Maybe it is the complete randomness of where the story goes that made me think of it! I'll also post the covers of a few of the new books that will be out on the shelves over the next few days. Those of you who enjoy graphic novels will want to look for Cardboard by Doug TenNapel (author of Ghostopolis and Bad Island>) Older students who are fans of Sarah Dessen might be interested in Susane Colasanti's So Much Closer, the story of a girl who uproots her life to follow a boy she believes is her soulmate but ends up learning something about herself... The Mark of Athena and The Rise of Nine are both the latest installments in popular series, and The Goddess Girls have an in-between "super special" called The Girl Games. Just ask me if you don't see any of these titles on the shelves and we will add your name to the waiting list!

Hey...Where's My Hobbits?

Friday Fun Time! I can't resist the marginally literary version of gangnam style for the loopy library. True fans of The Lord of the Rings will appreciate the second version more, I am sure! Enjoy your weekend! What would really happen:

Book Club Suggestions?

We had another great junior book club meeting on Tuesday - thank you for keeping up with the excellent attendance! I appreciate your input re: our group reading of a novel for this year. As you know, my suggestion this week was Love Among the Walnuts by Jean Ferris.  I'll post the cover below to refresh your memories .  I am wondering how many of you have read Once Upon A Marigold?  That might be another title to consider by the same author.  So, as we discussed, you could add suggestions in the comments under this post and we will try to come to some agreement at a future meeting.

You might have noticed the display of Snow Willow Award Winner/Nominee Books in the library.  I have tried to tag each book with the year in which it was nominated (in case you are wondering what those pink things sticking out of the covers are!)  You still have time to vote for this year's nominees if you read three of the 2012 books by February 28.  Have a look at the poster by my desk.

Senior Book Club will meet tomorrow, Thursday at 12:05 as usual in the library.

It's Library Week!

Time to celebrate ME! (JK) To start the week we were fortunate to have a very special guest in our library! Vader wandered down with Mrs. Mengell to do a little reading (chewing) and here are a few of the photos for you to enjoy. He really is just too adorable!

Vader's opinion: Dewey the Library Cat - 2 paws down; Marley and Me - 2 paws up.

Book Club Meetings

Good Morning! As you hopefully heard at assembly, Junior Book Club will be meeting at 12:05 in the library today. We had talked about the possibility of doing a "pass-it-on" reading of one book with a group discussion and as I have thought about book ideas all week I have tentatively settled on Holes by Louis Sachar.  It's not too long, it's funny, and I love the way the twisting storylines all weave together in the end.  Have a look at this little summary and see what you think.  I am very open to your ideas for other books! Senior Book Club will meet Thursday at 12:05 as usual.

“That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”

― F. Scott Fitzgerald  

I discovered this quotation over on "Goodreads" this morning and thought I would share it to start our Thursday.  Senior Book Club will meet today at 12:05 in the library.  I am hoping more of you are able to make it today - I am looking forward to catching up!  Also, I can't wait to share what I have been reading!

Tristen, if you still check in on occasion I know you will appreciate that image!  The Fault In Our Stars by John Green is an amazing book.  I am almost finished reading it, but I don't want to let it go - you know how it is.  Let me know if you are interested in a story that will RIP YOUR HEART OUT!  (Figuratively speaking, of course.)

Tuesday Inspiration

We had a great Junior Book Club meeting at lunch today with a wonderful turnout. I look forward to hearing more of your reflections and ideas next week! As some of you begin to prepare for variety night (exciting!) I thought I would share this video I stumbled upon to remind all of us how fortunate we are. I know it's a little long, but it is worth the time!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back everyone and welcome to all of our brand new students!  I hope you are all settling in well to this school year and have had a chance to enjoy the library space in some way.  

Now for a bit of general library information and manners:  For those of you who ARE new and for returning students, a reminder that we ask that you observe the same rules around the library computers that you do in the computer lab upstairs - use them only for schoolwork and keep even your water bottles away from that area. 

I try to make it back down to the library at lunch by around 12:05 (as long as I am not delayed getting upstairs at the beginning of noon hour) so you are welcome to spend time doing homework, reading, or attending one of our book clubs. I do ask that you refrain from a)playing tag in the library or b)playing hide and seek in the library or c)even coming in to randomly mess up the books on the shelves. These sorts of activities drive librarians crazy and will earn you my angry/crazy librarian look and you may be asked to spend your lunch hour elsewhere. Just be respectful of the fact that many students come to the library to work and/or read AND I am trying to get new books ready for everyone to enjoy! 

We have had our first meetings for both Junior and Senior Book Clubs. Junior Book Club will meet on Tuesdays at 12:05 and Senior Book Club on Thursdays at 12:05. You do not need to attend every meeting to be a member - just be there when you are able. I realize that we will have conflicts with Jazz Choir and that is fine.

Many of you have already enjoyed the new look of the shelf ends this year!  I thought it would be fun to cover them with chalkboard and so far it's been a hit.  I think I will keep erasing at least every Monday and let you start fresh - just keep your messages and artwork appropriate!  
For Friday fun, here's a video made in a library with a much larger staff to clean up afterwards! Never try this at Rivier, please!

Spring Has Sprung - Let's Enjoy It!

Junior Book Club Members have suggested to me that we should hold our next meeting outdoors and I think that  is a great idea! So, if the weather permits next Tuesday we will meet in the courtyard - shall we say at 11:40 and have our lunch together? Listen for an announcement Tuesday morning to confirm the details, please.

Now, I really enjoyed reading this post at Reading Rants which discusses some classic books that students might still find good, interesting reads. Take a look at the coolest classics you never even heard of and see what you think.  I believe we have all but one of these books in our library, so just ask me if you would like to try them out!

And just a reminder for those of you who are still hanging on to books from months ago: