Creating inspiring library displays is a very time-consuming task. So I am extremely grateful to our library’s parent volunteer, Jennie DeBardeleben, who designed and put together the latest bulletin board display: “Spring Into Reading!” Thanks Jennie!

Thanks to Mackin Education Resources, the MJGDS Library and Media Center now provides access to 38 eBooks! The books are geared toward our elementary students and include both fiction and non-fiction titles.

Access
You may access the eBooks through our online catalog, Alexandria, or by clicking the mackinVIA widget on the sidebar of the library blog.

You may also download the Mackin Reader app to your tablet.

As a MJGDS student, you have unlimited and 24/7 access to the eBooks. Also, eBooks do not need to be checked out, but can be read simultaneously by multiple users. Whether you connect to mackinVIA via the widget or a tablet app, you will need a username and password to access the books. Please contact me for log in information.

Thanks to the PTA, the MJGDS library was able to purchase some much-needed book stops with ABC labels for our picture book section. They’ll be put to good use when our Kindergarten students begin learning about ABC order in the library next week!

It’s been a long week in the library! But it was all time well spent on the Scholastic Book Fair (theme: All Stars). The library is walking away with a 55% share of the sales, translating to approximately $1,700 in profit, all to be invested in new books.

Student Learning

Aside from being a great fundraiser for our school library, the Scholastic Book Fair provides added benefits for student learning. By creating wish lists, the younger students had to identify the titles of books and find the price of each. They had to understand the difference between US and CAN dollars and learn about the concept of taxes. And then, of course, those students who robbed their piggy banks–coming forward with dimes and nickels in little plastic baggies to purchase books–had to add up all those coins! The process gives students a sense of ownership for their own reading, literally!

Community Building

From my perspective, the most important thing about the Book Fair is that it devotes time, attention and focus on the library. It’s a community project focused on reading and strengthening our collection. But it also brings us together.

Volunteers: It’s impossible to put on our Book Fair without volunteers. They set up, decorate, staff the cash register, and help pack it all up when it’s over. A great, big THANK YOU to all our volunteers!

Planning: For next year, I am planning on assembling enough volunteers to meet and plan with well in advance of the Fair. Ideally, the Book Fair is combined with a family event (pizza night?) to draw in more families.

Thanks to everyone for supporting our school library!

Please click image below for more information about the fair and/or to volunteer your time. We are looking forward to seeing you there!

On behalf of the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School faculty, staff and students, Thank You to the following donors for their generous gift to the library book fund during the school’s 50th Anniversary celebration. Your commitment to helping improve our library’s collection is sincerely appreciated.

Lita and Ron Poehlman
Jane L. Smith
Dawn and Daniel Burstein
Kim Glasgal and Peter Levy
Mathew and Jeanine Hoff
Shana and George Temel
Carole and Howard Wolpin
Linda and Laurie DuBow
Helen and Michael DuBow
Marla Rosin and Pennie Borrousch
Rose Lynn and Herb Plotkin
Millie Tannen
Lynda and Garth Gridley
Claudia Margolis and Tony Milian
Lisa and Bud Wolfson
Melanie and Ben Setzer

The following books were added to the MJGDS library’s collection:

Come check out our new books! We’ve got something for everyone: Fiction, non-fiction, award-winners, beginning reader, advanced readers, lots of pictures, lots of text.

Last week, 3- and 4-year old preschool students as well as students in Kindergarten, 1st, and 3rd grades were among more than 619,000 children worldwide who “made their mark” by celebrating International Dot Day. This event is celebrated annually. It grew out of Peter H. Reynold’s book The Dot (2003), an Irma S. and James H. Black Honor for Excellence in Children’s Literature award-winning book. It tells the story of Vashti, a girl who doesn’t think she can draw. But when her teacher encourages her to “make her mark”, Vashti discovers her own creative spirit.

Here at the MJGDS library, the celebration was as a collaborative effort with our art teacher, Shana Gutterman. We read the story, talked about the meaning of creativity and that there is an artist in all of us, and then the kids created some wonderful art projects. The great culminating event was our 3rd grade’s Skype date with a class in Weatherford, Texas. A special experience we hope to repeat!

Welcome to the MJGDS Library and Media Center! We have a great year ahead!

The library program is aligned with the mission of the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School and is an integral part of its instructional program. It is a learning center providing instruction and support to help your student learn and succeed.

The library operates with a fully-automated catalog and circulation system. The book collection currently consists of approximately 12,000 items, ranging from picture books to early reader to juvenile fiction to young adult fiction to informational texts. The library also owns DVDs and is in the process of acquiring several magazine subscriptions, including a Hebrew-language title. Library materials may be searched during school hours via the Alexandria catalog from any Internet-based device.

As a 21st century school library, the objectives of the library program are based on the beliefs expressed by the American Association of School Librarians’ Standards for the 21st-Century Learner (2009). According to the Standards, 21st century school libraries prepare students to:

• Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge
• Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge
• Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society
• Pursue personal and aesthetic growth

The MJGDS Library and Media Center works collaboratively with all classrooms to challenge students to become better readers, more skillful researchers, critical thinkers, and ethical users of information. The goal of the library curriculum is to help students develop lifelong learning skills that will prepare them for success in the 21st century.

Currently, your student visits the library regularly to check out reading materials for pleasure and/or class projects. For checkout policies, please click here.

The library also supports numerous programs to encourage reading for pleasure. These include the Birthday Book Club, Scholastic Book Fair, and the Accelerated Reader program.

Please stop by and visit the MJGDS Library and Media Center!

Summer is here! I know everyone is looking forward to a well-deserved break. Two months is a long time, however. There is plenty of research indicating that children’s reading ability declines during the off-school summer months (see, for example, http://www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet17#research). This is typically the result of children not reading much, if at all. Ideally, each child will read a number of books.

Check out one of the following reward-based programs designed to motivate your readers and to maintain the literacy skills acquired during the school year.

Summer Reading 2012 at the Jacksonville Public Library
Barnes & Noble Summer Reading
Scholastic Summer Challenge
Other summer reading programs (thank you, Naida G., for this link!)