Halloween Hits the 181 Library!

It's a spooky season and there is plenty for the students of the Middle and Upper School to see, read, and partake in! The library has been decked out for Halloween! On display are some of our newest mysteries, thrillers, and chillers. 

 

Not only did we get a whole new batch of books, but the students went on a scavenger hunt on Halloween during lunch break. The kids were dressed to the nines in their costumes as they went around the library doing specific tasks for the scavenger hunt.

 We started in the middle school fiction section. Some of the clues involved looking for certain authors, finding a Halloween themed book, or locating a specific call number!

 Ghouls, goblins, rabbits, princesses, and other characters ran around the library counting the middle school fiction genres.

 Students used iPads to access the library catalog for clues.

Everyone did a great job and all participants got a special Halloween prize at the end. 

To see more spooky book suggestions, check out the Mysteries and More LibGuide!

Happy Reading!

Malala wins Nobel Peace Prize

Scary Short Stories on Display!

Things are getting spookier here at the Middle & Upper School Library! As nights are getting longer and Halloween approaches, you may find yourself interested in a quick scare. Look no further than the scary short stories on display now. We’ve got tons of eerie tales to send a chill up your spine:

Share Roald Dahl’s disturbing and macabre tastes? Check out his selection of his favorite writers in Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories.

In The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural, author Patricia McKissack tells ghostly tales rooted in African American history from slavery to the civil rights era.

If you’re in the market for a crisp, creepy story, explore Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark collected by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Brett Helquist. These brief, hair-raising tales have equally terrifying illustrations and are a great choice if you’re looking to frighten your friends at your next sleepover or campfire.

Many more chilling tales await you in the short story section. Click here to check out the full reading list as well as tons of other spooky collections!

The fREADom to Read What we Want! It's Banned Books Week!

The American Library Association has declared the last week of September as Banned Books Week. This started in 1982 and brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.

So what does that mean for the 181 Library? Many of the lists of challenged and banned books (found HERE on the ALA website) include a lot of the books in our collection. Some titles that are on the challenged/banned lists that are popular in our library are:

• Looking for Alaska by John Green
• Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling
• The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
• ...and many more!

Again, the complete lists of all challenged and banned books can be found on the ALA Website. The 181 Library not only still carries these titles but celebrates the freedom to read.

So come in and check out the display to see more banned titles and to get more information on Banned Books Week!

 

Welcome Back Everyone!

So what's been going on in the library since the beginning of the school year? With all the global issues and crises in the news, the students and faculty have focused their attention internationally.

To celebrate the wonderful diversity present and driving our school, the library is currently displaying books about other countries and written by people from other countries. In the Middle School Nook there is a bulletin board map of the world with different book suggestions stemming out from different countries across the globe. Check it out:

In the hallway right outside of the library, another bulletin board with the theme of Global Reading displays a globe with the words, "One World, Many Stories" which encapsulates the curren theme of the library. It also has a section in which you ca learn how to say "Read" in different languages!

Around the rest of the library are books chosen for their international diversity. Take a look and see if you can recognize some of the titles and countries they represent:

So come on in to the 181 Library and "Read Your Way Across the World!"

Storytelling Festival 2014!

On Saturday February 8th, the Berkeley-Carroll School celebrated it's 15th Annual Storytelling Festival! Featured storytellers Jim Hawkins and Elizabeth Luscombe told stories from Ireland and Cuba, highlighting the global art of storytelling.

Kids and their families and friends gathered in the Middle/Upper School Library for some morning snacks and storytelling activities. There were three activity stations that got kids involved in various parts of storytelling.

At the "Build-A-Story" station, kids made their own stories by gluing and pasting cut outs onto folded paper accordion books. They were encouraged to be creative and use their imaginations.

The "Draw Your Own Story" station had a blank worksheets with various story prompts for kids to draw and color in. 

And the "Fill In the Blank Stories" section had print outs of stories with some blanks for participants to fill in with their own words, kind of like Mad Libs! The results were original and often silly.

After activities and snacks, everyone went upstairs to the performance space to hear stories from our featured storytellers. Jim Hawkins is an Irish storyteller and a friend to BCS. He returned this year to tell Irish stories accompanied by song and his bodhrá, an Irish drum.

After some wonderful stories by Mr. Hawkins, Berkeley-Carroll's own Ms. Luscombe told the story of Martina the Beautiful Cockroach, a humorous and touching Cuban story. She was expertly accompanied by some of her 5th grade class who acted out some of the parts of the story.

Jim Hawkins closed the performance with a couple more stories and songs which the audience joined in on. The day was a success and everyone had a wonderful time celebrating the art of storytelling across the world.

For more storytelling resources, check out the Storytelling LibGuide!

Hobby Lobby!

 

As winter drags on we find it hard to contend with freezing temperatures and staying indoors for long periods of time. Instead of succumbing to cabin fever, why not get involved in an indoor activity? Here at the library we have compiled and put on display our best books on hobbies, recreation, and activities.

 

The books on display are wide-ranging and cover a variety of hobbies such as...

Cooking...

 

Arts and crafts...

 

 

Music...

 

Cartoons and drawing...

... and games, magic, sports, and more!
 

 So if you're looking for something to do during the dreary winter days, check out the hobby books in the library! Whether you're looking for a book on something you already love to do or perhaps looking to learn a new activity, the library is bound to have something to keep you occupied throughout the season.