Student Librarians: Contributors, Leaders and Role Models

Our student librarians are contributors, leaders and role models in our Elementary School community. This semester, our student librarian team includes thirty-two Grade 3, 4 and 5 student volunteers. These students give hours of their time each week to learn and work in the Elementary Library.

The student librarians volunteer during one of three times during the day; early morning before school, recess times or after school until 4:15 pm. The team began the year with training sessions with Ms. Bello and Ms. Pollock, learning the layout of the library, the circulation system, and basic library procedures.

Responsibilities of the the student librarians include organizing shelves, assisting others in the library, cleaning books, shelving, managing the circulation desk and helping with special project such as visiting authors preparations.

A large group of student librarians helped to run a stand at the annual Halloween Trick-or-Treat Night. The students had fun managing a bean bag toss game and distributing candy to our visitors. A big thank you goes to the volunteers who helped support this school-wide event.

We look forward to more outstanding contributions from our student librarians as the school year continues. We appreciate your dedication and commitment to making our library the best it can be for our community of learners.

Students Librarians: Leading and Learning

The first semester set a record for our Student Librarian numbers - 43 students from Grades Four and Five volunteered their time to work in the Elementary Library. Their total work came to 250 hours over the semester!

After a series of training sessions, the Student Librarians worked on a wide range of jobs. The responsibilities included learning to shelve, front facing books, cleaning returned books, deleting unwanted books from the circulation system and helping to manage the circulation desk. Some small groups started special projects such as developing an interactive read aloud and puppet show for our younger students and creating signs for book displays.

The Student Librarians are engaged in their library work before school, during recess times and after school at a time that works with each individual's schedule. In many cases their work as Student Librarians offers them the real world experiences of responding to requests, solving problems, assisting others and providing a service to a larger community.

Their service to the school sets an example for all of our students and truly embodies the ideals of our student profile by offering students an opportunity to build their skills as both leaders and contributors. Not to mention thinkers, communicators and learners.

Many of our Student Librarians have taken on leadership roles during their library class time as well. They assist students in finding books and lead by example by treating the library with respect and sharing their passion for books with their classmates. Their enthusiasm is contagious! Often our student librarians are excellent sources for recommending the next great book to read to their friends.

We are proud of the service that these students have given to ASD and to their library. During the second semester, we are excited to continue with many retuning students and some new recruits! Keep up the amazing work, team!

ES Student Librarians: Learning, Leading and Lending a Hand

Do you ever wonder where your friends are during recess and after school in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade? They are volunteering and making a difference in the ES Library and school by making sure the books are cleaned, shelved and many other important tasks. These students are providing community service to make the Elementary School at ASD a better place. If you are a 3rd, 4th or 5th grader interested in the Student Librarian Program next year, you will be eligible to apply in the Fall!

--Written by Sejal Mehta

The ES Student Librarian program began informally with a few keen students offering their time to help in the library. These volunteers’ dedication soon became noticed by other students who also wanted to volunteer. It became clear that the elementary library needed an organised system for scheduling and training students who were committed to the library.

The goal of the Student Librarian program is to give students leadership opportunities, to help students take ownership of their library and to offer students a place to obtain work experience while giving back to the school community in a meaningful way. The program offers a series of training sessions throughout the year for building library skills. Student Librarians assist the library staff in daily library operations and assist library visitors.

Student Librarians are expected to commit to at least one session per week and attend after-school training sessions. The Student Librarian Team warmly greet and help library visitors. They complete various housekeeping tasks such as front facing books, straightening shelves and organising magazines. As Student Librarians acquire more training, they also “read” shelves, shelve books, work at the circulation desk and manage iPads and Laptops.

The entire ES Library team is proud of this extraordinary group of students! We thank you for your commitment, continuous learning and the contributions you have made to your library and school.

-- by Ms. Carly Brown and Ms. Pollock

The ES Student Librarian Team:

Walaa Al Alamin
Hannah Caudill
Rania Harryanto
Nihal Khatwani
Sara Mitri
Alia Dasmal
Tyson McCarty
Fiona Knight
Lucia Franco
Sarah Elzein
Maya Abdel-Wadood
Sejal Mehta
Mashal Shaikhani