Welcome Back to the ES Library

We have started a brand new school year at ASD! We are off and rolling in the Elementary Library. Students, teachers and parents are back and the library is buzzing with stories of summer reading, new books and plans for a great year of learning.

Students are very excited about our new "no limits" concept for our book checkout. Students are encouraged to take as many books as they want and need, visit the library frequently and manage their own library accounts. So far, students are enjoying choosing a wide range of books each time they visit. We are working on building a healthy reading diet and enjoying the buffet of choices at our library. Bon appetit, readers!

Read Around the World: Summer Reading Challenge

Congratulations to our students who participated in our Summer Reading Challenge: Read Around the World. Over 70 students from K2-Grade 5 completed the challenge by reading 10 or more books representing regions around the world. Mr. Advento, Ms. Carly and I will continue to visit classrooms this week to present certificates to our participants.

 Student Self Checkout

We are thrilled to have started two student self checkout stations this week. Students are learning to enter their library number, scan and stamp their own books. We are trying to increase student ownership and decrease our wait time for checkout.

You will find the self checkout stations on both levels of the library with a quick 3-step guide to get you started. If you need a hand, any of the the library staff will be happy to help. So far, our students report that it is super fun!  Give it a try!

Back to School Night

We look forward to welcoming our ES parents to our library this evening at Back to School Night. Please see our handout below highlighting learning in the ES Library. Copies are available at the circulation desk.

A Fond Farewell to Ms. Santha

Santha Nair has given 36 years of dedicated service to the ASD Elementary Library. Her warm smile, gentle manner and kind nature have touched the hearts of hundreds of students, teachers and parents. 

From reading with students to helping find the perfect book to repairing our most loved books to perfectly setting up for each and every class, Santha's passion and commitment for her work shine through every day.

She will be dearly missed and the library won't be the same without her. We wish her all the best on her new adventure in India.

One School, One Book, One Hero: Salva Dut's Visit to ASD

Excitement was in the air on campus on Thursday, June 4. Salva Dut's visit marked an occasion to celebrate as a school. The hero whose story touched the lives of our community actually visited ASD. Our students, teachers and parents were brought together by the story of Salva's journey in A Long Walk to Water.

Salva spent his morning with the Elementary School, presenting to three groups about his work and life mission to bring clean water to the people of South Sudan, transforming lives one well at a time. Salva shared his work with Water for South Sudan and graciously answered many questions about his life. Salva's encouraged our students not to take what they have for granted. He urged them to continue to use their good fortune to help those in need. His message to work for peace and to help others was heard by our community of learners.

Representatives from the ES Student Council and Student Librarians gave a presentation to show Salva the work that was done in the Elementary School with reading A Long Walk to Water and planning for our ES Water Walk. Salva thanked the ASD students and community for their contributions to the Iron Giraffe Challenge and for changing the lives of people in South Sudan.

Middle School students from clubs SEENAH and GAIA also had the opportunity to present their work in raising funds and awareness through the Water Walk at DUCE in January. Salva then addressed the entire Middle School in an assembly where he received a standing ovation.

We ended our day with Salva, with a community celebration. Families were invited to a talk and reception with Salva. Once again, he generously answered all questions, shook hands and took photos with everyone who attended.

Salva is an example for us all. He is a person who lives by core values and who is dedicated to the pursuit of his dreams. He is a person that is changing the world for the better. Salva's visit marked a full circle for ASD's experience of One School, One Book. First the reading of a remarkable book as a community. Then the opportunity to work with Linda Sue Park who lit a spark in us as readers. And finally, the honor of meeting Salva, the hero himself. Salva's story, his work, his visit to ASD will be with us for a lifetime.

One School, One Book: Brown Girl Dreaming

Next school year, ASD will have a great opportunity to share Jacqueline Woodson’s 2014 National Book Award winner, Brown Girl Dreaming in a school-wide reading event, One School, One Book. 

In addition, we will celebrate Woodson's Newbery Honor picture book, Show Way, as a supplemental reading experience that will include even our youngest readers.

One School, One Book is a program designed to create a shared reading experience within a school community. Each grade level across the school will participate in voluntary activities to promote and enrich the shared reading experience.

The goals for ASD's One School, One Book event are to celebrate literacy, build community, encourage intergenerational conversation and promote our Visiting Author Program.

ASD students in Grades 4 through 12, staff and parents are encouraged to read Brown Girl Dreaming in anticipation of Jacqueline Woodson’s visit. In addition, we we encourage all of our community to read Show Way. We plan to offer a range of opportunities to allow community members to engage in discussion about these powerful stories.

Brown Girl Dreaming, recipient of the Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award as well as the National Book Award for 2014, tells the story of Jacqueline's childhood, in verse. Raised in South Carolina and New York, she shares a poetic memoir of growing up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Jacqueline reflects on finding her voice through writing stories, despite struggling with reading as a child.

Show Way is also based on Jacqueline's family history. "Show Ways”, or quilts, once served as secret maps for freedom-seeking slaves. This is the story of seven generations of girls and women who were quilters and artists and freedom fighters.

The libraries will have multiple copies of Brown Girl Dreaming and Show Way for check out and for sale next school year. Alternatively, community members can pick up their own copy over the summer. Stayed tuned for more information on how to participate in our One Book, One School event.

Visiting Authors 2016: Jacqueline Woodson and Steve Jenkins

ASD Libraries are thrilled to announce our visiting authors for the next school year. We will have the privilege to host awarding-winning authors Jacqueline Woodson and Steve Jenkins from March 13-24, 2016. During their 10-day visit, Woodson and Jenkins will engage our students from K1 through Grade 12, our staff and our parents in a series of workshops and presentations.

Jacqueline Woodson is the prolific author of 28 books for young people ranging from pictures books to young adult novels. Woodson has won the Newbery Honor three times, the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Coretta Scott King Award. Some of her well know books include The Other Side, Locomotion, Show Way and Hush. Most recently, she won the National Book Award for Brown Girl Dreaming.

Steve Jenkins is the author of nonfiction 35 beautifully illustrated nonfiction science books for early and middle grades. A winner the Caldecott Honor and of many awards, Jenkins work brings animals, habits and nature to life through fascinating facts and intricate paper collage art. Some titles our students love are Actual Size, Creature Features and Eye to Eye. Jenkins' cowriter and wife, Robin Page, will also join him in presenting at ASD.

We look forward to working with these two talented authors next year. The libraries have multiple copies of Woodson's and Jenkins' books available for check out. More details about the authors' schedules and opportunities to purchase books for signing will be shared after the summer.