Term 3 2018
27 June 2018 - Celebration Assembly
It's been a great year of borrowing and while we know many of our readers have their own libraries at home, congratulations to Joseph, Nina, Rhianna & Roice who are our top borrowers for the 2017-18 school year.
25 June 2018 - NLB Double Up Promotion
Double up on your reading during the holiday period and beyond, with the Take Out Your Phone to Double Your Loans promotion. Simply use the NLB Mobile app to borrow your library items!
Skip the queue with the NLB Mobile app, and enjoy other features – you can read eBooks and even register for library events.
22 - 24 June 2018 - Read! Fest '18 Opening Weekend
Part of the National Reading Movement, Read! Fest returns for its fifth edition and continues to be a celebration of the joy of reading. This year’s theme The Pursuit of Happiness shows you over 150 programmes – or pathways, for all ages and reading tastes to find their unique happiness. Click here for details about this great event.
21 June 2018 - Get those books back!
The big push in the library this week has been the return of all the books. Tutor groups have enjoyed watching the parodies below as we get ourselves ready for the end of the school year.
14 June 2018 - Last day for borrowing
Today is the last day for borrowing, so students were encouraged to stock up for the long weekend and enjoy their last bit of access to the school library books until they return again after the summer break. Over the summer the new book orders will arrive so we will all be looking forward to seeing what's in store. In the meantime, students are being encouraged to use the library ebook platform or borrow from the NLB - the fabulous public library system Singapore is fortunate enough to have.
Below are a few hints for those students who may be having difficulty finding some of the books they have borrowed from the library over the year. Books can get themselves into very interesting places.
11 June 2018 - Summer Reading Challenge
Our Summer Reading Challenge has been unveiled. Students are encouraged to take part - keep a track of their reading and earn House points upon return to school. There's something for everyone here!
7 June 2018 - Returning textbooks & library books
In order to avoid being invoiced for the cost of any outstanding textbooks and library books, please ensure your children have returned them by the following dates:
Textbooks - Return end date - Monday, 18 June
Library books - Return end date - Friday, 22 June
Teachers are currently encouraging their students to get their textbooks back now. Library borrowing will continue until 14 June. After that date and up until the 22 June, students must return their library books. This will allow us to wrap things up before the end of the school year the following week.
6 June 2018 - Year 6 Orientation
We were excited to welcome the first two Year 6 classes to the the Senior Library today to take part in their orientation programme. Over the next few weeks all of the Year 6 students will come with their English teachers so that can learn about how the Senior Library operates and the ways in which it is similar as well as different to the Junior Library.
The students enjoyed taking part in the activities which were designed to help them become familiar with the Senior Library and many of them went away having borrowed the first of no doubt many books from their new library. We are looking forward to carrying on the wonderful work Ms Mounsey has done with these avid readers and we are sure they will enjoy making the Senior Library their new home away from home!
5 June 2018 - Reading out of the blue
This is number two in our series of encouraging students to read by colour! Some great titles here and many more on the shelves. Let's hope this will grab the attention of those looking for their next read.
4 June 2018 - Library Survey
We are conducting an end of year survey to gauge our student's level of engagement with the library; collect information about what they enjoy about the library and any ideas they might have on ways to improve it. We are also collecting a list of the titles of the books that students have really enjoyed reading this year. We will use this list to make suggestions for our Summer Reading Challenge. Students can use this link to complete the survey and have their say
31 May 2018 - Enrichment day activity
A very dedicated group of approximately 30 Year 9s worked together today to develop their Sparkletots project which they started on the last enrichment day when they proposed ideas to help this local nursery school. This ranged from reading corners, maths games, making musical instruments and providing storage solutions.
After getting ourselves in the morning, we transported all the equipment and donated resources down to Sparkletots where students launched into their selected project. These included making a cozy book nook, assembling books cases and storage shelves, arranging donated books into categories and much more.
The pictures below indicate how industrious the students were and how well received their hard work was by both the students and the staff at Sparkletots.
25 May 2018 - Help our Year 9s, help a local preschool
Collection of recycled material for enrichment day - we need your help to make our Enrichment Day activity at Sparkle Tots Preschool a success. Over the weekend please try to hold onto any of the following recyclable material which we will use to help them make musical instruments: bottle tops, coffee cans, wood sticks, toilet paper rolls, 500ml plastic water bottles, milk jugs. We could also use any of the following materials: sand, salt, pebbles, birdseed, rice, beans, small or large beads, dried pasta, rice, dried peas or beans, small washers, paper clips, small erasers. There is a collection box outside the library. Please bring your contribution in on Thursday morning.
24 May 2018 - Last day for borrowing - Thursday 14 June
Last day for borrowing - Thursday, 14 June will be the last day for borrowing for the year. The task of ensuring all texts and library books are returned to the library before the end of the year usually proves to be a big one. Your help with this would be very much appreciated. Again, in order to avoid being invoiced by Finance for lost books please get your kids to round those books up and get them back to the library.
23 May 2018 - Year 11 Textbooks 7 Library Books
Year 11 are asked to return all their textbooks and library books by the final day of the exam. If you are a year 11 parent, to avoid being invoiced by the Finance Department, you may need to assist your son or daughter to do this. Students have been given a full list of outstanding resources. Many thanks in advance for your help with this.
22 May 2018 - Dulwich Non-fiction Book Award
After much deliberation, we are happy to announce the DCI Information Book Award Shortlist. We are delighted with the books in each of the categories and look forward to delving into them with our students during Non-Fiction November when we will explore this genre in detail. Click here for the shortlists and more information about the award.
21 May 2018 - Book genres and book review prompts
The Library Oval Room is regularly used by English classes who find it a space which works well for book talks. To help students add a depth to this discussion we have added genre cards and book talk prompts that they can use to keep the discussion flowing in an interesting way.
18 May 2018 - Great new additions to the professional collection
Teachers need books too! This is why we listen to their professional reading needs and try to keep the teacher section of the library current with plenty of great ideas to ensure the pedagogy here at DCSG is always fresh and innovative.
Above are some of the more recent additions which teachers have specifically asked for. No doubt they will be in demand for our upcoming break.
17 May 2018 - Reading is good for your brain!
16 May 2018 - Red hot winners!
Students are seeing red here in the library this week and are being encouraged to borrow some of our great titles which have red colours! This is the first in a series of displays where colour will be the focus to attract students attention to the books.
Patrons often approach us saying " I can't remember the title but it had a red/blue/green ... cover, can you help me find the book?", so we thought this was a good way to promote some of our interesting titles! Watch this space for future similar book promotions.
15 May 2018 - Visiting author - Stephanie Suga Chen
Stephanie Suga Chen, the author of the Straits Times bestselling novel, Travails of a Trailing Spouse (Straits Times Press, 2018), visited us today to talk with parents. This event, organised by Friends of Dulwich was very well received by the parents who enjoyed the considerable insights she provided into her remarkable career change in finance to trailing spouse to best-selling author. Click here for photos and more details.
14 May 2018 - Visiting storyteller - Victor Davidson
Today we were fortunate enough to have a visit from Victor Davidson, teacher librarian at Birong Girls High School in New South Wales. Victor has a strong passion for storytelling and uses stories to engage student learning. Click here for more details about Victor's presentation to our Year 7 students.
11 May 2018 - Heads up for author talk next week - 14 May
No doubt you've seen the advertising for our author visit for next Tuesday with Stephanie Chen, whose novel Travails of a Trailing Spouse debuted at #2 on the bestseller list in Singapore. We are excited to have Stephanie come to our library to speak to parents next Tuesday. Stephanie will speak about her book and will have books available for sale. So make sure you come along and take a signed copy of the book away with you. It certainly is a ripping read!
10 May 2018 - Read Something Better!
Why read books when there is so much else out there to enjoy? The pervading influence of social media can be a serious impediment to the reading of books. These poster, which are on display in the library, offer good reasons to find something better to read.
In our 'Read Something Better' campaign we are endeavouring to highlight the importance of not letting precious reading time be eaten up by time using social media. The value and benefits of reading books is incontrovertable but platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter can so easily eat away at the time we previously would have used to read books. Hopefully this awareness raising campaign will get is all back on track!
9 May 2018 - Red Dot Award Shortlist 2018-2019
We are very excited about the shortlist of Red Dot books for next year. Although it will take some time to acquire copies of the titles for each of our libraries we are happy to report that we already have a number of them and have started the delicious challenge of reading them in readiness for all the fun and enjoyment this reading award brings to so many students in Singapore!
We've had so much fun with this year's Red Dots that we can't wait to get stuck into this Singapore based reading focus again.
8 May 2018 - Overdue book drive!
In order to lessen the load at the end of the school year here in the library, we have begun a big overdue book drive. Emails were sent out earlier in the week and we have had a great response from borrowers who have returned or renewed overdue books. If you have library books at home that you have finished with, please send them back as soon as possible. With thousands of books out on loan currently, it is a huge job shepherding them all back into the library by the end of the school year. Your help with this will be much appreciated.
7 May 2018 - Leaving notes in library books
This week's Reading Ambassador initiative in library is to encourage students to leave a note for the next reader of a book that they have really liked. They feel that there is a good chance that the next person borrowing the book that they really enjoyed is likely to be a kindred spirit and someone who would appreciate a few words of recognition of their taste in literature!
May the 4th - be with you!
Always on the lookout for ways to encourage borrowing in the library - especially on the day before a weekend - so we have special edition bookmarks for all the students who borrow books from the library today!
2 May 2018 - Red Dot Book Award Winner's Announced
The excitement of the Red Dot Book Award culminated this week with the announcement of the winning books. Click here to see the results of voting from nearly 6000 students from 10 different schools in Singapore. Ms Mounsey and Ms Hayes have been reading voraciously as we work with other teacher librarians across Singapore to come up with the shortlist for next year's award. The results of all delicious reading will be soon be available when we reveal the lists for next year's Red Dot Book Award!
30 April to 6 May - Children's Book Week
Another American observance, Children’s Book Week runs from April 30 through May 6. Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the U.S. Every year, events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, and homes.
Every Child a Reader is a nonprofit organization supported by the Children’s Book Council to promote Children’s Book Week, which is “Dedicated to inspiring a love of reading in children and teens across America.” Check out www.cbcbooks.org.
The 2018 theme is One World, Many Stories. Each year children’s book illustrators are chosen to create bookmarks, which can be downloaded and printed from the Every Child a Reader website at no cost. Over 50 children’s book authors and illustrators will be spotlighted during Children’s Book Week. Visit the website at www.everychildareader.net.
28 April 2018 - Independent Book Store Day
When most people think of bookstores, they think of Barnes and Nobles, or even the long-forgotten and well-missed Borders. However, there are also those small local bookstores that seem so iconic in your hometown, but never really get the attention they deserve. Thus, Independent Bookstore Day is born.
The first national Independent Bookstore Day was carried out in 2015 by Samantha Schoech, a writer, copywriter and editor, and the Northern California Independent Bookseller’s Association. Over 400 stores participated in the event and the holiday is aimed to help independent bookstores have higher sales in their merchandise and help bring into the spotlight the potential of these indie bookstores.
Relative to its size, Singapore has a good selection of bookstores , some independent and others belong to a chain. Click here for more information about the bookstores and booky cafe we have here in Singapore.
27 April 2018 - Baker Book Club Orders
And for those interested in book shopping, we are sharing the Baker Books International School Book Club. We have brochures available in the libraries but they are also available to view online. All orders and payment made through the website and books will then be delivered to the school. Please click here for details.
26 April 2018 - Free Audiobooks
The 9th season of SYNC and free audiobooks for teen opened today. Make sure you let the teens in your life know that, starting now and until the end of summer, they can download 26 audiobooks . Both titles of the first week’s audiobook pair offer fiction rooted in history with which teens are familiar and arrive with author and narrator names many will recognize. Click here to download this week's audiobooks and view coming titles.
26 April 2018 - Poem in Your Pocket Day
Poem in Your Pocket Day 2018 is on April 26 and is part of National Poetry Month. On this day, select a poem, carry it with you, and share it with others at schools, bookstores, libraries, parks, workplaces, street corners, and on social media using the hashtag #pocketpoem.
Poem in Your Pocket Day was initiated in April 2002 by the Office of the Mayor in New York City, in partnership with the city’s Departments of Cultural Affairs and Education. In 2008, the Academy of American Poets took the initiative to all fifty United States, encouraging individuals around the country to participate. In 2016, the League of Canadian Poets extended Poem in Your Pocket Day to Canada.
26 April 2018 - World Intellectual Property Day
Powering change: Women in innovation and creativity
Every April 26, World Intellectual Property Day is celebrated in order to recognise the role that intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright) play in encouraging innovation and creativity.
This year’s World Intellectual Property Day campaign celebrates the brilliance, ingenuity, curiosity and courage of the women who are driving change in our world and shaping our common future.
Clearly, the concept of intellectual property is one the library advocates strongly for. Working with students and teachers to ensure academic honesty in our school is a very important part of our programme.
25 April 2018 - Games in the library
Our Reading Ambassadors have also been busy encouraging the students to use the library more by ensuring it is meeting the needs of all our students. The decision to ensure the upper level of the library is always peaceful for students who need that type of environment for quiet study or reading has been complemented by the that we need to make the lower more interesting for students who want to relax and connect with their friends during break times. One of the strategies we have devised is to add more games to the collections. Students have been encouraged to bring along any games which are in good condition for use on level 2 at break times. So if you have any at home please send them along.
24 April 2018 - Spine label poetry
To mark National Poetry Week students were invited to write poetry using the spines of books. Not only did they have lots fun, we got some great results. See the gallery below for some of the great efforts.
23 April 2018 - World Book Day and Copyright Day
World Book and Copyright Day is a celebration to promote the enjoyment of books and reading. Each year, on 23 April, celebrations take place all over the world to recognize the magical power of books - a link between the past and the future, a bridge between generations and across cultures. On this occasion, UNESCO and the international organizations representing the three major sectors of the book industry - publishers, booksellers and libraries, select a city as the World Book Capital to maintain, through its own initiatives, the impetus of the Day’s celebrations until 23 April of the following year.
23 April is a symbolic date in world literature. It is the date on which several prominent authors, William Shakespeare, Miguel Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. This date was a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference, held in Paris in 1995, to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone to access books - most beautiful invention for sharing ideas beyond the boundaries of humanity space and time as well as the most powerful forces of poverty eradication and peace building
20 April 2018 - Visit from the librarian at Wesley College, Perth
We were visited today by Jan Kaye, Head of Information Resources, at Wesley College in Perth. Jan is currently reviewing Wesley's libraries and was keen to have a look at what we do here at DCSG. It was great to compare notes and share ideas. I look forward to visiting Wesley's Libraries when I am next in Perth.
20 April 2018 - Earth Day at Dulwich
DCSG observed Earth Day today by turning off all our lights and not using any electrical equipment, including computers. Clearly, the library is the perfect place to teach kids about the dangers facing our environment and what we all can do to help protect it. Books also proved to be a great option when teachers were looking for a valuable way for students to spend the final hour of the school day.
19 April 2018 - Reader's Cup Festival
Lots of excitement in the library this week as we got ourselves ready to host the inaugural ISLN (International School Librarian Association) Reader's Cup which took place yesterday here at DCSG. Twenty one children from the Junior School and the following seven students from the Senior School made up our five Dulwich teams Congratulations to Gracie Howell (7U), Chloe Prasetya (7I), Tom MacDonald (7I), Linda Ding (11L) Audrey Yap (11L), Ethan Daugherty (7C) and Preet Thakurani (11L)
The DCSG Page Flippers won the Younger Reader's category, with the DCSG Champions coming in 4th place. In the Older Reader's category, the Dulwich Dots came 5th and DCSG Dulwich Bookworm Association came 7th. And in the mature category, the DCSG Mangoes came 3rd place.
Congratulations also to Harry in 6C, whose book cover came in second place in the Older Readers category. Thank you to Closetful of Books and EPIC for sponsoring this event and providing brilliant book prizes and e-book subscriptions.
This opportunity to bring like-minded reader together from a number of international schools across Singapore was inspiring.T he camaraderie between the students was uplifting and it would certainly be true to say that the shared love of reading came out the winner!
Click here for a great visual overview of the event.
18 April 2018 - Red Cross need books
Following on from the success of the Books 4 Bhutan Drive, the Red Cross in Singapore are also looking for book donations. They need books in very good condition and of appropriate quality for 4 to 6-year-olds, so mostly picture books and simple, interesting non-fiction. If you still have any to clear out please deliver them to any of our libraries. For more specific information on this book drive and to find out what we will do with excess books click
18 April 2018 - Preparation for tomorrow!
Today was a busy one getting organised for the Reader's Cup tomorrow. We are so pleased with how well the Better Book Cover Display has come together. We can't wait for the other International School to arrive tomorrow to get stuck into the Readers Cup Festival with us.
17 April 2018 - Congratulations Shellai & Komala
A big congratulation to our two library assistants Shellai Andy and Komala John who have successfully completed the School Library Association Online Cataloguing Training Programme. Both Shellai and Komala work hard to make the library an exciting, organised and welcoming place for our students and this competence is a great addition to their skill base.
16 April 2018 - Science-based research
The close interaction between the library and the science department is clearly depicted in this display which Ms John put together over the break. Bringing together the school-wide concepts of :
The Big Six Information Skills Process :
PVLEGS - Presentation Skills:
ACOVA:
CRAAP:
15 April 2018 - April Poetry Display
April is poetry month so to kick off our library displays for this term we are promoting our poetry books.
8 - 14 April 2018 - National Library Week
Again an event which is North American in its origin and observance, National Library Week. is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. All types of libraries - school, public, academic and special - participate.
4 April 2018 - School Librarian Day
It is clear that American have a great respect and value for their libraries and librarians as this is another event which originated and is primarily celebrated there. April 4th, National School Llibrarian Day, is set aside to honour all school librarians.
"School librarians spend long hours keeping the library organized, helping our children find the resources they need to keep learning and are dedicated to creating an environment they can learn every day of the year. Their work is an impressive accomplishment.
The school librarians provide guidance and expose our youth not only to texts, print media, and literature, but to digital resources and the technology to connect them to libraries around the world. A school librarian’s ability to manage scores of media and a library full of students with numerous projects and schedules astounds us." https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-school-librarian-day-april-4/
2 April 2018 - International Children's Book Day
International Children’s Book Day (ICBD) is annually celebrated on or around April 2, Danish author and poet Hans Christian Anderson’s birthday. The purpose of the day is to recognize the power of reading and the role of books in the development and education of children. The day also aims to inspire the love of reading among children.
The ICBD has been organized every year since 1967 by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), which is a non-profit organization that promotes children’s literature and encourages young people to read. The IBBY was founded in Zurich, Switzerland and has about 70 member countries which are called National Sections.
April is also National Poetry Month
National Poetry Month was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. Over the years, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets celebrating poetry’s vital place in our culture.
As a repository of literature, the library is the natural place to go for thos who are interested in poetry/
"Poetry is so important to the human psyche. It soothes, it sparks, it savors life. It condenses an experience into something short and (sometimes) sweet, and if the poet is good, that’s all it needs." ~ Megan Schmit
April is School Library Month
Essentially an American observance where every April, school librarians are encouraged to host activities and events to help their school and local community celebrate the vital role that strong school library programs play in transforming learning. The 2018 theme is “Making Connections at Your School Library.” Clearly, the school library plays an essential role in transforming learning and ensuring students are well prepared for the world beyond the school.