Gaston County School Library News
September 2018
Banned Book Week
"Banned" Book Week is September 23-29th.
Submitted by
Terri Hoyle, John Chavis Middle SLMC
Don't Let the Pigeon Read the Books!
Submitted by:
Sarah Putnam, Bessemer City Primary SLMC
New Books
Cherryville Elementary Library has started the process of preparing our new books for checkout. We received $25,000 in new books as a part of the renovation project that took place in our media center last year. With these funds, every area of my collection been updated. In Nonfiction, there are many new animal books, poetry, biographies and sports books. Fiction includes the much sought of chapter book series, new Harry Potter books, and updated everybody books including many beloved characters: Pete the Cat, Berenstain Bears, Clifford, Froggy, Fly Guy, to name a few. We are VERY excited to get these books in and ready for circulation.
Submitted by:
Melanie Sherrill, Cherryville Elementary SLMC
Library Renovation!
H.H. Beam had a renovation over the summer and purchased $55,000 of new books with Title-One Funds!
Submitted by
Lorie Ross, HH Beam Elementary SLMC
Back to School Fun
At North Belmont we are celebrated camping and nature as our theme this year! The students loved coming back to school with beautifully decorated doors and halls. This is the bulletin board right outside of the library!
Submitted by
Brandi Maples, North Belmont SLMC
50 years at South Point High!
As Gaston County Schools is celebrating it's golden anniversary, so is South Point High School! To spark memories for community members, faculty and parents who visit the school, many of whom are alumni, Media Specialist, Elaine Gentry created a display using some of South Point's most memorable and iconic Yearbooks. The annual yearbook, entitled The Clarion, actually predates South Point High School itself by 50 years. The first Clarion in the library's archive is dated 1920 and includes many names that are well known in Belmont and Gaston County such as Leeper, Suggs, Armstrong, Cox, Garrison, Rhyne, Harris, and Robert Lee Stowe, Jr. who was a member of the Belmont High School's Class of 1920. With a history that long it is no wonder that there are so many Traditions in Red Raider Nation. This week, South Point is also kicking off it's annual BBQ. For forty four of its 50 years South Point has been "All About BBQ" for a few weeks in the fall! This year's BBQ will be held at the school on Friday, September 21 from 9:00 am until 7:00 PM.
Submitted by
Elaine Gentry, South Point High School SLMC
New Hope Has S.W.A.G.
Submitted by
Kara Grimes, New Hope Elementary SLMC
Makerspace Grant
I received a Ron Ensley grant in order to implement Osmo in my MakerSpace. As a part of project, Cherryville Elementary students now participate in MakerSpace as part of their special rotations. Osmo is a learning system that will change the way students interact with the iPad by opening them up to hands-on play to enhance learning. It is best combination of hands-on and virtual play that increases problem-solving, critical thinking and creativity (and much, much more). For more information, check out their website: https://www.playosmo.com/en/
Submitted by
Melanie Sherrill, Cherryville Elementary SLMC
Book Drive
This summer, Books a Million partnered with WC Friday to conduct a book drive. Customers could purchase books to donate to our school library and classrooms. Over 100 books were donated through this program! Thank you Books A Million for investing in our schools. We are looking forward to working with you again.
Submitted by
Anna Taylor, W.C. Friday Middle SLMC
A Fresh New Look
Submitted by,
Teresa Sain, Tryon Elementary SLMC
Pigeon Teaches Kids About Book Care
Kindergarten students helped the Pigeon learn how to take care of his library books. He doesn't always make good choices and needs their help. They can't wait to check out their very first library books.
Submitted by
Kelly Lawniczak, Pleasant Ridge Elementary SLMC
The New Library Book Smell
We are very excited at Southwest Middle School for all the hundreds of new titles that have been purchased for our media center! Both our fiction and nonfiction areas now have books that will enable our students to check out a great variety of titles and topics that have never been available before!
Submitted by
Dianne Barber, Southwest Middle SLMC
Librarian: Poster Child for Life-Long Learning and the Positives of Librarians as Sysops
At the beginning of the year, librarians who are also sysops spend most of the time in the technology arena at our schools, and they do a fair amount of grumbling about how little time is spent in the library role. I want to share what I think are some of the positives to being the sysop at my school.
- I get to meet and create relationships with most of the teachers at the school who I, otherwise, would only speak to in passing.
- The same goes for students. Believe it or not, some students never visit the library in the 3 years they are in middle school, so just seeing them and letting them see me is positive. We try to solve a technology problem together—what better way to learn about collaboration.
- Learning new things is what motivates me. I love learning the details about networks and computers in order to teach what I learn to others. I love learning what the students and teachers need technology-wise in the classroom because it makes me feel a part of their educational process.
Most librarians I know are life-long learners: people who choose to educate themselves just because they find it exciting. They probably became librarians for this reason, perhaps subconsciously. No matter. As always, librarians will always be the Poster Children for Life-Long Learning.
Submitted by:
Carmen Wallace, Cramerton Middle SLMC
New Books at Chapel Grove
Submitted by
Lynn Mooney, Chapel Grove Elementary SLMC
New Year, New Books
Everyone is so excited to be back in the library. Third grade were the first to check out books this year and they thought it was a very special bragging right. They liked being able to find their favorites without worrying that someone else had already checked them out.
Submitted by,
Kelly Lawniczak, Pleasant Ridge Elementary SLMC