Swain Library News
November/December 2012
November and December Events
The library's new middle and upper school Minecraft Club began meeting in early December. 26 students belong to the club, which meets weekly on Thursdays and Fridays. The students play on two different servers, one for the MS and one for the US. So far, the students have created amazing structures both above- and below-ground.
The week of December 17-20, upper school students decorated over 500 snowflakes for Sandy Hook Elementary School. The snowflakes were delivered to Chalk Hill, the students' new school, by Lorri Carroll on Friday, December 21. (Click on the image above to see a larger version of it.)
Circulation & New Acquisitions
Statistics
Overall, circulation decreased 17% from September and October, from 1186 circulations to 987. This is because both November and December are short months, meaning that many lower school students do not check out new materials for several weeks.
However, due to booktalking with middle and upper school students before the Thanksgiving and winter breaks, circulation of the Young Adult collection jumped from 39 in September and October to 140 in November and December (a 359% increase).
Notable New Acquisitions
Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett; ill. by Jon Klassen / jE BAR
With a supply of yarn that never runs out, Annabelle knits for everyone and everything in town until an evil archduke decides he wants the yarn for himself.
Adaptation by Melinda Lo / YA LO
In the aftermath of a series of plane crashes caused by birds, Reese and her debate-team partner, David, receive medical treatment at a secret government facility and become tangled in a conspiracy that is, according to Reese's friend, Julian, connected with aliens and UFOs.
The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt / 940.2 GRE
Describes the impact that the translation of "On the Nature of Things" by Roman philosopher Lucretius had on history, inspiring artists, great thinkers, and scientists of the fifteenth century and fueling the beginning of the Renaissance.
Collection
All the new materials acquired by the Library so far this academic year have been cataloged and processed and are ready to circulate. In addition, a new collection of professional development materials in available in the Faculty Lounge.
Research & Instruction
Digital Resources (Middle and Upper School)
Total Searches, November & December (through 12/20)
5061 (640% increase from Sept/Oct)
Issues & Controversies
68 (83% decrease from Sept/Oct)
Bloom's Literary Reference Online
730 (624% increase from Sept/Oct)
JSTOR
656 (140% increase from Sep/Oct)
Overall increase in database usage from Sept/Oct: 330%
Lower School Classes - Highlights
The second grade compiled a list of symbols that represent the second grade at Hamden Hall in 2012. They used software called Pixie to make drawings of their symbols and they composed a sentence or two explaining what their symbol was and why they chose it. They put the pictures and explanations together in a VoiceThread project.
Grade 3 has completed its study of Native American tribes of the Northeast, Plains, Southwest and Northwest. We have read many folktales in the library, and talked about the ways that the stories reflect the cultures of the different tribes. The students then blogged from the perspective of children in a particular tribe.
Grade 5 students have been introduced to the new iPads that are now housed in the library. They have explored the library pages on the Hamden Hall website, done a bit of research, and created a short presentation on Educreations. Students love using this tool and look forward to getting back to it soon.
The sixth grade came to the library to begin their study of Egypt. They learned how to narrow a search on the library catalog, and they located books about their topics. These books were then sent to Mrs. Hunter's classroom where they were available for students as they researched and wrote their reports. They were then instructed in using EasyBib for their citations.
Middle & Upper School Classes
Aside from classes, 27 English and history students participated in one-on-one appointments in the library for help with MLA citations and research.
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