Wylie East High School Library
2017-2018
We can help you navigate the oceans of information.
The Library Media Center is a hub of activity for the entire building. We open at 8:15 and stay open until 5:00 each day. Before we open, and when we close at night, there are always students waiting to get in, or wanting to stay just a little longer. There are three of us manning the circulation desk and somedays it's still not enough. Before school we're helping students with projects, making badges, finding books and dealing with technology issues. We also spend the mornings helping teachers get set up with chromebooks, scheduling lab, or troubleshooting technology problems.
During Power Hour, which is our busiest time, there well over 150 students at any given time. They come in to work on computers, or homework, read or simply hang out with their friends.
Right from the start, it's been a great school year.
On to the second decade...
We completed our first 10 years and now it's on to the next 10. Our enrollment is expected to increase rapidly with all of the new housing developments under construction in our area. Over the summer Wylie East will get new flooring in the main areas of the building, including the library.
With the new floors the library will also get new furniture. We can't wait to show it off!
Teen Read Week
Students enjoyed the activities during Teen Read Week. They had to guess the title of the shredded book and the number of candies in a jar. There were book-related activities each day including popcorn for the entire school during power hour.
What to read next?
Not sure what to read next? These paper fortune tellers are a fun way to help students choose their next book. Students make their own fortune tellers to give their recommendations as well. Sometimes all it takes is a suggestion start students reading.
The latest and greatest
We have an ever-changing display of new books. We have a monthly subscription to a book vendor as well as large orders coming in every couple of months. We are also happy to order books based on suggestions from students and teachers.
Maker spaces during Power Hour
Students enjoyed working together during Power Hour to complete the Maker Space tasks. Students liked the technology maker spaces, especially the Ozobots, but it was the low-tech maker spaces that kept their interest the longest.
Puzzles in the library
Puzzles are a fun group activity during Power Hour. The students work collaboratively to complete the puzzles and it's great to see how other students respect the space and don't try to interfere with the process.
Kapla Blocks
Surprisingly the Kapla Blocks were the most utilized Maker Space. Each day they were on campus, students would gather to complete a structure or two. We had to start taking them up before the bell ended lunch, just to ensure everyone got to class on time.
By the numbers
This was our second year with the Book Love program and the teachers really bought into it. Teachers brought their classes in at the beginning of the school year and consistently brought them back throughout the year. Because of this our circulation statistics increased from 7, 100 checkouts to 9,538 checkouts, that's an increase of 26%! The best part was hearing the comments from the kids, things like. "this is the first book I've finished", " I never knew about this book, is there a second one'?", "my friend is reading a book and I want to read it too". We had so many experiences with kids that "discovered" reading again that we can't wait to see it all happen next year.