In January and February...

• 4,650 materials were checked out of the library.
  
  
• over 5,000 students visited the library on their own time.
  
  
• 66 classes visited the library specifically to check out books.
  
  
• nearly 200 classes visited the library to work on research projects!
  
  
• 6 authors visited our school!

The Smith Library's online catalog, Destiny Quest, is the place to go to find which books the library owns and whether or not they are checked out. Students can also browse the catalog's Resource Lists, created by Ms. Sapkarov, which offer book recommendations in a variety of genres.

At the end of January, all 6th grade students learned to use Destiny Quest BETTER by logging in to their own accounts. This allowed them the freedom to view the books they have checked out, make friends with other students, send recommendations to their friends, keep track of what they're reading/have read/want to read, and write book reviews.

Check out the link below to browse our library collection!

authors pictured above (left to right): Beth Revis, Jessica Spotwood, Elizabeth Richards, Morgan Rhodes, Fiona Paul

These lovely ladies kicked off the Breathless Reads YA Tour at the Smith Library and were met with lots of enthusiastic students wanting to know more about their books, writing routines, and publishing tips.

Check out their books below!

In mid-February, Mr. Mayo, Ms. White, Ms. Estes (Ms. White's student teacher), and Ms. Sapkarov collaborated on a revolutionary research project. During Language Arts and Social Studies, students came to the library for two weeks to research their specific world revolution, which would culminate in a research paper for Mr. Mayo and a lesson presentation for Ms. White. Along the way, students learned about the Big 6 Guide to Information Problem Solving from Ms. Sapkarov, focusing on choosing the best resources for their research by evaluating their sources critically.

Check out the wiki below to see more of what we did!

During the 3rd quarter, 8th grade students will be choosing an independent reading book and selecting 3 goals to complete for their book. These goals are meant to get students thinking critically about their reading. Ms. Sapkarov taught students how to create and deliver an engaging book talk (see above) and how to write a book review. Hopefully some of those book reviews will make it to our book review blog (see below)!