Suddenly there is a lot going on in the library that is out of the ordinary. Your students have certainly noticed that the library has not been open for our regularly scheduled classes because of the STAR testing. This will continue through May 8 and then we are back on “normal” class library times. I have been squishing 2, 3 or even 4 classes in here at one time to get the books they need in the hands of our students .

Along with an amazing trio of volunteers, I am inventorying our library this year so that we can ALL be sure what is here and what is no longer here.

Our 1 day ½ price Book Fair was fantastically successful! I can tell our students and their families will be doing LOT of fun summer reading – This year we sold over $3000 worth of books. Thank you to all our families for supporting reading for fun and learning.

All through this school year, our students have enjoyed talking to, watching and feeding Dewey D, our library Betta fish. Dewey will be offered as an auction item at the Spring Festival here at school on May 12. He is a very social and friendly fish and I will miss him – but I know that one of our great families will love offering him a new home and helping out our school at the same time.

I have been encouraging the reading of nonfiction for fun and now it is time to share the fun we have had. I will be decorating the library with “fascinating, interesting facts” flags. Interested students may stop by and pick up the blank rally flag to decorate with the name of the book and an illustration of the phenomenal new fact they discovered in a nonfiction book. All rally flags will hang in the library so it would be terrific if both sides of the flag were decorated.

All student library books will be due back by May 18 and all middle school textbooks by May 23. Watch for notices coming home to let you know about books that are due. Library check out for parents will end this Friday, May 4 with all books due by May 11.

“Resolve to edge in a little reading every day, if it is but a single sentence. If you gain fifteen minutes a day, it will make itself felt a the end of the year.” Horace Mann

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor, Librarian

While we all enjoy cozying up with a good book and a fuzzy blanket in the fall and winter, what a treat it can be to lay in the grass with a book on a warm spring afternoon. Our students are READERS and I know they will keep on reading no matter the season.

Hicklebees has sent us so many terrific authors this year. Our visiting authors always compliment our students and their behavior and their excellent questions. What a tribute this is to our students and their families. Thank you!!

April 27 will be our final book fair for the year – my chance to thank the wonderful families here at DCS. This is our Half Price Book Fair – we make no profit on this event – it is just a chance to build family libraries and encourage reading. If you would like to help out with this fair, please come see me. It is only a one day event here in the library.

Please be aware that during the next several weeks, STAR testing will be taking place in the library. If the testing sign is on the door, please do not open the door, even to return books. I will leave a crate outside the door for returns. During the weeks that the library schedule is changed because of the testing, I will be doubling up classes to make sure the ALL our students have access to the library to check out the books they NEED TO READ. If you are a library parent, all reshelving will have to take place after middle school lunch because of the testing schedule. Please stop by if you can to help out with the shelving – LOTS of good readers means LOTS of reshelving!

“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” Groucho Marx

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor, Librarian

On Monday, March 19, author Tita Rodriguez Parra was here at school meeting with all of our middle school students during their PE period. She is a self published local author with a wonderful book about her growing up years in San Jose. The focus of her book is “consequences for actions” and teaches some valuable lessons about decision making.

We will also have a school wide author visit on Thursday March 22 from Jeff Savage. Jeff writes nonfiction sports biographies He is a highly energetic and funny and inspiring speaker and I look forward to introducing our students to him. All classes will be meeting Jeff in the morning in the MPR and he will meet with middle school classes in the afternoon to discuss writing. An order form for his books has been sent home.

Order forms for Jeff Savage books as well as Tita Rodriguez Parra’s book are in the library if you need another copy.

Thanks to the School Site Council, I have purchased dozens of new nonfiction books for the library, based on subjects our students have requested. I continue to encourage our kids, at all grade levels, to read nonfiction for fun, not just for research. It is very important to me to make sure that we have new, highly interesting nonfiction books to keep our students engaged in reading this vocabulary rich genre.

These new nonfiction books, as well as a lot of new fiction books selected from our book fair are now available for students to check out from the library and I am sharing those with students as they come through with their classes.

Books may well be the only TRUE magic.

— Alice Hoffman

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor, Librarian

IT is time for our MARCH MADNESS Hicklebees Book Fair. Please visit our library Monday March 5 through Thursday March 8 between 7:45 am and 6 pm to buy the latest and best of children’s and Young Adult literature. We will also be featuring new and paperback series. As always, volunteers are needed for this fair. Please visit

www.signupgenius.com/go/508044DAFA6229-springtime

to sign up and help with the Book Fair.

Read Read and Read and make some magic with your children.

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor, Librarian

Our Kindergarten through 5th graders are so excited about their upcoming visit from Kevin Henkes. The author of Chrysanthemum, Owen, Kitten’s First Full Moon, Olive’s Ocean and many others will be visiting with our K – 5th grade students on February 29, thanks to Hicklebees. Order forms for autographed copies of Penny and her Song and other Henkes books will be coming home. I am so pleased that we are able to offer a couple of the Kevin Henkes books in paperback, making them much more affordable. As always, our library receives back 25% of the purchase price of the books from Hicklebees.

And speaking of Hicklebees, it is almost time for our magnificent Springtime Hicklebees Book Fair. The Fair is being delivered on Friday March 2 and our sales will take place Monday March 5th through Thursday March 8. If you are interested in helping with this book fair, please let me know. Sales will take place 7:45 – 6 every day.

We had a terrific turnout for our 2nd annual Build A Valentine for Mom event. What fun to see our Dads and their children creating masterpieces for Mom!

Our Middle School Book Club is meeting Friday Feb 17 to compare and contrast the 2 books they have read this month. All middle school students are welcome to join the Book Club.

It is my hope that we can inventory our library collection between now and the end of the school year . This is process that requires many hands – please let me know if you would like to help. With a school library collection that is only 6 years old, this should be a pretty straightforward task – and a very necessary one.

Children’s literature may be the most important literature you will ever read. This is the stuff you read before you’ve figured out who you are, before you’ve made your mind up on all sorts of subjects. This is the reading that shapes you.

— Unknown author

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor, Librarian

Did you know that Hicklebees Bookstore, in addition to hosting many award winning authors has also won awards as the best independent bookstore in northern California? We are so fortunate to have a continuing relationship with Hicklebees so they can help me provide to our students exposure to some of the best children’s authors. All author visits that are sponsored by Hicklebees are free to our school. Kevin Henkes, the author of Chrysanthemum, Owen, Kitten’s First Full Moon and many others will be visiting with our K – 3 rd grade students on February 29, thanks to Hicklebees. Order forms for autographed copies of Penny and her Song will be coming home next week.

MOMS – STOP READING HERE

Remember to send in your order form for our second annual Build A Valentine for Mom event. This special evening will take place on Feb 7 from 5:30 – 7 in the MPR. If your family cannot attend, you may order a kit and your Build A Book kit, Valentines decorations and gift wrapping will be sent home. Each family attending will receive a Build A Book kit, Valentines decorations to make the book special and free gift wrapping. Come make a treasure for Mom! Extra order forms are available in the library.

OK MOMS – START READING AGAIN

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Dr. Seuss

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor
Librarian

Our library has been very busy during the first week back to school. Our students were all allowed to check out extra books over the Winter Break. Depending on the grade level, students borrowed between 2 and 10 books each to make sure they had enough to read during the time off. This meant there was a literal tsunami of returned books last week and my endless thanks goes out to all our library volunteers who managed that flood of books with great patience and grace and dedication.

Hicklebees Bookstore is providing our students with a couple of amazing guest speakers. On Friday, January 13, David Aguilar, Director of Public Affairs for the Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics is bringing his amazing outer space presentation to our 3rd through 8th graders. Order forms have gone home for students interested in purchasing an autographed copies of the books. The amazing Kevin Henkes will be here for our K – 3rd grade with his newest book on February 29. More details will follow on the Henkes presentation as I receive them.

MOMS – STOP READING HERE

On February 7, in the MPR , I will be hosting the 2nd annual Build A Valentine for Mom event. Please look for the order form that is coming home this week. Each family attending will receive a Build A Book kit, Valentines decorations to make the book special and free gift wrapping. Come make a treasure for Mom!

OK MOMS – START READING AGAIN

It is always so gratifying to see how much our students love to check out library books. The new books from our most recent book fair have been added to the library and they are available for our students to check out.

These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds, alive on the shelves

— G. Highet

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor

You will be receiving lots of information about the Reading is Out of This World Book Fair this week. Please check the school website for the Book Fair homepage for all the up to date information on sales dates, how to volunteer and for the new and exciting online component of the Book Fair. This year our goal is to sell $11,000 worth of books during our fair. If we meet that goal, Mr. Barber has promised to do something “out of this world”. Remember that 60% of each dollar spent at the fair returns to us for me to enrich teachers’ classroom libraries as well as adding to our school library.

Most of our classes have begun voting on their favorite California Young Reader Medal Choices. Our students in grades K – 3 are selecting from the Picture Book nominees. Many of our 4th – 8th grade classes are interested in voting on those books also, in addition to the Picture Books for Older Readers. Next week I will be booktalking the nominated chapter books with grades 3 – 8 so that interested students may vote. We only have one copy of each of those books in library, so your child may need to use the public library to get their hands on a copy.

HUGE thanks to the wonderful core team that has stepped up to help with the Book Fair planning. There is still a lot to do – please let me know if you are interested in working in our book boutique for a small or large chunk of time.

The cooler weather sure brings thoughts of cuddling up with a good book, alone or with family. Parents, remember you are welcome to check books out from our school library to add to the reading joys of your families. Parents are always welcome in the library when there is not a class in session.

“A child must make a fort for him or herself in bed and read, read read.” Gary Soto

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor
Librarian

Our library has become “haunted”!! NO ONE DARES check out those books this week!!  WHO KNOWS what might happen if you do —

There are dozens of other shelves full of books — find something NEW to read this week!!

Our annual Fall Scholastic Book Fair is coming – faster than we think!! Sales will be the week after Thanksgiving Break – November 28 – December 2.  Please stop by and see me if you would like to sign up to help with the Book Fair.  The Book Fair set up will be Monday November 21 and I could really use some help with that.  This year Scholastic has finally added an exciting ONLINE component to the book fair – in addition to shopping at the Fair at school, you can shop at home in your pajamas – watch for more info as the Book Fair date draws nearer.

Parent often ask me how many books students are allowed to check out from our library.  Kindergarten students check out 1 or 2 books that stay in the classroom.  Grades 1 – 3 check out 2 – 3 books,  depending on their teacher’s preference.  Grades 4 – 8 have very different rules.  I have told all students in grades 4 – 8 that they may check out as many books as they “reasonably, responsibly and maturely need” .  Students at this age KNOW how many books they require  to get through a week – and I will allow them to make that decision.  Parents of all students are encouraged to check out extra books for home – just stop by the library and I will assign you a library number.

“The Witches fly across the sky

The Owls go  Who? Who? Who?

The Black Cats yowl and the Green Ghosts Howl

Happy Halloween to you!!

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor
Librarian

We also all know that we get into reading habits – many of our students reread the same series over and over again. As our classes come through – I am encouraging them to “mix it up” and check out something unfamiliar – a new series, a new author, a new genre. Who knows – our students may discover new favorites!! Many of our classes are also encouraging the reading of nonfiction. Nonfiction books are rich in vocabulary as well as facts and are excellent choices for reluctant readers and adventuresome readers alike.

You also know that my appreciation for our incredible library volunteers is endless. The hours spent each week checking books in and out, shelving books and generally helping with library maintenance is amazing and I could not run this library without these volunteers.

“When you are a writer, you have ALL the power.” (Doreen Cronin)

Happy Reading

Mrs. Taylor
Librarian