April showers may bring May flowers, but at the WJHS Library, it ushered in National School Library Month and School Library week which was observed April 11th-15th. School Library Month is the American Association of School Librarians’ recognition of school libraries and their programs. Its theme this year was “School Libraries Transform Learning.” In keeping with the theme, the WJHS Library sponsored activities that promoted the enjoyment and use of the library that would parlay into knowledge being gained by the students.
The celebration began with a bubble speech campaign where students and staff responded to the prompt: My library is important to me because… Their responses were placed in the main hallway for all to see the dedication, love, and appreciation the school family has for the WJHS library. Responses ranged from the library being a cool and quiet place to study to the fact that books can take you anywhere you want to go without leaving your seat.
Why is the library important?
In celebration of School Library Week, the following activities took place:
Monday- Fine Amnesty Day- Students had the opportunity to return overdue books without paying fines.
Tuesday- Read-In Kickoff- What was supposed to be a day of recreational reading turned into a week- long event. Everyone in the school was invited to come in and “relax, relate, and read” for 15 minutes or more in a cool reading space created just for them.
Wednesday- Guess Who Game- What was Ms. Brown-Lewis’, Ms. Williams’ or Mr. Locke’s favorite book? Student sleuths carefully studied photographs of their favorite staff members hiding behind their favorite books as they tried to guess who was behind the book.
Thursday- Door Prize Day- A visit to the library is a prize within itself, but the students received lagniappe in the form of a door prize if their number was called as they visited the library at their lunch periods.
Friday- Lunch and Listen Poetry Slam- April is National Poetry Month, so Friday’s activities involved a mini program where its participants viewed renowned poets/performers recite their original works of art. Staff and students were encouraged to write and recite their original works as well, as the audience snapped in appreciation of the spoken word.
All events were well attended and appreciated by the participants. Students gained so much through visiting the library, being exposed to what others were reading, reading recreationally, and appreciating an art form. They were able to express the importance of the library in words with their bubble speeches. With student engagement and participation, there is proof that the success of this year’s celebration did drive home the theme that school libraries do, in fact, transform learning.