Library Volunteers

Here is one of our high school volunteers, Jessica Sandy, sharing The Library Dragon  by Carmen Agra Deedy with a group of third grade students.   Jessica does such a great job of sharing books with kids, using imaginative voices and actions to animate the stories.  She also helps with shelving books, repairing books and processing new books.  Thanks, Jessica for sharing your time and talents with us. 

My Destiny Quest

My Destiny Quest

     Third and 4th graders this week were introduced to their Destiny Quest accounts during their library checkout time.  For 4th graders, there was a brief review, but third graders were delighted with their first time access to a social networking site all about books.  Students access their accounts by clicking on the Library Catalog link on the school web page and entering their usernames and passwords.  Once logged in, students can check their inbox for messages from friends, send book recommendations to friends, write book reviews, place holds on books they want to read, organize their own shelves of "want to read" and "have read" titles and read ebooks!  Our Destiny Quest site is limited to students and staff at Spirit Lake Community Schools so no messages or contacts from others will appear in a student's inbox.  Students are encouraged to click the "Report Abuse" button if they receive any message that makes them uncomfortable or uses inappropriate language.  Messages exchanged between friends must always start with a book recommendation and the conversations must be focused on reading, books and authors.  All students from grades 3-12 have a Destiny Quest account and are encouraged to use it!

Contest at SLHS concludes

Spirit Lake High School students participated in a contest to start the school year which aimed to garner suggestions of new titles students would like to see added to the library collection.  At the conclusion of the contest, four participants' names were drawn and they received prizes donated by Mrs. Sievert, Hill Avenue Books, and Custom Creations.  Winners of the contest are pictured above.  Now, all we need are the funds to buy all of those wonderful suggested titles!

International Dot Day Celebration

Fourth grade students celebrated International Dot Day this week during their library checkout time with Mrs. Jennings.  They watched a video presentation of the book The Dot written by Peter H. Reynolds.  The author invites us all to "make a mark and see where it takes us".  Students shared their ideas about the book's theme of encouragement and discussed how characters in the story "filled buckets".  Fourth graders then made their own Dot creations using the Tux Paint software and enjoyed a Dot treat, one for themselves and one to share.

Happy Birthday Books!

A new tradition has begun at Spirit Lake Elementary.  When a student celebrates a birthday they may choose to donate a book to the library instead of bringing candy to their classmates.  Donating a book is a healthier alternative and is a gift that can be shared with hundreds of students for years to come.  Pictured here is our first birthday gift of the year.  Thank you!

New Library Book Bags!

Watch for your students' library books coming home in new book bags.  Library books should travel to and from school in these bags.  Using these bags to protect the books inside your students' backpacks should help keep the books from being damaged by wet snowpants, boots, water bottles and spilled lunches.  Please remember to return library books inside the bags on your child's library checkout day.  If a library book bag becomes lost, you will be asked to pay $1.00 for a replacement.