Our library program is more than an addition to the classroom curriculum. Our library houses all the resources used in the classrooms. Since we rarely use textbooks, the literature and information materials become the basis of the students’ research. In each classroom you will find hundreds of library books being used as the vehicle for learning their core curriculum. The goal of each student is to learn how to find these books, make wise choices as to which materials are better, and then how to locate them within our library. You can even locate our materials from your home computer through the Shortgrass library site.
Since our resources are well used and frequently returned, we invite your help in keeping our library collection ready for use. If you would like to spend an hour or more putting books away that children have returned, your help would be really valued. Laura Richardson is our Library Clerk, but her time is limited to one and a half days per week at our school.
Another way your family can share in the library program is to encourage your own students to become habitual readers. When they come home with library books, check out their choices. Communicate with your classroom teacher or myself about their personal favorites, desires and reading needs. Read with your students. Form a consistent time and place for their daily reading. We’d love to share new titles and book series that you may enjoy as a family read-a-loud.
Books do get damaged or lost. We expect students to be responsible for these situations and repay the replacement costs of these materials. As a family, your help is appreciated in forming habits that will build respect and responsibility for our library materials. We have a one week due date for primary books and a two week due date for elementary resources. This means the readers can bring them back earlier (which is often the case for picture book readers) or if the novel is rather long, the students can renew them for several more weeks.