New Magazine Rack

Check out our slick-wheeled, fancy magazine display rack! It is a useful addition to the media center. Now students can easily peruse some of the periodicals to which we subscribe:

Boys Life
Cricket
Discover
Faces: People Places & Cultures
Girls Life
International Artist
J-14: Just for Teens
National Geographic
Sports Illustrated
Teen Vogue
Time Magazine
Wired

Welcome Back, ANCS Students and Families!

Welcome back, everyone! I am thrilled to begin my 3rd year at ANCS and am looking forward to seeing all the new and returning families. Some of my goals this year include the acquisition of more informational texts relating to the curriculum, fiction novels on social justice, and as always, the helpful and interesting recommendations from our students.

Book fairs, book clubs, Reading Bowl, and more….I look forward to the best year yet!

Library volunteers are always welcome. There is a perpetual need for shelving, processing materials, book room maintenance, cleaning or minding the circulation desk. Please email me if you would like to help.

Our Students Vote!

The Georgia Children's Book Award votes are in from our students! I love this award as STUDENTS have the voice and make the choice. I submitted our entries and we shall soon see which book is the state-wide winner. These books were our top picks out of over 50 votes:  

Winner: Wonder (21 votes)
2nd place: The Apothecary (13 votes)
3rd place: A Tale Dark and Grimm (7 votes)

New Encyclopedias!! Thanks, PTCA!!

Ms. Linahan wants to thank the PTCA for the mini-grant which has provided brand spankin' new, shrink-wrapped 2014 World Book Encyclopedias to the Middle Campus Media Center! Even the students are excited - heartily cracking them open and taking deep sniffs of the new paper. Updated entries provide a valuable addition to our print reference collection.

Georgia Children's Book Awards - Time to Vote!

The polls are open for students across Georgia to vote for their favorite book in the GA Children's Book Award nominations. This is one of the few awards chosen by students, which makes it so relevant. If your child has not yet voted or still wants to read some of the nominees, we have until April 25!

Thus far, it seems our students are big fans of The Apothecary and Wonder. I have a hard time choosing, but really loved A Dogs's Way Home, Summer on the Moon, and Wonder.

Who will win?!?!

Google Docs Add-ons

Our 8th graders are digging deep into their Civil Rights research project and I shared with them the directions for using the new thesaurus and EasyBib apps available within Google Drive - really good stuff!! I read constantly on teacher/librarian sites the differing opinions on how much time is spent on the foundations of citation and at what point we take advantage of technology and let students focus on making deeper inquiries with their research. Nevertheless, our 8th graders have experience with the nuances of citation style and are allowed to use EasyBib. We encourage students to utilize Google Docs because of its ease and convenience. These add-ons are just   another way to make work more streamlined.

I would like to personally thank the six students who read, practiced and studied for another great Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl experience! We participated in both the APS and Metro-area competitions and are looking forward to the announcement of the 2014-15 Georgia Children's Book Award Nominees. Thanks, Reading Wolves (and parents and supportive staff)!!

The team poses with new buzzers (thanks PTCA!) and some of the reading material.