Autumn Library Newsletter

Autumn Library News

Welcome back to the library! Regular circulation services and Accelerated Reader facilities are back for you. Below you will find more small updates. Please keep an eye on the library website to find more information and updates as they come!

• What we’re learning
  • This quarter, our students are reviewing the library regulations, including the borrowing and returning procedures of library items. They will also learn about behaviour expectations in the library.
  • The library lessons include how we take care of books and how a library is organized. Students also start to learn about, and use, the Dewey Decimal Classification system. Lower grades will learn to sort books by fiction and non-fiction.  Older grades will learn about call numbers and how they can help us find what we need or want in the library
  • Our students also learn how to be a responsible and ethical user of information, which means how to respect others’ works and how to distinguish correct information from the wrong information and fake news on the Internet.

E-book resources

• An e-book corner with three computers has been set up in the library to encourage students to read more books.
• Currently, our library has provided PebbleGo, TumbleBook Library and OverDrive for students in different grades. Students can bring your own headphone for watching the videos and listening the audio files of the e-books.
• Students are also encouraged to use the e-resources provided by the public library. Links can be found in the school library website under “Resources” tab.

• Library opening hours
  • The library is now operating from 7:30AM to 5PM on school days for high school students. High school students are also able to use the library at other time throughout the school day.
  • Primary students may come to the library during their lunch recess on specific days with the library pass other than library lessons. The library passes are distributed by their homeroom teachers.
  • When accompanied by a parent, primary students are also able to visit the library after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 3:15 and 4:15pm. Parents will be able to borrow two extra books on their child’s account. Please note that parents are expected to supervise their own children as the staff will be completing other duties.

• All about borrowing
  • Borrowing limits
    • Prep to grade 2 students may borrow 2 English and 1 Chinese book at a time.
    • Grade 3 to grade 6 students may borrow 2 English and 2 Chinese books at a time.
    • High school students (7-12) may borrow 4 English and 2 Chinese books at a time.
  • Return dates
    • Students have two cycles to return books to the library circulation desk. We strongly recommend students return books by the following library class. If a student has an overdue book on their account, they may not borrow any further books until all books are returned.
    • Upper primary and high school students will incur fines on their book loans if they are late. Students who have overdue items will be charged at 1HKD per day per item. This fine is waived for lower primary students since they are learning library citizenship and independence.
  • Pre-overdue reminders 
    • Students and/or parents will receive an automated reminder email that their books should be returned soon.
  • Using student card
    • High school students are currently able to borrow books using their names or student cards. Please bring your student card with you to borrow books with for faster processing.

• What parents can do
  • Encourage your child to use the calendar or school planner to keep track of their library due dates. Library borrowing is an opportunity for young children to develop independence and responsibility in returning their own books on time.
  • Read with your child and discuss the books with them. For lower grade students, it is important to read to your child but also have them read to you. You can also encourage them to share their feelings to you after reading. For higher grade students, you may read the same book as they are reading, share and discuss with them your likes and thoughts about the book, and this can facilitate the communication between you and your child.
  • For your early reading, encourage your child to “stretch out” unfamiliar words, using their phonics to decode them.  For greater comprehension, make connections between the books they are reading and their own experiences.
  • Encourage reading as a part of life. Take your child to the public libraries, share your daily reading and research with your child. Reading is one way to make sense of the world around us.  Your child can grow and learn a variety of knowledge.

• Book Exhibition
  • From late October to November, there will be a book exhibition on the theme of English Language Arts (ELA). Literatures in different genre have been chosen by librarians and introduced to students.