New Year, New Reads!

One of the things I've heard both teachers and students saying around campus is that they want to challenge themselves to read more. For those of you who haven't heard of GoodReads, it's a great on-line site where you can set reading goals for yourself, find recommendations, explore interviews with favorite authors, and follow friends & their reading (and more!). The majority of our high school students already have accounts on GoodReads and are using it to keep track of their reading. You can set a reading goal challenge for yourself on GoodReads (a number of books you'd like to read across 2019, for instance)- but if that's not your style perhaps a different goal is in order: trying a new genre, reading the entire body of a favorite author's work, exploring reads set in this region, or taking a deep dive into a subject that captivates you. You can follow our Primary Librarian, Ms. Jill Daley, or our Secondary Librarian, Ms. Terry Maguire, on Goodreads to see what they're reading and recommending.

Modelling reading is a powerful way to make a statement about its importance. Even if that means reading for only 15 minutes as a family a night, that still amounts to nearly 2 hours of reading across a week! On long road-trips, families might want to select an audio book to listen to as a family & discuss - or take turns reading a book aloud as a family. Our library staff is always ready to provide recommendations!

This semester we are excited to launch two new book awards at AISL: The Leopard's Paw Award for best book for middle school (Gr6-8), and The Leopard's Eye for best book for high school (Gr9-12). Two student groups polled their peers to generate a short-list of books, and then whittled that list down to the top four reads for each division (books had to be published within the past 2 years and available in the AISL library).  Secondary students will have until May to read at least two of the books on the list for their division, and then will vote on the best read for the awards in May. This initiative is one way to promote more reading and to show how excited our students are about books.

Whether you are returning to AISL this semester or are joining us as a new family, remember that the library is a welcoming gathering place for all members of our community! Parents are encouraged to open accounts, too, as we have an excellent range of fiction & non-fiction for adults in addition to our offerings for students. Our library is a space where everyone is free to relax, read, explore, create, and collaborate. Please visit us!