Ginnette Cameron-Gardner – Primary Teacher/Librarian

The end of the year  is approaching fast. We have had an active year with many events in the Primary Library. The students particularly enjoyed the Scholastic Book Fair, where they were able to browse through a large collection of new books supplied for us to sell on a commission basis by Scholastic Books. Many families came and purchased books for their home library.

The final boxing up for collection of books collected in the Library for many months took place in August. We were joined by Year 6 students who helped in the final stages by adding boxes of books they had collected from classroom collection points. The books were sent off to Africa, the destination arranged by Ms D Cohen. The school community was generous in donations to this worthy cause to answer the plea from teachers in Africa who needed books to teach and to start a school library. This was the second year we have collected and exceeded 1500 books. Well done to all involved. To assist with transport costs a gold coin collection took place at the Primary Library CBCA Book Parade.

Many students completed the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge, some for the seventh year.

The weather has been variable, but the forecast is for a warm to hot vacation. The students have shown themselves to be keen readers, averaging about 4,000 books borrowed per term. Therefore, the local public libraries may find an increase in their borrowing statistics over the vacation as our students borrow from their shelves to take a welcome, cool break indoors out of the sun – entering into adventures they find within the pages of books.

The local Public Library Bowen at JQ PEET holds storytelling for ‘Cloud Tea Monkeys’ by Elspeth Graham and Mal Peet which many students may enjoy as it is a richly told story full of characters. The plight of the young girl, Tashi, who tries to continue earning their living by tea picking while her mother is ill will excite their empathy. She needs a miracle as she is too short to reach the tender tea shoots and the overseer sends her away but what can she do?  She needs to earn money for a doctor and medicine. This is a traditional tale retold.

Next term you may enjoy another book by Mal Peet, who is a Carnegie medal winner ‘The Keeper’. (To help you recognise the book our school copy shows a tiger on the cover, but the Public library may have the alternative cover of a boy footballer.)  JF PEE

When Paul Faustino of LA NACION flips on his tape recorder for an exclusive interview with El Gato — the phenomenal goalkeeper who single-handedly brought his team the World Cup — the seasoned reporter quickly learns that this will be no ordinary story. Instead, the legendary El Gato narrates a spellbinding tale that begins in the South American rainforest, where a ghostly but very real mentor, the Keeper, emerges to teach a poor, gawky boy the most thrilling secrets of the game. A seamless blend of magic realism and exhilarating soccer action, this evocative novel will haunt readers long after the story ends.

www.goodreads.com/book/show/704076.Keeper?from_search=true

Happy holidays to everyone from the staff in the Primary Library.