September 2013 update: Back-to-school Edition

School is back!

School is now in session and the beginning of the year has been great so far. Our students, especially the newer incoming 9th graders, have really embraced the communal spirit of the Information Commons we've established in the lower library. Over the summer, we've rearranged some of our furniture and added in more study tables to provide students with the space they need to study in a collaborative atmosphere. As always, the chess boards have garnered a lot of attention as competition continues to heat up.

The library is now on Canvas

There is now a library course on Sage Hill School’s new learning management system, Canvas. This new platform allows us to provide students and faculty with resources in a more efficient manner. We've integrated our library catalog, as well as our research databases, into Canvas which will now allow for easier access to library books, DVDs, and journal articles. We've also added some handy tutorials in the research database section so please review them if you need a refresher. If you'd like a librarian to demo a particular database for your class, please feel free to send an e-mail to set something up.

Circulation stats are up

The library has added more technological devices to our collection. As the entire school community learns to use Canvas together, students have been checking out laptops at an increased rate. The library supports educational technology and will continue to provide students with the tools they need to succeed in their classes. The books the library has added to the collection over the summer have also fared well. Some of our newer, popular additions include: Eleven Rings by Phil Jackson, Everyday by David Levithan, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Baker.

National Hispanic Heritage Month

This month, the library—along with Sage Hill School’s multicultural group, S.A.M.E.—celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month. Our display in the upper library exhibits various aspects of Hispanic heritage and history. Please stop by the upper library to learn more about a rich and fascinating culture!

Summer 2013: Lots of new things to be excited about!

Inventory

The Library conducted an inventory of the entire collection this summer. Out of our collection of 15,000+ print resources, we were missing roughly 100 books. We reviewed these missing materials and decided to replace the ones with medium to high usage. The Library will make an effort to remind our students to check out their books in the following school year.

Collection Development

We’ve added some new Young Adult and popular bestselling fiction books to our collection. These new titles will be on display for the first semester in the lower library. If you’re interested in reading something new, please visit the lower library and check out a book! Some popular additions include: The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, and We are All Completely Besides Ourselves by Joy Karen Fowler.

New databases, new periodicals

The Library has subscribed to some new EBSCO databases, including Academic Search Premier, Consumer Health Complete, Literary Reference Center, and a bunch more. We are planning on integrating all of our resources—print and digital—into a unifying searchable index. This means that our students and faculty will no longer need to hunt down links to a database they want to use. The Library has also subscribed to some new magazines, including Cooks Illustrated, Harvard Business Review, and Yoga. Swing through the lower library and browse our newly updated periodicals!

More mobile shelving units

Our plan to move the entire fiction collection downstairs continues this summer as the Library received approval for adding four new mobile shelving units. The next step in the phase is to continue moving through the alphabet. We expect three-quarters of our fiction collection to be house downstairs by the end of the year.

Kindles and requests for eBooks

The Library purchased two new Kindles for student and faculty use. We are currently building a small collection of books in the curriculum. The Library plans to use these Kindles to meet resource requests on-the-spot. This means that if you have a request that is in the Amazon marketplace, we can purchase it on-the-spot and lend you a Kindle.

State of the Library: March/April 2013

Commemorative Month Displays

SHS Library celebrates Edith Wharton

The last few weeks the library displayed curated collections of books and educational flyers to celebrate the following commemorative months, all celebrated in March and April: Poetry Month, Women’s History Month, Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, and Jazz Appreciation Month.

Poetry Contest

The Library is renewing a partnership with the English Department to host the annual Poetry Contest. Entries are submitted in many forms, including sonnets and haiku, and a panel that includes staff and faculty will select winners in May.

History Day Projects

The Ninth Graders finished up their History Day projects in the last few weeks as well, scrambling to get the last few research pieces included in their presentations. Many student requests were filled, further honing the library collection to support Sage Hill’s unique curriculum.

Wellness: Internet Responsibility Seminar

The Director of Library and Technology repeated the Internet Responsibility Seminar from last year this year for Ninth Graders in their Wellness classes. The presentation and discussion scenarios were adapted to keep up with the times, including newly introduced social media tools and mobile device practices. Next year, topics in the seminar may be hosted on our new Learning Management System, Canvas.

Collection Management

Various tasks have been undertaken to maintain the library’s collection of digital and physical resources. Many of our physical magazines and newspapers, such as The New York Times and Vanity Fair have been placed on the library ipad available for check out for our community. Specialized stickers meant to catch attention have been placed on our biographies and best sellers otherwise hidden in the collection. Overdue emails have been sent periodically and paper bills are being prepared in anticipation of the Annual Inventory in May.

State of the Library: January/February

JSTOR Database

Library Orientations: English

Ninth Graders visited the library with their English classes this month. After watching a video on how to search for resources at home, Ninth Graders explored the library and then gave each other group tours.

Library Orientations: History

Ninth Graders worked on their research topics with their History classes this month as well, learning how to use the library’s online resources and databases. Using student demonstrations on the screen, students created search queries and researched individual topics in the library databases.

eBooks

Overdrive has recently upgraded their website to provide clearer navigation. Kindle books available for borrowing from the Sage Hill School Overdrive site are easily managed by Amazon account! eBook usage is steadily rising, largely due to faculty use.

State of the Library: December

Bretford Mobile Shelves (from their website)

Space Update

                Mobile shelves have arrived downstairs and were promptly assembled. About half of the fiction section is being moved downstairs and has already seen an increase in usage, undoubtedly from browsing and visibility. In the next year, the library will look at moving the entirety of fiction downstairs for usage and logistical reasons.

eBook Update

                The library has enlisted the largest eBook service in schools to provide Sage Hill with an eLibrary. OverDrive is now fully operational, and a private beta was introduced to the faculty over the break. It will be rolled out to the students over the month of January. OverDrive provides ebooks and audiobooks in several formats for use on private devices as well as school-provided computers.

Technology in the Library

                One of the two iPads purchased at the end of last year for library use was stolen from the downstairs library on a busy service learning day. The remaining iPad is still available for community check out but is locked to a desk upstairs unless requested. The iPad’s ability to switch languages in settings has been used to write a paper and several of our print subscriptions are also available to read with its updated operating system. Laptop use in the library is slowly climbing every month.