Hello all.
As I imagine it has been for all of you, this has been a hectic and unusual year! My first year as Librarian here at St. Maurice School has definitely been exciting and eventful.
Starting in September, we all learned about quarantining books, keeping our distance, and sanitizing before touching any books. We celebrated I Love to Read Month in February with safe and fun activities.
Covid aside, students this year had the opportunity to reserve in-demand books that they wished to read. This has proved very popular with the grades 4-6 students. Also new this year was a read-aloud period in each classroom, built into the schedule for all elementary grades Kindergarten to 6, in addition to once a cycle cohort book exchange times. I am hoping to continue these after we return to a post-Covid normality, depending on feedback from teachers and admin approval.
Although this is a short recap of Library news from the year, the Library is still up and running and we have two exciting activities still to come!
Virtual Book Fair
Parents of K-8 students will soon receive an email regarding our first St. Maurice School Virtual Book Fair! This completely online Book Fair runs from May 17, 2021 at 12:01 am to May 31, 2021. Included in the email will be a link to access the Fair. While it is active immediately, all books available during the Book Fair dates are not viewable until the link is fully live on May 17th. Feel free to visit the link prior to the Fair start to watch trailers and to see some of the over 450 items which will be available for purchase.
MYRCA Voting
MYRCA stands for Manitoba Young Reader Choice Awards. Each year, a panel of teachers, librarians, parents, and booksellers choose a selection of Canadian books for young people [split into two categories – Sundogs (grades 4-6) and Northern Lights (grades 6+)]. Students have the opportunity to read the books and then vote for their favourite. Many grade 4-6 students were very excited to take part in the MYRCA voting this year and have read several of the MYRCA nominee books already. Unfortunately, with so many cohorts having to self-isolate recently and now the move to full remote learning, it is difficult to get all of our SMS voting completed. However, it is still possible!
Students: if you have been taking part in the MYRCA reading this past year, I want your vote counted! Have you read three or more of the following titles:
o Camp Average
o Dog Driven
o Ember and the Ice Dragons
o Girl of the Southern Sea
o Mya’s Strategy to Save the World
o No Girls Allowed
o Pickles vs. Zombies
o The Case of Windy Lake
o The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane
o Wings of Olympus
If so, email Mrs. Doiron at cdoiron@stmaurice.mb.ca and tell me which ones you have read, and which one is your favorite. If you have read 3-5, tell me one favorite. If you have read 6-10, tell me your two favorite titles from the list.
Voting needs to be completed by May 28, 2021 so get your responses in to me as soon as possible, please!
I realize some of you had reserved one or more of these titles, and because of self-isolation requirements were not able to pick them up. Never fear – the Winnipeg Public Library has most of these MYRCA titles available as e-books for your convenience and can be accessed here: Kids - Winnipeg Public Library - OverDrive
Remote Learning Period Reading Time – During the next several days, I will be working with the classroom teachers to find a way to continue reading to the students. I have accessed a tripod and have learnt how to record and videotape myself reading aloud. The next step will be to upload the recordings to SeeSaw so the students can access them. Stay tuned!
All the best to you all as we switch to full remote. This place will be very quiet and rather lonely without the hustle and bustle of the students. I eagerly await their return at the end of May and join with you all in praying for a swift end to this pandemic. May God continue to bless us and keep us safe.
Mrs. Cheryl Doiron, Librarian
“We read to know we're not alone.” ― William Nicholson, Shadowlands
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