Library Update | What’s New in June.
What’s New in the Library.
Term 2 for the library meant more new resources, book requests from students and staff for leisure reading and for study, the launch of the Mac.Rob Reading Challenge (MRC) for Year 9s in place of the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, the rise of the jigsaw puzzles being completed by any students who could see it and needed a study break, displays and promotions for IDAHOBIT, staff reading recommendations, Reconciliation Week, and the regular onslaught of dictionary loans for SACS, assessments in all Year levels, and the GAT.
We have been gradually adding to the Manga collection with the purchase of requests from the Anime Club, plus purchasing replacements for well-read manga titles.
Looking ahead to Term 3, we will try and organise another author talk to coincide with Book Week. The Book Week theme from the CBCA (Children’s Book Council of Australia) is officially Symphony of Stories. We will use this theme for our annual bookmark competition that we open to all the students.
Book Week does involve the whole school for the costume parade, prizes, and competitions that may be run by not just the library, but also the Mac.Reads Club. A heads up to all staff and students to consider what your Book Week costume will be for the Book Week Parade, to be held on Thursday 27th August. There will be prizes for the categories of:
Best Group/Duo Costume
Best DIY / Sustainable Costume
Best Staff Costume
Best House Costume
We are also hoping to add a few more categories for prizewinners, so keep an eye out for Book Week information in Term 3 and get your costumes ready.
Alice Pung Author Talk
On Wednesday, May 20th, well-known author Alice Pung came to Mac.Rob. The library collaborated with the English domain and organised for Alice to do an author talk at lunchtime in the theatre for all staff and students to attend, followed by an exclusive talk to the Year 11 English students in Period 5.
The library talk was initiated from a query by the Mac.Reads group. They told us they were discussing memoirs in their group meetings and asked about the possibility of organising a suitable author to visit, which ended up being Alice Pung. Alice attended Mac.Rob when she was in Year 11. She had previously visited to do an author talk back in 2016 and was extremely happy to be returning. Alice was interviewed by two of the Mac.Reads group members, Sasha F and Shipra S, who collaborated to create a series of insightful, thoughtful questions to ask her.
Alice spoke about her life, growing up in an Asian family, and translating everything to her parents. She also talked about dealing with racism. She gave advice about writing to the students and the realistic situation of being lucky enough to have well-published books, while also needing to keep working as a legal researcher to supplement her income.
Alice was then taken on a tour of the refurbished library, followed by a signing of her books for students.
The Mac.Rob Reading Challenge - Year 9
This Term, the library officially launched the MRC - the Mac.Rob Reading Challenge - for Year 9 students. This is a new program to take the place of the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge. We invited any Year 9s to become committee members, and 12 students put their hand up to join.
Chocolate winners of MRC Weeks 7-9: Misha VijayWargiya (9E), Ivy Huang (9E), Daksha Nagula (9E), Yining Shao (9A), Suu Mon Naing (9A), Koyena Das (9A), Hayley Im (9C). Absent: Serah Elizabeth Paul (9E).
While we have only been able to have two meetings in person, decisions have been made as a committee about weekly winners, how to distribute prizes, and doing positive chronicle entries for students. We are also organising an MRC pin for each committee member.
The goal of the MRC is to:
Encourage literacy at Mac.Rob.
Foster a love of reading.
Learn how to use our school library and borrow books.
Provide a Leadership opportunity for MRC Committee members.
Develop students ability to write about literature (book reviews) and to practice and showcase their creative talents (fan artwork, alternative book cover).
Use Padlet, which provides the good things about social media in a safe environment - plus they learn how to use a new social media app!
Build relationships with staff (your Librarians and English teachers).
Build relationships with each other at a year level through respect, encouragement, and support of one another.
We subscribed to Padlet, a format which allows users to post on pages that are set up in their Connect Class allocations. Students can post book reviews, alternate book cover designs, and fan artwork. Each post can be given feedback by ourselves and by their peers as comments and/or emojis. It is a format which allows us to control and moderate any comments using a safety-net moderation system.
Every student is encouraged to participate, but not forced to, as we understand the business of a Mac.Rob student. As suggested by our MRC Committee members, we have been able to attend Year 9 Singing which the entire Year level is involved in, and it is here we present the week's winner of a canteen voucher, and the shortlisted students that receive two chocolate prizes each. These students are announced and are celebrated as a Year level.
Miss Talei Valucava & Mr. Oliver Jach | Library Leaders
Student Reviews & Fan Art.
Here are some of the submissions the Year 9s have written for book reviews, fan artwork, and/or alternate book covers.
_____
Book Review by Vibha S (9A): If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say
This book is one that divides the reader's brain into two.
1. Should I feel sympathetic for the character?
2. Should I hate the character?
If You Don't Have Anything Nice To Say is a novel by Leila Sales. Now, let me preface this: There is a full-blown war regarding this book. If you DARE to look on Goodreads, you will see paragraphs of pure hatred for the book, and comments that say how "Leila Sales has done it again!" and what an "incredible read" it is.
Now, I myself have polarising views on the book. Personally, I found Leila's Sale's writing to be captivating, and I have to admit that I couldn't put the book down. The message, however, didn't sit right with me (and a lot of other people apparently. Read the 342 hate essays that people have written on Goodreads)
Winter Halperin is a privileged girl who comes from a wealthy Caucasian background. She was the National Spelling Bee winner five years ago, and after Sintra Gabes wins the current spelling bee, Winter decides to put a micro-aggressive comment on social media. It was racist, and meant to be taken as a "joke". When Winter woke up the next morning, her comment went viral. The Internet hates her, and her college of choice revoked her position. Winter attempts to justify herself, but it worsens. Winter's friends are hurt by her comment, and she is completely, and utterly alone. She goes to a rehabilitation centre and tries to fix the pieces of her life back together.
Now, why is this book so controversial? The premise sounds relatively normal. Well, readers realised Winter was not the typical main character. She often victimised herself for her own mistakes, and never tried to redeem herself, just other people. She was an MC that people hated. In my opinion, I liked that Winter was not the typical MC that I often see in books. But there was an issue that I (and 342 other people) noticed. The takeaway of the story. I hoped that the moral would be something along the lines of "be careful of what you post" or "be respectful of everyone. Instead, the message was more like: "Do not attack people on the Internet. Because even if they say horrible things, you shouldn't say horrible things back," and honestly, it is kind of valid.
But WHAT IS THE POINT OF THAT IF YOU DON'T ADDRESS THE ACTUAL "VICTIMS" IN THE SITUATION? I'M SORRY, BUT I THINK THAT SINTRA GABES DESERVED THE APOLOGY IN THE END, NOT WINTER! WINTER NEEDED TO APOLOGISE. SHE NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT SHE DID WAS WRONG AND HEAL ON HER OWN!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT WINTER DID IN THE END? SHE DECIDED TO SUPPORT PEOPLE LIKE HER WHO DID WRONG THINGS ON THE INTERNET (REALLY WRONG THINGS BY THE WAY), AND SAY: "IT'S OKAY, OTHER PEOPLE HAVE DONE WORSE. I'LL BE HERE FOR YOU". IS THIS THE MESSAGE WE REALLY WANT TO SPREAD?!
Anyway, I don't know if I can recommend this book since it was so controversial. I liked the author's writing style, and enjoyed reading the book...until the end. However, I cannot support the message it gave. Some people interpreted it differently, but I really wish the ending could have been a message that did not justify Winter's actions.
My rating:
Characters: 3/10, MINIMAL DEVELOPMENT, and hard to support.
Setting: 8/10, the author describes the settings beautifully, and her language matches every scene.
Plot: 6/10. Great, UNTIL THE END WITH IT'S NOT-SO-NICE MESSAGE.
So, if you liked atypical storybooks and want to see the message in a new light, you might want to give this book a try.
Got a sensational story to share? Students can request books for the library to purchase - including fiction, non-fiction, reference books, and manga - via the Google Form on the Library Portal!