Pumpkin Decorating Contest

To get in the spirit of the season (pun intended), the library is sponsoring a Pumpkin Decorating Contest.  Guys, you don't want to miss this!  Each winner will receive a goody bag full of of treats, and maybe a trick or two.  Already, each bag is worth $25, and we're still adding to them.

To participate, decorate a pumpkin as a book character.  For inspiration, you can always rely on Google.

Pumpkins will be judged by a guest from the community. Prizes will be given to the best in each grade.  PLUS...there will be a contest for overall "Fan Favorite" where students, teachers and parents will have the chance to vote on their favorite.

RULES

Real pumpkins must be used.

NO carved pumpkins will be accepted.

Pumpkins should be no bigger than a basketball (roughly).  The student must be able to carry it.

Pumpkins may be painted and embellished with decorations and/or props.

Pumpkins are due in the library NO LATER than Friday, Oct. 21.  

Voting for the Fan Favorite will begin on the 24th.  Winners will be announced on Halloween!

Students, we're so excited to see your creations!  Good luck!

First Quarter Winners Annouced

Congratulations to these students who won the prize in their grade for having participated in activities in the library's Google class.

(L-R) 

8th-grader Savannah L. 

6th-grader Austin W.

7th-grader Layla S.

Remember, for each activity posted in the library's Goggle class you complete, your name is entered into a drawing for prizes.  The more you do, the more chances you have to win! Prizes are given out at the end of the nine weeks.

Teacher-Recommended Horror Books for Middle Grades

Boys and girls, spooky season is finally here!  Now, if you love a scary book as much as I do, be sure to check out this article.  It gives you 30 suggestions for reading that is just perfect for the month of October. 

Of the 30 titles listed in the article, these are the ones we currently have in the library...

Hide and Seeker

Spirit Hunters

The Girl in the Locked Room

The Dollhouse Murders

Wait Till Helen Comes

Coraline

The Graveyard Book

Don't Turn Out the Lights: A Tribute to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Among the Hidden

Doll Bones

The Night Gardener

...with more on the way!

Parent-Teacher Conference Night Library Door Prize Winners

Everyone who visited the library on the evening of Parent-Teacher conferences had the chance to enter a drawing for a free book.  Both students and parents were able to enter.  

The student winner of the book Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul was sixth grade student Braelyn Webster and the parent winner of the book How to Raise a Reader was Ms. Martha Carter, grandmother of Brayden Chandler, also a sixth-grader.

Congratulations to our winners!  Keep checking back for more opportunities to win cool, free stuff from our library and...

Keep Reading!

Celebrating Banned Book Week 2022!

"Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read and spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. For 40 years, the annual event has brought together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship".

"The theme for Banned Books Week 2022 is "Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us." Sharing stories important to us means sharing a part of ourselves. Books reach across boundaries and build connections between readers. Censorship, on the other hand, creates barriers. Banned Books Week is both a reminder of the unifying power of stories and the divisiveness of censorship, and a call to action for readers across the country to push back against censorship attempts in their communities".   -American Library Association

You may be interested to see some of the titles which have been challenged (and banned in some places) throughout the years.  Over the past decade, the following books have made it onto the Top Ten Most Challenged Book List compiled by the American Library Association, and some titles made were on the list multiple years):

 Skippyjon Jones

Harry Potter

The Hunger Games

Captain Underpants

Drama

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Bible

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Banned Book Week 2022 is being celebrated from September 18 - September 24, 2022.  Stop by the library for more information and to see a display of some books that have been frequently challenged and the reason for the challenge.

Meet Our Student Workers

Each year, two students from each grade are selected to help out in the library.  These student workers help with light clerical tasks and do lots of work with our books.  They help process and shelve the books and they're on hand at times to check one out or in for you.  They're a big help to our library program and we are very glad to have their smiling faces around. Stop in and say hi to them sometime.

8th Grade

Sadie A. and Avery T.

7th Grade

Alexa H. and Caitlyn W.

6th Grade

Sophie G. and Haygan C.

Summer Reading Bingo Winners

Hey, guys!  Welcome back to another great year of library fun at Westmoreland Middle School.  We're starting this year off with the announcement of our winners in the Summer Reading Bingo program.

Each year, to help counteract learning loss that commonly happens during the summer months, sometimes called the "summer slide", our library sponsors a Summer Reading Bingo program for our rising 7th ad 8th grade students.  Students are given a Bingo card with various types of books listed in the different squares and encouraged to read enough to BINGO, either across, down or diagonally.  Students returning their completed cards in August are entered into grade level drawings for a prize.

Congratulations to 8th grade student Madison McCollum and 7th grade student Madelyn Carpenter.  Both girls received new, hardcover copies of Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul.

Check back here often for more fun library news!

SUMMER READING BINGO

Can you believe we are already at the end of another year of school?  Time flies when you're having fun.  Hopefully, the summer won't fly by and we'll be able to fully enjoy it.

During the summer it's also important to keep your reading skills sharp.  As an incentive for you do get a little reading in, we are sponsoring another Summer Reading BINGO program.  6th and 7th grade ELA teachers will be passing out the BINGO paper shown in the photograph today.  Return these to the library by August 10, 2022 and you will earn coupons for lots of freebies (ice cream, homework passes, hat day, etc.) and be entered into a grade level drawing for a grand prize!

If you lose your paper, just zoom in on the picture to see what to read, and you can get another paper from me when we return in August.

Have a wonderfully fun, relaxing and safe summer!

Happy Reading!

It's Read Across America Day!

Today, we celebrate reading.  Of course, I hope you guys are already big time readers.  But, if not, I hope you will try to carve out a few minutes today from your busy schedule of school, after school activities and social media (you know, those hours you spend on Tik Tok and Snapchat), to dive into a good read, whether in a book or on your phone.  

And, as a perk, any student who sees this message should stop by anytime from now through March 9 for a treat.  Just tell me you saw it here!

So, Happy Day of Reading to each of you!!!

ALA Book Awards Announced Today

The ALA, or American Library Association, has just today announced its 2022 award winners for excellence in children's and young adult literature.  

The winner of the 2022 John Newbery Medal is The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera.

This year marks ONE HUNDRED YEARS in which the John Newbery Medal has been awarded for the best children's book.  The very first Newbery was awarded in 1922 to the book The Story of Mankind by Hendrick Willem van Loon.

Mrs. Creasy's favorite of all the Newbery winners is the 2004 selection The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.  To this day, it remains her favorite children's book.

Do you have a favorite Newbery-winning book?

For a complete list of this year's winners in the various categories, click HERE.