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Head Librarian, Lucy Atherton, writes about World Book Day 2019
Every year on World Book Day we celebrate books and reading and aim to enthuse the whole school community. This year the book elves wrapped and hid a large number of books around the College grounds and in the Houses, including quick reads written by Malorie Blackman and Patrice Lawrence. We had so many interesting conversations with students about what they were reading when they dropped into the library to tell us where they’d found the books and to claim additional chocolate prizes.
As well as book quizzes in the dining hall and V&A, we had a picture representing 27 English figures of speech. This generated plenty of discussion amongst staff and students with lots of people coming in for clues! Favourite books bunting provided another opportunity to chat about reading and we put up a ‘100 Books Bucket List’ scratch-off poster to see if the combined readers of Wellington could achieve this target. (No-one has laid claim to James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ or Dostoyevsky’s ‘Crime and Punishment’ yet!)
The highlight of the day was a repeat of last Summer Term’s ‘Paws for Thought’ event when we invited staff dogs and their owners to visit the library for some light relief after sport and a break from exam revision. This year we had a bountiful supply of young spaniels who were as excited to see each other as the students. It was a really joyful time for humans and canines and a number of staff and students took the opportunity to borrow books that we had recommended at regular intervals throughout the day.
We also took the opportunity to launch our new audio book platform. We can now offer audio books online or via a phone app through eplatform from Wheelers Books. Audio books are ideal for long journeys and the selection includes a number of set-texts which can be helpful for revision – for example ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, ‘Journey’s End’ and ‘The Alchemist’.
As we approach the Easter break, we have been encouraging students to come along to browse the extensive range of new books – both fiction and non-fiction and borrow some holiday reading. Here are the cracking reading suggestions from World Book Day”.
