Friday, 9 June 2023

Pride Month at the Library

This week, the Library team have been working on displays and reading lists for Pride Month!

We have included some of our personal favourites below but for a longer list check out our page on the Library App.


Radio Silence by Alice Oseman (STM Library)

'Best known at GCH for their highly successful Heartstopper series, Alice Oseman is also the author of several brilliant contemporary YA novels - my favourite of which is Radio Silence.

Radio Silence follows sixth form student Frances and her new friend Aled - the creator of her favourite podcast and brother of Frances's missing childhood friend. 

Together, the two characters start to question everything they know about themselves and what they want from life in this exploration of identity, academic pressure and the complexities of teenage friendships.'

- Ms. Weston 


More Than This by Patrick Ness (STA/STM Libraries)

Chosen by Mrs. Swan 

'A boy called Seth drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments, losing his life as the pounding sea claims him. But then he wakes. He is naked, thirsty, starving. But alive. How is that possible? He remembers dying, his bones breaking, his skull dashed upon the rocks. So how is he is here? And where is this place? It looks like the suburban English town where he lived as a child, before an unthinkable tragedy happened and his family moved to America. But the neighbourhood around his old house is overgrown, covered in dust and completely abandoned. 

 

What's going on? And why is it that whenever he closes his eyes, he falls prey to vivid, agonizing memories that seem more real than the world around him? Seth begins a search for answers, hoping that he might not be alone, that this might not be the hell he fears it to be, that there might be more than just this...' 



Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (STM Library)

'Girl, Woman, Other deservedly earned Bernadine Evaristo the Booker Prize in 2019 (shared with fellow feminist literary trailblazer Margaret Atwood) for its innovative structure and compelling intertwined narratives that explore gender, class, sexuality and race. Evaristo's characters are mostly women of colour, and range from banker to cleaner, teacher to activist, old to young, rich to poor, gay and straight. As the author herself explained, "I wanted to put presence into absence".' 

- Ms. Steadman



For more recommendations, check out our displays at St Andrew's Library (pictured below) and at St Michael's Library.

Happy Pride Month!

Thursday, 11 May 2023

Asian and Middle Eastern Heritage

This half term, the Diversity and Inclusion Club are focusing on Asian and Middle Eastern Heritage and have asked the Library if we can share some book recommendations by Asian and Middle Eastern authors.

As part of this, we've put together a short reading list for you here and have set up displays in both libraries. For even more book recommendations, click here to check out the long list on our Library App!


East Asia

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (STA)

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (STM)

The Girl who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh (STA)

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (STM)

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong (STA/STM)

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han (STA/STM)

Tokyo Ever After by 

You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao 



South Asia

Anita and Me by Meera Syal (STA/STM)

Asha and the Spirit World by Jasbinder Bilan (STA)

The Balloon Thief by Aneesa Marufu (STM)

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar (STM)

Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed (STA)

The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri (STM)

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani (STA)*

Zara Hossain is Here by Sabina Khan (STA)



West Asia and the Middle East

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (STA/STM*

Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram (STA)

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie (STM)

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (STA/STM)

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh (STA)

This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi (STA)



All starred titles (*) have been personally chosen for students by members of the Diversity and Inclusion Club. 


Friday, 5 May 2023

Pupil Librarian Training Day

 This week, our Pupil Librarians travelled to The Elmgreen School for a busy day of training and a talk by Sufiya Ahmed, author of Rosie Raja: Churchill's Spy and Noor Inayat Khan.

At Elmgreen, we heard from former CILIP* President Barbara Band about the Pupil Library Assistant of the Year award and gained a lot of inspiration from hearing about the work of other Pupil Librarians throughout London. 

In the morning, our students learnt more about day to day library work, customer service and GDPR. We then spent a busy afternoon completing book themes quizzes and working on promotional posters. As part of this task, students were introduced to a new book and asked to create an A3 promotional poster. 

Our Pupil Librarians did a great job producing two beautiful posters in oil pastels which will soon be up on display in the LCA!




* Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals