Bookweek theme: Escape to everywhere
A theme that was easy to incorporate into a range of special library based activities for the week.
Focus in the library: “Escape from the Library” Clues were hidden inside books throughout the collection, each clue leading the competitor to the next until eventually students needed to consult “City Atlas” to answer the final question to get a key to the door to escape.
City atlas: travel the world with 30 city maps / Haake, Martin & Cherry, Georgia (2015).
Focus around the school. A regular event to involve all school personnel. A poster for each staff member announcing what book they are currently reading, is displayed near their work area.
Children seeing adults reading is recognised as a major contributor to increasing literacy among our young people, especially when it is the John Shannon Centre Manager, a PE teacher, or an IT administrator.
Focus beyond the Library: Exploring Virtual Reality
Students were introduced to the Virtual Reality world using Casemate VR viewers. Using a library phone or loading an app onto their own phone, then inserting the phone into the viewer, students entered another world of roller coasters, jungles, space and fantasy.
Students also attempted to walk a plank suspended between two high city buildings. Watching students creep slowly across the library while immersed in this virtual world was very entertaining. A fascinating experience for students (& staff) with many VR educational opportunities now to be explored.