News from the MLC Library

Happy February!

Right now in the Kx3 library classes we are reading through the 5 books nominated for the Patricia Gallagher Children's Choice Book Award. Once we have read all 5 students will get to vote for their favorite one! These votes are sent on to Oregon State Literacy Association to be tallied with other votes. The winner will be announced later in the Spring. This is a fun opportunity for students to not only enjoy reading some new books, but to consider what makes a book good and what kind of books they personally enjoy. So far we have read Too Many Pigs and One Big Bad Wolf, Magic Candies, Summertime Sleepers, and Quiet Please, Owen McPhee! Ask your student which one is their favorite so far.

I applied for and was awarded a $500 grant from the Oregon State Literacy Association to buy new books about holidays and celebrations for the library. Our collection is outdated and does not cover the wide range of ways that communities celebration. The first books arrived this week and they are so great! I can't wait to share them with students and teachers. I will keep you updated as more books arrive and how we will put them to use in the library.

During Library class students have a chance to pick a STEAM focused station to explore. The of the stations is to engage students in collaboration, creativity, and problem solving. I have recently added some exciting new stations: Chess, Coding Robots, Snap Circuit Boards, and Brain Flakes! Students also enjoyed the game Gnomes at Night that was generously donated by a student.

Our check out total for the year is up to 2,327! Our total for last school year was 7,028. I wonder if we will beat that this year. Keep up the good work using these amazing books. This is also a great time of year to search your house for any missing library books. Even books from past years should be returned. I love it when libraries books find their way home again.

See you in the library!

Molly

February is Black History Month. Any time of year is a good time to read books by black authors and about black people, but this month is a great time to spend time educating yourself, your family, and your community. Below you will find 2 book lists of things to read about black history and to celebrate black culture. You will also find 2 pages with information to share you kids about Black History.

Social Justice Books Black History Month Reading List

National Geographic Kids Information about Black History Month

BrainPop Black History Resources

Recently, the library received some incredibly generous anonymous donations! With such a limited budget and the threat of further cuts, we rely on the generosity of our community to fill in the gaps. So, I am incredibly thankful to those who support the work we are doing in the library. Students are deeply appreciative of the lovely new options exploration. Thank you so much for your generosity and kindness.

Do you have shelves of books that are just collecting dust? Or piles of toys and games that aren't getting used? Consider donating them to the MLC library!

This is list of older books that need to be replaced or that we need more copies of. Ideally, donated books would be hard back and in good condition, but paperbacks would be considered:

- Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (and other books written by Rick Riordan)

- One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Suess

- Every Day by David Leviathan

- Jurassic Park and The Lost World by Michael Crichton

- Amulet Book 3: The Cloud Searchers by Kazu Kibuishi

- Bad Guys, book 18 by

- Allegiant, 3rd book in Divergent series by Veronica Roth

- Legend, Book 1, Prodigy, book 2, and Rebel, book 3 by Marie Lu

- Escaping Peril, Wings of Fire graphic novel, book 8 by Barry Deutsch

Here are some games, activities, and tools that I would love to add to the options for choice stations:

- Magnet tiles (This is the type we already have)

- Tangram blocks

- Rubix Cubes

- Legos

- Other logic, STEM, collaborative games, materials, or activities

Looking for something new to read?

Here are some recommendations by staff and students from our library.

You can find these books on the blue shelf by the door.

Do you want to give a recommendation? Come talk to Molly in the library!

Recommendation from Me (Molly)!

Do you love learning about nature? This series of books each cover a topic like flowers, ocean animals, or bugs. They are beautifully illustrated and the information is written in small chunks making it fun and easy to read. We have all 5 of these books in the library ready to be explored!

Are you wanting to read some new things in 2025? Try out our MLC reading challenge. All you have to do is print out the sheet and try to read one book that fits each category throughout the year.

Students all over Oregon will be voting on which book they like the best. If you read 2 or more of the books selected for ORCA, you can earn a vote! If you earn your vote, you will be invited to a celebration at the end of the year. 1 copy of each ORCA book is available in the MLC library. You can also find them at the public library.

Destiny Discover

Destiny Discover allows you to look through the books we have in the MLC library. You can also see what you have checked out, put holds on books, and see any fines on your account. You can add books to a favorites list and even leave reviews. Log in to your PPS account on any device and look for the Destiny icon on your Class Link home page - myapps.classlink.com

Sora

Sora gives you access to E-books and audiobooks from both Portland Public Schools and through Multnomah County Library. To learn more about how to access Sora check out these slides.

Library Connect

Did you know that every student enrolled in Portland Public Schools automatically gets a library card? Pretty cool! This mean you can check out physical books as well as e-books and audiobooks and all the other cool resources they have available. The login for your account will be 01 followed by your ID number (ex. 01123456) and the password is your 8 digit numerical birthday (ex. April 10, 2010 - 04102010). If you need more information or you cannot log in look here or contact the Multnomah county library at 503-988-5123

The library hours:

Monday: Closed

Tuesday: 8:30-4:00

Wednesday: 9:00-3:45

Thursday: 9:00-2:45

Friday: Closed

Email: msoloway@pps.net
Location: 2033 NW Glisan
Phone: (503) 916 2658