Our Media Center has been a very busy place this year, and we have strived to transform it from a Library to a Learning Commons for all students at Hornung. Below are some of the new programs that have been adopted this year. We will continue to build upon these programs, continuing to make our Media Center a place that students enjoy visiting, learning and exploring.

• Redeveloped Library Curriculum for JK, Kindergarten and 1st Grade students, including interactive lessons to promote a love of reading.
• Adopted PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next programs to enhance student learning of research skills.
  
• Received a Tech Grant from the BAS school board to engage students in reading for pleasure through eBooks online from TumbleBook.
  
• Using Web 2.0 tools such as Animoto, Puppet EDU, Pic Collage with classes to add a technology aspect to student projects.
  
• Introduced STEM based learning through the adoption of Genius Hour for JK, Kindergarten and 1st Grade students, and extended the offering of additional classes to 2nd-4th grade classes.
• A record high Fall Scholastic Book Fair run by our fabulous parent volunteers, as well as a newly adopted Spring Scholastic Book Fair run by our Library Staff & PTO, were both very successful for our students. These two fairs allowed the library to give back to our teachers and students, and purchase numerous new nonfiction resources and genre requested by our students that enhance their excitement and love of reading.

Our library is a center of learning and activity, and we will continue to focus on library services that achieve student success!

The Library staff collaborates with teachers on resources needed to support curriculum. These collaborations have been successful in updating our collection development for better updated resources for our students to complete projects. We also collaborate with teachers to integrate technology into the curriculum to engage students, and enhance their learning outcomes. Our teachers go above and beyond to enhance student learning!

Our students enjoyed some fabulous author visits this year! Leslie Helakoski presented to our JK-2 students, explaining the writing process and her collection of books, beginning with "Big Chickens". She also offered sales of autographed copies of her books. Bryan Chick presented to our 3-4 students, explaining his "Secret Zoo" series to our students, getting them excited about reading and writing. He also offered sales of autographed copies of his books. In addition, we had a special visit from Bill Meyer, introducing his new book "The Secret of the Scarab Beetle" to 3rd & 4th grade students, signing book marks and autographing copies of this new series of books. We were honored to have these authors visit our school this year!

Mrs. Beaver, our Library Assistant, created a new "home" in our library for our Graphic Novels and "Who Is"/"Who Was" collections. These new "homes" peaked the interest of our students, increasing the circulation of these collections, and enhancing student learning. Graphic Novels powerfully attract and motivate kids to read, especially struggling readers who are usually hard to reach. Complex plots also attract advanced readers. The "Who Is"/"Who Was" collections engage students in nonfiction biographies, making this curriculum more enticing for students to conduct research.

Based on requests by parents and support of our Administrator, we decided to run a Spring Book Fair this year. This was the first time in several years that a Spring Book Fair has been run at Hornung. It was highly successful, and we are so grateful to our parents, PTO and staff for their support! As mentioned previously, this added much needed resources to our library collection.

Our library was staffed by a part time certified teacher media specialist and a part time media assistant. All students JK through 4th grade were given weekly library times to participate in lessons and/or circulation of books.

• Expanding the Library Curriculum
• Offer more events that promote reading and the library
• Expand the Genius Hour (STEM) program
• Offer more opportunities for classes to conduct library projects and research

It has been a pleasure teaching at Hornung this year! Thank you to all of our wonderful staff, students and parents for your support. Have a great summer!

-Mrs. Richards