St. Benedict Preparatory School Library

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St. Benedict Preparatory Library A page for keeping up with the exciting things happening in the St. Benedict Preparatory Elementary and Secondary libraries.

Happy Saturday, everybody! It's Mrs. Susina. Before deleting this SBPS Library page (as there is a new one that Mrs. Wiederkehr is moderating - see previous post), I wanted to let you know where I ended up.

After a relaxing (but also anxious) summer, I was offered the job of Information and Digital Services librarian in the children’s department at Franklin Park Public Library. I started there this past Monday. I had a very good feeling when I interviewed there and the children’s area felt very comfortable. In the 5 days that I have been there, I feel like I have known my co-workers for much longer. I am very lucky that I found such a wonderful group of people to work with. I am also thrilled that they use the Dewey Decimal system! There will be lots of new challenges ahead and I am looking forward to learning what it is like to be a public librarian.

I miss you all very much, but I know that the experiences I had with your children in the last 5 years will be with me and I know it helped to prepare me for my new role. I do still plan on visiting St. Ben’s, as I do have vacation pictures of Ivan the gorilla to share (the book character that students voted for me to take with over summer vacation) and I will be sure to visit the book fair in December. If you ever find yourself in the Franklin Park area, be sure to stop by and see me :) I hope you all had a great start to the school year and I wish everyone well in the months ahead!

The SBPS Library has a new page! Be sure to click on the link below so that you can stay up to date with what is going on in the library. This page will no longer be updated.

If you want to access past posts from this page, you can always find them on The Bengal Book Blog at https://sbpslibrary.wordpress.com/.

St. Benedict Preparatory Library A page for keeping up with the exciting things happening in the St. Benedict Preparatory Elementary and Secondary libraries.

Here's to hoping that you all had a wonderful and safe holiday weekend. Ivan got to spend a bit of time enjoying food, family, and fun!

Ivan and Mrs. Susina were invited to see a preview of the upcoming show, Disney's Aladdin, at the Cadillac Palace yesterday! This was great start to the summer - and Ivan seemed to enjoy the few songs that were sung to get the audience excited about the production, which will be here beginning in April 2017.

On Friday, the Bengals Bookworms met to discuss their favorite books of the moment. These 6th graders wanted to squeeze in one more book club meeting before summer break. We shared breakfast treats and took a few minutes each to book talk our books to the group. The girls also surprised me with some very thoughtful good-bye gifts that I will treasure always :)

"Heidi" by Johanna Spyri
"Faceless" by Alyssa Sheinmel
"Fantasy League" by Mike Lupica
"Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard
"The Martian' by Andy Weir
"The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander
"Flora and Ulysses" by Kate Di Camillo
"I Am Princess X" by Cherie Priest
"The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World" - by Shannon and Dean Hale (release date - Feb. 2017)
"March: Book One" by John Lewis

This week, we have been saying good-bye, signing yearbooks, and giving out LOTS of hugs :)

You have all been so kind when speaking to me in the hallways about my leaving St. Ben's. I appreciate your support and I will somehow let you know where I end up (the kids really want to know!).

I hope to see you again, as I am sure that I will attend St.Ben's events and visit to see how everyone is doing. I'm sure I won't be able to stay away! Thanks again so very much :)

P.S. I have also been taking pictures with each class (except for kindergarten due to scheduling), so if you are interested in my sending you a copy, please email at [email protected]. I can also send a copy of the book club picture from earlier this week.

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has released their reading lists for this summer. They cover birth through 8th grade. Be sure to check them out for ideas of what to read with your kids this summer!

ALSC Summer Reading Lists 2016 Titles on the 2016 Summer Reading List was compiled and annotated by members of ALSC’s Quicklists Consulting Committee

My heart was very full yesterday when close to 100 students who have attended book club over the last 4 or 5 years stopped into the library for a photo. I asked Mrs. Feely to announce that any student who had been in book club should stop by. In my mind, I thought only students from this year would come, but then they came streaming into the library in larger groups than I expected. We were missing a few friends, but it was a wonderful visual of our time together in book club

Ms. Sharon from the Sulzer branch of the Chicago Public Library visited the 1st-5th students about the Summer Learning Challenge. This year's theme is "Explore on the Go!" For more information, please see the sheet in your child's folder and/or http://www.chipublib.org/browse_program/summer-learning-challenge/. Kindergarten students were on a field trip today, but should have a sheet to bring home, as well.

For the past 4 summers, I have had the K-5 students vote on a book character for me to take on my summer vacation. This year, the winner is...Ivan the gorilla!

I will take pictures of my travels this summer, wherever they may take me, and I will send the photos to the elementary library to be shared with everyone.

A Bit of News…and a Thank You You may have heard rumblings that I will not be returning to St. Ben’s next year…and those rumblings are correct. I have been telling students as they have been coming to library class…