The Riccarton High School Library is very different from any other in New Zealand. We have partnered with Christchurch City Libraries to offer a joint-use library for our school and the community of Upper Riccarton to share together.

The School Library supports the Riccarton High School mission to “develop and support independent, lifelong learners”, through its services, collections and programmes. The Library has an extensive variety of resources, both in print and electronic, that support teaching and learning at Riccarton High School.

How it works:

Ms Blake and Miss Howie are the School Librarians and offer advice and support to all Riccarton High School students.

The Christchurch City Libraries card is your child’s school library card, so we ask that they bring this with them to school everyday.

Students can take out up to 30 items for four weeks. Borrowable items include: books, CDs, DVDs, eBooks, posters, audiobooks, magazines, etc.

What resources do we have:

The Library includes three Learning Centres which are dedicated classrooms for Riccarton High School from 8.30am to 4.00pm. Learning Centre 1 is a computer room with 30 computers. The Learning Centres are open to all students to work in during lunchtime and after school.

The Library runs a supervised Homework Club for students after school. Senior students help us with this by assisting with homework questions.

The Young Adult area of the Library includes books and magazines (fiction and non-fiction), graphic novels, NCEA study guides, and books set aside for class topics, as well as bean bags and sofas for relaxing.

The array of resources enables the curriculum to be easily accessible to all. Resources include non-fiction and fiction, covering genres such as horror, dystopian, sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, romance and more. We have copies of NCEA study guides that can be borrowed, and resources for students that speak English as a second language.

Improving Reading Ability:

We believe it is imperative to develop study skills and literacy. Students are encouraged to read independently. We have books set aside in the Young Adult area specifically to support reading and the curriculum. We also run competitions to reward students for the effort they put into reading.

The School Library also has an active Book Club that meets twice a term.

But wait … the Library is for the whole family:

Because our school library is a community library it is open to everyone, the whole family, and it is free to use.

As well as being able to borrow books and magazines, you can use the free computers and internet.

There are a number of activities you might like to join. Most are free and you can pop along to them without booking. These include: general book groups and book groups for new immigrants, Korean speakers, Chinese speakers and ESOL; Mah-jong Club; computer help sessions; knitting groups; and story time, music and craft activities for toddlers and babies.

New people are very welcome to join. If you would like more information please ring the Library on 941 5820, or pop in to the Library and ask.