Library Week gave us the opportunity to celebrate our library with loads of fun activities for everyone, students and staff, to get involved in. Every day a library-related question was posted in the school notices and the first person to arrive with the correct answer got a sweet treat. We also had a little book sale running, with books going for 50c and Magazines for 25c - this, we will keep running for a while longer.

Banned and Challenged books are a hot topic worldwide, so we looked at some of the most popular banned and challenged books with a display. What is the difference between a Banned and Challenged book? Banning is a book being, well, banned and thus removed. This also means that there is often a punishment if someone is caught selling or issuing the material. A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials based on the objections of a person or group. Both of are a form of censorship which is always important to discuss. None of the books which were on display are currently banned in Aotearoa/New Zealand. It’s always important to look at these and understand why they are, or have, been banned or challenged.

The staff and students had a couple of chances to compete against each other with a Bookish Quiz and Book Title Charades. The students won the Quiz while the staff won the Charades! So, even footing at the end of the week. These were super fun for everyone involved, and we will do them again. Well done, and many thanks to everyone who took part!

Ms Middleton hosted a craft session where students made coasters with pages from an old book. There were some fabulous creations made, with some even going rogue! We love to see all the creative ways students take the crafts we do in the library.

The library will be running another Library Week on 7-11 August!

We love celebrating all the different cultures within our kura, so honouring our Samoan wāhine with Samoan Language Week has been fantastic. We have been fortunate to have some beautiful Samoan items to display in our display case from the Tauranga Local Heritage Collection.

With June comes Pride Month, and once again, we will celebrate all the diversity of our kura with a Pride display - which we will be entering into a library display competition run by Out on the Shelves.

Our Reading Challenge is still going strong. In June, our reading themes are:

• A book that has an LGBTQIA+ character or representation.

• A book that shares the story of a refugee, fiction or non-fiction.

• A book set on, in, or around the ocean.

We cannot wait to see what everyone reads.

There have been several new book reviews shared. You can see them below.

Here are some new books and magazines we have added to our collection:

If your young person has overdue school library books, we would love to have them back, no questions asked. If you have received a letter about them but no longer know where they are, please don’t hesitate to get in touch to discuss them.

Find our library homepage here. Students can sign in to see when their books are due and look at what we have in our catalogue. You can also check out any updates, reviews and new arrivals there!