The Library
Victoria Park Collegiate Institute's school library is bustling with activity. Students come here to study quietly, to read the latest bestseller in one of our comfy chairs in the quiet reading corner, or to learn research skills with the help of one of the teacher-librarians. Classes are booked into our cross-curricular lab and, depending on the nature of the task, are taken through their assignment using the TDSB Student Research Guide. All students are required to have a copy of this handy document and use it in the completion of all their research assignments as they work through the 4- stage research process. It was provided free of charge to all students at the start of this school year.
The Official Victoria Park Library Website
Staff
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Ms. Maize, full-time teacher-librarian Ms. Waybrant, full-time teacher-librarian Ms. Derosario, secretary |
Language Lab
Victoria Park C.I. was one of the first schools in the TDSB to have a full class-size language lab. The purpose of the lab is to provide students with additional literacy support using software such as Kurzweil and Dragon. Each station is equipped with earphones and students have a unique log-in to allow them to scan in their reading passages, have their work checked for spelling and grammatical errors and also have literature read back to them.
"Lit-Up" News
In addition to research lessons to support the curriculum, the library offers several unique opportunities for students to further develop their literacy skills. This focus on literacy development using a variety of activities and motivational approaches is called "Lit Up". Such include various co-curricular clubs and workshops including the Poetry Toolbox workshop series, the White Pine book club, the Guys Read discussion group, the Accelerated Reader program, and a host of other exciting workshops to discuss things like censorship, spoken word poetry, Canada in Song, etc.
This year will see the introduction of a new initiative involving 1st and 2nd year CAS students. These IB students will form a group known as Literacy Leaders and as such, will lead other students in book discussions , creative as well as essay writing skills, and assist with improving the design and layout of the library to make it more student-friendly. They may also help mentor students in preparing for the Grade 10 Literacy test.
Poetry Toolbox Workshop Series
We are pleased to bring back renowned poet and writing instructor Angela Rawlings, who will be conducting the Poetry Toolbox workshop series with students from all grades. Some of these will occur with specific classes while others will invite students out of class to participate with a mixed grouping of students. This is a unique opportunity for Vic Park students interested in honing their creative writing skills and learning about the publishing industry. Our school has, for the second time, been specially selected by the Ontario Arts Council to receive a substantial subsidy to run this series, something we would not otherwise be able to afford. As well, each student will receive a certificate endorsed by the council to commemorate their participation in the workshop(s).
White Pine Book Club
The White Pine reading program is returning in February. It involves both staff and students who love reading and is sponsored by the Ontario Library Association. Students are to read 10 nominated Canadian young adult fiction novels and then vote for their favourite. Based on student voting across the province, the most popular book is selected and the author is honoured in a special celebration to which each participating school is invited . The aim of the program is to promote recreational reading and increase student awareness of quality Canadian authors. Last year more than 70 students participated along with 16 staff and even our community police officer; each year is even more successful and popular than the last.
"Guys Read" Discussion Group
Not everyone shares the same love of reading as our White Pine members, without a little bit of encouragement that is. Yet the benefits of reading are so well known, from helping to build vocabulary to even increasing a person's self-esteem! It is for this reason that the library is introducing a new club this year for "guys who hate to read". The aim of the club is to instill a gradual love for the written word by providing material geared to the reading level and interest of some of our male students and have thought provoking discussions in groups of various sizes, in a casual environment. Our aim is to replicate a book club atmosphere with informal seating, and small groupings of students and staff discussing various books that they have selected themselves. We aim to have senior male students who love to read work with us to encourage and inspire our younger reluctant readers.
Available Resources
Allow us a moment to boast. Our library has just undergone a massive weeding of older, out-dated books and our current collection stands at over 30,000 items. We are continuing to build this up with new materials to support each department's curriculum as well as maintain the best in fiction to support our recreational reading program.
As well, we have over 25 magazine and journal subscriptions to complement the Ebsco on-line database on the library webpage.
And that's not all... we are home to over 20 graphic novel series.
Library Webpage
The board developed Library Web Page provides fingertip access to a number of TDSB subscribed online databases as well as a rich list of curriculum related web links. Both teachers and students will benefit from this great resource.
The online databases include:
EBSCO provides full text articles from thousands of international newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals. From Advertising Age to The Ziff Davis Smart Business for the New Economy, the selection is mind boggling. More popular periodicals include MacLean's, The Economist and Sports Illustrated. The most current issue of each periodical is usually accessible and back issues usually go back 5 to 10 years.
Thomson Gale on-line databases— operates similar to Ebsco with even more databases and includes e-books from a variety of subject areas including History, Multicultural Studies, Science, etc.
The Grolier Family of Encyclopedias include a number of publications aimed at different grade levels and subject areas
E-Stat is a Statistics Canada product that offers a huge collection of reliable and current statistics about Canada and its people. It includes CANSIM, Census, and Human Activity and the Environment.
Novelist allows students to find novels that fit their interest criteria (genre, plot, author, setting, etc)
Star Pages of the Past provides all the back issues of the publication from 1892 to 2001. Over 30,000 issues and millions of articles have been scanned.
**new: Opposing Viewpoints —a vast database of multiple perspectives on a wide variety of issues.
The Library Web Page also provides access to Vic Park's Library Catalogue, as well as TDSB's Professional Library (print material) and MediaNet (a/v and multimedia material).
One of the beauties of this resource is that you can access it from home as well as from school with a username and password. Please ask a librarian or teacher for this combination.
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Hours of Operation Monday-Friday 8:00am - 4:00 pm |
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