Library
The College Library
The library is open for all students during exam time
CLUB DATES-
Film Club is on every Tuesday
Photography Club - every Wednesday
Writers’ Club --every 3rd Thursday
Chess Tournament is on now
Fun Quiz is on every 3rd Wednesday
Chess Club is daily at lunchtime
Please call to the library to sign up for Clubs which will start very soon
Students may borrow books from the library, email schoollibrary@skerriescc.ie or call to see Ms. Spelman.
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The library was built as part of the extension in 2005. In 2007 we welcomed Fiona Spelman as our librarian. Fiona had worked in education previously and is qualified in Childcare and Information Management. Her aim was to make our library a vibrant area for reading and research for all students and staff.
We began with an empty library. Our plan was to fill the shelves with attractive, educational books. With just under 100 books the library was formally opened by the famous Dublin- born author and poet Dermot Bolger. It was a lovely evening of poetry and literature enjoyed by staff, students, local librarians and friends of the College.
Today the library has are over 1,000 fiction books, reference books, DVD's, videos, journals and magazines. There are seven computers and th~once bare walls are filled with posters, photographs and memorabilia.
Fiction
All fiction books are shelved in alphabetical order by author surname. There are fiction books to suit all students;
Action
Humour
Classics
Fantasy
Graphic novels
Romance
Historical fiction
Non-fiction
Non-fiction books are by subject using the Dewey Decimal Classification system. Th is system is made up of 10 categories and covers all the academic subjects and much more. All of these books are of great benefit to the students' studies and research.
The library Day
The Library is open every day from 9.40 to 2.00. Students are brought to the library for class visits by their teachers for reading, media studies, novel study, research, project work and study. Many English classes come to the library on a regular weekly basis.
Students are welcome to use the library at lunchtime. It is a safe, warm, quiet room where they can read for pleasure, study, log on to a computer or play chess or other board game.
The students and staff always enjoy reading the daily papers:
Irish Times
lrish lndependent
Fingal Independent
Skerries News
Students are allowed to borrow books and DVD's to bring them home.
Quiz time
Every 3 weeks the library runs a fun Table Quiz. There are always many teams of 3 students to answer a range of questions. There are prizes for the winning teams.
There are also Irish, French and Spanish quizzes during the year.
Book Club
Every 4 weeks the Book Club meets. All students are welcome to join this group of avid readers who meet to review the book of the month. It is always an enjoyable meeting. The book club ,is a great way to encourage reading and give the students the ability and confidence to discuss a book critically.
Book Fair
Every December the library hosts a book fair where students and staff are welcome to view the selection of books on sale. The library gains 50% of the sales which is used to buy new books for the library.
Writers Club
Students meet to share their stories and writing ideas. The author Oisin McGann has given a writing workshop to the students which was very beneficial.
Chess Club
The chess club has many members. They play everyday during lunchtime. The library runs a chess tournament every spring and autumn which is very popular. There are prizes for the tournament winners.
Other activities
Whenever the College Is holding an event the library helps out with photograph displays.
The library also has displays for different occasions during the year
Valentine's Day
St. Patrick's Day
Easter
Halloween
Christmas
Author Visits
The library hosts two visits by authors during the year. The first occasion Is to celebrate "October Book Festiva” and the second to celebrate "World Book Day". The visits are a wonderful opportunity for the students to meet an author. They listen with enthusiasm and learn so much about the love of reading and writing.
Authors who have visited us include:
Dermot Bolger
Sarah Webb
Conor Kostick
Laura Jane Cassidy
Oisin McGann (Many times)
Aubrey Flegg
The October Book Festival
October is very busy and exciting month for the library. The month-long series of events includes:
National Poetry Day
lmprov Drama
French Lunchtime
Spanish Lunchtime
Irish lunchtime
Traditional music performances
Classical Music performances
Friendship Week
DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) This a special day when the Principal calls all classes to a stop so the students can read for a period of time.
As you can see, the library is the perfect place to develop language skills, develop research skills and foster a love of reading. There is always a warm welcome in our library.
