Category: Reading

Freedom to Read Week

Do you believe that you should be able to choose what you read? Or should other people be able to decide for you what you can read? Freedom to Read Week celebrates our fundamental freedoms as citizens of democracies and our fundamental rights as human beings. Freedom to Read Week also asks to to beware of the forces at work which erode and seek to destroy your rights and freedoms.

Do you take your Freedom to Read for granted? These are books that are available in our libraries which have been challenged, and in far too many cases, removed from shelves, and banned. Many of the books pictured here are on the list of the top 20 most banned books in the U.S. for the 2021-2022 school year.

This isn’t just happening in authoritarian states such as North Korea, Iran, China or Russia. This is happening in the so-called free world. This is happening in the United States. So far it hasn’t been as bad in Canada, but challenges are growing here and there are too many who want American censorship to come to Canada.

Find out more:

Freedom to Read Week

Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools

Challenged Works List

World Read Aloud Day

When parents read aloud to their children, they are making a profound contribution to the growth of their kids as readers, listeners and learners. Reading aloud to kids helps to introduce children to the wonders and magic of the world of stories. So many amazing things can happen when parents read to their kids. Parents reading to their kids is one of the most powerful factors in children becoming readers.

Source: School Library Journal
source: School Library Journal

Yet it doesn’t need to stop once kids learn to read to themselves. Indeed, it should never stop.  Adults, teens, people of all ages love being read to and reap the benefits when they get the chance to listen. High school teachers who give reading aloud a try almost always find that the kids love it and that it can be a powerful educational opportunity.

World Read Aloud Day is a chance to recognize the power of the joy of reading aloud.  Spread the word!

Find out more:

Free Delivery

Do you know that you can have FREE school library books delivered to you FOR FREE in your classroom, all at no cost, in other words, FREE?!? 

Source: Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0

Here’s how you do it:

1. Search for Tweedsmuir Library or use this URL : tweedsmuirlibrary.wordpress.com

2. Click on Catalog

3. Sign in with your School District username and password

4. Use the Catalog (Destiny Classic or Destiny Discover) to search for books

5. When you find a book, click on the title or on the “Details” button

6. Click the “Hold It” button

7. Expect an email to your Surrey Schools email address when the book is ready.

8. IF you don’t use your Surrey Schools email, you will need to use your regular email to contact tweedsmuirlibrary@gmail.com

9. When the book is ready, you can pick it up at the School Library OR you can have it delivered to your morning class.

Go here for a more detailed TEXT step-by-step guide.
Go here for an even more detailed ILLUSTRATED step-by-step guide.