From dusty shelves and unused books, our library has transformed into a vibrant space filled with excited children. Libraries play a key role in education, serving as places for both learning and socializing, while rekindling a love for reading and reviving excitement for books.
For the past few years, the ICSA library has been a simple space, only used for its given purpose. It was a place to host meetings and for students to hang out. However, not too many students checked out books, unless it was a request from their teacher or class.
This year, it has changed for the better, with the arrival of the new librarian, Mrs. Oqueli. She has been working tirelessly in order to make significant and exciting changes.
Mrs. Oqueli’s Vision for Reviving a passion for Reading
Our beloved former English teacher, Mrs. Oqueli, is now the school-wide librarian, where she has a very clear vision of how she wants to run the space.
“ This should be a place where everybody feels good to come and be excited!”
Ms, Oqueli, Librarian
Like her bubbly personality, Mrs. Oqueli plans to make the library an inspiring and inclusive space where reading happens. This is not just for students, but for the entire school community, including staff and parents. There are multiple projects in the works, some of which have already been implemented.
One of the important changes made this year is the addition of student library aids. Oqueli says she started this program to engage more students and to get constructive feedback through them. This student voice approach has shown to be a positive one, and the aids take their job quite seriously.
Maguette Diop, 10th grader and library aid herself, says ¨ being a library aid is such an enriching experience. We get to learn hands-on skills such as checking books in and out or sorting and shelving them. However, I’d have to say that what I enjoy the most about being a library aid is the events we organize for the lower schoolers.¨
To make the library a vibrant space for all ages, Mrs. Oqueli has also introduced programs like story time, reading adventures, and Chapter Champs. As a library aid myself, I can confidently say that these programs not only help younger students get excited about reading but also inspire older students to restart reading. Furthermore, these initiatives encourage older students to mentor the younger ones, creating a supportive and engaging learning environment.
More importantly, Mrs. Oqueli wants to make the library the heart and center of our community. She wants it to be a welcoming place where people feel comfortable and content.
She says that, “it needs to feel open, it needs to feel like a place where people are happy,” which makes us optimistic about the future of the library.
A Fresh Start For The Library
One of the most significant changes resulting from our librarian’s hard work and dedication is that she is now able to teach in classrooms and educate others about the importance of reading.
“I’ve been able to get into a classroom here and there and actually teach lessons.”
Ms, Oqueli, Librarian
Her efforts are starting to pay off. During Banned Books Week, she visited English classrooms and led an activity on censorship, where students had to “defend a book” from being banned.
In many schools, librarians are primarily information and resource managers. This is a shame because a librarian possesses specialized knowledge in information, resources, and research methods. Librarians can teach students and engage in specialized reading, enhancing students’ reading.
Our school took a leap of faith, and decided to give Mrs. Oqueli the opportunity to educate us all. She has exceeded all expectations.
Creating a Vibrant Library Community for All
Plans are in place for the future of the library, for both lower and upper school, but primarily upper school. One of the main goals for the library is to create a more inclusive space, where both lower and upper schools feel at ease.
The library aids play an important role in our library’s rebirth. They are directly responsible for organizing and supervising most events, but also bringing in feedback from other students in order to improve the library.
This specific program is one of the biggest successes of this year. Thus far, this small group has been able to host 4 successful story time events, 1 reading adventure, 1 book tasting event for high school, as well as “Chapter Champs,” which is extremely popular among lower schoolers for its grand prize of snack tickets. She is planning more events, most of which are for upper school students. Stay tuned!
“I really want this to feel like it’s not just a lower school library”.
Ms, Oqueli, Librarian
Research shows that libraries work best as community centers, offering resources and programs that meet users’ diverse needs. By continuing activities like story time and reading adventures, students develop a stronger sense of belonging to both the library and the ICSA community.
Mrs. Oqueli notices a clear gap between the resources provided to the lower school and high school. She says this gap makes her realize that others have mostly viewed the library as a lower school library.
“I think for the upper school, there needs to be a bigger order,” acknowledging the gap between resources. Additionally, she also plans to take student feedback in order to improve this situation the best she can.
She has already made a step in this direction by hosting an event for upper school called book tasting. This event was intended to bring in more upper schoolers and encourage them to expand their reading list. Research says that events like these can help students break out of a reading rut. I want “to get people in and let them realize that reading is fun.”
Mrs. Oqueli’s dedication to listening to student feedback and voices as well as putting them into action is a truly admirable gesture, but is also a change from last year. Students did not have much of a say in the library management in prior years.
With her passion and vision, the library is set to become one of the cornerstones of our education and the center of the ICSA community, just like she had wished.
For more changes about ICSA read this article by Moussa Drammeh.
