LIBRARY
The benefits of reading have always been positive, and are well documented. In addition to increasing your vocabulary and developing your literacy, there are also many health benefits, including developing empathy and understanding.
In the period after World War I, nurses and doctors started to appreciate the calming and restorative powers of reading for soldiers that were suffering from the trauma of the battlefields, and the first Biblio-therapists were created.
Mental health and well-being is important to us here at Mooroolbark College, and while the school community celebrates body kindness month, we’d like to invite you to drop into the Library to see what resources we have available for you. Our “Wellbeing Wall” is available for perusal all year round, and includes many fiction and non-fiction texts that provide information about meditation, mental health, managing stress and anxiety and study tips.
We’ve put some more texts on body positivity, consent and kindness on display this month – you’ll see them as soon as you walk into the Library, as they’re at the front door. There is also some details about help-lines that you can utilise if you need to speak to someone, including cards with these numbers that you can take home.
August was a pretty busy month in the library as well, with ‘Wear it Purple Day’, and Book Week. We have many of the titles that won awards in the CBCA Book Week Awards, and we’d highly recommend the winning novel for the Young Adult Reader award – “Tiger Daughter”, by Rebecca Lim. This book was so great that we read it in one evening! It’s the story of a young girl who is dealing with the pressures of her family, trying to help support her best friend who is struggling after the death of his mum, and trying to get a scholarship to a new school.
‘Wear it Purple Day’ also saw some new texts on display, as well as some novels that have been on the shelves for a while. All the books that we had on display are considered #ownvoices texts – this means that the authors have personal experience of what they are writing about, and this is especially important for our LGBTQ+ community of readers. We also have a number of other #ownvoices novels on the shelf – and you know how much we love to give recommendations!
New to the Library this month is “Heartstopper” – a graphic novel about two young boys navigating the world and friendships. You may be familiar with the Netflix version of this story, but you’ll have to be quick as this book is so popular, it’s barely had time to get used to it’s space in the library! Luckily, we also have a new display with other titles that you might be interested in reading while you wait for “Heartstopper”!
Prue Bon
Library Coordinator