Senior students at Mangaia School hooked into reading

Message from Tekau
The secondary students are taking books as well as reading them during breaks. We are impressed with this new move of the students particularly the girls. The boys take books too but some of them do not show their reading interest openly like the girls do during breaks. In the library it's different. They sit down and read their books. I'm talking here about the college students.
As for the primary they take books and I know most of them are just looking at the pictures because they bring their books 2 - 3 days after.
On Wednesday of this week, the College students went to the airport to welcome our Queen's Representative and his team. My sister told me that afternoon that she was impressed by the students reading their books while they were waiting for the plane to arrive. These students are mostly girls.
I have started training some students to issue and return the books from various classes except Grades 1 & 2 and Pre-school. I have also encouraged them to come back and change their books if they want before their library day. And they also come during breaks, in the morning when I get to school as well as after school.

Progress from Mangaia School

This is message from Sue, the Principal at Mangaia School

We are all back at school and students have started borrowing new books. Takau and Marilyn have processed all the new books and are starting on adding our other books to the collection. We have run out of barcode stickers. I have informed Kathy and she assures me they are ordered and coming soon.

The kids LOVE the new books.

We have colour coded all books
Yellow Non Fiction
Blue Fiction
Blue & Yellow Graphic novels
Blue & Red Picture books
Blue & Brown spot Sophisticated picture books
Blue & Green Quick reads

We have also used the old encyclopedias as large labels for the non fiction section, using English and Maori names. We have made new shelves for the sophisticated picture books.

The Quick Reads are side by side with the Novels. On the ‘A’ shelf novels on the left and quick reads on the right. Seems to be working well at the moment, we will see how it goes when we get all of the collection on the shelves.

At the moment we are only issuing new books so all the kids have a chance to take some home. They love them and we are promoting the new books. I have read chapter 1 from “I hate bunnies” to 2 classes and they loved it. Plus the senior students are enjoying Fleur Beale and Deborah Ellis, so am I.

Once Takau gets the ‘old’ books into the system they will be integrated with the new ones.


Thank you both for all the help and support you offered us while you were here. You are both great workers . Looking forward to seeing you both again.

Sue