《声音》启明星专刊 VOICES for Daystar Academy VOICES Fall/Winter Edition 2018 | Page 32

LIBRARY CORNER
Growing
Growing Through
Through Reading
Reading
By Sam Hopper, MS/HS Librarian & Library Coordinator
“The more you read, the more you know.
The more you know, the more places you will go.”
— Dr. Seuss
A
t Daystar Academy we are reading, and we
are going…and growing. Daystar is reaching
new heights, now with over 10,000 books in
our Beigao campus and over 5,000 books in
our Sanlitun campus. Children at both campuses are
reading new selections of fiction and non-fiction more
now than ever before, and we are continuing to move
forward. More than this, we have begun to implement
more comprehensive library classes, reading time, and
recognizing our readers to instill in them the quality of
becoming lifelong learners.
My name is Sam Hopper and I have worked at several
international schools in Beijing and recently returned
after 2 years in South Korea as a MS/HS Librarian and
Communications Teacher. I’m American, have two
master’s degrees, and taught in New York for several
years before coming to China.
Our enthusiastic library team is excited about creating
an environment of constant reader/growers in Daystar.
Daystar Academy Fall/Winter Edition 2018
We all have a shared philosophy, which is reading
increases our use of language as well as our understanding
of the world. As librarians we try to develop a love of
reading in students from an early age by first reading
to them, then helping them to discover what they are
interested in. As they get older, we will encourage
students to explore other genres and styles to further
broaden their understanding of writing and hope they
become lifelong readers.
One approach to encourage reading is for students
to participate in various competitions and events.
Beginning next school year, we will join Kids Read, a
program in which students from other schools in China
come together and compete in trivia on a selection of
predetermined books.
The Panda Book Awards (PBA) is another approach.
Now in its 10th year, PBA was inspired and created by
international librarians living in Beijing and has grown
to include more than 50 schools throughout China,