It has been a busy Term 3 in the Shearwater Library, with literary events abounding! In the lead up to the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book Week, High School students from Years 7  to 9 attended the Byron Writers Festival at the Bangalow Showgrounds. This year’s secondary schools day featured YA authors Lili Wilkinson and Graham Akhurst, comedian Steph Tisdell, astrophysicist Lisa Harvey-Smith and short story writer Mykaela Saunders. Their talks were fascinating! Some of their books are available for borrowing from the Library.

Following on from the Festival, Book Week was so much fun! On Monday, author Zewlan (pronounced Shoolen) Moor spoke about her books, Nothing Alike and The Bill Dup, and where her ideas came from. At lunchtimes, the library again held a Great Book Swap to raise money for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. On Book Day, students came dressed as their favourite book characters and two Year 8 students were interviewed about the books they published for their Personal Interest Projects (PIP). The costume parade also acknowledged Australian School Library Day which is recognised Australia wide. Some students also listened to Australian Children’s Laureate, Sally Rippin,  a free online event hosted by Vision Australia Library, as part of an optional small group activity for upper Primary students.  

The Spring Fair Library book stall was again successful in finding new homes for old books, which many of you will now be enjoying reading! Thank you for your continued support. Some of the monies raised will be donated to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. 

During Library sessions this term, students have participated in both DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) and also DEAW (Drop Everything and Write), with a focus on poetry and Threatened Species Week. We are all readers and authors! The Premiers Reading Challenge has finished with nine of our Primary students participating this year. We look forward to more students being involved next year. Preschool classes have continued to enjoy visiting the Library once a term and having stories read to them by the Primary classes during Library sessions.  

The Library will be advocating for Dyslexia Awareness Month in October which is dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding of dyslexia. Dyslexia is a neurological condition that affects reading, writing, and spelling abilities but does not diminish one’s intelligence or potential.  Have a read of some fact sheets from the International Dyslexia Association, and this list of dyslexic achievers which includes Albert Einstein, Walt Disney, Leonardo da Vinci, Jamie Oliver, Richard Branson, Whoopi Goldberg and Steven Spielberg. Did you also know that dyslexic thinking is officially recognised as a valuable skill set for the workplace! The Shearwater Library continues to focus on building a collection of fiction with dyslexia-friendly fonts. These books have the same logo as the Richmond Tweed libraries on the spine. 

The Library also building its collection of graphic novels. This format provides contextual clues for comprehension, encourages conversation and engagement, and presents the story in an enjoyable, easy-to-access format. New teacher reference materials have also been purchased to help teachers support Shearwater students with dyslexia in their learning journeys. World Book Online encyclopedia also provides the option for a dyslexia-friendly font. This encyclopedia can be accessed 24/7 from home at: www.worldbookonline.com. The username and password is shearwater.

Richmond Tweed Regional libraries also provide eBooks and eAudiobooks. As a member of the library, you have access to eBooks and eAudiobooks via BorrowBox, Libby, and IndyReads as well as many other resources!

Yvonne Barrett
Library Manager