Library

Features and Highlights of Northside Library

Northside’s library houses approximately 16,000 books with a variety of reading levels appropriate for all students.  Mrs. Sandra Williams is the Library Media Specialist with 28 years of teaching/library experience.  She is assisted by Mrs. Teresa Riley who serves in a part-time assistant capacity.

All students visit the library weekly and check out books after enjoying fun, exciting stories during read-aloud time.  Reading is brought to life in a way that fosters a love for learning and exploring within the pages of a book.  Students are provided an opportunity to “broaden their horizons” as they are exposed to a wide variety of genres and topics.

Students are taught to utilize the OPAC system so they can locate materials independently and conduct research.  Many teachers expect students to research topics for presentations and the library is the hub for these endeavors.  Mrs. Williams collaborates with classroom teacher to pull materials, assist students in locating appropriate books or online resources, and discuss proper citations for research papers.  Utilizing the Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL) is also emphasized during library visits for upper grade students.

 

Accelerated Reader (AR) is highly used at Northside.  Students read books on their grade level and take tests when they are finished.  To encourage reading and student achievement, we have a display in the hallway outside the library that tracks student progress.  Classroom teachers encourage students to read books as part of their curriculum and also allow for students to make choices in what they read when time permits.  New books are purchased often with funds secured through fundraisers such as our annual book fair.  AR prizes are given to students as they attain a specific number of points each school year.  Awards are given to students in each grade level who have the most AR points at the end of the school year.

At Northside, we actively involve our families and community members in several activities each year.  We have an AR family night in August, Read-A-Thon in October and a Book Fair in late October.  In March, we ask guest readers to come and read to our students as part of our annual Read Across America celebration.