Winter Break Makeover

The ML/UL library is getting new paint and carpet over the winter break. These are some of the colors you will see when we return in January. In order to get the job done, professional movers will be in the library starting on Dec. 12 moving computers, books, and shelves out of the carpeted areas of the library. Books will be unavailable starting Dec. 13, so stock up this week for the winter break. Students will still be able to walk through the library but most of the furniture will be gone. UL students can study for finals in The Portal, the ATL, and in the Chaddick Lobby. If you are interested in digital audiobooks or eBooks over the winter break, be sure to click here to learn about our FollettShelf and OverDrive collections.

The Reaping

Effie, Ceasar, and the Tributes

Effie Trinket and Ceaser Flickerman were in the courtyard today selecting Galloway's 12 tributes for the 2nd Annual Hunger Games. The tributes are Dasha, Chris B., Alec E., Davina, Robbie K., Wesley, Ethan M., Will H., Luke M., Elie, and Gus. Tributes will be interviewed Monday, Nov. 17 and The Hunger Games will take place on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 11:40 a.m. in the courtyard. May the odds be ever in your favor.

Halloween Happenings

Halloween was a big day in the Galloway Library. It started with a poetry reading sponsored by the Creative Writing Club. As always, we heard some thought-provoking poems, some written by our own students. The highlight for me was Mr. Gerl's performance of "What Do I Make?"




At lunch we took the library to the ML Commons and checked out books from there. Thanks to John and Cameron, UL students, who helped us out.


And finally, we hosted author Adam Gidwitz, who spoke to our 4th-6th graders. We have many fans of A Tale Dark and Grimm. What a great storyteller! Thank you so much to The Little Shop of Stories for sending him our way.

Halloween Poetry Reading

This Friday October 31, come to the library for spooky poetry readings.  All UL students and staff are invited to share or listen to poetry from 8:30-9:00 a.m.  Halloween themed poems are welcome but not required.  Nutella and croissants will be provided.

Many Galloway students are fans of Neal Shusterman's Unwind book series. The final installment, Undivided, was released yesterday. Our biggest superfan had it read by 6 a.m. I Tweeted this out and it was retweeted by Neal Shusterman himself. The library has 2 print copies of the book and can put it on library Kindles as well. Come by if you want to read Undivided.

Galloway was thrilled to host author Tony Abbott today. He spoke to the 5th and 6th graders about the writing process and his new book series, The Copernicus Legacy. Lucas did a fantastic job introducing Mr. Abbott to the audience.

Book Clubs are Up and Running

The 2014-2015 Unbound Book Club

We have had several book club meetings in the last two weeks. The UL book club has 25 student members and four teachers participating. Unbound Book Club has 38 ML students on the roster, and Untitled Book Club has 12 seventh and eighth graders. We are thrilled to have so many readers among us. As you can see from the pictures, our groups are pretty equally split between boys and girls as well. You can follow all of our book clubs on the Galloway Library Student Center webpage.

You have devices, we have eBooks!

We are thrilled to announce our new collection of eBooks and audiobooks. Galloway students may now borrow free downloadable audiobooks and e-books for an e-reader, mobile device, or computer with our OverDrive library. Use our website or download the OverDrive mobile app from any app store. We are part of a consortium of independent scools (MISBO) and this collection includes over 1,000 titles. Add The Galloway School as your library, and while you're at it, add your public library's OverDrive collection too! 

Click here for setup instructions.
Click here for instructions on using the service after you are set up.

You may choose to create your own OverDrive account and an Adobe ePub account. However, you may bypass these options and still use the system by signing in with your Galloway network ID. We understand that there may be some confusion with the initial setup. If you have questions, please contact Middle/Upper Learning librarian Marcia Kochel.  Early Learning students do not have network IDs and should contact librarian Amy Zupancic for login instructions.

Happy Summer!

We hope you have a relaxing, fun-filled summer. And of course, we hope you read some good books. Don't forget Galloway Summer Reading—find out all about it on our Summer Reading website. We are checking out up to 25 books to returning students so stop by the library on the last few days of school and we will help you load up with books. If you like to listen to audiobooks, take a look at our collection of Catalist Digital books (user name and password is the same as what we use for our database page). And here's the BIG NEWS...The Galloway Library now has an eBook/Audiobook account with OverDrive. Get the OverDrive app and select The Galloway School. Sign in with your network ID (this will work for current middle and upper learning students) and try out an eBook or audiobook. We are part of a consortium of independent schools, and there will be over 2,000 books available. If you have questions, please e-mail Ms. Kochel at mkochel@gallowayschool.org.

Fearlessness

This week the Galloway sixth grade team traveled to Six Flags for a lesson on roller coaster physics that included a private ride on the Superman roller coaster. These students went on their first roller coaster ride ever! It was a really awesome field trip and we thank Galloway parent John Odum for the tour.

Summer Reading

It's time to think about Summer Reading! Here at Galloway we keep the focus on reading for enjoyment. Here are the links you need:

• All Galloway Summer Reading
• ML Summer Reading and Book Clubs
• UL Summer Book Clubs
• Other UL Required Summer Reading

Sign ups for UL Summer Book Clubs begin on Monday, May 5 for rising seniors and on Tuesday, May 6 for all other UL students. See the link above for all the details.

All Night Read In 2014

Who knew he could sleep in an upright position?

Our annual All Night Read In was a great time, as it always is. We read a lot, watched two movies, played outside at midnight, had a Fox in Socks Off, and roasted marshmallows in the courtyard at 3 a.m. Huge thanks go to our chaperones, Mr. Dyer, Ms. Starkman, and Mr. Boswell. See all of our photos at this link.

Poetry Reading

Senior Donovan D. reads an original poem

Our morning poetry reading was big success. We heard many original poems from students, as well as poems read in German, Spanish, French, Latin, and Arabic. I'm keeping a folder in the library of the poems that were read so stop by if you want to read some of them. Thanks to all who attended—especially our wonderful UL teachers who are so supportive.

$1 Doughnuts Today

You can buy Krispy Kreme doughnuts today in the library today to support education for girls around the world. A group of Galloway students is raising money to screen the documentary film called Girl Rising and to raise money to send a Ugandan woman to college. Girl Rising will be shown in the Galloway theatre on Friday, May 16 in the evening. Thanks for supporting our efforts!

Teach an Old Person

The 10th graders are researching pop culture topics and explaining them to Mrs. Klein and Ms. Kochel (the "old people"). We have already learned about IceJJfish, Yik Yak, and the nae nae. We can't wait to learn more and see what "container" is best for educating us about the topics. See the whole project at our Pop Culture Research Guide here: http://gallowayschool.libguides.com/pop

"Where Are You Reading" Photo Contest

One of many great photos—see them all here

This year the Galloway Library sponsored our 4th annual Spring Break Photo Contest for Middle Learning students. We included Upper Learning students in the contest for the first time, and some teachers participated as well. We had 91 photos entered—and you can see them all in our Photo Gallery. Winners and honorable mentions are noted in the slideshow. Thanks to everyone who entered—you made it very difficult to choose the winners.

All Night Read-In

The ML All Night Read-In is coming soon. Sign-ups start Wednesday, March 26 at 7:45 in the ML commons. Get all your info here: http://gallowaylibrary.weebly.com/all-night-read-in.html.

There will be lots of reading and lots of book-related fun. It is guaranteed to be a great night.

Book Bling Day

Today we celebrated Book Bling Day with lots of beads being given out throughout Middle Learning. We also kicked off our Double Dog DEAR by challenging advisors to read books picked by their advisories. And we are having our annual Spring Break Photo Contest for both ML and UL students. Have a great break and take your picture reading!

Lynne Rae Perkins

Lane Emmons' 7th graders recently finished reading As Easy as Falling off the Face of the Earth by Lynne Rae Perkins. Lynne is best known for her book Criss Cross, which won a Newbery Medal several years ago. Yesterday the students had the chance to Skype with Ms. Perkins and ask her questions about the book and her writing process. It was the first time she had ever done a Skype call with a school and it was fun to be her test case.

6th Grade Movies

Laurie Halse Anderson

Laurie Halse Anderson with Lily M., 10th grader

We were so honored to welcome Laurie Halse Anderson at Galloway last week. She spoke in the theater to our 8th, 9th and 10th graders. Lily M. gave her a fabulous introduction and had the opportunity to show Laurie the Speak book trailer she made in eighth grade. Laurie autographed a lot of books and spoke personally with many students. She was entertaining, educational, and gracious to everyone she met. Thank you, Little Shop of Stories for sending her our way. See more photos on our Galloway Library Student Center website.

New Art in Library

Thank you Ms. Daws and the 7th and 8th Grade Intermediate Fine Arts Class for making our new library book ends. They are currently on display in the library. Soon they will spread out and be placed on the bookshelves where near the books they represent. Come see them in the library or take a look at them on our library web page.

Reading Bowl Teams

The ML Team ready to compete

Galloway had three reading bowl teams compete last Saturday, Jan. 11 in the Fulton County Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl competition. Our elementary team, made up of fourth and fifth graders, took second place and is advancing to the next level of competition. Congratulations to them and Ms. Zupancic! Our ML and UL teams did not win, but they had a great time and read a lot of books. Special thanks to our first-ever UL team for fearlessly taking part in the reading bowl without a lot of coaching. Thank you to Ms. Emmons for co-coaching and Ms. Chapman for volunteering at the competition.

The UL Team