Due to our overwhelming success with Accelerated Reader this year, library circulation rates have increased dramatically! This has left the library in short supply of some of our most popular titles because more books than ever are being checked out! Students are often stuck on waiting lists for days or weeks for books that others are reading. The increased demand for books is a librarian's dream, but we need your help! Please consider donating books from our wish list on Amazon.com. This list represents the most often requested titles that we simply do not have enough copies of to meet the overwhelming demand! Your new book donation in a durable library binding format can help students for many generations to learn the joy of reading, and every book that you donate from our wish list will feature a label inside the front cover indicating that it was donated by you!
Accelerated Reader
Greenspun Junior High is proud to announce that we have implemented the Accelerated Reader program as part of our continued commitment to provide quality differentiated instruction to our students in English Language Arts. Accelerated Reader is already utilized by most of Greenspun's feeder elementary schools, so students will have an easy transition into the culture of junior high reading when they arrive.
Accelerated Reader is a research driven, time-tested tool for helping students of all reading abilities to achieve to their fullest potential. Students choose their own books to read within their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), and then take a short quiz to measure their comprehension of the text. To date, over 128,000 Accelerated Reader quizzes are available to students all across the country, and data from these, coupled with the STAR assessment, help teachers to better be able to serve the individual academic needs of students. Stay tuned to our widget right here on the library page to see how many books we've read, and what some of our students are reading right now!
We thank everyone for their continued support of the fine literacy programs that Greenspun continues to offer, and we look forward to even greater success as we continue to grow!
Renaissance Home Connect is now available for parents to be able to access their child's Accelerated Reader progress, including all of the books that he or she has read, and how well he or she performed on Accelerated Reader comprehension quizzes. Parents can also select to be notified by email whenever their child takes an AR book quiz. Click the "Renaissance Home Connect" link for access. The username and password to access Renaissance Home Connect is the same username and password that students use to access Accelerated Reader from school. Usernames are the student's first initial, last initial, student number (ex: ab123456), and passwords are simply the student number (ex:123456). Please contact Mr. Slocum in the library if you need technical assistance with Renaissance Home Connect. 799-0920 X4025 or acslocum@interact.ccsd.net.
Library Services and Resources
The GJHS library offers many resources and services to enhance each student's educational experience and to promote information literacy.
LENDING POLICIES: Students may check out up to five items at one time from the library for a period of 21 school days. Items that have not been requested by other patrons may be renewed. Students may only check out one Playaway audiobook at one time, due to their cost. Late fines are assessed at $.10 per day, with a maximum fine of $1.00 per item.
BOOKS: The library houses approximately 25,000 books of varying interest and reading levels. The fiction section, organized by an author's last name, contains classics, pop fiction, story collections, and many other types of literature. Our non-fiction section, organized by the Dewey Decimal system, offers patrons up-to-date information on a wide assortment of topics including sciences, languages, history, and biographies. The reference collection, also organized by the Dewey system, is the location of atlases, almanacs, encyclopedias, and other information resources. Because reference books are intended for multiple users, they are to remain in the center.
MAGAZINES: The GJHS library subscribes to several periodicals. The most current issues are on a display rack for patron use in the media center.
COMPUTERS: Thirty Internet equipped computer stations are available to students in the center. Each student must have a signed copy of the "Appropriate Use Policy" on file with Greenspun Junior High, and appropriate "net"iquette is expected. Patrons have access to numerous software programs for word processing, desktop publishing, web design, as well as video and image editing. The library also subscribes to several online databases for research purposes in all areas of study.
SCHOOL SUPPLIES/SERVICES: Students may print school assignments in the library at no cost. For a nominal fee ($.10/page), students may also print pages for their personal use. Pens and pencils are also available in the vending machines for $.25
Wii GAMING AREA: As part of our "Wii Love the Book Fair" promotion, students, parents, and staff helped us to exceed our Scholastic Book Fair sales goal, thus earning a Nintendo Wii interactive game system for the library. The game system has been implemented as part of the library's positive social interaction center, with students' names being drawn each day to determine whose turn it is to compete in sports contests in the Wii gaming center. Students's names are randomly drawn each day from a list of patrons who have at least one book checked out, and who have no fines or overdue materials.
RESEARCH DATABASES: The library subscribes to several online research databases for students to use for general reference research. All databases are available on campus via the library catalog home page, and the following databases are also available for home internet use with password access:
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