Welcome to the Media Center
Panthers "paws" to ponder prose.

Media Specialist - Pat Brostek
Media Assistant - Barbara Connelly

Media Center Student Hours
9:15am - 3:20pm

Mission Statement
The mission of the Mary F. Williams Elementary School Library and the library media specialist is to work as an instructional partner in collaboration with the staff and parents of Mary F. Williams students to facilitate the growth of all students into information literate, independent, lifelong learners and lovers of literature.

Biblio Bits for November

As the brilliant, cool days of October give way to the muted, chilled days of November, our thoughts turn to winter and inside activities. What better time to settle down with an exciting book and exercise our imagination? Our Panther Cubs have been busy doing just that as they read books and take quizzes.
Third, fourth, and fifth graders have been practicing using the OPAC (on line catalog) to search for books by lexile (a reading level measurement), title, and subject so that they can easily find a book to read for Reading Counts! By checking the catalog information, students learned they can determine the number of pages in a book and the number of points it is worth in the Reading Counts! program. They also learned how to search within their lexile to find specific genres (kinds of books such as mystery, humorous fiction, etc.) that they enjoy reading.
The next step, after finding an interesting book to read using the OPAC, is to actually locate that book in the library. Third, fourth and fifth graders have made a map of the fiction section of the library and will practice using the map to locate fiction books on the shelf so they can become independent library patrons.
Our kindercubs have finished reading and illustrating their books about taking care of library books. They learned that they need to keep our books clean- by washing their hands before reading and not eating or drinking with our books—dry, by keeping them away from water and weather—safe, away from babies, dogs, and curious cats and to return the books to the library on time. Now that our kindercubs are experts, they will be checking out a book and bringing it home to share with you!
First and second graders made posters and circle maps about taking care of books to remind everyone about this important responsibility. The most popular rule was keeping books away from water-- wrinkly, moldy books made everyone sad! They also practiced sequencing a story they heard by putting the events of the story in the correct order. Order is important if the story is going to make sense!
Thanks to all our panther cub family for supporting the book fair and a special thanks to Mrs. Opela, Mrs. Strychowski and Mr. and Mrs. Phillips for all of their hard work running the fair. We raised about $1500.00 which will support our reading programs and other school programs.
Speaking of reading programs, don’t forget to mark your calendar for our Open Library Nights on November 6 th and 20 th. Bring your student to check out two extra books for a total of four books out, take a Reading Counts! quiz or read an easy fiction books and take quizzes. We’d love to see you!
Finally, we’d like to thank you for helping your children learn responsibility by taking good care of their library books and returning them when they are finished reading them. But don’t let the books go back to the library until you’ve had a chance to read them with your children. Happy reading!

Open Library Night
The library at Mary F. Williams Elementary is open the 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month from 5PM to 7PM. This is a wonderful opportunity to come visit our library, enjoy some books and learn more about Reading Counts!. We hope to see you here.