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 October

Welcome to the 2008-2009 school year! It’s been great reconnecting with our “old” students from last year and getting to know our new Williams Panther Cubs. I’m amazed by how much everyone has grown and how quickly they have settled back into the school routine!
Our third, fourth, and fifth graders have been getting back into the swing of Reading Counts!, our school wide reading incentive program. After taking the SRI to determine their Lexile number, students have practiced using the computer to find books they can read on their Lexile level. Students are able to read books that fall within a four hundred point spread of the Lexile number established by the SRI test—two hundred points below to two hundred points above—allowing them to read more difficult books that interest them. Reading Counts provides three ten point quizzes for each book so students have the opportunity to take any quizzes they do not pass three times with different questions and without penalties. Once the quiz is successfully passed with 7 correct answers, the zeros are removed from the student’s record. Our Panther Cubs are off to a great start! All second graders will participate in the Reading Counts! program in November.
Every class spent the first two weeks of school thinking about rules for the library. After listening to a story about manners, we brainstormed ideas and created a list of library etiquette that we agreed to follow. Our contract was formalized with a group picture of each class that is posted on the bulletin board as a reminder of our Library Essential Agreement. I was impressed by the great ideas all the students proposed. After agreeing upon the best manners to govern our behavior in the library, we turned our attention to the best way to treat our books respectfully so that they will be available to all students and continue to look new and beautiful. We decided that we would keep our books clean--washing our hands before reading and no eating while we are reading; dry--away from mud puddles, rainstorms and bathtubs; and safe--away from pets, babies and younger siblings. We agreed not lend our books to anyone or take them anywhere except home and back to school and that we would keep our books where we could find them until time to return them to the library. We are stressing that the students are responsible for their books. You can help by letting your children know if they are moving out of the Williams area so they can return any library books before moving. Children who move with library books within the county may not be allowed to check out books from their new school library until they return or pay for the books they have checked out at Mary F. Williams. Please help us keep our books available to our students. No library can afford to replace books that have moved with students.
Remember, we will be open in the evening the first and third Thursday of every month from 5:00 until 7:00 for book check out. Please stop by with your child and pick up some extra books—students may check out two books in addition to the two they check out at school for a total of 4 books in their possession. The books may be kept for two weeks and will be due the next library night. This is a great way to earn RC! points.
As always, we’d like to thank you as you continue to support us in our efforts to help your children be responsible for all of our Williams’ library books. We appreciate your help in keeping our library stocked with beautiful new books. Please visit our Fall Book Fair October 13 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Not only can you get some great books for your children but you will help provide the funds so we can add to our library collection!

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.