Library
THE LIBRARY AT LILIAN BAYLIS TECHNOLOGY SCHOOL
Librarian: Ms Danuta Zalega
The library at LBTS has a wide range of new, popular and classic books, graphic novels, manga, comics and ebooks as well as PCs for homework and research. In addition to fiction from diverse authors, the school library is proud to stock recent non-fiction and fiction titles on anti-racism, feminism, neurodiversity and LGBTQ issues.
Students can come to the library from 8.00-8.25, Break, Lunch and after school until 4pm. During the day it is well used by Year 13 for independent study.
Students can browse, renew, reserve and review books online. The library app is further designed for research and will guide students to curated sites like the BBC, National Geographic to name but a few. On the dashboard there is advice on how to choose a book and videos on how to spot fake news as well as a short introduction to the Accessit app.
Please feel free to contact me danuta.zalega@lilianbaylis.com for support in choosing suitable books for your child or any further information you might require. In common with a lot of school libraries we restrict borrowing of certain books according to their age and the advice on this website.
Permission letters can be issued for signature should you feel that your child can access more mature content.
Please ensure that books are returned when due by the students.
Library lessons
All the students of KS3 have half term visits to the library where they are presented with book recommendations, activities and can return and browse books. This is in addition to their free use of the library at usual times.
Autumn 1 - How to navigate the library online and in person, online safety, how to join Lambeth library and how to use the Libby app for ebooks and audio, write reviews, popular genres of books and titles to consider when choosing.
Autumn 2 - Self Help books books and those works of fiction to which help to develop empathy
Spring 1 - Spotlight on non-fiction and biography
Spring 2 - Spotlight on modern classics
Summer 1 - Lambeth Phoenix Book award
Summer 2 - Carnegie Book Award Shadowing for all years. Survey on tutor reads favourites
Author visits
Throughout the year we have frequent author events both at the school and at local libraries having formed a strong relationship with them, to encourage students to join and take out books. For the past three years we have had award winning authors whose books have been gifted to every incoming year sevens such as Maisie Chan, Ashley Thorpe and Matt Goodfellow. In addition we’ve had Carnegie winning author Nathanael Lessore whose book The King of Nothing is a tutor group read for the third year in a row.
At Brixton library the students have been lucky to see Tola Okogwu, author of the Onyeka series and Bim Blake’s Hot takes.
Curriculum
The library supports teachers with recommended wider reading lists for their subject areas.
Enrichment
From January to May the school hosts an elective year 7 and year 8 readathon of four books across Lambeth secondary schools organised by the Network of Education Librarians in Lambeth. . The Lambeth Phoenix Book Award has been running for over ten years and exposes students to newly published children’s and young adult novels, they shortlist from around forty publisher submissions, read four shortlisted, and vote for a winner. The readers meet once a fortnight to discuss the books they are reading during this period.
We attend the finale at another Lambeth school which includes attendance by the authors, Lambeth Libraries and The Lord Mayor of Lambeth. We’ve hosted the finale ourselves a couple of times.
Dungeons and Dragons is a popular twice weekly after school meet run by a Year 13 and a Year 11.
Student librarians
These are recruited every September and they can join a duty rota to issue and return books at break and lunchtime, as well as doing the same in Library Lessons earning house points for responsibility.
The librarian also chooses the tutor group reads, taking forward into the following year three out of the four most popular books from each year group and selecting at least one new book from her recently read young adult pile. Student librarians are involved in recommending these books for their peers too. The librarian also chooses the summer read for incoming year 6 and KS3 and KS5.
The librarian is a member of CILIP and SLA
I am always open to suggestions of ways to engage readers and I encourage teacher read aloud sessions in the library as well as teen read staff book groups. Please read some of our newsletters below to see a flavour of our events.
