Lower School Library

The Lower School Library serves students from Pre-K through 5th grade. Library sessions cultivate students’ love of reading as a foundation for college preparatory study and to encourage a lifetime of learning. The library’s holdings and activities support and enhance the Lower School curriculum.

Our full-time librarian manages the holdings, offers reading-related activities, teaches library and research skills, and guides students in their Internet use at the Library.

Program Highlights

During library time, students can choose books to borrow for pleasure and teacher-assigned projects.

Students in Pre-K through 3rd grade expand their listening and language skills and practice critical thinking while listening to the librarian read from select works.

In 4th grade, students begin to explore library and research skills in earnest. The 4th-grade research assignment provides an opportunity to use what they’ve learned.

The Lower School Library’s catalog is available on all computers, accessible to students, teachers, and staff. By 4th and 5th grade, students are practicing catalog-searching skills and learning to become independent library users. They also learn about copyright, plagiarism, and issues of academic honesty regarding the use of the Internet.

Lower School Library Hours
Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Every Lower School class has scheduled library time once a week.
Teachers also schedule additional time for class research projects. Students may visit at other times, with pre-arrangement by a teacher.

Resources
Computers – There are 10 computers for student access to the Lower School’s catalog, the Internet, and their own network folders. For class research projects at the library, students use pre-selected web sites.

The Collection includes fiction and non fiction books, appropriate magazines, and reference works. Videos and DVDs are available for faculty use in the classroom.

Online Resources – Lower School students have access to a wide range of resources available through Access PA’s POWER-Library, a service for Pennsylvania’s public, school, and academic libraries. The site provides full-text periodical articles, newspapers, and a major encyclopedia, plus photographs, pictures, charts, maps, and reference materials for all ages. Additionally, this resource is available from home by using a public library card.

Some popular databases used in the Lower School include:

• EBSCO animals, with in-depth information on animal topics
• Primary Search, with full-text search of more than 60 popular magazines for elementary-age children
• Middle Search Plus, with research guidance and full-text for more than 150 popular magazines and other sources, for middle school and junior-high students.

Librarians
The Lower School librarian has extensive experience managing a library for students of this age. The Lower School librarian and Shipley’s Speer librarians cooperate frequently to provide needed materials for students and teachers.

Birthday Book Program
Children of families who choose to participate can, in honor of their birthday, select books to be donated to the library in their name.