Magnolia Elementary Library & Wonder Lab

Mission

Reading Advocacy: to nurture a lifelong love of reading across a range of genres

Information Literacy: to engage curiosity while empowering students to locate, use, and produce information critically, effectively and responsibly

Social Change: to nourish compassionate, competent & courageous global citizens

Collection

We are aglow over the dazzling new books in our library! With over 9,000 titles in our collection, everyone should find plenty to love. Here’s a look at 5 factors we considered while working to develop a strong, balanced opening collection:

Engagement

We used local circulation data and national award lists to determine which titles, characters, and series are well-loved across communities

Educational Value

We aimed to ensure our non-fiction titles are current, engaging, and relevant to our curricular and social justice learning goals

Aesthetic Merit

Award lists, book reviews, and collection tools guided us toward books that offer engaging storytelling, strong writing, and artistic excellence

Representation

We join the “We Need Diverse Books” movement in asserting that we have a responsibility to promote books and media that depict the totality of human identities, families, and communities

Expansion of Perspective

We seek to build a collection that celebrates the diverse landscape of people within our local community and in the world beyond it: how we look, how we think, how we live, how we identify

Vision

In September 2019, Lincoln High School Librarian Claire Scott and I formally introduced our new programs to the School Board, identifying the shared vision that guides our professional practice:

“We commit to cultivating a brave, anti-racist library in which every student is seen and celebrated, every voice is heard, and all students can find themselves as the star of the story;

We commit to cultivating a dynamic library, in which we help give shape to research while offering opportunities for making, tinkering, and hands-on learning;

We commit to cultivating a choice-rich library, in which students can find calm, internal moments to restore, explore, or just “BE,” without the need to produce or perform;

We commit to cultivating an inspiring library, in which we ignite authentic curiosity, bolster courage, and help students re-imagine what’s possible.”

 –Abby Levin & Claire Scott, September 2019