Wallace and Gromit update

Thank you to everyone who took part or contributed to the Wallace and Gromit Tea Party, which took place across all three libraries last week. With your help we managed to raise...

£504.01

This is a fantastic amount which will go to help sick children in hospices. Thank you again and we'll hope to see you, same times, same places next year.

Everlasting Festival of Reading

As part of Northampton College Library's aim to encourage a culture of reading, we would like to hear from people about what kind of books they like to read, who their favourite authors are, or what they are reading at the moment.

For me, as it's a seasonal book which seems appropriate- Dickens at Christmas by, of course, Charles Dickens. It includes A Christmas Carol and other stories he wrote for this time of year. I will let you know how I get on with it soon.

If you have any books or authors you would like to tell other people about, then please respond to this post. Merry Christmas and happy reading. 

"We've forgotten the crackers Gromit!!"

It's that time of year again, when the Libraries at all 3 centres try to raise money for Wallace & Gromit's Children's Hospices by holding a Tea Party. You can pop in, have a a cup of tea or coffee and a cake (for a small charge of course, this is for charity!) and also learn more about some of the activities which happen in the Library. This includes Six Book Challenge 2012, Everlasting Festival of Reading, Information & Study Skills and E-resources, amongst others.
There will be a couple of games to take part, raffles at some of the centres with prizes to be won. So do come in and help us make this the best W&G Tea Party ever.


Times
Daventry Library- Wednesday 12th December 10am-2pm
Lower Mounts Library- Wednesday 12th December 11am-2pm
Booth Lane Library- Thursday 13th December- 11am- 2pm

Short Story/Poetry competition

We've had a fantastic response to the writing competition this year. Well done and thank you to all those who have taken the time to sit down and write either a poem or a short story. Writing can be a very personal thing and I think it is very brave of you to want to submit a piece for others to read. I salute all of you!!

We will be reading all of the entries and deciding on a winner in the next couple of weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for the results. All the winners will be notified before the College finishes for Christmas.

Thanks again and keep up the good work.

We are looking forward to welcoming those students (and staff if they like) to our first Reading Group meeting. For the first meeting we'll have a fun book quiz, with a prize for the winner. Then we'll just have a chat about what sort of books everyone likes or dislikes. It'll be fun and light-hearted, nothing heavy; there may even be refreshments provided! Come along and see you what you think.

Friday 16th November 2012- The Library at Booth Lane 12pm- 1pm

News about reading Groups at Daventry and Lower Mounts will be available soon- watch this space!!

Short Story & Poetry Competition

The Library is pleased to announce the launch of its 'Short Story' & 'Poetry' Competition. If any of you are budding Shakespeares, Prachetts, Meyers or Heanys then put pen to paper and show us what you can do. There will be prizes awarded for the best entries.

Word Count

Poems- up to 300 words

Short Stories- up to 1500 words

The competition is open to staff and students from:

Monday 15th October- Friday 16th October. Hand your entries in at any of the three libraries and we'll keep you posted about winners. Good luck and happy writing!!

Reading Club

The Library is hoping to start a reading club aimed at level 3 students and above. We want it to start after Study Review Week and would like as many people as possible to show interest. If you would like to join, know more about it or have some favourite book titles you would like to pass on, post on this blog and we'll get a conversation going. Let's all help to celebrate reading across the College.

New A'Level Students

Hello and welcome to all the A'level students who have come to look around Northampton College today. We hope you like what you see and decide to join us for the new term.

You will just have had some activities in the Library, which we hope you enjoyed. Remember the library staff are all here to help you with your studies, so if you have any questions, let us know.

It would be really good if you could leave a comment on this post; could be about the college in general, the Library or what you think of your day so far.

Have fun today and listen to all the advice you're given and we hope to see you enrolled next week.

It's a new term

Welcome back to everyone joining us from last year. For those who are new to the College, hope you are settling in well. Whatever your circumstances don't forget to come and visit the library for all of your information and resource needs. We have new stock, new e-books, new e-resources and even new orchids making the shelving look pretty!! All members of library staff are here to help support your independent study so if you have any questions pop into one of the centres and talk to us.

Good luck with your course this year, let's hope everyone gets the best results they possibly can.

Hello New Students!!!

The Library@NC would like to say welcome to all the students who have come to visit us on A'Level Taster Day. Hope you're enjoying your day so far and that you're considering joining the College in September.

You will have just had a 'fun' Study Skills Bingo game (well, we thought it was fun, but then we are older than you!!- hope you did enjoy it) and seen some of the ISS sessions we have to offer. With that in mind could you let us know what you expect to be able to use the Library for when you become a student here. Let us know any experiences you have had with your school or public library (be it good or bad); any skills you feel you won't need help with; any that you will; let us know what you think about the Library from what you've seen today.

We don't need an essay, just a few comments that might help us or other students to improve their study skills. Thanks a lot, we look forward to reading your replies.

Study Review Week

Just wanted to wish you all a good holiday and hope that you enjoy the break. For those of you who still have exams to take, study well and good luck.

For those who are leaving this week and aren't returning after the break, we wish you well in whatever you decide to do next. For everyone else, see you next term!!

Six Book Challenge Awards Day

Congratulations to all those students who have completed this year's Six Book Challenge. You've done really well. In recognition of that and the large number of particpants we had this year, the Library has decided to have an awards ceremony.
On Monday 28th May at 10am we will be welcoming Genevieve Clark from The Reading Agency (who run the Six Book Challenge) and author Rosie Rushton. They will be here to talk to students and hand out certificates to those who have finished. This is really great news and a wonderful opportunity for students to talk to people directly involved with the Challenge and who want to hear your success stories, and someone who writes for young people.
Tutors have been informed of all details for the ceremony, but other students are welcome in at 11am if they have any questions for either of our guests.

Have a look at Rosie's website to find out more information about her and her stories
http://www.rosierushton.com/



Hi All. A few weeks ago I posted about our Daventry Librarian, Hannah, winning an opportunity to take part in World Book Night. She won 25 copies of Let The Right One In which she then had to give away to people. Hannah chose to do this in the Library at Daventry. Here's how she got on.

"So it’s the 24^th April and World Book Night was last night, but I am still here with my books ready and eager to give them out in the cold light of day!

With a beautiful display put together by my library assistant Jeannette that proclaimed, “Free Books!! Please take one!” - the students sat hunched over paperwork and computers very studiously, but looking nervously over wondering “Free?.... Books?” rather unsure about what this was actually all about.

So I decided to take the plunge and start wandering about the library trying to offer my wares – a copy of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s ‘Let the Right One In!’ “Would you like a free book?” I proclaim. “Erm yes,” says the student and I immediately feel a flush of pleasure – someone wants my book! I tentatively then break the news to them that I would also like to take their photo of me handing the book over, as the proud Giver. However, it seems that despite being extremely camera shy and flushing deep scarlet, a free book is a worthy prize to subject oneself to the flash of the camera. Spurred on by my success, I then grab more copies and soon they are flying off the display to rather pleased students.

These books were most definitely not “left on the outside, cold and lonely amongst the shelves” like many a fiction book finds itself in the Academic Library. One student said “Oh wonderful, I needed a new book to read. “ Another said, “Oh I will read this, then my son, then my sister, then my mother-in law,” – well that is one book that has its journey planned out already.  This is one happy Librarian and 24 happy students all pleased to receive a book, even during this high pressure exam time, which overall makes one successful World Book Night 2012.

 The following day one of my library assistants said, “did you get rid of all your books Hannah?” I said “yes,” she said “Good”. Job done!"

Sounds like it was a success, well done Hannah. If you'd like to see some pictures of this event, please follow this link:

http://www.worldbooknight.org/component/community/59029-hannah-gibson/photos/album?albumid=257

Did you take part in any of the World Book Day events across the county. We'd love to hear about it. Post on here if you did.

It's time to revise!!

For those students who have exams coming up in the near future the Library staff would like to wish you all good luck and to remind you that we are here to help.
If you are struggling to organise your revision into manageable chunks call into the library and speak to a member of staff. We can help to make this stressful revision time easier by giving you advice and tips.

For AS and A2 students we have a room at Booth Lane which is being dedicated to you for revision time. Ask staff for more details. We also have displays, books and leaflets with lots of handy advice to help you out.

In the spirit of sharing, if any of you have any tips which you think could benefit others who are revising, why not post them on this board. I'll get the ball rolling.

Handy Tip- Don't try to do too much at once. Break your revision down according to priority (ie, which exam comes first) and don't put off the hard topics. They're not going anywhere and will just seem worse the longer you leave them.

Library Competitions

The Library at Northampton College is running some fantastic competitions at the moment. You can choose from:

 

Short Story and Book Review Competition

• If you would like to enter please submit one story of a maximum of 1500 words on any subject you wish or
• a book review with a maximum of 500 words on a book you have read recently

Photography Competition

• If you would like to enter please submit one photograph, size A4, on the subject of 'College Architecture'

The deadline for both competitions is April 2nd 2012. You will need to attach an entry form to each submission, which you can download from the library website or pick up from any of the College Library sites.
Good luck to all who enter, we look forward to seeing the results!!
http://library.northamptoncollege.ac.uk/

World Book Night Winner!!

Congratulations to our Daventry Librarian Hannah Gibson, who has won the opportunity to give away 24 copies of one of her favourite books, in a competition held to mark World Book Night.
World Book Night is a celebration of reading and books which sees tens of thousands of people gift books within their communities to spread the joy and love of reading. Hannah submitted her entry and was lucky enough to be selected to give away 24 copies of 'Let The Right One In' by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Hannah says:
"I intend to give the books away in my College Library. Most people may believe that the students using the library are heavy book users, but they would be wrong in one respect. College libraries have a strong focus on books related to the curriculum- textbooks and more textbooks, e-resources and the internet all leave the fiction book on the outside, cold and lonely amongst the shelves. These young minds are so busy with their studies that the average fiction book for pleasure is totally overlooked. By giving them this book I hope to spark their enthusiasm for fiction which will lead to a lifetime of reading."
World Book Night will take place on April 23rd 2012. Why not have a look at some of the events that may be happening in your area to celebrate the love of reading.

Love Libraries Day

Saturday 4th of February is National Love Libraries Day. This is to celebrate and encourage the use of resources from all areas including educational and public libraries. We don't want to see any more of this essential places close down, so why not show your support by visiting your local branch this Saturady and taking part in any activities they have going on. Northampton College Library is joining in the fun by compiling a quiz. These are avaible from any of the library centres and all the questions are library or literary based. The winning entry will receive a fantastic prize, so come on in this week and see how you do!!

Come and join the 6 Book Challenge

The 2012 Six Book Challenge has started and we are hoping to have an increase in the number of students who take part. Any student who has English as a second language, has just started learning to read or would like to improve their reading skills is invited to take part. All you have to do is read six books between now and June and keep a record of them in your Challenge diary. Bring your diary into the Library each time you return your book and we can stamp it. Once you've read all 6 (in June) you will be entered into a national prize draw (London Theatre trip) and will recieve a certificate and prize from the Library.
Come along to any of the libraries and ask to join. Good luck with your challenge, I'm sure will enjoy it!!

Here are some of last year's finishers with their certificates and prizes.

If you would like to know more pop into the Library and ask a member of staff, or visit the Challenge website at:
www.sixbookchallenge.org.uk/

Happy New Year!!

The Library would like to wish all students and staff a "Happy New Year". We hope to see you using the library and working towards getting fantastic results in your courses. Remember the Library staff are here to help with any of your resource or assignment questions, so don't hestiate to speak to us when you have any enquiries. Good luck for this year.

Wallace and Gromit Tea Party Results

The libraries across the three sites would like to say a big thank you to everyone who contributed to our annual tea party and open day. We managed, with your help, to raise £465!!! This is a fantastic total and a huge increase from last year. The money goes to help sick children in hospices, so it really is a worthy cause. Thanks once again and we hope to see you this December to try and up the total once more.