Dear Memorial Families,
We have excellent news about our school library. After five years without a librarian and a circulating library, we are happy to announce that Memorial Middle School now has a fully functioning library with a new librarian, Ms. Ismail.
Ms. Ismail, a former student of Willingboro Public Schools, was hired in May 2022 to serve as the school library media specialist (SLMS) for the 2022-2023 school year. She visited MMS in June to introduce herself and assess the library space. With over 10,000 books on the shelves, Ms. Ismail knew that there was a lot of work to be done.
Over seven months, Ms. Ismail weeded out outdated and damaged books, cleaned and organized the space, and curated a new collection to fit the needs of MMS students. We are thrilled to announce that the library reopened on Read Across America Day, March 2, 2023, with 2,500 books available for students to check out.
In addition to the new collection, Ms. Ismail reopened the library's computer lab with ten desktop computers, a color printer, headphones, and a smartboard. The lab is available for student use during library hours.
To make it easier for students to find books aligned with their interests, Ms. Ismail arranged the library using genrefication, which groups books by genre. This method has been shown to increase student engagement and promote literacy.
To encourage students to develop a love of reading, Ms. Ismail also added a free book display. Students are welcome to take books from this display to keep permanently in the hopes that they will continue to read and grow their libraries.
We are grateful to have Ms. Ismail as our School Librarian Media Specialist. We look forward to seeing the positive impact the library will have on our student's academic and personal growth. We encourage you to encourage your child to visit the library, check out a book, and explore all the space has to offer.
Sincerely,
Memorial Administration