From the very early days of Pao School, Professor Anna Sohmen Pao has always
hoped that Pao students develop a great enthusiasm for reading, which will then
bloom into a habit of lifelong learning. As such, the libraries brim with innovative
design concepts, such as the reading nooks in the wall of the Primary School
library that resemble a ship’s porthole. It is the students’ favourite part of the library.
For the Middle School library, Professor Sohmen Pao introduced a simple landscape
design around the building that features the beauty of the traditional southern Chinese
gardens of Hangzhou and Suzhou. The library building is designed as a reference to
the Tang and Song dynasties, when scholars studied whilst immersed in the
natural beauty of the gardens for inspiration.
To allow students to make full use of library resources, Pao School offers dedicated library courses in Years 1 and 2. The courses are divided between theoretical skills that focus on developing students' research and library skills, such as book and online resource retrieval, and practical skills that help students optimise classroom learning and complete corresponding tasks.
Rena Wu, Teacher Librarian in Library Class
Reading in Years 3 to 5 is combined with Exploratory Unit classes. Mohoney Jiang, Head of EU, explains that in these classes, teachers design research activities based around themed content and closely follow curriculum standards. Students read independently in the library, doing research on a step-by-step basis to expand their knowledge of the subject matter.
"Acquiring knowledge is not about rote memorisation, but an exploration process that is not limited by the learning method or location," Ms. Jiang explained.
The Primary School library currently has more than 20,000 books, among them Chinese, English and bilingual volumes, and many award-winning titles. The library also has comprehensive online databases. Students interested in learning more about how the library works can serve as student librarians, whose work focuses on supporting basic library operations such as scanning books, processing new books, organising the shelves and reading areas, and any other required tasks.
Normally, students are permitted to borrow up to three books from the library at one time. However, avid readers are always happy to win an extra Book Pass (which allows them to borrow additional books), which is possible through various activities and competitions. In this article two students who are among the top borrowers will share their stories about reading, as well as their learnings and favourite books.
Year 3A Matthew is one of the Primary School’s student librarians and in the last semester was the student who borrowed the most books from the library.
According to Matthew’s mother, he developed reading skill because from a young age he started reading picture books in both Chinese and English. Reading has become a habit for her son. Mathew can read anytime and anywhere, and often uses his leisure time during the week day (once he has completed his homework) for pleasure reading.
Why do you like to borrow books from the library?
Let me tell you why I go to check out books at the library and how reading benefits me. I check out books because it helps me learn further and relax too. Also, the library has books that we don’t have at home. And the library also is a great place to read due to its wonderful reading holes.
What did you read over winter vacation?
This holiday, I read an interesting book about robots called Robots and the Whole Technology Story. It contains funny Q and As, and fact files. Also, it tells us all about computers, (smart) phones, iPads, and other interesting things about technology. It belongs to a series by Glenn Murphy: Science Sorted. It also has books about space, evolution, heavenly bodies and predators. My favourite part talks about the world’s weirdest and most useful apps. This book helped me to learn more about robots. It is also a great book that can help me relax.
Tell us about your favorite book
First, I’m going to share two series of books I like very much. I love a series written by Stephen Hawkins and Lucy Hawkins. This series helps you dig deeper into space; also, because in each book, there are at least three fact files with full colour and pictures that you won’t find online, it is a great book for learning more about the cosmos. Then, there’s a non-fiction series called Horrible Geography. And believe me, it’s nothing horrible. It makes geography more fun than ever. This series has books about rivers, oceans, coasts, volcanoes, earthquakes, mountains, peaks, rainforests, lakes, weather, deserts… It has some experiments, activities, facts, and funny parts.
Another 4E student, Emma, comes from a bilingual family, with a Chinese mother, a Canadian father and a brother. Since her parents wanted her to have a solid foundation in Chinese, Emma entered Pao School after graduating from a public kindergarten. Emma usually borrows many Chinese books, some of which are quite difficult.
At the same time, she uses Chinese as much as possible in her co-curricular activities. Emma’s father explains that in addition to speaking English to him at home, Emma speaks Chinese with her mother and her brother to ensure her language ability gradually improves. In addition, in order to encourage Emma to read, her parents frequently buy new Chinese and English books based on their interests, and set aside dedicated reading spaces in the house where family members can read undisturbed. Emma has many hobbies and participates in a lot of family activities, yet she takes a book wherever she goes, and reads it while doing other things such as waiting for the bus or queuing.
Why do you like to borrow books from the library?
Books in the school library are like my friends, from all over the world. I turn to books whenever I feel lonely, bored, sad or am just trying to pass the time. The intriguing storylines in a book can often draw me in, and I can't help but keep reading. At the same time, I can learn many life lessons from books that stay with me. When I need to, I share them with my family and friends.
What is the biggest challenge when you read English/Chinese books?
The biggest challenge reading Chinese is new characters. I will inevitably encounter new words, and if I can't understand these new words, I can't understand the storyline. So I started reading phonetic books.
Tell us about the book you read during winter vacation
The book I want to introduce is Detective Mike Fox. This book is a detective story about an animal world where animals have language, culture, and wisdom... The protagonist is a snow fox named Mike Fox and his detective assistant Chiu Sa is a penguin. Mike Fox is a detective; no evil can escape its eyes. The author of the story is Dodoro, who also wrote "Cat's Claw" and "Mosesi's Magical Diary".
Tell us about your favorite book
The first one is Warriors, which is an inspirational epic describing the growth of cat warriors spanning hundreds of years. There are a total of six divisions and four main ethnic groups. The works have been translated into 27 languages and are popular worldwide. “Warriors” series was written by a creative team of writers from the UK and the US. . The second is “Monster Master,” a 23-book series of storybooks. The author is Leo Mirage, a Chinese writer who wrote "Charles IX". The work is set in a magical world with monsters, which we call elves. The protagonists in the book are Bubulu, Diqi, Dumpling and Selena. The story vividly describes the adventures of the four protagonists.
Rena Wu, teacher librarian, shared the following in her reflections on education in the first weekly e-newsletter of the new year: In the 21st century, when we widen our access to information, it does not follow that our curiosity widens too. Search engines can answer all your questions, but they cannot tell you what questions you should ask. We still need to remind our children not to forget the abundant paper resources available. The future belongs to people with curiosity! Encourage your child to set a reading goal in 2022.
