Library
We envision the Miquon School Clisby Library as the community hub of the school – a safe, comfortable haven where community members gather to share stories, have important conversations, and solve problems together. For students, staff, and families, the library should be a space of curiosity that sparks bold questions, amplifies their voices, and allows them simply to pause. Students will experience books as, in the words of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, “mirrors and windows,” prompting self-reflection as well as gazing into new worlds and ways of being. Our students will feel at home in any library – the “living room” of every community – whether around the corner or around the world.
The library curriculum is strongly literature-based, and skill-building is usually embedded within our discussions and activities. The librarian has referred to the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s “Model Curriculum for Pennsylvania School Library Programs” and the American Association of School Librarians’ “Standards for the 21st Century Learner” for guidance when developing the Miquon Library Scope & Sequence.
Metis Classification System
The Miquon Library uses the Metis classification system instead of the Dewey Decimal System. Metis is a flexible, intuitive, and child-friendly system of library categorization. It uses whole language, visual cues, and logic that reflects children’s own experiences. It puts the child in the center of their own search. The first versions of Metis were created by school librarians at The Ethical Culture School in 2011. Miquon’s version of Metis is based on these classifications but varies somewhat.
Media and Technology in the Library
At present, the library provides laptops to students for research, writing, and the creation of digital content (using the online programming tool Scratch, for example). The library also loans out these laptops and other media (projector, digital cameras) to classrooms as needed.
Other Library Programs
There are many extracurricular activities associated with the library as well, including a large annual book fair fundraiser, a monthly book club for fifth and sixth grade students, and supporting the sixth graders in the creation of a yearbook.
For more information regarding the Clisby Library, families and other community members should review the Miquon School Library Guidelines & Procedures.
