New Editors

Hello to all you followers!
I am Jai Hill and I attend The Blackpool Sixth Form College.

I was approached the other week and asked if Myself and Jon Fletcher would be editor of the Library Blog and what did we say... well we said yes! 

We will do our best to keep you all up to date on all the HAPS in the Library this year!

Jai Hill

So as Jai said we have been asked to keep the blog going for all you readers out there. The Picture above is awful of me but what can you do hey?? So form now on me and Jai will be updating you on all the news in the FYi... not the library :)

All the best 

Jai & Jon

Student Librarians

The student librarians are the coolest people you will ever meet and yes they work at the library which just shows that the library is cool so Ha! You see them working hard ... well working :D every time you come to library giving up there free time. So woohoo to them :D

Now then although they don't seem that important to your life personally, and you're probably already bored of this blog, they have all at some point saved your lives and I'm not talking about providing revision books and helping you out with anything you need, even though they do do that. (stop giggling that i wrote do do). there helping out has also ensured that the librarians didn't go crazy and start shooting you all a long time ago ... in the nicest way possible :D.

They've also helped me loads, along with everyone else, by making me feel welcome and I'm pretty sure that if it wasn't for there help i would of accidently blown this place up within my first hour of being here. So thanks to you all. We'd all be dead without you, literally. This is Michael Kimber over and out :)

Goodbye, Fairwell

The changing of library's is getting closer and closer everyday and I'm sure you're all in your rooms crying your heart out into a pillow listening to a depressing Dido CD such as 'I Will Go Down With This Ship'. Or quite possibly you're just not particuarly bothered. But either way you obviously have time on your hands so you might as well read on.

Although the library is being changed, I'm sure the legend that is the old library will still live on. I'm sure you all have amazing memories from painful revision to the back breaking books you're forced to carry round, most of which you'll probably never use. Or if you're actually honest you'll have the amazing memories of coming here in an attempt to look smart to impress someone or reading your latest copy of Nuts expertly hidden behind a 2 tonne psychology textbook. Either way i'm sure the old library will be dearly missed.

So from everyone at Sixth Form goodbye , fair well library. Now I'm going to leave you to go back to crying in your pillow or to try out reading Nuts behind your textbook. But thats all for today. This is Michael Kimber over and out :)

Me Me Me

Hi there, i thought i might as well introduce myself because ... well because then i don't have to do any work :D so woohoo, go blog. Ok so my name is Michael Kimber, I'm 15 (Yr 10) and i'm here on work experience from Palatine and I'm currently doing my work experience in the library and it's great because everyone is really nice here but i guess you all probably already know that.

So now you all know a little more about me it would probably be a good idea to start writing about the library which is why I'm writing on this in the first place but ended up rambling about myself. The library, what to say about the library, well let's start with the new building. I've been told to inform the world of blog readers, yes all 3 of you, that the new library will be ready for September. Enjoyment for all, the new library is suppose to be amazing, bright, funky what better place to do never ending, brutal, exhausting, treacherous revision. Yay.

So this means that as the library is moving some books are being packed away, this however does not mean you have an excuse to not do your homework by telling your teacher the book you need is packed, as only the non essential books are being packed at the moment. Sorry.

Last but not least, the new library design has not been finalized which means if you just randomly happen to be a library enthusiast who is a architect/designer and you're dying for the library to be a certain color its not to late to plead, beg and pester Helen into making it your color. But be quick.

And i guess that's all for today. Now you can all go on knowing you know a little bit more than you did before you read this. This is Michael Kimber over and out. :)

Web 2.0 - bet you don't know what it is...

...oh, you do. Well, that would have saved me a blog entry. You should have said something before. So you'll know Web 2.0 is just a phrase describing a way of generating your own content on the net, rather than letting the geeky programmers have all the fun?

I guess you'll know you can share your wikis and blogs with whomever you like, collaborating with work colleagues and students on the same document, rather than sending a flurry of emails all over the place? That Google Docs thing is brilliant, too - you don't need to be hampered by that pesky incompatibility problem sharing Word between a PC and a Mac.

And I spose you'll have like, a million friends on Facebook or MySpace already?

What - you mean, you didn't know any of this? Well, you'd better talk to Louise or Helen in the Library, or the Teaching and Learning Group at the College. The T&L Group are amazing - they've just learned loads of stuff about Web 2.0, so they'll be able to help too.

Books that will change your life

Here is an entirely subjective list of books that I'm recommending. They're all available in the Library and, even if they don't change your life, certainly a few of your neurons will be firing differently once you've read them.

Ready to have your life changed? Are you fully prepared for this adventure? Here goes!

Charlotte Brontë - Jane Eyre
Why? Because Charlotte and her sisters wrote fiction utterly unlike anything written before, and exposed Victorian hypocrisy about women's lives in the process

Lewis Carroll - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; and Through the Looking-Glass (you need to read both)
Why? The first books written for children which didn't patronise them, exhort them to good behaviour or insult their intelligence. Seriously bizarre stuff

Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything
Why? This is about science - all the great discoveries, and the frankly peculiar scientists who did the discovering. A most alarming bunch of charlatans, weirdos, geniuses and prophets they turn out to be.

Nigel Warburton - Philosophy: the basics
Why? Sorts out why we think the things we do, and challenges the things we usually accept without question. An entire education in one small book. You'll never think in the same way again.

Committing random acts of literacy

Well, here's a thing. www.bookcrossing.com is an idea of towering genius. This is all about sharing books with complete strangers. If you love a book so much you want others to love it too, register it with Bookcrossing, write the ID number in/on the book, and leave the book somewhere - anywhere - to see if someone will pick it up. Hopefully they'll fall in love with it too. They then go to the website, register the ID, leave a review if they wish, and bookcross it in their turn.

Go on, try it! I've just released a book into the wilds of the Sixth Form Staff Room, and the Book Club peeps are leaving theirs all over the UK.

This is a novel way of sharing, er, novels, and it's what the net was made for - fun, doesn't cost anything, and is a genuinely innovative use of technology. The site fosters the love of books, generosity, and curiosity - what's not to like?

New Library

Thanks to the Focus Group who met with me last week to talk about the new LLRC. The two items we discussed are how students learn, and what we can do to improve on the Library services we have now.

The outcomes are that students want a variety of learning spaces, from individual quiet (or silent) study to busy places where students can work in groups. They also suggested an area where the computers aren't restricted - ie so people can use MySpace, Facebook, etc.

A bulletin board/plasma screen dedicated to College and Library stuff with a news ticker would be useful, as would completely mobile chairs and furniture. A rather more sophisticated decor would be nice, too - ie no more lemon walls!

We've been to visit some new libraries - the Saltire Centre at Glasgow Caledonian University and the Loop at Blackpool and Fylde. Bpoth of these have been designed by the same company, and share cool furniture, wireless access, and interesting decor. Most of all, though, they're designed around how students actually learn, and that's what we're going for.

As soon as we get some plans back from the designers, which should be next week, we'll have them in the Library for you to have a look at and comment on.

In the meantime, let us know your thoughts. If you want to join the Focus Group, email me! hcrowther@blackpoolsixth.ac.uk

A Clockwork Orange.

The Blackpool Sixth Form College are pleased to welcome Rob Spence from The University of Lancaster to lecture on the controversial novel/film "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess. This is a must for Literaure students preparing for the synoptic module and is highly recommended for Film Studies students who are studying the film as part of their Censorship module. This will take place on Thursday 14th February at 2pm-3pm in the Concert Hall. Please do your very best to attend as this is a wonderful opportunity not to be missed!