It's nearly the end of the year, and if you are one of my students, I hope that you have been able to find books in our class library to enjoy. The Lydon Library currently includes more books than it can hold; my current count shows it at 571 titles. I actually gave away a number of books to students this month so I could make room for more!
These 500+ books cover a variety of genres. I have novels to cry to and others that will make you angry. You can be disgusted or overjoyed. Our novels can take you into the future or into the past. The complexity of these novels is varied as well, with some of literature's great classics shelved next to schlock horror and parody. There is even some non-fiction snuggled in there to inform, amaze, and terrify.
And while I am proud of the library, I'm even more proud of my students. This year, my students have borrowed more than 250 books from our library! Some of these were passed between students without them ever being reshelved; instead they were immediately checked out by someone new, their stories captivating the attentions of readers enough that they had to be shared, enjoyed, and discussed. Many were explored and promptly returned, the sign of readers testing the waters and exploring to find the right novel. Others were never borrowed, and among these a number of gems lie undiscovered on my shelves still, waiting for a curious reader to explore something new, maybe to discover a character, a challenge, a world that needs to be shared. Who knows how many novels might be waiting to find themselves passed around and shared endlessly?
It is important to me that my library provides students with easy, regular access to and experimentation with books, and for this reason I have never expected any money to keep it up. That isn't changing. Over the course of a year, I do tend to lose some books, however. Last year, about ten or so went missing. A couple were returned, a couple were replaced with donations, but a few just disappeared. I expect this. While it is unfortunate that those books are lost to future students, my hope is that the students who took them home finished and enjoyed them (and maybe even shared them with their friends).
That doesn't make replacing books any cheaper. If every book in my library cost as much as the cheapest local used paperback, my room would still contain more than a thousand dollars worth of books. Thankfully, I have been fortunate to have friends and family that help support the library, to keep it growing. My mom browses thrift stores regularly, my dad has provided me with some gift certificates to book stores, and I have even had some truly excellent human beings as students who wanted to share books with other students by donating from their own home libraries. The remainder come from me, either from my own personal library at home or bought just for the benefit of my students.
All of this is about ensuring that my students - past, present, and future - can explore the world through literature. If this is something that you value, there is an easy way that you can keep it going.
The link above will direct you to Amazon.com. If you bookmark and use that link or click the button to visit Amazon before you shop, every purchase you make will throw a few cents into the library. It isn't much, but just by using that link to do your regular Amazon shopping, you can help the Lydon Library provide more books and a better experience to students. If possible, encourage your families and friends to use this link too! In time, I intend to grow my library to include better quality (not falling apart) shelves, a selection of digital books, and even eReaders. These contributions also make maintaining my existing library and acquiring books that students want much easier too.
If you would like to make a more direct contribution, you can click on the second link to view and purchase books from my Library Wish List. This is principally a list I use to track books that I hope to acquire myself, but if you would like to donate to the library, this is one way of doing so. I would also gladly accept any books from your home libraries, should they be overflowing (and I hope that they are).
If you have found a book that spoke to you, that took you away into a new life, a new place, or a new series of previously unimagined events, helping to ensure others can experience the same is a great gift. I appreciate your help.
I hope you do not mind me requesting this assistance. I waited until the end of the year to make this request because I don't want to ask for some ransom to provide books to this year's students. Instead, my hope is that there will be an appreciation for the 2015-16 library that will compel my students and our combined friends and family to contribute to keep the pages turning.
Thanks, and happy reading!
-Mr. Lydon