Jointly reported by:
Tan Qi Xuan Sr1A
Grace Low Shing Wei Sr2ScA
As all Kuen Cheng students know, the Library Department organises entertaining and educational activities each month every year, both online and offline. In hopes of getting a sneak peek, members from the Newsletter Club interviewed Madam Ong Lay Fong, head of the Library Department about the future programs arranged for this year.
Library’s Monthly Themes
Madam Ong started off with the activities held in January. To welcome the beginning of a brand new school year, the Library Department kicked off with a post on their official Facebook page, asking for likes and followers in exchange of small gifts, as previously done last year. The KCHS Library Facebook page opened in January 2020, and has since garnered more than 1800 fans. Madam Ong mentions a goal of 4000 followers, and hopes more students will follow their account to spread their influence.
Meanwhile, a new program has started within the library. During January, students who borrowed books from the library received a card and two stamps for each borrowed book. Madam Ong considers this activity as a success, as they have lent out more than 1680 books in January, despite the school’s strict regulations about visiting the library due to the worsening pandemic.
February saw the theme of “Positive Incentive”, which highlights the importance of positive assurance in motivating people. Given the goal of the Library Department is to encourage students to pick up reading, the Library Department came up with two activities to assist in achieving said goal. One of the activities was “Blind Date with Books”, a popular program introduced to the student body last year, whereas the other was “Book Roulette”, where students would spin the roulette to select a random book to read. Both activities were to help those who have no idea of what books to read, but unfortunately had to be postponed due to classes being moved online.
On the other hand, the Chinese Lunar New Year related post on Facebook did amazing, gaining many comments wishing well to the friends they tagged, and thus was a success.
Now, in the middle of March, which is known for International Women’s Day that falls on March 8th every year, the Library Department is posting about remarkable women and their contributions to society every day on their Facebook account. They ask for students to share their stories and thoughts in the comments as well. Sadly, the Book Sharing Session Madam Ong planned to have at the school library was postponed due to school holidays.
Madam Ong also disclosed that they were going to have an exclusive session about introducing the library during Freshman Day held on March 18th and 19th, when the new Junior 1 pupils get their first glance at Kuen Cheng.
However, Madam Ong does tell us to look out for April’s “Environmental Protection” themed activities. The “Moving Book Castle” is a brand new activity yet to be introduced. Students could bring second hand books from home to school and exchange them with others in this program. This encourages pupils to read more and also offers old books a second home. The other activity will be held via Facebook posts, where students will indulge in creativity and imagination as they rewrite the endings of famous books.
In keeping with May’s theme, which is “The Literary MayDay”, book sharing sessions will be held at the library during recess. However, it might be adjourned to the following month or year if all classes are still held online. In the same month, there will be an online book sharing session. Student librarians will be recording some videos about the books they read and posting them on the Facebook page to share with the students.
Following up is June, the “Thanksgiving Month”. In line with the theme, Family Day is held to improve communication between students and parents. On that day, parents are allowed to enter the library to read with their children. At the same time, the library’s Facebook page will come up with some quizzes to test a student’s knowledge regarding a book. For instance, a call number tells us where the book is located in the library and it appears on the spines of books. As a result, students will gain a deeper understanding of the books in the library.
One thing to take note is that students will get two stamps if they borrow books from the library in July. On the other hand, there will be quizzes prepared by the Library Department along with the Independence Day. Reading activities that are relevant to the theme of September, which is “The Culinary Delights”, would also be carried out. Whereas in October, the library will promote and share some ghost stories and have movie sharing sessions. Students can enter the library wearing Halloween hair accessories to enliven the atmosphere.
Lastly, Madam Ong hoped the offline exhibition could go off without a hitch in November so that the Western Calligraphy Club‘s masterpiece can be displayed outside the library. In December, students leave down some motivational words for their friends using the comment wall. Meanwhile, the library teacher will also send out some gifts to the students at thanksgiving.
All the activities were created and brought to life with the hard work of Madam Ong and Assistant Head of the Library Department, Miss Jane Chan Mei Qi. Both appealed to the students to take part in the programs held, and hoped that everyone would experience and learn new things while participating in the activities.
Before the end of the interview, Madam Ong promoted the library loyalty card. Students who borrowed books from the library would receive that card and a stamp for each borrowed book. When they reached 30 stamps, they received a “Good Reader” certificate.
Library Loyalty Card