Library

Welcome to the WYIS library community! Our aim is to provide a professional and fun environment that encourages greater community relationships and prepares our students for future reading and research adventures.

We are continually working to improve the library. Do you have ideas for programs we can offer or books we should have? We welcome your feedback. In fact, we have a notebook dedicated just to book recommendations. Please stop by the library and explore all we have available.

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WHAT'S NEW

Library Adopt-A-Shelf
We have begun a new service program in the library, in which people may sign up to "adopt" one or more shelves in the library for one quarter. They would then be responsible to check their shelf at least once a week to make sure it is neat and in the correct order. We will teach participants how to put their shelf in order, and we will happily answer any questions that come up while someone is checking their shelf. The program has already begun with students grades 3 and up, but starting in quarter 3 we will open up the program to families, as well. Parents can volunteer on their own or even make it a family activity.

For more information or to sign up for the program, please see Ms. Carter or Ms. Tang in the library, or send an email to library@wyischina.com.

Library Office
The room behind the circulation desk is now our official library office, rather than just a storage room. If you ever come to the library and do not see someone sitting at the circulation desk, we may be in the office. Simply ring the bell at the counter, and someone will come to help you.

Library Signs
We have new library signs to help you find your books more easily. There are section labels hanging from the ceiling and shelf signs detailing what you can find in each row of bookshelves.

College Prep Shelf
Are you or your child preparing for a college exam? We have a new shelf section dedicated to study books for various college level exams, from the SAT, to the TOEFL exam, to many different AP courses.

Library Canvas Tutorial Videos
We have created a new module in our library Canvas courses geared specifically for parents. It is called the WYIS Library “How To” Series, and it consists of a series of tutorial videos teaching you everything you need to know about using Destiny or any of the online resources available through the library. To find it, go to your child’s library Canvas course. Click on “Modules.” Scroll to the bottom of the modules page, and you will find the “WYIS Library ‘How To’ Series” module. Happy exploring!

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LIBRARY CATALOG

The LIBRARY CATALOG is where it all starts. In the catalog, you can look up what books are available and view information about your account. Our catalog system is called Destiny, so you may sometimes hear us refer to the catalog that way. Bookmark this site library.wyischina.com and visit the catalog and the library often.

ABOUT US

Our Library's Mission

WYIS, together with the library teams at our other iSC schools, compiled this mission statement for all iSC school libraries. This is what we hope to accomplish in the library:

  • Facilitate and assist in the development of patrons’ reading and information literacy by providing a variety of information from various viewpoints. By patrons, we seek to serve primarily our students and staff, and secondarily our communities.
  • Support and enhance our schools’ overall curriculum needs and access to information.
  • Encourage the development of students’ senses of responsibility, both as individuals and as part of a community, in order to become lifelong learners – thinkers who can analyze, evaluate, and integrate ideas and information.

HANNAH CARTER

Although an American national and most of her family lives in the United States, Ms. Carter was born in Kenya and spent most of her childhood in Kenya and Zambia. She is a graduate of the Rift Valley Academy in Kenya and holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Houghton University in New York. After that, she worked for two years as a school librarian at a school in the UAE, earning a Masters in Library Studies from Indiana University. Then she came to Wuhan to work for WYIS.

Ms. Carter is passionate about many things-information literacy, different cultures and languages, books, music, drama and board games, to name a few. She is eager to learn more about the culture and experience represented by our school.

Interesting thing: Like WYIS, her high school mascot is also a buffalo.

SUSAN TANG

Mrs. Tang graduated from college in the first year of 21st century. Her major is English education. Her first job was to teach English to Chinese students from age 6-12. After 5 years of being an English teacher, she worked on a children’s books publishing project with a publishing company for almost 6 years. Her favorite picture books are The Tales of Three Trees and Guess How Much I Love You.

Mrs. Tang enjoys reading, movie, music, drama, and board games. When she plays board games like Phase 10 with friends, she is always the loudest one.

LIBRARY BASICS

Hours

STUDENTS
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday - 7:45 – 4:00
Tuesday - 7:45 – 3:20

PARENTS
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - :50 – 8:20, 3:00 – 4:00
Tuesday 7:50 – 8:20, 3:00 – 3:20

Parents must sign in at the reception desk and receive a visitor pass before coming to the library.

Who can have a library account?

Who can have a library account?
• Staff
• Students
• Students’ parents
• NOT grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.
• NOT siblings attending different schools

Checkout Policies

Most may check out up to four books at one time and may keep them for up to two weeks with one renewal. To renew a book means to extend the deadline. If you are not finished with a book by the time it is due, you can renew the book by bringing it to the library and asking to renew it. So long as it is not needed for a class, we can give you two more weeks to finish the book.

If you return your book after its due date, you will need to pay an overdue fine (see “Fines” below). As an extra incentive, students who have overdue books cannot check out additional books until they have returned their overdue book.

You may only check out books to your own account. Parents may not check out books to their child’s account or to their spouse’s account, and students may not check out books to their parent’s account. This is part of our library’s safety and security policies. We take safety very seriously, and protecting your privacy is part of that.

Not every grade has the same checkout limit. The following are the specific policies for students:

  • ECC 3: No checkout
  • ECC4: 1st semester: no checkout; 2nd semester: 1 book for 1 week, but only to the classroom; no overdue policy
  • ECC5: 1st semester: 1 book for 1 week, only to the classroom; 2nd semester: 1 book for 1 week, can go home; no overdue policy
  • Grade 1: 2 books for 2 weeks, 1 renewal; regular overdue policy
  • Grade 2: 3 books for 2 weeks, 1 renewal; regular overdue policy
  • Grades 3-12: 4 books for 2 weeks, 1 renewal; regular overdue policy

Additional Policies

After-School Policies
Elementary students may come to the library after school only if they are accompanied by their parent or other guardian. Secondary students are considered responsible and independent enough to come to the library without parent supervision. However, they must sign in using the library’s student sign-in sheet. Student safety is very important to us. These policies follow standard safety and security measures.

Fines
You will owe the library 1 RMB for every day a book is late. If your book is ten days late, you will owe 10 RMB. If you have two overdue books and each is three days late, you will owe 6 RMB. Weekends count as only one day.

Lost Books
If you or your child loses a book, please let us know, and then continue looking for it. We will look up how much it will cost to replace the book and send you an official email with the amount owed. You can then pay the fine to our finance department, and they will let us know to make the proper adjustment in the library system.

PARENT VOLUNTEERS

In order to continue developing and improving our library and services, we heavily rely on help from volunteers. Our volunteers support full-time library staff to help make the library a welcoming place of learning and growth for our student body and their families. We truly appreciate all our volunteers do.

REQUIREMENTS

• Must be moderately fluent in both written and spoken English
• Good work ethic
• Able to take instruction
• Able to work independently, according to an established list of prioritized tasks
• Able to commit to a regular schedule, with at least one shift per week

Parent volunteer shifts are typically three hours long. Morning shifts usually extend from 9:10 to 12:10, and afternoon shifts are usually 12 noon to 3:00. Ideally, both the morning and afternoon shift should be filled every day of the week. We currently have a rule of only one volunteer at a time.

TASKS

  1. Check in class books when classes come to the library
  2. Help students find and check out books when classes come to the library
  3. Check in books placed in the book return boxes
  4. Check out books when Ms. Carter and Mrs. Tang are not available
  5. Return books to shelves that are on the return cart
  6. Make sure shelves are tidy and books are in order
  7. Repair books
  8. Cover paperbacks with our special book cover material

JOIN OUR LIBRARY VOLUNTEER TEAM

If you are interested in volunteering at the library, please send us an email including what days and times you are available to volunteer. We will meet with you first to see if it's a good fit. If all goes well and schedules work out, we will ask you to sign a volunteer agreement and then arrange a training session with you before your first shift.