In Celebration of Book Day: School Library Showcases Award-Winning Works

Steinmühle celebrated International Book Day on April 23 with a week of events: From Monday through Friday, the student library located in the Forum presented an exhibition featuring books that have won various literary awards in recent years. The exhibition focused on both nonfiction and fiction. “This brings the works more into the spotlight and encourages students to borrow them,” notes Martina Schäfer.

For many years, this certified librarian has been working with heart and soul at a place where students can borrow nonfiction books for free “…on any topic they need for school.” But that’s not all. Fiction covering 30 different themes is also available. The student library sees a steady stream of visitors, as you can easily see during a visit. Reading hardcover books on paper is obviously still “cool”—even at the end of the second decade of the 21st century!

 

Encouraged to Swap Books

In addition to tables and seating for reading and studying, the school library also offers six computer stations. “Of course, we need Google and the like,” says Martina Schäfer, who, by her own account, has read almost all the books in the library herself. She expertly teaches students how to use the index, advises them on works relevant to exams and the Abitur, and even gives the occasional teacher important tips. The faculty lends a hand from time to time when it comes to sorting and organizing the collection. This ensures that visitors can easily find their way around at all times.

For Book Day—which turned into “Book Week” at Steinmühle—students and faculty were also able to get involved. Under the theme “Book Swap,” everyone was invited to bring books they no longer read from home and exchange them with one another. A contest and a call for students to describe what reading means to them rounded out the program. Graphic novels, which were also part of the book exhibition, offered a special kind of reading material—an alternative way of telling stories.

Steinmühle operates a total of three libraries. In addition to the student library, there is the teachers’ library in the school’s main building and the textbook library in the boarding school office building.