Library

Librarian: James Nash
Members of department: Kim Cunningham

We have 10,500 books in stock. Three thousand of these books are fiction and are regularly updated with the latest stock. The collection includes bilingual books relevant to the local community, plus a wide range of English, foreign and heritage language dictionaries and some special collections.

Special Needs

The librarian is keen to assist pupils with special needs and listed below are some of the ways in which the library can help:

  • buy or borrow books in Braille and large print format from the Royal National Society for the Blind

  • purchase, when available, age appropriate books for pupils with reading difficulties. The librarian is willing to seek out ‘reader friendly’ fiction and non-fiction books for dyslexic pupils printed on paper of a suitable tone with the text in the correct point size and with unjustified type on the right hand side of each page etc.

  • obtain suitable bilingual dictionaries, picture dictionaries and dual language resources for newly arrived pupils whose mother tongue is not English

  • ordering.

Parents, students with particular needs, teachers, teaching assistants and specialist advisory staff are welcome to offer suggestions for the purchase of additional equipment and books to meet the requirements of special needs pupils

Students are also invited to help develop the library by suggesting books to buy.  Suggestion boxes and slips to fill in can be found on the Library counter.

Student Librarians

Students have the opportunity to become Student Librarians. This is based on a rigorous selection process including an application form with references and an interview with the Librarian. 

Successful candidates have a trial period carrying out Library duties and attending Student Librarian meetings.  After the trial period they can start earning rewards for their training and service to the school which include priority at Library events, special trips and commendations in assemblies. 

Becoming a Student Librarian is a great way to build leadership and management skills while also acquiring experience of work and useful knowledge.

Resources

The school library supports pupils and staff by providing relevant resources to meet the needs of the school community. There are collections of books on topics relevant to all subjects in the curriculum and eight networked computers for student use as well as printing facilities.

A-Level and GCSE resources

The Library is attached to a Sixth Form Workroom that has networked PC's and Macs that are available all day for Sixth Formers to work on. There is a specific A-level and GCSE focused area in the Library that contains revision guides, textbooks and past papers.  This is supplemented to further scaffold independent learning with the provision of "How to Study" books as well as suggested further reading throughout all topics.

There is also a 48 hour request photocopy service for GCSE and A-level students where they can request certain pages of a book be photocopied to help in their research or notetaking.  For further information students should see Mr Nash in the library.

Digital resources

Please find links to some of the relevant digital resources we subscribe to here at Morpeth. If you are a student and would like to access these resources, ask your teachers or the librarian for the log- in details.  New resources are being added all the time so check back often!

InfoTrac:  This is an academic resource that provides students with full text access to thousands of magazines and journals such as New Scientist, The Economist, New Statesman and Nature.  Here is a link to the log-in page, http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/morpethsch. To fully access the service you will need the password from the Library.

Read about World War I - Recommended reading on the First World War.

Events:  The Library runs several events throughout the year including Book Fairs, World Book Day and World Book Night, and author visits by some great writers. Past visiting authors include Melvin Burgess, Sufiya Ahmed and Steve Cole.  For further details please check our News section, Announcements or follow the Morpeth School Library X feed @MorpethLibrary