I am Polly Kotarba, the library/media center specialist, and I would like to Welcome you to the Gordon Elementary Library/Media Center Online.

Our Book Collection

The Gordon library collection consists of over 8,000 books in addition to audiovisual materials, magazines, and software. We are proud of our Spanish book collection, which was increased to 900 books this past year for the benefit of our bilingual classes. The books are divided into five areas of the ibrary: fiction, non-fiction, easy, reference, and professional (for teachers). In addition, there are story collections of popular series such as Goosebumps, Animorphs, Babysitters Club, American Girls, Nancy Drew, Dear America, Boxcar Children, and Great Illustrated Classics. The library is staffed by a certified teacher and librarian, Mrs. Kotarba, who has earned the Learning Resource Specialist endorsement for grades Pre-K through 12.

Borrowing Books

Every class in the school visits the library one time per week for a 45-minute session. Library and research skills are taught at this time. Book checkout privileges are available to faculty, staff, parents, and to students as follows: Students in 5^th grade are allowed to check out 5 books for one week. Students in 4^th grade are allowed to check out 4 books for one week. Students in 3^rd grade are allowed to check out 3 books for one week. Students in 2^nd grade are allowed to check out 2 books for one week. Students in 1^st grade begin checking out books in January, and are allowed to check out 1 book for one week. Students in kindergarten do not have checkout privileges; teachers may check out books on their behalf. The library is fully automated and features three multipurpose workstations. that may be used for catalog searches, internet access, and research. The library checkout system is also computerized. Students, faculty, staff, and parents are assigned a patron barcode number. Every book has a title barcode number. The computer verifies that materials are checked out to the correct person. It does not make mistakes! Books can be renewed for a maximum of two additional weeks. We do not charge late fees for overdue books. Students must pay for lost or damaged books. If a lost book is found and returned, the money will be refunded. Overdue notices are printed and sent home by the classroom teacher.

Reading Incentive Programs

The Gordon Library participates in a variety of reading incentive programs.

The goal is to allow students to develop a lifelong love for reading.

Book It! and Earning by Learning are reading programs that take place in the fall semester and are conducted by classroom teachers. The Texas Bluebonnet Award contest takes place during the spring semester and is conducted by the librarian. The most popular reading incentive program is Accelerated Reader, which operates all year long with teacher/librarian collaboration. Two complete directories of Gordon's Accelerated Reader book list are available in the library for reference: one is printed in alphabetical order by book title, and the other is printed in alphabetical order by reading level.

Book Fair

The Gordon Library operates one Scholastic Book Fair for one week every year, usually during the spring semester. This year's book fair was held in February, and was kept open one evening during Family Math Night so that parents could shop with their children. Proceeds go directly towards purchasing the supplies that keep the library operating. We very much appreciate the student, faculty,and parent support that makes this event so successful each year.