Libraries and Resource Centres
The UWCSEA libraries are central to the learning focus of the school and serve the whole community.
Research and information literacy programme
Our Teacher Librarians have developed and help to deliver a K–12 research and critical literacy programme to provide our students with robust research-based critical and digital literacy skills to support their success across our learning programme.
In age-appropriate ways, students use these resources as they are guided by classroom teachers, mentors and the Teacher Librarians to develop their skills in planning, conducting and reporting research. Students guidance on key topics such as finding, evaluating and citing sources, plagiarism, and making the best use of the extensive online bibliographic tools we make available for them.
We have developed online Research Hubs for Primary, Middle and High School students to support this programme and provide access to self-directed learning if desired.
Collections and online resources
In each library, our collections are organised into age-appropriate collections of fiction, non-fiction, world languages and academic texts.
Each library has its own online catalog, which can be searched individually or as a group, using the Follett Destiny software. This physical collection on each campus hosts well over 26,000 books, and this is extended by access to extensive online resources, which are shared between the campuses using the Libguides toolkit. These digital resources are provided in a variety of formats to support learners across the College, which include databases, audio, ebooks, newspapers and magazines and film.
A catalogue of up-to-date text books, which the College maintains and issues to students to support their academic programme in Middle and High School, is also managed out of the main library.
Primary School
Each Primary Library is organised into sections appropriate for Infant and Junior School students - although students are welcome to browse across the whole collection.
Students visit the library each week during class time to borrow books, and have access to age-appropriate online resources such as audio books, news and ebooks at appropriate times in their classrooms.
Classrooms are stocked with an ever-changing collection of library books.
Middle School
The dedicated Middle School collection includes genres and authors appealing to the age-group, and topical collections are showcased in regularly changing displays to make it easier for students to find books of interest and discover new authors in their preferred genre.
Students visit the library as they start to explore skills in planning, conducting and reporting research, as well as learn in more detail about topics such as citing and plagiarism.
Each mentor/advisory room also has a classroom library selection, and many mentor groups begin the day with a period of self-selected reading at some point in the year.
High School
Our High School collections features a range of genres and resources which are reviewed and replenished regularly. Because of the breadth of our academic programme in the High School, our students have access to a broad range of specialist books which both support the courses offered in the academic programme but also spark intellectual curiosity and encourage exploration.
In addition to flexible collaborative learning spaces that support group work, each library provides dedicated silent study spaces for High School students. These areas are naturally lit, fostering increased productivity and attention.
Each mentor room also has a selection of fiction and non-fiction books as a classroom library, and many mentor groups begin the day with a period of self-selected reading for at least some part of the year.