Written by Mrs Judy O’Connell
(Head of Library and Information Services)

Chances are that in a quiet moment somewhere around the College you’ll find a boy curled up and reading a book!

It’s wonderful to see so many of our boys come to Joeys as avid readers. But many other boys are a little reluctant to read, so it was it was good to see the outright enthusiasm of all of Year 7 who were engaged for an hour hearing about ‘what’s hot’ in books and discovering many great books to read. Paul MacDonald from the Children’s Bookshop at Beecroft has great experience in motivating students to read. Paul was a primary and secondary English teacher before ‘getting into books’ with his own bookshop.

Paul spent a really busy hour talking with the Year 7 boys, reminding them of the value of reading and writing for creative enjoyment and learning – and for their future careers. Everyone needs to be literate no matter what they do in life! Amongst many anecdotes shared by Paul, boys were particularly astonished to learn that new Australian author Rebecca James, who wrote Beautiful Malice, has had her book rights purchased for $1,000,000; and that boys of just 15 like Christopher Paolini can become famous for their writing. Boys learned about many new releases in a wide range of genres, including trans-literacy books, graphic novels and picture books. Paul shared lots of facts, and at regular intervals asked a quick quiz question! A Robert Muchamore Cherub beanie was the instant prize for each lucky winner. What a huge show of hands urging to be chosen to answer the question. What a motivation winner!

We were delighted to find that many boys raced in to the Resources Centre straight after lunch to grab books to read. At last count books were borrowed or reserved for authors such as Anthony Horowitz, Suzanne Collins, Matthew Reilly, Robert Muchamore, John Flanagan , James Paterson, Alex Scarrow and Christopher Paolini, and Gabriel Lord. Congratulations to Year 7 for being such an excellent audience, and for being so excited about books. Keep up the good work boys!

Pictured in Photo 1:  Marcus Britt (Cronulla), Andre Bezuidenhout (Castlecrag), Tom O’Connor (Ryde), Connor Berkery (Wahroonga), Matthew Walker (Paddington), Cain Nelson (Putney), Nathan Dufficy (Woolwich), Ben Williams (Hunters Hill) and Hamish McDonald (Hunters Hill).