Library
The Ursula Keyes Library
The library, situated in MacLean House, is named in memory of a former pupil of the school. Ursula Keyes was a member of a prominent Chester family and attended The Queen’s School from 1929 – 1934. A very generous donation from the Ursula Keyes Trust enabled us to furnish and equip a brand new library.
The library has four main areas that students may use: a computer room with careers library, two reference rooms and an extensive fiction collection. We provide a wide range of newspapers and journals for research, in both print and electronic format, and use a document supply and inter library loan service from the British Library. An audiovisual collection is available for both school and home use.
The library has added numerous courses to the school VLE so pupils can access an efficient online reference service at all times. There are reading lists and discussion forums which we hope will encourage lively literary debates amongst keen readers and a link to the Cheshire Libraries Virtual Reference Service which is a comprehensive reference resource. Up to date lists of journals and DVDs currently held in the school library are also available as well as a virtual 'Ask the Librarian' service.
A library skills programme is offered for all standards of The Duke of Edinburgh Award.
All new students will be given a library induction class where they are issued with cards and introduced to all aspects of the service. Throughout their school careers, we aim to support all students across the curriculum and most departments have a number of library based research lessons to encourage independent learning.
In order to maintain a high profile within the school, we hold a number of promotional events throughout the year such as Harry Potter Day, a sponsored Readathon for charity and author visits. Year 8 girls have taken part in the National Kids’ Lit Quiz and are the current winners of the Cheshire Inter Schools Library quiz. Year 7 students took part in The Times National Spelling Bee competition.
Our 'literary lunches' for sixth form have proved to be a great success and this year we hope to start a book club for younger readers where we will 'shadow' the Carnegie Book Prize to see if we can predict the winners! all girls are welcome to join the library committee to help suggest and organise our events.
We are also undertaking the mammoth task of cataloguing the School Archive and hope to complete this within the next year so it can be used by past and present pupils.
The library aims to:
- Create an effective centralised learning resource relevant to the school curriculum.
- Provide materials to help students develop their academic, cultural, sporting and other recreational interests.
- Develop the use of ICT as a library resource.
- Provide students with a good basic knowledge of how to use an information service effectively in preparation for the next stage of their learning process.
The library is more than books on shelves!
The Library keeps up to date!We've made a lot of additions to the library page on the school VLE. You can now directly access many online journals which include daily newspapers, scientific journals, history articles and subjects across the curriculum. This is a great resource which should prove invaluable for students who want to increase their general knowledge and awareness, as well as helping to develop independent research skills. |
Forthcoming events in the library
Past Library Events
