The Lower School Library provides a safe, warm environment for children to explore literature, discover answers to questions, and investigate new ideas.

The Lower School Library provides a safe, warm environment for children to explore literature, discover answers to questions, and investigate new ideas. In the early grades, the students learn how the library is organized and how to find books of interest to them. Students learn library-related vocabulary, such as title, author, call number, fiction/nonfiction, and more. The students are taught how to choose books that are appropriate for them, how to navigate the library on their own, and checkout materials under their own name. That way, the children get the full “library experience” each week.

As they progress through the grades, we teach the children how to search for, evaluate, and organize information through collaboration with classroom teachers. This unique collaboration allows the children to investigate and explore the research process with guidance. These authentic research experiences provide students with multiple opportunities to think critically and learn to be effective users of information. The skills they acquire through this process provide a foundation for life-long learning.

In addition, we strive to foster a love of reading, by providing quality, culturally diverse, materials and opportunities to appreciate and share ideas about literature. Students in the early grades are introduced to a variety of authors whose work we explore in-depth through author studies, craft-related activities and music. Students are encouraged to sample a constellation of materials, from picture books and poetry, to more complex nonfiction and periodicals.

As the students progress through the Lower School, they participate in various reading incentive programs, such as the annual Battle of the Books and the Rooster Games. The children also have opportunities all year to take part in “Library Lunch”, an innovative salon-style gathering where Wheeler faculty and staff (across all disciplines) read their favorite books to the children during lunch. By encouraging a love of reading and being enthusiastic about the value of libraries, we hope to create a love of learning in our students that lasts a lifetime.

All of the guided instruction in the use of the library resources for research is curriculum based and accomplished in collaboration with the classroom teacher.

Most of our students enter the Middle School with a strong foundation of information literacy skills and independent reading incentives from the Lower School Library program. Many new students join the Wheeler community at the 6th grade level. We begin with an orientation to the locations of the collections and the library online database specifically Destiny Quest. Each student is given a username and password to access their account on this interactive version of the database. They can place holds on books, create lists of titles as they continue to read independently and virtually browse the shelves giving them a great deal of control over their library experience. 6th graders are regularly scheduled by their teachers for independent reading and book talking opportunities throughout the course of the school year. The middle school library supports the independent reading of all Middle School students through recommended vacation reading lists, focused displays, book talks and participation in reading initiatives and book discussion groups.

All of the guided instruction in the use of the library resources for research is curriculum based and accomplished in collaboration with the classroom teacher. Inquiry based research projects are the foundation of the Middle School Library curriculum. The goal of the program is to prepare students for high school level research by the end of 8th grade. The inquiry based projects are developmentally appropriate as they move students from guided practice of the skills taught in 6th and 7th grade to a more independent exploration of resources and ethical use of information in its many forms in 8th grade.

Among the skills reinforced and independently practiced by the end of 8th grade is the competent navigation of the library web site. Students demonstrate an understanding of databases and the ability to effectively search them by using keywords and advanced search strategies selecting the best information to meet their research needs. Ideally students at the end of 8th grade will have had the opportunity to define an information need, develop a thesis statement and successfully select the richest sources of information to meet the requirements for the project. They will be able to articulate what it means to use information ethically and demonstrate the ability to create a works cited incorporating the information from a variety of sources as they develop and communicate new learning.

The Upper School Librarian collaborates closely and actively with teachers in the design and teaching of research projects based on the development of a progressively sophisticated array of critical thinking and research skills.

The Upper School Librarian collaborates closely and actively with teachers in the design and teaching of research projects based on the development of a progressively sophisticated array of critical thinking and research skills. The Upper School uses the Standards for the 21st Century Learner, created by the American Association of School Libraries (AASL), as well as the Information Literacy Competency Standards of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL).

The Upper School Library’s teaching program emphasizes research skill areas such as finding and evaluating information sources in print and electronic formats for relevance, bias and authority; ethical use of information, and sharing knowledge through writing and oral presentations, often incorporating technological applications.

Ninth graders review and deepen skills taught intensively in their middle school years through six or more projects taught in both humanities and science classes. In the tenth and eleventh grades continue to research and write papers and prepare presentations in their history, science, and modern language classes.

When projects are assigned, students are expected to use their unscheduled periods to continue the research they have begun in class, and to become skilled at managing their time well. The Library offers a welcoming and information-rich environment to support study and research, as well as help students pursue their own interests or find something new to read. Students can consult with librarians, choose settings for group work, or find a place to work or read alone in the midst of a busy school day in a study carrel, computer workstation, or comfortable chair by a window.

Juniors and seniors find many opportunities in their electives to become increasingly independent researchers and learners. By the time Wheeler students graduate, they will have completed research papers and other activities incorporating most of the information literacy skills and types of research writing represented in a typical college freshman year.