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Welcome to the Northern Highlands Library!: About the Library

Everything you need to know about your school library

The mission of the Northern Highlands High School Library is to empower students to be...

  • Critical thinkers
  • Creative and ethical consumers and producers of ideas and information
  • Lifelong readers and learners

...so that they may become engaged citizens in a global society.

 

 

Objectives of the Library

  • To provide faculty and students with materials that enrich and support the curriculum and meet the needs of the students and faculty served

  • To provide students with a wide range of educational materials on all levels of difficulty and in a variety of formats, with diversity of appeal, allowing for the presentation of many different points of view

  • To select materials that present various sides of controversial issues, giving students an opportunity to develop analytical skills resulting in informed decisions

  • To select materials in all formats, including up-to-date, high quality, varied literature to develop and strengthen a love of reading

  • To collaborate with faculty in teaching research skills and information literacy

 

Selection of Library Materials

 

  1. Responsibility for Selection

The elected Board of Education shall delegate to the Superintendent of Schools the authority and responsibility for selection of library materials in all formats. Responsibility for actual selection rests with the certified Educational Media Specialist, using the Board’s adopted selection criteria and procedures.

  1. Selection Criteria
     

Materials selected for the library will meet one or more of the following criteria:

  • Support and enrich the Northern Highlands Regional High School curriculum, teachers’ research and professional development needs, and students’ personal interests and self-directed learning.

  • Meet high standards in literary, artistic, aesthetic, or educational quality

  • Be appropriate for the subject area and for the age, emotional development, ability level, learning styles, and social, emotional, and intellectual development of high school students.

  • Incorporate accurate and authentic factual content from authoritative sources

  • Earn favorable reviews in standard reviewing sources and/or favorable recommendations based on preview and examination of materials by professional personnel

  • Exhibit a high degree of potential user appeal and interest

  • Represent differing viewpoints on controversial issues

  • Provide a global perspective and promote diversity by including materials by authors and illustrators of all cultures

  • Include a variety of resources in physical and virtual formats including print and non-print, such as electronic and multimedia (including subscription databases and other online products).

  • Demonstrate physical format, appearance, and durability suitable to their intended use

  • Balance cost with need

Sources consulted for selection include, but are not limited to:

 

"Earth." by tw0bit is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The Library should be a calm, academic (though not silent) place where students read, work, or relax quietly.

  • Loud, disruptive behavior is never acceptable. 
  • Students may talk and collaborate quietly in all areas of the Library except the Quiet Study Area. The Quiet Study Area is for individual, silent study at all times.
  • Students may not eat or drink in the Library, except for water and for hot beverages in sealed travel containers. Beverages that leave a stain or a sticky spot when they spill are not allowed.
  • Students will clean up after themselves, put chairs back four to a table, and push chairs in neatly before leaving the Library.
  • Students coming from study halls, physical education, or other classes will use the computer at the Front Desk to check in to Genesis Turnstile. 
  • Library rules apply to all students in the Library, including students here from Study Halls. Students who need to eat or drink or to engage in loud conversation should return to wherever their regular Study Hall is scheduled. 
  • To borrow a book, bring it to Ms. Goldberg or Mrs. Weiss.
  • If neither is there, use the manual checkout form in the red binder on the Front Desk. Please write neatly!
  • Never take a book out of the Library without checking it out by one of these methods! It creates problems.
  • Books are usually due 30 days after checkout, but you can always request extra time, either when you are checking the book out, or if you are not finished reading it by the due date. See Ms. Goldberg or Mrs. Weiss, or email one of us. You do not need to bring the book to the Library in order to renew it. We always want you to have as much time as you need.
  • Books that are overdue by more than 30 days will be entered into Genesis as lost books. We ALWAYS prefer to have the book back, or even a copy you purchase, rather than a check.
  • We have no limit on the number of books you can take out at a time, but we ask that you do not check out all the books in the collection about a particular subject at once.

Happy Reading!

Northern Highlands students have often wondered about the large mural over the circulation desk in the Library. Here is a little history for the curious.


1. Mrs. Rona Meyers, retired Supervisor of Guidance, from a 2007 email:

"In 1987, I was recognized by the Governor for excellence in teaching and given $3000 to use as I wished for my school. Highlands is such a beautiful school, but at the time it was missing art works that enhance an otherwise sterile environment. I love art, so I gave the gift to art teacher, Dick Brady, who painted this allegorical work. Problem is that he refused to tell us the meaning behind the symbolism, wanting us to use ourimagination to figure out at least some of it.

You'll notice that he uses a backdrop that includes both locations near school--Elmer's in USR--as well as the George Washington Bridge and Manhattan. He includes some written messages, including the letters on the cheerleaders' sweaters (SANTI!). He includes animals who represent some members of our former staff (all in fun, of course) and also includes likeness of some of our colleagues. To the right of the painting, there appears to be a great hall of learning (NHRHS) where a tall man on the right, Jack Mintzer our first and long-time prinicpal, and to the left, a shorter man Jerry Hopkins our first superintendent. Both men helped to forge the culture of Northern Highlands. Mr. Brady captured their body language perfectly.

Below the foregoing scene are 3 people sitting by a lake, talking. The person in the middle is Donald Ryan, first and long-time supervisor of the English department; to the left in profile is Bruce Emra, present supervisor of English. Moving to the left of the  painting, see a sports car where Dick created a rendition of me--by the way I did not know what he was painting until I saw it above the library desk."
 

2.  Mr. Richard Brady, retired art teacher and creator of the mural, left this handwritten explanation of his painting:

Some Notes on the Library Mural

Note: The theme of the mural is "The Peaceable Kingdom"
History Note:
A scene in the mural depicts what was, for me, a golden moment on one of these outings. In the wane of the days' activities a number of us, students and teachers, found ourselves relaxing and conversing. Some wonderful warmth, good will and even small wisdoms must have been shared, for one young lady was suddenly moved to exclaim, "Oh, why couldn't school be always like this?"

Many have recognized various staff members int he mural and have questioned me as to other idnetities. If you feel you are somewhere in the mural you probably are. Be advised, though, that not all of us appear in our human form. In the Culvermere discussion group, for instance, I am the otter.

Affectionately,
Dick Brady

 3. In 2008, the Fling researched the history of the mural, and Mr. Brady came to visit. The Fling published a center spread explaining many of the details in the mural. Here's what they found out: