Murder in the Library?

It’s Murder in the Library!
Use information sources in the library to solve the mystery of the 'murder in the Library'. Each week a set of clues will help you discover the victim, murder weapon and the murderer!
The final set of clues, revealed today, will lead you to the name of the murderer. The questions have all been set by members of Reading Club.
All the clues will be available for one more week and can also be found on the Library News page of the school intranet. Find your answer sheets from weeks 1 and 2, and hand in all 3 sheets (or copy the sets of answers onto one page) by 2 February.
The names of those who answer all the questions correctly and have solved the mystery will go into a prize draw.

The next Children's Laureate

Michael Rosen is the current Children's Laureate. His two-year appointment comes to an end this year, so who will be the new Laureate for 2009-2011?
The role of Children's Laureate, which has a bursary of £10,000, is awarded once every two years to an eminent writer or illustrator of children's books to celebrate outstanding achievement in their field. The illustrator Quentin Blake was the first Children's Laureate (1999-2001), followed by the author Anne Fine (2001-2003), Michael Morpurgo (2003-2005), Jacqueline Wilson (2005-7) and most recently Michael Rosen (2007-2009).
The selection panel for the award is changed every two years, and the judges will consider nominations by children as well as from a range of organisations representing librarians, critics, writers and booksellers. Children and adults can suggest any living British writer or illustrator of children's books – the deadline for nominations is 31 January 2009. To find out more about the Children's Laureate and Michael Rosen's activities, visit the Laureate website.

TS Eliot Prize and Costa Book Awards

The prestigious TS Eliot Prize has been won by Jen Hadfield, a relatively unknown poet, for her second collection of poems, Nigh-No-Place. The prize has been awarded every year since 1993 and previous winners include Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes. The poet wins £15,000.

The category winners of the Costa Book Awards each receive £5,000, and compete for the Book of the Year Award, to be announced later this month. There are five categories:
Novel - Sebastian Barry: The Secret Scripture
Biography - Diana Athill: Somewhere Towards the End
First Novel - Sadie Jones: The Outcast
Poetry - Adam Foulds: The Broken Word
Children's Book - Michelle Magorian: Just Henry.
More information

New Year Resolutions

Make the most of the library as one of your New Year resolutions!
Here are some more ideas:
#Swap reads with friends
#Start a reading diary
#Make a poster about a book you have enjoyed
#Nominate a book for the new Oxfordshire Book Award
#Write a book review and hand it to the library
#Read an author you have never tried before
#Join your local public library.

For more suggestions click here.