WHAT'S IN A LEARNING COMMONS? Learning Commons are still libraries. They still encourage literacy of all types: citizen, digital, and traditional. Libraries are a crucial part of our society and, as a part of our schools, they are at the heart of it. Learning Commons encompass a library, a common space, and innovative tools and resources. As part of our 60th anniversary celebration, IRHS would like to announce our Mustang Learning Commons Legacy Project: a fundraising campaign to raise funds for much needed supplies and resources for our Learning Commons. Through the MLC and together with all our departments, we hope to promote and encourage the development of reading for life. Through projects such as the Neigh Sayers Book Reviews, launched last year, silent reading direction in each English class, and multiple literacies in each subject, it is our hope at Immaculata to meet the directives of our MLC Mission statement:

To provide a safe space that encourages communication, investigation, and innovation, and to encourage students to develop a life-long love for learning with the skills required to do so.

If our mission statement is to further the development of the student to acquire life-long learning skills, then, encouraging our students to learn to love reading is at the top of the list. There is nothing like the realization that you do like to read, you just hadn’t read something you like! Fiction is the gateway to reading, which is why we want to increase our collection. Our very own Learning Commons has undergone a big transformation in the past few years, the most obvious part being the physical space. The garage door has opened up the space to the hallway, the lower shelves create an open concept, and the seating areas encourage collaboration and group learning. The less obvious parts have taken place in the background. We have weeded our collection, we have acquired a new catalogue system, increased our digital research resources, and began reinstating our fiction section. As a result, we have increased our average book age from 1987 to 1988, and expanded our fiction from 15% ratio to 19%.

HOW CAN YOU HELP? What we need to do now is: Grow the ratio of books per student to be 25:1 (presently at 19:1) Raise the percent of fiction to 25% of collection (from 19%). Increase the average age of our books to be from the year 2000 and newer. In order to do this, we need to purchase relevant, interesting, and updated titles in subjects and formats that our students can relate to and engage with. We have some ideas in mind including a partnership subscription with Sora/Overdrive which provides access to eBooks, as well as continued purchases of Indigenous and Canadian content series, multiple genre fiction, graphic novels, biographies, etc. We need your help to support the LC and nurture it as a relevant resource for students and staff for years to come.

SUPPORT YOUR MLC Donate Today! We are looking for $10,000 for collection improvement and resources development. This includes eBooks, paperbacks, tablets and/or e-readers, makerspace materials, and software. In addition, we want to continue to make the LC a comfortable, welcoming space for all to enjoy. To this end, we intend to add reading nooks, replace the worn carpet, add shorter shelving, and do a bit of decorating. Early quotes for flooring, furniture, and shelving average $12,000. Simply donating $25/student will bring us to half our goal of collection development. Anything over that is, as they say, gravy! To make a donation, simply click on the link below, call the office to arrange for a check drop off, or send an e-transfer to etransfer.irhs@cisnd.ca (indicate what the transfer is for). DONATE NOW

Commemorative Plaque For those friends of the LC making donations of $500 or higher, we will include your names (or the name of those you may wish to honour) in a plaque that will commemorate the anniversary of our school and the MLC Legacy Project. Donor levels are as follows: Bronze $500 Silver $1,000 Gold $2,500 Platinum $5,000

With joyous hearts, in anticipation of a great campaign, we thank you.

‌ ‌