Metaphors... the beauty & necessity....

Last month the TOK (Theory of Knowledge) department ran a day on "beauty" - where various teachers offered up their ideals and examples of beauty to the Grade 11 students.

I was inspired by one of my favorite poems - by Wallace Stevens - to offer up the beauty of the perfect metaphor -- made apparent by offering up some examples of bad metaphors.



Here are some books in our East campus library that explore the power of metaphors, similes, and analogies.

East Library UWCSEA's favorite books »

The dangers of Book Clubs

I think book clubs don't really become a hazard until you've left academia. While growing up within the school environment, "book clubs" are presented in the form of literature circles and the like. But they're enforced. Not voluntary.

It's only when you're out in the real world that you are confronted with "book club behavior" -- which this video demonstrates all too humorously.



The good news is the monthly GoodReads @ UWCSEA Parents book group is nothing like this.  We come together casually to share books we've read, want to read, have read about, etc.  Here's a bookshelf of all the titles our wide-ranging conversation touched upon this past week.

Want to buy or price-check some books?

Two new online book vendor sites that have quickly become as important to me as Book Depository and OpenTrolley.

It's a book price comparison site for Singapore, which opened on August 24 of this year.

Forget about switching between Internet browser tabs - you can now shop on just one tab with oo.sg, a website that consolidates the best deals from 9 websites. With literary offerings from power e-retailers such as Amazon, Kinokuniya, Popular, Betterworldbooks, Bookdepository, Fishpond, Noqstore, and Opentrolley.

Yes, you type in a title or ISBN and it tells you the cheapest cost - including shipping costs.

One of the book sources it uses is

a free worldwide-shipping book supplier, very similar to Book Depository.  In fact, I'm noticing that they're coming in slightly cheaper than Book Depository most of the time.

I also like how they provide the Kinokuniya costs, where possible.

Parent Volunteers?

Want to volunteer?

We love help and this year we are looking for people to commit to one three-hour shift per week in one of the libraries.  Ideally, we would have two volunteers in each library every morning and every afternoon.

This weekly commitment will allow us to train people, as necessary, in tasks beyond the basic. The first priority is to re-shelve books, especially in the Primary Library, which has a greater volume of circulation. Second is to help us get books shelf-ready, whether by labeling or stamping. There will always something to do.

If you have given us your contact details previously, then you should have recently had an email from Nadine Bailey, the Parents Association coordinator of the Friends of the Libraries group.  If you didn't, please let her know.

Here is our current schedule of weekly volunteers.

If you can't do a regular weekly slot, but are still interested in joining the group, please do.  There will be other ways to contribute.

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Image: Rubber Stamp Tree by Jeffrey Beall
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31437555@N00/458846356/

NLB Annual Book Sale - Sep. 15/16

For those of you book-lovers new to Singapore, this is an annual second-hand sale to watch for.

We're talking about an event that can attract 60,000+ people, with hundreds of thousands of books (no joke) available at bargain prices.  In past years there was a 60-book limit per person, but now it's unlimited.  People queue outside with roller-luggage well before the doors open.  Don't let that put you off.  It's worth it.

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NLB Library Book Sale 2012

Sat, 15 Sep – Sun, 16 Sep 2012
9.30am – 7pm
Singapore Expo, Hall 5B

Free Admission

Price of books:
Books in all four languages will be on sale.

• English and Chinese books will cost $2 per copy
• Malay and Tamil books will cost $1 per copy

Categorisation of books:
The books are categorised under ‘Adults’, ‘Young People’ and ‘Children’. Under each category, they are sub-categorised into ‘Fiction’ and ‘Non-Fiction’.

Limit to purchases:
There is no limit to the number of items you can purchase.

Payment:
Payment can be made by NETS, CashCard or cash.

Information on Singapore Expo:
For information on Singapore Expo, including directions, please visit their website at:
http://singaporeexpo.com.sg/

Enquiries:
For enquiries, please contact us at 6332 3255 or email: helpdesk@nlb.gov.sg

Get the mobile app for our library catalog

Repeat post:

There's an app for our Library Catalogue!

Click on the link above or search the App store (either Apple or Android) for   
Destiny Quest

 and download the FREE app to search our catalog.

You'll need to know our library URL:  http://catalog.uwcsea.edu.sg

Scroll down to East Secondary library and you're in!

Log into your account with your regular UWCSEA id / password
to see what books you have out.

Learn about the features of the new app.

Read & Recycle @ UWCSEA East

Need something to read over the spring break? 


Feel free to take a book from the "Read & Recycle" bookshelves outside the Kishore Mahbubani Library on the main plaza.  

We have books for all ages -- board books for babies, picture books, early readers, beginning chapter books, novels, nonfiction, travel guides,  business & economics textbooks, cookbooks, old Readers Digest magazines, etc.

The shelves outside the secondary library are part of a new service activity for handling second-hand book donations and supporting literacy.  High school students will be supervising primary school students in managing the process and keeping the shelves in order.

We only ask that you return the books that we have labeled specifically "Read & Recycle" (see photo below of the label) when you are done reading them so others may enjoy them.  But if you don't, we'll never know.  This is a total honor system.  We just want books to circulate.

NB:  Books with NO label are free for the taking.  You can take them home for good or read and pass on to others. 

How it works

Deliver your book donations to one of the libraries -- or place in the secondary library's Return Box outside the front door.

Books will be sorted into four categories.

• Suitable for the school library;
• Suitable for a global concern;'
• Likely to be of interest to several people -- these books will get a "Read & Recycle" sticker and we expect people to return them after reading -- or pass them on to someone else;
• Unlikely to be that popular -- these books will not get a sticker and will be free for the taking.  (These books are ones that need a good home.)

Money donations in appreciation of this service will be accepted, with proceeds going towards new books for children in Cambodia and Indonesia.  Twice a year there will be a book sale when all "Read & Recycle" books will be cleared.

Questions?  Contact Ms. Katie Day in the secondary library (kda@uwcsea.edu.sg / 8233-2922).