SMS Library

Our Mission Statement

The mission of the Denison ISD Libraries is to provide a warm, safe, and positive environment for students to learn, grow, and explore. We will promote and foster a love for reading while preparing students with information literacy skills that will help prepare them to be independent learners and thinkers for the 21st century. We provide a variety of up-to-date materials to support and enrich the education of all our students, as well as support the curriculum of our teachers. Our goal is to promote a love of reading.

Library Hours: 8:10am - 4:00pm Monday thru Friday

Students may enter thru the commons to come to the library before school opens. Come to check out books, finish homework, or just a peaceful place to relax and get your READ on!

Welcome

Book Fix

SMS Library Information

Intellectual Freedom

ALA Code of Ethics of the American Library Association

The principles of this Code are expressed in broad statements to guide ethical decision making. These statements provide a framework; they cannot and do not dictate conduct to cover particular situations.

We provide the highest level of service to all library users through appropriate and usefully organized resources; equitable service policies; equitable access; and accurate, unbiased, and courteous responses to all requests.
We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources.
We protect each library user's right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted.
We respect intellectual property rights and advocate balance between the interests of information users and rights holders.
We treat co-workers and other colleagues with respect, fairness, and good faith, and advocate conditions of employment that safeguard the rights and welfare of all employees of our institutions.
We do not advance private interests at the expense of library users, colleagues, or our employing institutions.
We distinguish between our personal convictions and professional duties and do not allow our personal beliefs to interfere with fair representation of the aims of our institutions or the provision of access to their information resources.
We strive for excellence in the profession by maintaining and enhancing our own knowledge and skills, by encouraging the professional development of co-workers, and by fostering the aspirations of potential members of the profession.

Adopted at the 1939 Midwinter Meeting by the ALA Council; amended June 30, 1981; June 28, 1995; and January 22, 2008.

The American Library Association Freedom to Read Statement

The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label "controversial" views, to distribute lists of "objectionable" books or authors, and to purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to counter threats to safety or national security, as well as to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as individuals devoted to reading and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating ideas, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read.

Most attempts at suppression rest on a denial of the fundamental premise of democracy: that the ordinary individual, by exercising critical judgment, will select the good and reject the bad. We trust Americans to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe. We do not believe they are prepared to sacrifice their heritage of a free press in order to be "protected" against what others think may be bad for them. We believe they still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression.

These efforts at suppression are related to a larger pattern of pressures being brought against education, the press, art and images, films, broadcast media, and the Internet. The problem is not only one of actual censorship. The shadow of fear cast by these pressures leads, we suspect, to an even larger voluntary curtailment of expression by those who seek to avoid controversy or unwelcome scrutiny by government officials.

Such pressure toward conformity is perhaps natural to a time of accelerated change. And yet suppression is never more dangerous than in such a time of social tension. Freedom has given the United States the elasticity to endure strain. Freedom keeps open the path of novel and creative solutions, and enables change to come by choice. Every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of our society and leaves it the less able to deal with controversy and difference.

Now as always in our history, reading is among our greatest freedoms. The freedom to read and write is almost the only means for making generally available ideas or manners of expression that can initially command only a small audience. The written word is the natural medium for the new idea and the untried voice from which come the original contributions to social growth. It is essential to the extended discussion that serious thought requires, and to the accumulation of knowledge and ideas into organized collections.

We believe that free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture. We believe that these pressures toward conformity present the danger of limiting the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend. We believe that every American community must jealously guard the freedom to publish and to circulate, in order to preserve its own freedom to read. We believe that publishers and librarians have a profound responsibility to give validity to that freedom to read by making it possible for the readers to choose freely from a variety of offerings.

The freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution. Those with faith in free people will stand firm on these constitutional guarantees of essential rights and will exercise the responsibilities that accompany these rights.

Policies & Procedures

Digital Citizenship

Why teach Digital Citizenship?

We must move from fear based instruction (internet safety) to action-based instruction (digital citizenship) giving students the tools they need to confidently and safely navigate the internet.

Students need to be taught how to

use technology in appropriate ways
be safe and responsible online
make ethical decisions online
be ethical users and creators of information
evaluate the validity of what they are reading on the internet

Now that Denison is one to one, it is more important than ever that we are all having these important conversations with our students. Digital Citizenship should be an ongoing conversation in all classes across the curriculum.

Digital Citizenship Presentation

D.E.A.R. Time at SMS

D.E.A.R. = Drop Everything And Read

SMS faculty and staff understand the importance of providing students with time to read for enjoyment. That is why every day during Homeroom the entire school community finds their book of choice and reads for 20 uninterrupted minutes.

Sustained silent reading, also known as SSR, is independent, quiet reading. A block of time -- typically 10 to 30 minutes -- is regularly devoted to recreational reading. Many teachers incorporate this approach in classrooms, and some administrators have instituted schoolwide SSR programs. Since reading is an individual act for the most part, it is natural to read silently. When teachers or parents offer sustained silent reading time, children reap the benefits.

Enhances Reading Enjoyment Readers choose their own materials for sustained silent reading, so children can pick books of interest. Adults must ensure that children are given many options. Parents and teachers can take kids to the library and let them pick books using the five finger test. The child reads a random page in a book. He extends one finger for each word he doesn't know. If he puts out four or five fingers, the book is probably too difficult. When they are given the freedom to choose, kids discover stories that appeal to them, and they develop a positive attitude toward reading. There are no tests or questions to answer, so the pressure is off. They are reading for the pure joy of reading.

Increases Comprehension Readers don't have to pay as much attention to the pronunciation of every single word when they read silently, so they can concentrate on reading for understanding. As vocabulary, fluency and motivation increase, so does comprehension. Children read books at their own level and their own pace. They can visualize and interpret the words in their own way. Some teachers provide time after SSR for students to share their thoughts on the books they're reading. This helps them recall, and it reinforces comprehension. Students are required to read silently for standardized tests, and sustained silent reading provides effective practice.

Builds Vocabulary Silent reading provides the opportunity to learn the meanings of many new words in context. Kids are able to discover word definitions in an interesting way without any direct instruction. They tend to be more open to this method of learning new words than they would be if they were involved in intensive, forced vocabulary instruction. Children will apply the word attack skills they've learned to figure out new words on their own.

Improves Writing Skills There is a well-established link between reading and writing. When children are engrossed in silent reading, they observe a variety of writing styles and sentence structures that influence their own writing styles. Since they are able to concentrate on the words they're reading, grammar and spelling typically improve. Consistent, independent reading inspires a creative thought process that transfers to the written word. Some teachers combine sustained silent writing with SSR. After the students read silently, they write in dialogue journals to reflect on what they've just read. The teacher doesn't correct the writing, she simply responds, using corrected spelling words and grammar structures in her response.

Written by Karen LoBello

https://education.seattlepi.com/advantages-sustained-silent-reading-1638.html

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