Welcome to the library, at White Mountain we try to provide a friendly safe environment for students not only to study and do research, but to hang out, socialize and have access to technology. To provide high-interest grade-appropriate books to encourage reading.

My name is Marie McClellan and I am the library coordinator. I have many favorite books such as Ruined by Paula Morris. Rebecca Brown couldn't feel more out of place in New Orleans where she goes to stay with her crazy Aunt Claudia who reads Tarot cards for a living. Rebecca attends a snooty prep school where the other girls treat her like she's invisible. Then one night, among the oak trees in Lafayette Cemetery, Rebecca makes a friend. Sweet, mysterious Lisette. There's just one catch. Lisette is a ghost who had died during New Orleans worst Yellow Fever outbreak during the 1800's. But, Lisette didn't die from the epidemic........

Each student has the opportunity to check out two books and a magazine for two weeks for their personal reading or assigned class reading. Textbooks do not count as a personal reading book. Please help your student to return their books on time and to keep all textbooks where they are safe from younger children and pets.

Chances are, if you've looked at books your student brings home from the library at White Mountain Middle School, and seen a symbol that looks similar to the one above pasted on the spine of the book. That symbol means that your son or daughter can take a quiz when he or she has finished reading the story.

Here's how that helps you both. Books are rated in readability by a measure called a Lexile. Your child has taken a test here at WMMS to determine his or her Lexile. If they match within about 50 points up or 100 points down, the reader and book are fairly well matched. That means students can have more success reading books that are a good fit for them and you can track whether or not your child is attempting to read books that are just right.

When your student finishes reading a book, he or she may choose to take a quiz at school to see how well he understood what he read. Our language arts teachers all support this practice in their classrooms and even have data to show how well a student has done with the books she has read and the quizzes she has taken.

So, ask your student to show you the book he or she is reading for language arts. Ask him what his lexile is. Ask what level the book is at. Maybe you could ask his language arts teacher how well he has done on books he's read this year.

We want you to be aware of how we are promoting literacy in our building. Part of that is knowing how to gauge the success your student has with reading. Using Lexiles is one way to tell. Just ask your student. Chances are he or she has a book with a Lexile measure written on the copyright page. You might even ask him or her, ?What is a Lexile?"

If you'd like to check the lexile on books you have at home, you can access this information on the following website
http://www.Lexile.com/