Gonzaga College
Sandford Road
Ranelagh
Dublin 6
Ireland
Contact Info
Tel: (01) 497 2931
Fax: (01) 496 7769
Email: info@gonzaga.ie
Web: www.gonzaga.ie
See our Location
Calendar
Gallery
Website Archive
The library is located at the main entrance to the school and has a variety of resources,
such as books (fiction/non-fiction/reference), magazines, DVDs, computers with internet
access, and careers information. The library also subscribes to electronic resources
such as the Oxford English Dictionary and JSTOR. There are seventy study desks, two
project rooms, and a reading corner with comfortable seating. The purpose of the
library is to provide a welcoming, calm space where students and staff can research,
study and read, to give access to good-quality fiction books, general reference works
and resources which complement the various curriculum subjects, and to help students
develop effective research skills.
All students and staff are automatically set up with library accounts. Students can
borrow up to four items at a time. Books can be kept for three weeks, and DVDs for
one night. Suggestions for new books, magazines or DVDs are always welcome.
Buy a book scheme
We are always very grateful for any donations to the library. A ‘wish list’ has been
compiled on www.amazon.co.uk to give some guidance on what the library needs. It
can be found here.
At this stage you have two options. You can order one of the books online and have
it delivered directly to the school or to your home. Or you may prefer to buy one
of the books from a bookshop. If you select this option, we would ask that you phone
the school or email the school librarian, Ms Siobhan McNamara, at library@gonzaga.ie
and tell her so that she can take it off the online list. We would also be grateful
for donations of books that are not on the list provided they are in good condition
and suitable for a school library. If you would like to write a dedication inside
the front cover, please do so.
We would also like to increase the stock of non English-language books in the library,
but amazon.co.uk does not stock very many of these. If you would like suggestions
for titles in Irish, French, German or other languages, please contact us.
Library Opening Hours 2012-2013
Mon: 8 am – 6 pm Closed for lunch period 9 (1.30 – 2.10 pm)
Tues: 8 am – 6 pm Closed for lunch period 9 (1.30 – 2.10 pm)
Wed: 8 am – 3 pm Closed for lunch 12.50 – 1.25 pm
Thurs: 8 am – 6 pm Closed for lunch period 9 (1.30 – 2.10 pm)
Fri: 8 am – 5 pm Closed for lunch period 9 (1.30 – 2.10 pm)
The library is also closed for MORNING BREAK (10.30– 10.50 am) every day.
The library will not be open after school on parent-teacher meeting days.
School librarian: Ms Siobhan McNamara Contact: library@gonzaga.ie
Search Library Catalogue online here.
LIBRARY NEWS ARCHIVE
Spelling bee on 29 Nov
Well done to six students who took part in a spelling bee in Alexandra College library
with competitors from three other schools. Turlough Hannon (3D) won the competition
and Matthew O’Dwyer (6D) came second. Padraig Sheehy, Jack Doherty, Ross Buckley
and Domhnall Ryan all took part too and gave impressive performances despite some
very tricky words and tough opposition.
Readathon:
Well done who everyone who participated in this year’s Readathon, and
many thanks to their sponsors. Altogether the boys read 186 books and raised €1214.50
for the Multiple Sclerosis society.
Visit of Ms Lucinda Hawksley
On Friday 26th October, the school was visited by Ms Lucinda Hawksley, great great
great granddaughter of Charles Dickens. 2012 marks the bicentenary of the writer’s
birth, and events have been organised all around the world to mark the occasion.
Several students in the school have been reading some Dickens in their English classes
this year, and the book club discussed ‘Great Expectations’ at one of its meetings
in October. Our guest speaker Lucinda, who is a writer and art historian, this year
published an illustrated guide to Dickens’ life and works, which is available in
the school library. For her visit to Gonzaga she gave two very interesting and well
illustrated presentations in the theatre about Dickens, his times, and the social
issues he campaigned so effectively about, such as working conditions for children
and fair treatment in schools. First, second, third and fifth years attended these
presentations, and asked some insightful questions afterwards.
Bequest:
Richard J. Clarke (class of 1971) passed away on 21st September last. He
very generously left his books to the library. He had a collection of several hundred
books, mostly on Classical Greek and Roman themes but also covering archaeology,
history, science, world literature, religion and music. The school gratefully acknowledges
this gesture which means that Richard’s books will be available for future generations
of students to use and enjoy.
Author visit:
Author Conor Kostick visited the school library on Friday January 20th. First he
met with a group of 1st, 2nd and 3rd year students who had participated in the MS
Readathon. He told them about his work and read from his most recent novel, Edda.
Then there was a lively question and answer session all about books and writing.
Afterwards Conor ran a creative writing workshop with a group of about ten students
from various years. They discussed techniques such as whether to use the past or
present tense, or the first or third person when telling a story. The students also
got a chance to share a short piece of work with the group, and judging from some
of the impressive story openings we heard, it seems there are several talented writers
in our midst!
Book club meetings summer term 2013
Fri 12th April: Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Fri 26th April: The Catcher in theRye by J.D. Salinger
Fri 10th May: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
(To be followed by a trip to see the film of ‘The Great Gatsby’ some time in late
May)
Fri 17th May: Books with names in their titles
All meetings will take place at 0800 in the library,
and everyone is welcome to
attend
