Mary Morris Watt Library

The library is the heart of the Lower School. Centrally located, it is open throughout the day to both students and faculty for research and recreational reading. Our goal is to develop independent library users. We invite you to explore the many areas of the library.

 

 

Who was Mary Morris Watt? 

The generous alumna whose name graces the Library and Technology Center came by her interest in librarianship naturally. An honor roll student while at Collegiate, she graduated in 1933 and went on to study at Hollins College. She returned to Richmond and worked as a librarian for The Richmond Newspapers Inc. for 40 years, retiring in 1981. For the next 20 years, she continued to keep busy, travelling, participating in various civic and social organizations and serving as a resource to her former colleagues at the Richmond newspapers. After a period of declining health, she died in July of 2002. According to Alex Smith, she had not seen the new Lower School campus. Her portrait now holds a place of honor overlooking the check out area. We like to think she would be pleased at what is happening in "her" library.

To learn more about the library curriculum, scroll down. To learn more about the collections in the Watt Library, click the Enter button.

Temporary Links

 

Library Newsletter (Requires Adobe Reader):

Calendar:

Curriculum:

Kindergarten

  • Students learn to check out books independently. They select books from the library collection, beginning with picture books and expanding to the nonfiction area. Kindergarteners come to the library once a week for check out and storytime. A student may have up to four books checked out at one time.The circulation period for kindergarten is one week. There are no fines for late books.
  • In collaboration with the classroom teacher, the librarian plans research and enrichment activities to prepare students for field trips and classroom units of study. Some of these activities include a comparison of Collegiate students with children from other countries, a study of the continents, and research of African animals.

1st Grade

  • First grade students come to the library once a week for story and check out. The circulation period is two weeks, and a student may have six books checked out at one time. There are no fines for late books.
  • The librarian collaborates with the classroom teacher in the study of Native American cultures, with particular emphasis on the folklore of Eastern Woodlands, Plains, Southwest and Pacific Northwest tribes. Research of polar animals including penguins, polar bears and seals takes place in the library as well as in the classroom. Research about insects takes place in the Spring.

2nd Grade

  • Second grade students come to the library once a week for story and check out. The circulation period is two weeks, and a student may have six books checked out at one time. There are no fines for late books.
  • Second graders learn to search the online library catalog by title, author and subject.
  • The library is directly involved in enhancing the second grade curriculum through the use of the "Big Six" research model. An introduction to folk tales in general and fairy tales in particular starts in the library. Research on the topics of oceanography and the United States uses the technique of "Trash or Treasure" to teach note taking.

3rd Grade

  • Third grade students come to the library once a week for story and check out. The circulation period is two weeks, and a student may have six books checked out at one time. There are no fines for late books. They may participate in the Library Club which meets before school from 7:45 to 8:10 AM. Club members collect library books from the classrooms, check in books and help younger students use the library .
  • Third graders learn to search the online library catalog by keyword.
  • Weekly library time includes book talks of popular and classic stories. In addition the librarian collaborates with the classroom teacher to provide multimedia materials for the study of Virginia history.

4th Grade

  • Fourth grade students have a weekly check out time one morning a week. The circulation period is two weeks, and a student may have six books checked out at one time. There are no fines for late books. Fourth graders may participate in the Library Club which meets before school from 7:45 to 8:10 AM. Club members collect library books from the classrooms, check in books and help younger students use the library.
  • Each fourth grade class has a weekly library period for research and the study of literature. Webquests for Washington DC, the American Mosaic and the Frontier Museum are introduced in the library. The evaluation of websites is part of the library curriculum for fourth grade. Monthly booktalks encourage students to try different genres.
  • Fourth graders learn to conduct Boolean searches of the online catalog, using search terms AND, OR, and NOT. Searching strategies are then extended to online encyclopedias and search engines.

Photo Gallery

The student-created mural, American Vista, designed under the direction of visiting artist Angie Wiggins and art teachers Dana Dumont and Holly Smith, dominates the nonfiction side of the library.

Check out more images of the library

 

awilliam@collegiate-va.org