One of the many joys of working as a teacher-librarian is the responsibility of curating a collection of books and resources for a diverse student body. We use a range of sources and processes to select books to add to our collection. These include student recommendations, award winning titles, Children’s Book Council of Australia recommendations, curriculum requirements and many more. We select books that are current, interesting and reflect the lived experiences and diversity of our student body and the world at large.

One of the challenges we sometimes encounter when selecting resources is the broad range of students’ ages, and, therefore, maturity levels. This is why we have developed a Senior Fiction collection, which is available for students in Years 10-12 to borrow. Books in this collection may have themes more appropriate for an older audience, such as complex emotional relationships, graphic depictions of violence or explicit language. At times, students in Years 7-9 may wish to borrow from this collection. In this instance we will send a permission slip home and ask you to read and sign it and return to the library.

The library’s main collection contains a variety of books aimed at students up to age 15. While we do our best to steer our younger readers toward the most suitable titles, our collection is extensive, and it isn't always possible for us to be across every single age recommendation or monitor every choice. We encourage parents to engage with their children about the books they bring home; we’re also available to have a chat about any questions or concerns you may have.

If you wish to request a form, or suggest a book for our library collection, please email library@sacredheart.catholic.edu.au and one of our librarians will be in touch.