Banner
Textbooks
Activities
The library opens each day at 7.30am and closes each day at 5.30. We are also open each break. We provide spaces for silent individual study, collaborative work and silent reading. If you need a quiet place to retreat and work, please let us know and we are sure to find you a spot; you are welcome to work in the library at any time.
Reading
It is no surprise that the evidence overwhelmingly confirms that students who read for enjoyment perform better academically than those who do not. However, we enjoy numerous other benefits when we choose to read for enjoyment. The Villanova College Reading Program promotes reading for enjoyment and specifically targets our Years 5, 6 and 7 students. Teachers play an enormous role in promoting this pastime. This is the link to our Reading Program details. Please join us in supporting your students in become effective readers.
Staff are welcome to borrow from the library. We hold an extensive print collection of fiction and non-fiction as well as audiobooks and ebooks.
Click on this link to search the library's print collection using Infiniti, the library's catalogue.
Click on this link to find out about our audiobook and ebook collection.
Information Literacy
The library collaborates closely with Heads of Faculty and classroom teachers to deliver a series of lessons targeting specific information literacy skills that students require to become effective users of information. Information literacy, especially in an increasingly digital world, is foundational to the skills of 21st century learning, which underpin the Australian Curriculum. These skills stay with us well into our adult lives because they allow us to critically evaluate the information we encounter.
As these lessons are delivered, you will be contacted with the details so that you too can support your students in developing these skills across all your classes. Please support the information literacy standards expected of your students by familiarising yourself with the resources circulated by the library when these lessons have been delivered. All our presentations are supported by resources on the library's iCentre.
LibGuides
LibGuides are Library Guides put together by the library to support students with the study of a particular unit. These guides provide students with a myriad of assistance, ranging from: the construction of their references, search tips, tutorials on the use of databases and more. The guides also provide students with a springboard into their research. Sources have been carefully selected to help students with their search for information. Click on the following links to navigate to some example LibGuides: Law Reform (Senior Legal Studies). Guides have also been constructed to help your students develop their research skills. Click on these links to navigate to these example guides: Note-taking, Referencing, Inquiry Skills, and more.
To access LibGuides which support research, click the Research link in the Header of the iCentre. To access guides specific to subjects, click Year Level in the Header and then choose the relevant subject to navigate to the guides for that subject. Please contact the library if you would like to collaborate on the construction of a LibGuide to support your class's study.
Databases
Villanova College subscribes to an extensive mix of databases. Students are encouraged to use these databases to access quality scholarly works for their research and study needs. Please use these resources when planning your teaching and learning activities and for your own studies. Click here to be directed to our list of Databases. These paid subscriptions require usernames and passwords to gain access; these are available at the top of the Database page.
Given the number of databases students can navigate, for ease of use, we have also subscribed to a "Discovery Service". This service allows the user to search via the one portal most of our database subscriptions. This is called OneSearch. The Junior, Middle and Senior School have their own OneSearch portals. These portals give the students access to the age-appropriate database.
Library Books
Over 3,000 library books are turned over each month. The loan period for all fiction and non-fiction loans are three weeks (magazines and graphic novels are borrowed for one week). Our fiction collection is divided into three collections: Senior, Young Adult (YA) and General. Seniors are welcome to borrow from each collection, Years 7, 8 and 9 students can borrow freely from our General and Young Adult sections. Years 5 and 6 students can borrow from our General collection. If a Junior or Middle School student wishes to borrow from our YA or Senior collection then we require written parental permission. You can search the library collection via our Library Catalogue system: Infiniti. Click this link to be directed to the catalogue. You can reserve books you wish to read, keep lists of books, manage your loans, and use Syndetics (embedded in Infiniti) to find your next book. See the library staff for more assistance.
Physical Textbooks
The library issues approximately 4,000 physical textbooks to students each year and we manage thousands of digital licences. These books belong to the College but are used by the students. Once students receive their physical books, they should immediately return the books if they are damaged in any way. Another book will be issued to the student. Students are personally responsible for the book they have been issued. We do not recommend they leave their books in the classroom.
Heads of Faculty work with the library in determining the textbooks to be used for their faculties. Please discuss any textbook requests with your Head of Faculty first. All teachers are provided with their own textbook. These books should be returned to the library if you are no longer teaching that subject. If you leave Villanova College, or go on extended leave, please return all of your library books.
Box of Books
Teachers across Years 7-12, have access to digital copies of every textbook the school provides. These digital textbooks sit on the Box of Books platform. The platform provides access to your students' digital texts as well as the digital resources for each textbook. Through Box of Books, students will be provided with the username and password they require to access the publisher resources. Click here for more information on how to get the most out of your digital texts.