CHESS Christian Library

Friends! I've been absent far too long, and it has been primarily because before the closure, the library had been such a bustling and active place, rather than that there wasn't anything to share. (See our Programs and Events page for more pictures of Library Week!)

Of course, for these last couple of months, we've all been home - which would seem to bode ill for library activity - and in this time, I have been reluctant to post simply because there have been so many free virtual resources offered by every organization imaginable. I haven't wanted to add to the noise, and I still don't intend to overwhelm you all with links and activities you don't need (and have probably already seen!). We did have a virtual story time each week, and while I can't link to all of those (for copyright reasons that will undoubtedly go back into full effect soon),  I have created a collection of the Beatrix Potter read-alouds, should you want them this summer - find them on our new Story Time page.



And now we are closing our school year, collecting books and saying good-bye in whatever ways we can. It not the year we had imagined, and these are not the good-byes we wanted to give! Even as we give thanks for God's provision in this time, and rejoice in the unexpected blessings we've discovered along the way, we are all looking forward to the day we can be together in person again, and the CHESS library is no exception to that desire.

In the meantime, we're going to do our best to continue to connect our students with great literature and to inspire contagious learning. Some of the ways we plan to do this are summer book clubs and a simple and fun summer reading program - so stay tuned for summer library news, coming very soon. There's hope ahead, dear friends - and lots of reading!


-Mrs. Meester

P.S. Get started on some summer reading with a family read-aloud! Here are some of my favorites - Read-Alouds

The Christmas break is almost here, and that means we'll all have plenty of time for reading...right?
At any rate, I'm going to imagine everyone will be curling up with a good book or two in the next couple of weeks, so here are a few ideas for your Christmas reading!

The Velveteen Rabbit 


This is a classic that's wonderful for a quick read-aloud, and it begins with a Christmas gift, so it counts for this post!




The Gift of the Magi

If you've never read this short story by O. Henry, now is the time! If you have read it, the version illustrated beautifully by P.J. Lynch is worth giving it another look. Conveniently, we have this copy available in the library!


The Vanderbeeker's of 141st St.

This is a charming story about a family in New York City who must find a way - by Christmas day - to stay in their beloved home. It's a fun family read-aloud, or a cozy one to read alone.

Little Women
Admittedly, Christmas is only featured briefly is this classic, but there's another film adaptation coming out this month, and I am imploring students to read the book before they watch the movie!


Of course, we're not limited to Christmas stories or themes - choose whatever suits you! And it certainly shouldn't be a chore -listening to audiobooks or reading aloud as a family works, too, if reading alone isn't your thing. Come to the CHESS library today or tomorrow for more ideas, or visit your local library for even more choices.

Merry Christmas, CHESS family, and happy reading!

So...we're back to school, and it has been SO good to see so many familiar faces in the halls of our new building these past couple of weeks, and wonderful to meet new ones! Everyone was so busy getting the new space ready for classes (what an adventure!), and then with starting school and getting acquainted with teachers, classmates, books, and rooms...but now we're a little more settled and we're ready for the library to be up and running at full speed. Many of you have dropped by our lovely new space, but it's time for everyone to get fully acquainted with our layout, our books, and everything the library has to offer. Back to the library we go!

Good literature and other engaging resources to feed curious minds are central to the CHESS philosophy of contagious learning, and we strive to make the library a welcoming place in which to collect and share those resources. We love having teachers and students visit and interact with our collection, but we also welcome our families to make good use of the library. In fact, we strongly encourage parents to familiarize themselves with what we offer in the library, and to set their own guidelines for their families in regard to its use. (Please see our Library Guidelines page for more information.) We work to curate a collection that supports a thorough and well-rounded education and that helps to develop and exercise a solid Biblical worldview, so we do our best to make sure that the books and materials we offer do not actively  undermine that purpose. Keep in mind, however, that ours is not an exclusively Christian collection and we do not guarantee that all of our books and materials will meet the specific standards of each family; in fact, we know that they will not! We discourage relying on the "Christian" label to assume a book is "safe," in any library, or to assume that not having that label renders a book unfit. Instead, we strongly encourage our students to use the critical thinking skills and the worldview lens they are developing in their CHESS classes to examine and evaluate any of the books they encounter, and we encourage their parents to be participants with them in that process. Above all,we encourage all of our readers, young and old, to look for how a book promotes the understanding of truth, beauty, and goodness, whatever its source.

We believe our growing collection contains a wonderful assortment of books and materials that do just that, and we invite our students and their families to come see for themselves. And this week, there will be a extra reason to visit, as we're launching our first reading program of the year - Chipotle Reading Rewards! Our goal for this program this year is just to get students into the library, and to give them a bit of encouragement for the reading they're already doing, so it's really the easiest one we've ever done, and everyone can do it! You can find the details on our Programs and Events page, and you can pick up materials in the library any day next week. (If your student will be absent next week, no worries! Email Mrs. Meester at library@chesschristian.com for info and supplies.)

We look forward to seeing every one of our students in the library soon, and we're excited about a great year of reading, learning and growing. (And some Chipotle is a nice bonus, too!)

-Mrs. Meester

Summer break is here! Library books have been turned in (mostly! Do you still have one? You still have time to bring it back!) and packed away for the upcoming move to the new building. I know our students are looking forward to weeks of sunshine and freedom, and hopefully they'll use at least a little of that freedom to read some great books!


We're not doing an official summer reading program this year because of our big move, but we will still use the library blog to encourage fun summer reading. Look for book recommendations and reviews , as well as for guest posts from some of our fantastic CHESS teachers. And there are book lists for each grade level always available on the blog (found on the top menu, but here's a link if you need it!). I always welcome your thoughts and book suggestions!

Happy summer, CHESS family!