The curriculum of the library works to provide students with skills and knowledge that augment and complement the lessons they learn through the Common Core Standards and New York State Learning Standards. The American Library Association Standards are also reflected in the curriculum. The scope and sequence of lessons that results provides our students with the knowledge and skills that will be needed for middle school and beyond. Each year’s lessons build upon the previous year’s learning, with lessons beginning with such basics as “how to care for your library book” to more advanced, multimedia presentations of research projects.

Each class visits the library for a 45 minute time period each week. During this time, students engage in a variety of activities including: story time, library skills instruction, research, and engage in lessons that correlate/entend lessons that are occurring in the classroom. Students also have time to check out library books during this time.

Our library boasts a print collection of over 5,800 books which include fiction, nonfiction, and reference materials at a variety of reading levels. Additionally, we house a collection of instructional A/V materials and periodicals for staff and students. We offer access to various databases, including World Book Online and Kid InfoBits. This year we are working to expand our technology resources with a Bright Link system and the incorporation of Google ChromeBooks into the library curriculum. Here the focus will be on research resources, digital citizenship, and internet safety.

The Cornwall Public Library is a great institution that we also count on as a library resource. The cooperative relationship between the public and school libraries work to provide resources for the community students for both school and personal interest reading and research.

The library media center , which we believe is the heart of the building, offers various enrichment programs that fosters and encourages the love of reading.

The Accelerated Reader Program, dubbed Read-A-Lot, is a district wide program that started in the buildings several years ago. The goal of this program is to provide students with an independent reading program that allows them to advance at their own pace. The students choose books at a given level (determined by the classroom teacher) and read until he/she feels knowledgeable enough to take a computerized test in the lab, library, or classroom. While 1st and 2nd grade classrooms use this program the most, we have materials that are geared toward reading levels into 5th grade.

Sponsor-A-Book is a book donation program that allows families to commemorate their students career at Cornwall-on-Hudson with a book. Parents donate the cost of a hardcover title, and Mrs. Ebenhoe selects titles that would benefit the all students. Students that donate to the program have a chance to come together to share in the joy of opening a lovely, new book for the first time. We have added over 200 books to the collection since this program began.

Author visits are another great program that the library media center works to bring to the student body. With the aid and enthusiasm of the P.T.O. we bring an author to school to share his or her craft with us! This is an important part of creating lifelong learners by giving our students “hands on” experience with an author and the writing process.