A vital part of language acquisition is reading. We are very fortunate to offer a fully-automated lending library which is officially called the “KrisJann VanOpdorp Bücherei an der Deutschen Sonnabendschule Boston” in recognition of one of the library’s founding parents.
Students, teachers and parents have access to our school library throughout the academic year. It is not an understatement to say that the library serves as one of the central meeting points on Saturday mornings.
The library has a comprehensive collection of German books, magazines, DVDs, CDs and computer software for all ages. The library staff sets up an account for each new family at the beginning of the school year. Family members can check out library items by providing their last name and address. The library is open Saturdays during school. The library also holds two Flea Markets per school year with donated German books, DVDs, and CDs. Parents can also enjoy the Kaffee-Ecke, where baked goods and hot drinks are sold. Funds raised at these events are used to acquire new books, movies and software, and for special projects, such as upgrading library equipment.
Families not associated with the GSSB can become library members – for information, please email library@gssb.org.
Library At-A-Glance
- Founded: in 1993 by parents as “Deutsche Elternbücherei an der Sonnabendschule”
- Endowed to the Saturday School: in 2006
- # of items: approx. 8,000
- School Committee Liaison to the Library: Stephan Richter
- Library Co-Managers: Yolyett Hohmann and Eva Yarger
- Library Hours (on regular school days): 9:15AM to 12PM.
- Semi-Annual Fleamarket: once in fall and once in spring
Library Mission, Milestones and Lending Policies
The library is valued by teachers, students and parents alike. It has grown over its now more than 25 years of existence. It is continuously updated through the acquisition of new and popular items. Here are links to the Library’s current mission, its lending policy and a collection of its milestones since it was founded in 1993:
Library Mission and Objectives
Borrowing Policy School Year 2018
Library Reference Guide
Thema der Woche Corner: weekly exhibits to support holidays and current classroom topics whenever requested by teachers
Color System for Books (see spine of each book)*
green: Fiction (Erzählungen)
yellow: Picture Books (Bilderbücher)
red: Fairy Tales/Poetry (Märchen/Dichtung/Musik)
blue: Educational (Sachkunde) by level of difficulty
T/light green: Teenager/Mature themes (Jugendliteratur)
light blue: Sachbücher Serien
purple: Oversized books
orange: Comics
*Note that inside the front cover may be a sticker to signify that the Library offers this particular title in other media, i.e. on audiocassette, video and/or CD-ROM.
The Reading Scale (Leseleiter) classified by level of difficulty, not by class, ALPHABETICALLY by series within each category:
A: Beginners (Anfänger)
F: First reader (Fibel)
1A: Age 5 on
1B: Age 6 on (parental assistance needed; Age 10 on without parental assistance)
1C: Age 7 on
2: Age 8 on etc. through 10: Age 16 on
DVD
(various system formats) window boxes and NTSC (American system format) Video shelves sorted by difficulty, topic and series, ALPHABETICALLY within each category
K-1 (yellow): Ages 4 to 6
AP (yellow): Augsburger Puppenkiste, Bob der Baumeister, Benjamin Blümchen, Briefe von Felix, Drommie Videoreihe
K-2 (dark green): Ages 6 to 12 Asterix, Tim und Struppi, Fünf Freunde, Die wilden Fussballkerle
T-12 (light green): Teenagers
T-17 (orange): Adults
KL (purple): Klassiker
S (blue): Sachkunde
Mä (red): Märchen
Donate to the GSSB library:
