Wilma Messing Library
The mission of the Synergy School Library Committee is to promote literacy, foster love of reading, support the school's curriculum, and create a place where inquisitive young minds feel welcome to explore. We strive to make the library accessible to and used by the entire Synergy community, reflecting its diversity and that of the larger community of the school's neighborhood and city.
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Library Collections
Special collections
include parent resource materials on child development, learning, and learning differences; and books created by Synergy students.
The Wilma Messing Library contains a select collection of picture books, limited vocabulary "easy readers," chapter books or novels, and non-fiction informational books including encyclopedias and other reference materials. Library books are collected with the full spectrum of students' ages and abilities in mind. The library also subscribes to age-appropriate educational and recreational magazines.
Library Committee
The Wilma Messing Library is staffed by parent volunteers of the Library Committee. Committee members acquire, catalog, and shelve library books and magazines, and work with each class at Synergy to help children find information and learn research skills. "Friends" of the committee also help make the library and its collection attractive and accessible to all the Synergy community.
Links
San Francisco Public Library www.sfpl.org
Contact the Library
Send an email to the librarian with any questions regarding the collection or circulation at library@synergyschool.org
History of the Wilma Messing Library
Synergy students have always had access to a diverse and well-loved book collection, but it wasn't always easy to find the library books they were looking for. In 1999, volunteer parents of the Synergy Library Committee initiated the library's reorganization. Taking advantage of the school's move to its beautiful Valencia Street site, committee members spent hundreds of hours weeding out-of-date and damaged books and cataloging new books into an online public access catalog. Now students can look up library materials they need on computer workstations in the library and classrooms.
On April 20, 2001, Synergy School proudly dedicated the Wilma Messing Library, named after the mother of Synergy School co-founder Russ Messing. With the Messing family in attendance, Synergy students presented guest of honor Wilma Messing with copies of books they had created and donated to the library. The festivities included the First Annual Synergy Author's Fair, featuring a poetry cafe with readings by student authors, bookmaking activities, and a cozy corner where children shared their favorite books.
