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Library

Mrs H Stocker – Librarian

The library is not only a place for quiet study for Sixth Formers but also a stimulating environment where pupils can discover the joys of literature and learning. It houses a range of up-to-date resources and technology to support the school curriculum, which we hope will encourage pupils to read for work and for pleasure. It is open before and after school, and throughout the day.

From Simpsons comics to Dostoevsky, the library stocks fiction for all ages and tastes. Oxbridge candidates can work their way through the Everyman Classics, while new Year 7s can relax with a graphic novel, the Phoenix comic, or the latest Derek Landy and Cressida Cowell. Keen readers can join the reading group and broaden their literary horizons in the company of like-minded bookworms. There is also a reading group for Sixth Formers who do not need to study English to take part.

Author Visits

Facilities

There are six PCs, a combined printer and photocopier, a DVD player, and Wi-Fi. The library subscribes to online resources, thirty printed magazines, one weekly newspaper, and five daily papers. Apart from the 12,000 non-fiction and fiction books available for loan, it has a large reference section, local history material, a special collection containing books by former pupils, and resources on the history of the school. Chess boards are available during lunchtimes.

Curtis Jobling visiting with MTBS students in the Library.

The library walls have many items of interest, such as the June Mendoza portrait of Robert Runcie, Chris Riddell’s cartoon of an alien headmaster, Curtis Jobling’s drawing of Ra Ra the Lion, and Lawrence Duncan’s wonderful Lego model of the school. On the north wall, the War Memorial reminds us all of the bravery of the pupils who died in the First World War.

History

The library is situated in what was originally the school hall, on the ground floor of the main building. It was modernised in summer 2001 with library fittings by Point Eight. This work was made possible by a generous donation from a former pupil, Dr D N Dickinson.

On the walls hang three notable pictures – the June Mendoza portrait of Robert Runcie (a former pupil), a portrait of Samuel Armour (headmaster of the school from 1863 to 1903), and a framed cartoon drawn in the library by Chris Riddell (the Observer cartoonist) in November 2010.

The War Memorial on the north wall of the library was designed by Lionel Budden and unveiled in 1923 by the retired Samuel Armour. It consists of a brass tablet mounted on black Belgian marble on green Westmorland stone. It records the names of 155 old boys who died in the First World War.

The local history section is kept in the locked glass cabinet. It contains books about the local area and the surrounding districts. Please ask if you would like to look at any of these.

Magazines

The following magazines are available in the library:

Authentik French and German
BBC History
Biological Sciences Review
Ceramic Review
Chemistry Review
Coastlines
Computer Shopper
CS4FN
Economist
E & T Magazine
E Magazine
English Review
Eureka
Express
Flipside
Focus
FX
Geography Review
Greece and Rome
Hindsight
Iris
Lancet
Management Today
Mary Glasgow modern language magazines
National Geographic
New Scientist
New Statesman
Oxford Medical School Gazette
Private Eye
Reader Magazine
Scientific American
Spectator
Top Gear
Twentieth Century History Review
When Saturday Comes
Wide World