After a restful and fun break of eating, traveling, and seeing family, students and ETA Natasha Anis returned to SMAN 10 recharged and ready to take on the new semester!

She was thrilled when, her first week back at her site, a box full of new books from Darian Book Aid showed up at the school! Later that week, Natasha and a few 10th and 11th graders got together to organize the Darian book aid books, as well as books left from the past ETA. They asked the librarians for a section of shelves in the new library, and got to work!

The students first had to decide how to organize the books: alphabetically, by reading level, or by genre? Eventually, they decided to create a separate shelf for “Easy Reading” books – picture books and short chapter books with simple vocabulary.

With Natasha’s help, they sorted the rest of the collection into genres such as nonfiction, historical fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, and even a special “aesthetic” section! Then, they created lettered labels for the shelves and the section was finished.

Natasha had a great time looking through the books, recommending her favorites (Roald Dahl’s nerd classic Matilda, anyone?), and talking about different genres with students. Of course, the afternoon wouldn’t have been complete without a photoshoot of some of the cutest books! The students took to social media with these pictures, encouraging other students to come to peruse the shelves.

Now, Natasha is able to incorporate the English library into her Creative Writing Club; for example, this week the students each chose a book to create their own “Blackout Poetry” from, crossing out lines and leaving only the words they want in their poetry pieces. She hopes the library will quench English readers at the school for years to come.

Natasha Anis is currently teaching at SMAN 10 Samarinda, East Kalimantan.