Libraries
Princeton Day School has three vibrant and dynamic libraries: The Wilson Family Library in the Upper School, the May Margaret Fine Library in the Middle School, and the Lambert Library in Lower School. All three libraries offer exceptional services, current resources and beautiful facilities that transform teaching and learning at PDS and prepare students for the digital world of today and tomorrow.
The libraries offer the latest in technology and services to meet the learning needs of our community in each division. By promoting reading, digital literacies, and inquiry research they encourage independent and collaborative learning and offer remote access through virtual collections. As havens for research and reading, problem solving and creating, collaboration and independent work, the libraries form a vital link to the classroom.
Each library serves as the information center for its division. Embedded in the spirit of inquiry and collaboration, the library curriculum helps students become savvy, informed and ethical users of information and technology.
Librarians serve as reading advisors, information specialists, and collaborative instructors. They work closely with classroom teachers to nurture student inquiry, independent reading and personal learning across the divisions.
Lambert Library
The Lambert Library sparks joy and a love of learning, literacy and inquiry in our youngest students. With a print collection of nearly 19,000 books, the diverse collection includes many and varied materials for students as they progress from PreK to Grade 4.
Students come to the library where they are introduced to a variety of literature and have the opportunity to regularly check out books. During this time, older students learn the foundation of library citizenship, inquiry research, and information and literacies, all while exploring and discovering their own interests and passions. Students practice finding, using, evaluating and creating with print and online information as they begin the foundational work of learning how to be ethical consumers and producers of information.
May Margaret Fine Library
The May Margaret Fine Library in the Middle School serves to foster a love of reading, learning and inquiry with 15,000 print books and access to many online ebooks and resources. The library features current and award-winning fiction and nonfiction series where students can dive in to their interests.
Middle School classes come to the library in each grade for direct instruction and support as students inculcate the principles of information and digital literacies through inquiry projects. Students practice finding, using, evaluating and creating with information. Students are prepared for a seamless transition to Upper School, as they develop into informed and ethical producers and consumers of information.
Wilson Library
The Wilson Library provides Upper School students with a vast and diverse array of resources that supports learning in a variety of formats. The collection includes over 13,000 print fiction and nonfiction books, and a plethora of online eSubscriptions and databases to support research and inquiry in all disciplines of the Upper School.
You might encounter a visiting author, a class or club meeting, a collaborative learning partnership in a conference room, or individual students studying in carrels of the second floor. Students cherish the library as a safe and supportive space for learning.
The library curriculum helps students to be creative, informed and ethical users of information and technology. Beginning with the 9th grade seminar and continuing with extended research projects, students are prepared for a seamless transition to college level inquiry. With guidance from faculty and library staff, students learn how to navigate and interpret information and misinformation that exists our current world.