As we wrapped up the 2023–2024 school year, we began an exciting new chapter—preparing for a brand-new library! With the promise of a redesigned space on the horizon, we boxed up books and transitioned to a temporary location for the start of the 2024–2025 school year. Although only part of our collection was available, the heart of our library never skipped a beat. Classes continued to visit for read-alouds, engaging lessons, and regular checkouts, keeping our love for reading alive and well.
As January 2025 rolled in, so did the walls, shelves, and energy of our reimagined library. With the incredible support of parent volunteers and staff, we kept the temporary library running as long as possible, as we quickly packed up and made the move into our beautiful new space. Thanks to everyone’s hard work and dedication, disruptions to library services were minimal, and we officially opened our new library on February 3, 2025!
We are deeply grateful to all the families, staff, and volunteers who made this transformation possible—your support brought this dream to life, and we can’t wait for all the stories still to be told in our new library home!
Take a look below for a glimpse into the magic! These are just a few of the unforgettable stories, special moments, and vibrant snapshots that showcase all the library has been part of this year.
Niall de Búrca’s visit was an unforgettable experience, filled with energy, laughter, and powerful lessons in storytelling and performance. With his dynamic presence, he engaged students from PK to Grade 12, as well as parents and teachers, inspiring everyone to use their voice, body, and imagination—adapting, thriving, and embracing the art of storytelling in everyday life.
As performers, students were challenged to push themselves, take positive risks, and break the rules—in a good way. He reminded us that performance skills aren’t just for the stage; they are tools for life. Projection, emphasis, and annunciation can help us communicate effectively, while empathy and sympathy allow us to connect with others.
Most importantly, Niall encouraged audiences of all ages to tell their stories—because stories are everywhere, and they have the power to change the world.
What a Truly Fantastic Visit from Cartoonist Matt Smith!
Our Grade 5 students had a wildly successful workshop led by Mr. Smith, where he introduced the essential elements for crafting compelling comics. The students were engaged and had the opportunity to practice their drawing skills and create their own short story comics.
Similarly, Grade 7 experienced the same hands-on workshop, applying their skills to their learning and connecting it to their current English unit. They also had the chance to engage in additional drawing and character design activities with their advisory classes as an extension workshop.
This event was truly a delightful experience for both students and teachers. Thank you, Matt, for visiting us again and sharing your skills and expertise with our learners.
In honor of March Madness, the library celebrated with book voting via bracket style! This activity involved the whole school. Students and staff voted on the top reads of ASW for 3 weeks until we narrowed down the winners.
The library celebrated the completion of Reading is out of this World reading challenge with dance parties! Students have been reading all year long and demonstrating that reading by adding stars to the universe wall. The final count of reading stars was 1,040! Stars all the wall were contributed by students, faculty/staff, and families. This was an exciting and fun activity to celebrate and promote reading all year long! Great job everyone and continue reading!
Classes that submitted the most reading stars:
Top Readers who contributed the most reading stars:
A Successful D.E.A.R. Day!
D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) Day was a big success! From PreK to the Upper School, the level of engagement throughout the school was remarkable. It has been wonderful to look back at the photos taken and see the vibrant community of readers fully engaged in reading. We wanted to extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who took part in D.E.A.R. Day, to everyone that took time to prioritize reading!
On Wednesday, May 7, the American School of Warsaw Library proudly hosted the very first virtual CEESA Battle of the Books, bringing together students from across the region for a celebration of reading, teamwork, and friendly competition.
Twelve teams from eight CEESA schools participated in this exciting event: ASW, AIS Budapest, AIS Bucharest, IICS, ISH, TISA, AIS Vilnius, and ILG Kosovo.
ASW was represented by three enthusiastic teams made up of 11 students from Grades 6, 7, and 8.
Teams worked collaboratively to answer 100 challenging questions based on four incredible books: Linked by Gordon Korman, The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman, Mexikid by Pedro Martín, and Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies by Stacey Lee. The competition tested not only their comprehension but also their memory and teamwork under pressure.
Congratulations to all who participated and helped make this inaugural event a success! We’re already looking forward to next year’s battle.
Reading Buddies
A monthly read aloud program of upper elementary students and middle school library club students reading to lower elementary school classes.
A snapshot of library statistics for the school year 2024-2025
A HS Art class, led by teacher Lauren Robles, embarked on a project involving alphabet art. Each student chose an alphabet book to read to a small group of early years readers in kindergarten and pre-kindergarten. After reading the books, the HS students took some time to create and design alphabet art that was then donated to the library to use in the organization of the picture book room.
The library staff - always ready to serve and assist!
Ms. Ola, Ms. Rupp, Mrs. Dachpian, Ms. Bozena
The teacher-librarians, Mrs. Dachpian and Ms. Rupp, are always eager and willing to support classroom teachers with information literacy skills. This could include lessons on research, using databases, MLA citations, NoodleTools, note-taking, writing research questions, and reading engagement support. We have worked in a variety of classes and age groups this year:
