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The Teaching Librarian volume 17, no. 3 21 Media Meltdown Author Takes a Digital risk Super Sign-Out Day makes library readers smile. Why? Super Sign-Out Day means that you bring a big bag to school on the day before a long weekend to carry all the books home with you that you want to read over the weekend. Books really fly out of the library on one particular June exam day as students prepare themselves for their summer holidays. Students have begun to call this day Summer Sign-Out Day! Over the 2008-2009 school year, Sir Robert L. Borden Business and Technical Institute (a school of 500 students) signed out a total of 25,110 books from their library--the highest in all Secondary Level TDSB schools. Last June, 32 students and six staff signed out a total of 1,031 books for glorious summer reading. The average borrowing rate at Toronto high schools last year was 0.5 books per student, per month: at Borden it was 4.4. Today, Borden students describe themselves as avid readers, although this was not the case five years ago, when only 2,450 books were circulated. Context Borden B.T.I. is a secondary vocational school, with a strong focus on tech programs. Borden's 500 students study at the Applied and Locally-Developed level. They typically enter Grade 9 with reading, writing, math, and social skills at a Grade 5-6 level. Approximately 41% of them have formal Special Education identification and roughly 65% go directly to work following graduation, with the remainder entering college or an apprenticeship. The school is located within a community that has a high crime rate, substance abuse issues, and a low socio- economic status. Five years ago when Dr. Peggy MacInnis took over the library as a full-time librarian, only a small percentage of students were borrowing books. Many openly described themselves as reluctant readers. Peggy, or Dr. Mac to the students, explained, "When I first came here, getting a student to read was definitely a challenge: they wouldn't even touch a hardcover book, let alone read anything more than 100 pages." The metamorphosis of Borden's library can be accredited to Dr. Mac's quiet building of the library program as one that is non-judgmentally responsive to students' interests, particularly manga. She respects the students and strives to demonstrate that respect for them as individuals by building a community around reading. "My mandate as a teacher-librarian is to give my students the skill of lifelong reading, it's not my job to choose what they read. My job is to make it available, give them educated choices, and enable them to decide whether or not they want to read it." Borden's manga section, of over 3,000 books, is a comprehensive collection that has it's own corner in the library. These students' interest in manga parallels the enormous growth in the publication of manga in English. Manga sales in the USA grew 35% between 2002 and 2007 (Brienza, 2009). Students explain, "I like the characters and their personalities and I can relate to some of the situations." Another said, "It's the romantic aspects of the fantasy. I find it gives me an escape from reality at points." They have strong opinions about authors and titles and will critically argue about what was meant in a particular segment of a text. They compare genres of manga with references to aspects of style, both visual and textual. They are able to keep track of characters, their complex names; and a story arc that can stretch over 47 volumes. They describe themselves as readers; they are readers. A natural spin-off has been the establishment of Borden's Graphic Novel Book Club (GNC) that meets every Friday during the lunch hour in the libray. It was requested by the students four years ago, and gives them the opportunity to socialize and talk about manga. The 30-strong member club is organized and run by the students. "I just have to ask them what they are doing on Friday and they come up with their own activities. They understand that it must be related to manga or anime." GNC members have even designed their own Manga Jeopardy Game. There are monthly competitions and challenges for students to win a prize, poster, book, or first dibs to read the newest Shonen Jump. By talking with some of these students it is clear that the library has become a place to belong. "Everyone's friendly, you meet everyone, we can talk about things. It's fun to come here." Peggy keeps two different request lists by her circulation computer: one for manga, the other for anything else students and staff wish to read. At least once a year, Dr. Mac and a small group of students shop It's a Super Sign-Out Day! Let's Look at Library Layouts! Dr. Elizabeth A. Lee and Dr. Peggy Macinnis