cipher - School Authorities Conundrum

Our School authorities have decided to extend our syllabus. Boo!! They have sent us a letter in which they address this issue. They tell us that the new book which will be prescribed to us is hidden in the contents of the letter itself. So, Here is the letter.

Dear Students,

This is to inform all of you that a new book is prescribed in English Literature for all of you to raise the quality of the education imparted in our School. As you all know, Our School was ranked $.9$ in the recent rankings issued for the city. So, we have decided to choose -Prime $30$- among you to train you to ace the inter-school tests. That is one of our aims to reach the Number -$1$- status in the city.

Now, we would provide our contact number here in case you or your parents have any further queries. Our contact number is -$235.111$ $.919$ $.8.$ for those of you who don't know. Do remember to read history well. The Olympics were cancelled -in this year- despite Berlin being ready. Remember, the Lamb of God got nominated recently for the Grammy award for -this performance- These are some small facts that you students ought to know so that we reach the Number -$1$ or $2$ status. For, the -$518$- children here, We had to choose a book which caters to your interests as well a the school's needs. Don't worry, you will surely-like- the book- as it is. There would be no change to the book prescribed. Have a good day, students.

So, the question is: what book is prescribed for us?

Answer

The letter contains

numerous extraneous dots and dashes (as well as the expected punctuation). If we collect all the extraneous ones, not the expected ones, we get
.---- -.... ----- -----
This is Morse Code for 1600. (BeastlyGerbil.)

The letter also contains

various numbers, and alludes cryptically to some others. Some of these are to be separated into 1- and 2-digit chunks. Then these are to be deciphered to letters using 1=A, 2=B etc.
9 (BeastlyGerbil) - I

113 (prime 30) - 1 13 - AM
1 (BeastlyGerbil) - A
235 111 919 8 = 23 5 1 11 9 19 8 (BeastlyGerbil) - WEAKISH
1916 (year of cancelled Berlin Olympics) (BeastlyGerbil) - 19 16 - SP
512 (name of a track for which Lamb of God was nominated for a Grammy) (Rand Al'Thor) - 5 12 - EL
12 (BeastlyGerbil) - L
518 (BeastlyGerbil) - 5 18 - ER

Put all these together and we get

I AM A WEAKISH SPELLER, an anagram of WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (Donald L. Holmes). Shakespeare wrote one play in 1600: As You Like It. As if to confirm that this is correct, the letter contains "As you" in the first paragraph (As you all know...), and all four words albeit not in the right order ("Don't worry, you will surely-like- the book- as it is.") in the last paragraph.