Youth Winter Reading Program

Youth Services Winter Reading, “Pop Open a Good Book,” begins Monday, January 7 and continues through Sunday, March 3! This is your opportunity to encourage children age birth through grade 5 to make reading a daily habit – simply read 15 minutes OUT LOUD for 21 days.

Pick up a reading log & bookmark at the Reference Desk in Youth Services. Just like popcorn, one kernel is not enough…it might be too hard to stop reading! Upon completion of the reading program, school age children will receive a special prize and an invitation to a "Night at the Library” on Friday, March 1st. When preschool age children bring in their completed log, they will receive an invitation to a Preschool Winter Reading Wrap-up Party Friday, March 1 at 11:00 AM.

Read, Build, Play with DUPLOs

Does your young child love to build with LEGO DUPLOs? What if we told you research indicates that playing with these toys in combination with reading and targeted discussion develops and reinforces early literacy skills?

Great news!? Come and join our Read, Build, Play program, a one-of-a-kind Early Literacy experience that combines reading and building with LEGO DUPLO bricks. The first one is scheduled for Monday, January 14, 6:30-7:00pm. This program is for ages 3-6 years and requires a parent and child to work together during the storytime.

Children and parents will work as a team to read a story and build with the DUPLOs according to the story. As the story is read, we will ask questions that encourage critical thinking skills and parent-child interaction. A variety of songs and activities will be used to extend the story and encourage children to follow directions and build together.

Adding play to storytime has been shown to help develop and reinforce early literacy skills. Play is essential to early learning as it allows children to express themselves verbally and make a stronger connection to letters, words, language, and story, paving the way for future reading skills.

Holiday Closings

Be sure to schedule in some Library time amidst all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Get your fill of movies, books and audiobooks before the holidays because there are a few upcoming Library closings. The scheduled holiday closings are listed below, you can also check our events calendar for scheduled closings and other important information.

Monday, December 24- Closed

Tuesday, December 25-Closed

Sunday, December 30-Closed

Monday, December 31-The Library will close at 5:00 PM

Tuesday, January 1-Closed

Remember, even if the Library is closed you can still renew books and movies online, just log into your Evergreen account. Also, downloadable books are available for checkout any time you just need your Library card number and password! And check out this article for cool new account features, you might like to make some preference changes while you are logged into your Evergreen account.

Pop'n Rocks and Prizes!

At the Library, we strive to make live easier for you.  We are happy to help you find a fiction title to read or perhaps even find the knitting or crochet section to help motivate you back into your favorite hobby.  Well, Pop'n Rocks and Prizes is for teens in grades 6-12 and college students and it is really, really easy.  Starting Monday, January 7th, pick up a Challenge Sheet at the Reference Desk on the second floor and we will give you a package of Pop Rocks and a free book.  On the Challenge Sheet, write down your reading goal for the next eight weeks.  This could be to read a book not assigned for school, to read that book you received as a gift a few years ago, or even to get through that stack of magazines on your desk.  Just write it down and then check off as you go.  Sunday, March 3rd will be the last day you can turn in your form to win one of four prize baskets!  No computers and no passwords, just reading for fun and prizes.

Keeping Your Check Out and Hold History

Do you remember if you've read Grapes of Wrath?  What about Clive Cussler's 3rd book? 

Now, you can keep track!  Follow these simple instructions to start now:

Log in to your library online account.  Go to the Account Preferences tab and then the Search Preferences tab.  You can choose several things in this area: 

• how many items to appear on a page when searching
• which library to be your search library  
• which library to be your pick up location
• if you would like to keep a history of your items checked out 
• whether to keep a list of your items on hold
  

 Check mark one or both of the last two boxes and hit SAVE.

Your history will not appear today, but now that you’ve selected to keep the history, it will start accumulating a record of them from now on. You can then click on the ITEMS CHECKED OUT tab and choose the Check Out History tab.  The HOLDS tab will allow you to see your Holds History.   

This will be a great tool to keep track of your reading!  Have fun!

Pop Into a Book for Prizes...for Adults

What's on your "To Read" list? Beginning Monday, January 7th, through Sunday, March 3rd, read anything that you've been meaning to read. It could be a classic novel, a cookbook or two, even a stack of magazines or newspapers that you haven't yet gotten to. Read anything that you want to read and you could win the prize package displayed in the 6th Street window. Here's how it works:

• Starting January 7th, stop by the 2nd floor reference desk and pick up a Challenge Sheet, plus a free book and a piece of chocolate.

• Read anything that you've been meaning to read.

• Write what you've read on your Challenge Sheet.

• Turn in your Challenge Sheet -whether you've finished reading, or not- by March 3rd for a chance to win the prize package. Everyone gets one chance to win, so your odds are good, no matter what or how much is listed on your Challenge Sheet.

It's that simple. No computers, no registrations, no passwords. Just read what you want to read and turn in a Challenge Sheet, and you'll be supporting the Library while getting a chance at some great prizes...including a cake pop maker. Check it out at the Library today.

Free Food for Teens!

It is not quite as exciting as it sounds, but if you are studying for finals, it is quite possibly the best news you will hear this week.  For the third year in a row, the Library is proud to offer the program "Teen Study Break."  Each semester during finals week a room is designated for teens only and the Library provides yummy snacks and a place for group study.  While we provide snacks for their belly, we are giving teens the energy and the ability to focus on their finals.  "Teen Study Break" will be held in the Mayfield Rooms on the first floor Tuesday, Decemeber 18 and Wednesday, December 19 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Registration is not required, just show up!

Tandem Read Book Club: The Tale of Despereaux

Parents are invited to spend quality time reading together with their children by joining the Youth Services Tandem Read Book Club, a new parent-child book club that will meet once a month from January through May.  The Tandem Read Book Club will discuss a different book at each meeting.  You can sign up for each of the five months, or if your schedule is overbooked, you can register for just the ones that fit into your busy schedule.  

 
The first meeting will be held Monday, January 23.    We will read and discuss the Newbery Award winning book by Kate DiCamillo—The Tale of Despereaux: being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup and a spool of thread.  This book, Dear Reader, is the beautifully written story of a mouse named Despereaux Tilling.  Despereaux is an unusual mouse and a complete disappointment to his family; he fails at everything a mouse should be good at.  Although Despereaux fails miserably at being a mouse, he has a big heart and he finds love, as well as an important purpose to his life.

Bring your favorite dish to our Pitch-in Dinner and we will eat and discuss the book of the month. Register for each book you would like to discuss.  We will meet one Monday per month from 6:30-7:30PM.

 

The dates that we will be meeting, as well as the books we will be reading are as follows.

Monday, January 23 – The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

Monday, February 18 – Frindle by Andrew Clements

Monday, March 18 – The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Monday, April 15 – The Borrowers by Mary Norton

Monday, May 20 – We will play Review Jeopardy

Book Club books are available for checkout at the Youth Services Reference Desk.  You may also place a hold on the book through Evergreen.

I spy at the fish tank!

Take a close look at the fish tank as you walk by, we have a new Library friend!  Look for the black Plecostomus, an algae eating fish.  This new fish will have  a huge job: keeping the fish tank clean.  You might see him swimming around the edge of the aquarium, or perhaps he will be hiding among the plants-he can camouflage himself very well, so look closely!   
See if you can spy the new baby fish, too!

If you like to Challenge yourself with I Spy games, you might want to check out these I spy series books and you'll have a blast!

I Spy

Can you see what I see

Where's Waldo

Look and Find  
1001 Things to Spot 

Who is TED? And what is he talking about?

If you haven’t been introduced to TED, you’re in for a treat. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a nonprofit organization that “offers free knowledge," delivered as bite-sized (under 20 minutes) podcasts by "the world's most inspired thinkers."  Currently there are more than 1200 TEDtalks to choose from on topics relating to science, business, and technology. 

 If you’re new to TEDtalks, you might want to start with Steve Jobs’s commencement address to Stanford University's Graduating Class of 2005, entitled “How to live before you die.”  Readers of Walter Isaacson’s excellent biography will be familiar with the three life-altering situations Jobs describes: dropping out of college, getting fired, and facing death, but nothing can compare to seeing and hearing the late Jobs relate the stories in his own words.


Or start with “Finding the story inside the painting.”  Tracy Chevalier, author of The Girl with the Pearl Earring, believes people "are wired" to tell stories.  As proof, she interrogates three different portraits: The Girl with the Pearl Earring by 17th century Dutch painter, Vermeer, Boy Building a House of Cards by 18th century French painter, Chardin, and an anonymous portrait by an unknown Tudor artist.  Art aficionados and readers of Chevalier's novels will appreciate the way she spins a unique identity for each  portrait's model.

As you might expect, many TEDtalk presenters have written books about their specialties.  So after you've listened to Barry Schwartz talk about "Using our practical wisdom," you can check out Practical Wisdom.  And after you've viewed Dan Ariely's podcast "Our buggy moral code," you can read The Honest Truth about Dishonesty.  The same goes for A.J. Jacobs "How healthy living nearly killed me" (Drop Dead Healthy) and Steven Johnson's "The Ghost Map" (The Ghost Map.)