Library Links

National Library Week has come to an end. Here are some great articles and links I found this week:


CNN- Librarians: Masters of the info universe
NJ.com - 8-year-old donates over $1,200 to Jersey City Free Public Library
NPR - The library card as a pop-culture fiend's ticket to geek paradise
ALA - Our Authors, Our Advocates


How did you celebrate National Library Week?

Grad school reflections: Weeks 11 and 12 of my final semester

It's been a busy April so far! I started my full-time job as a Teen Services Librarian! I'm at the same library as before, so it wasn't a huge transition. I get my own office now, so that's fun. The hardest part is waking up early every day! hehe. This week I led a teen craft (origami) on my own. Twelve teens came, and it went well. Yay!


Today I went to a luncheon for my college's Student Employee of the Year nominees. I didn't win, but it was nice to get a free lunch and get recognized. The guy who won for the school also won for the state, but the school's cash prize was bigger than the state's cash prize...strange!


My reading and blogging time have suffered these past few weeks because I spend most of my free time sleeping or doing homework! Also, I'm gearing up for a trip to San Diego next week to see my fiance graduate Marine Corps boot camp. :) He only has 10 days leave before School of Infantry, but I am SO looking forward to spending some time with him.


Here's how my classes have been going.


Youth Services: We've spent a lot of time talking about motivational tools like storytelling, readers' theatre, and booktalking. Each of us has to present one of these motivational tools between now and the end of the semester. I think my favorite one so far was a snarky retelling of Twilight in reader's theatre form. :) We also discussed evaluations and budgeting...you know, the boring but necessary details of programming! I turned in my "Observation of a Children/YA Program" assignment. Last week I observed a homeschool program on making Model Rockets.


Electronic Materials for Children and Young Adults: We've been learning about collection development of electronic materials and issues that arise with electronic materials (plagiarism, copyright violations, filtering, etc.). We have a WebQuest project due soon, too.


Adult Reader's Advisory: We discussed non-fiction books, book awards, and book lists one week, and the next week we discussed YA books, chick lit, and street lit. I wish we had spent more time on YA, but the chick lit and street lit discussions were pretty interesting.


Just a few short weeks till graduation!

Happy National Library Week!

Did you know it's National Library Week? This year's theme is "Create Your Own Story @ Your Library." Check out this article on 50 Great Ways to Celebrate! 


Will you be visiting the library this week? 

Just testing...

Just testing to see if I set up the Feedburner correctly so it publicizes my posts on Twitter...:)

Edited to add: Yay! It worked. Thanks to Krisi at The Story Siren for providing advice on how to do this in your Dear Story Siren post this week! I'm glad someone asked because I've been wondering how to do this.

Wednesday Web Wanderings (47)

 This is a collection of interesting book- and library-related things I've come across online this week. Check 'em out!

• HuffPost Books - Best literary hoaxes of all time
• Forgotten Bookmarks 
• Will Unwound - Should the library function as a homeless shelter?
• OOM @ Scholastic - iPad book apps for kids: fad or future?
• Shelf Awareness - Book-inspired quilts
• Icoeye - What if bookmarks and dust jackets were created together? 
• The Scotman - Harry Potter and the electronic book set
• Forever Young Adult - An Ode to Human Civilization's Greatest Institution
• American Libraries Magazine - What isn't great about libraries? (video)
• American Libraries Magazine - Quotes about libraries (video)

Happy reading, and Happy National Library Week!

Library Love: 100 Reasons to Love Your Local Library (11)

I noticed that when I talk about libraries with friends and family members, they often say, "I didn't know libraries offered that!" I thought it would be fun to think up 100 reasons for people to use their local library. Some things I mention may be obvious to those of you you routinely use your public library, but others may be new to you. Either way I hope that this feature inspires you to visit and support your local library! 

(Source)

11. Take free classes to brush up on your computer skills. 

Many libraries offer free computer classes on a variety of topics, including

• Mouse and Keyboarding Basics
• Windows
• Internet
• eBay
• E-mail 
• Social Networking (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Blogging
• Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, etc.)
• Web Design
• Photo Editing
• Downloading free library eBooks and audiobooks
• Genealogy-Online Resources  
• Online Databases 

And the list goes on! Whether you're a complete beginner or more advanced, you'll find a computer class that meets your needs. Ask for a certificate of completion for your files - it may come in handy in a job interview or performance review someday!

Have you ever taken a computer class at a library? 

In My Mailbox (44)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It's a time for everyone to share what books they acquired over the course of the week. I'll share what I received in the mail, bought at bookstores, downloaded to my Nook, or picked up from the library.

In the mail 

- Nothing this week. 

From the library

 - I checked out a TON of books about origami for a teen program I'm planning. I'm not going to list them all, but I'll mention the two that I've found to be most helpful - Origami Birds by Duy Nguyen and The Complete Origami Course by Paul Jackson. 

Bought:

- Viola in Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani

- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss 

- Eat This Not That! Supermarket Survival Guide by David Zinczenko

I got my tax refund back, and I saved most of it but set a little aside for shopping and book-buying. :) 


What's in your mailbox this week? 

Adult Readers' Advisory Annotation #5: Western

Title:  Night Hawk
Author: Stephen Overholser
Publisher: Leisure Books 
Publication Date: 2007
Page Count: 272
ISBN: 0843958405
Genre: Western 
Source: Library


I've never read a western before, but I decided to give Night Hawk a try after my Reader's Advisory textbook described it as a character-driven Western. I generally enjoy most character-driven novels, so I picked this one up.

Night Hawk is a coming-of-age story set on a nineteenth-century Colorado ranch called Circle L. It tells the story of a scrawny kid who was booted off the train in Coalton, Colorado. Everyone thinks the kid is trouble. But Ty, the ramrod of the Circle L ranch, decides to hire the kid and take him under his wing. The kid refused to provide his real name, so he comes to be known as "Night Hawk."

The kid is aggressive and argumentative, and he has a foul mouth. Ty doesn't give up on him, though - he keeps giving him chance after chance. When the sheriff receives notice that a young man is wanted for murder, everyone immediately suspects the kid.

While Westerns are not my favorite genre, I do think Western readers will enjoy this well-written novel. It has a lot of characteristics fans of the genre look for - descriptions of the land and terrain and the difficulties of the harsh landscape, a strong sense of time and place, and spare dialogue rich in jargon. Even those who typically don't like Westerns may enjoy Night Hawk as a character-centered coming-of-age tale.