Cool Site~EveryStockPhoto!!

Here's a cool site: EveryStockPhoto. Here's what their site says: "We are a search engine for free photos. These come from many sources and are license-specific. You can view a photo's license by clicking on the license icon, below and left of photos. Membership is free, without advertising, and allows you to rate, tag, collect and comment on photos." Try it out!

Book Club & American Born Chinese

Our Book Club meets every other Tuesday morning @ 7:05 and during the lunches! We have a great time discussing a wide variety of books. Our format is really flexible and informal; you are never required to read what anyone else does! We usually pick a different genre to read each month or so. Sometimes several of us will read the same book. This month the book some of us will be reading is American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. It's a fabulous graphic novel about coming to terms with one's identity. It won the Printz Award in 2007. Here's the author discussing his book in a YouTube Video.

Great Tool~Evernote

I love sharing cool tools with students and staff. Evernote allows users to capture info, organize it (they'll do that for you too if you like) enabling you to find things quickly. You can save all sorts of information, documents, snapshots, memos, clips from websites, etc.

Hispanic Heritage Month

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we've been displaying several books by Hispanic authors. One I'd like to feature is Julia Alvarez's How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. School Library Journal says this: "This sensitive story of four sisters who must adjust to life in America after having to flee from the Dominican Republic is told through a series of episodes beginning in adulthood, when their lives have been shaped by U. S. mores, and moving backwards to their wealthy childhood on the island. Adapting to American life is difficult and causes embarrassment when friends meet their parents, anger as they are bullied and called "spics," and identity confusion following summer trips to the family compound in the Dominican Republic. These interconnected vignettes of family life, resilience, and love are skillfully intertwined and offer young adults a perspective on immigration and families as well as a look at America through Hispanic eyes. This unique coming-of-age tale is a feast of stories that will enchant and captivate readers." Stop by to check it out!

Banned Book Week

It's Banned Books week--a national event celebrating the freedom to read! Several books in our display have already been checked out! It made me laugh when some students thought I was banning the books! It's actually quite the opposite! I truly believe in the freedom to read. For more information about books that are challenged and banned, check out the American Library Association website.

Welcome Back!

Hello Everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful summer! We opened the Media Center with new computers, a SMART Board, more LCD projectors, and Senteo Clickers!
We've also added several new titles to our magazine subscriptions! The new titles include: Teen Vogue, Lucky, Spin, Transworld Skateboarding and Snowboarding, and People en Espanol!
Stop by soon!

Have a Wonderful Summer & Use the Public Library!

While we may be closed this summer, there are some great events happening at your public library! Check out this link to the summer reading program, "Express Yourself @ Your Library" at all the public libraries in Minnesota this summer! There are online book clubs, Twilight movie nights, contests and more! You can also sign up for a free library card online.

See you in the fall and enjoy a happy and safe summer!