• Lifestyle

    New Collection/Rebranding an Old Collection

    I’ve been posting about our progress as we rebrand one of our collections in the children’s department.  The collection is what we currently call the Bridging Collection, mostly picture books that are for an older audience as well as a catch-all location for materials that don’t fit easily into the…

  • Lifestyle

    Schools are Off, I'm at Work…

    which means – Lego programs!  Lego programs are some of the easiest programs to provide to the public, they’re fairly hands off and don’t require too much set-up or clean up (especially if you can get the kids to help!)  We offered a program this morning at 11:00 am and have…

  • Reviews

    Book Review: Dory Fantasmagory

    “Fantasmagory: a dream-like state where real life and imagination are blurred together” – a perfect start to a book that does exactly that – blur the line between reality and imagination and it’s exactly what kids need! Everyone calls Dory “Rascal” – she’s the youngest in her family and her…

  • Activities

    3rd & 4th Grade Book Club

    We don’t have any programs this week which allows me to focus on my program planning for the next month or so. One of my programs, a third and fourth grade book discussion group will meet in the middle of February. I’ll admit, I find it difficult to find books…

  • Reviews

    My Not-Best List

    It’s been a particularly busy year for me – I bought a house in April, adopted a dog in August and in addition to working full-time, being an 2014 Emerging Leader for ALA and working with other committees as well.  That being said, I didn’t get the chance to read…

  • Lifestyle

    Boys Books vs. Girls Books

    I just read this article, “‘Where Are All The Boy Books?’ You’re Buying Them” that was posted last Monday by Kelly Jensen on Book Riot.  It takes a look at the 2014 Top-Selling Children’s and Young Adult books on Amazon and found that there are a number of “boy” books…

  • Activities

    Fun Friday: Dance Party

    I was going to go with a mock Caldecott event for my Fun Friday program last week. But at the last minute, decided to change the plan to have a dance party… The kids are at that point in the school year where they need a break and don’t want…

  • Activities

    Paddington Bear Picnic

    bears

    We held a Paddington Bear Picnic last night in honor of the new movie being released – Paddington coming to theatres this year.  With 12 young kids, in grades Kindergarten – 2nd grade in attendance we had a great picnic!  The kids also brought their own adorable teddies to share…

  • Activities

    Mock Caldecott 2015

    picture book

    I’m working on trying to get some programming planned before Thanksgiving rolls around next week, so I’m scrambling to come up with some great ideas that are easy to plan and implement.  We have one more Fun Friday program before the end of the semester and as it’s on Friday,…

  • Lifestyle

    Flora & Ulysses Book Discussion

    Although I had only a small crowd for our 3rd and 4th grade book discussion on Wednesday evening, the kids had a great time talking about the book, making their own squirrel-inspired poetry and getting to know each other.  I always (always, always) have a few kids whose parents sign…