Library Snapshot Day! Zoom In On Jewish Libraries

During the week of November 1 - 7, 2010 a single day was selected to show what is going on @ Bialik Library as part of the American Library Association's library advocacy initiative.  This particular week was also chosen by the Association of Jewish Libraries, to highlight the Global Day of Jewish Learning, on November 7, 2010. To help celebrate this, I invited author Alan Silberberg to speak to all the Grade 7 students about his new book, 'Milo'.  About 140 students and teachers were in attendance. Throughout the day,  I took photos and kept a headcount of students and staff using the library.  I also checked the circulation statistics for that date, a typical day at Bialik:

Library users November 1:  130 students and teachers used the library. 

Library Statistics November 1:  40 loans, 14 renewals and 25 returns

Results from all the participating Jewish libraries can be viewed on the 'People of the Books' blog at:
http://jewishlibraries.org/blog/ 

GNO @ JPL!

The 6th Annual Girl's Night Out was held last night at the Jewish Public Library, with Sara Shepard, author of the wildly popoular 'Pretty Little Liars' books and television series.  The Gelber Center was filled to capacity with tween and teen readers who greeted the author enthusiastically, along with their friends, sisters, mothers, aunts and librarians.  Delicious munchies kept the energy level in the room high while the author engaged the audience with tales of her own teenage years, which form the inspiration for her 'Little Liars' characters.  She also read from her upcoming mystery novel, 'The Lying Game', which will be coming out next month.  Many girls lined up to ask questions about Sara Shepard's life, work and career and she answered with humour and patience, hoping to inspire these young women to read and to write, as she herself had been at the same age by author Lois Duncan's mysteries.  Fabulous door prizes were handed out during the evening and each and everyone left with a goody bag.  Special GNO certificates were distributed to all participants inviting them to join the JPL at a great discount.  It was a great event and we look forward to next year's author, Ally Carter!

'Milo' author @ Bialik

On Monday November 1, Alan Silberberg, author of Pond Scum and numerous YTV and DisneyChannel tv shows, introduced his new book, Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze to the Secondary 1 students of Bialik High School.  Alan demonstrated how his illustrations for Milo are used to highlight emotions that the character, a 13 year-old whose mother has died, and who has been moved from house to house and school to school ever since, cannot express on his own.  His comical illustrations introduce readers to Milo's grade 7 friends, his family and his teachers, in a warm and funny way that our Grade 7 students found appealing, especially when they found out that Milo's story is based on the author's own experiences.  Our students asked many questions about writing, about getting published, and whether or not Alan had met some of their favorite tv stars.  You can find more information on Alan Silberberg at:  silberbooks.com

Bestselling author of 'Holes' has a new hit novel!

I recommended a new book by Louis Sachar to a Grade 10 student last week. 'The Cardturner' which is intriguingly subtitled 'A novel about a King, a Queen and a Joker'. "Fantastic - you must read this book" is Jesse's review of this story about a young man who does not know the difference between a king and a jack, yet ends up working for a world-class bridge champion who is nearly blind.  As he begins to understand the intricacies of bridge, Alton Richards learns too about life and its complications.  A 'must read' for those who think that 'The Messenger' by Marcus Zusak is the best book ever.

Junior BookBlasters Hot Reads

We just met for the first time this year, and our younger readers surprised me with their voracious appetite for great reads.  They are into everything from Edgar Allan Poe(Collected Works) to Ned Vizzini (Be More Chill), with a little bit of Haruki Murakami (Kafka on the Shore) thrown in for good measure.  I came prepared to suggest Sue Monk Kidd's 'The Secret Life of Bees' or Marcus Zusak's 'The Messenger', but they have already read these.  So we moved onto John Green's 'Waiting for Alaska', Jonathan Safran Foer's 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close' and Alice Sebold's 'The Lovely Bones'.  Those who haven't already done so, want to read Michael Chabon's 'The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay', but I am not certain that we can settle on a one book policy for this very eclectic group. I encouraged them to write or respond to this blog.  I mean it is really about them, about their taste in music, movies, etc.  They teach me a lot each time we come together, and I am a willing learner.

More recommendations from the Junior BookBlasters:

Colin McAdam.  'Fall.'
Dave Eggers.  'What Is The What.'
Jon Krakauer. 'Into the Wild.'
Ned Vizzini.  'It's Kind of a Funny Story'
Jonathan Safran Foer.  'Everything Is Illuminated.'

This week's reading list

People are always recommending books to me which 'you have to read this' exhortations.  Here is the latest of these 'must reads' which are loaded up on my kindle.  Some of these deserve a good long review, others are to be purchased for the library collection at Bialik, and still others are for recommendation to my book club:

Jonathan Franzen.  Freedom (reading the sample tonight before bedtime)
Scott Spenser.  Man in the Woods.
Barbara Kingsolver.  The Lacuna.
Alan Furst.  Spies of the Balkans.
Colum McCann.  Let the great world spin.
Aharon Appelfeld.  Blooms od Darkness.

Others, such as 'Commencement' by J.Courtney Sullivan, and 'Secret Daughter' by Shilpi Somaya Gow, as well as Jamie Ford's 'Hotel on the corner of Bitter and Sweet', are titles I stumbled on in airport bookstores, along with Janna McMahan's 'The Ocean Inside'.  I have read the samples and would consider recommending these for a good read on the road, or in a deck chair on the dock.

Gary Shteynhart is taking us for another wild ride in his latest 'Super Sad True Love Story'.  Buyer beware though, Shteynhart is not for the literary faint of heart.

Reading Samples on my Kindle

I used to keep lists of books and authors that were mentioned to me by students or colleagues or friends.  I would take note (or perhaps not) of any interesting new titles which I came across in journals and newspapers, or heard about on the radio. Eventually, I would get around to checking on Amazon or Indigo/Chapters for the bibliographic info and put them into my 'to order' list.  Now I rush to check if there is a sample of the work on Amazon's Kindle website and, instantly upload the chapters onto my machine for quick consumption.  I take advantage of this opportunity to assess material for my high school library, for my book club, for my family and of course, myself. Because I am a librarian, people are always asking me what they should read next, and now I have a better idea. The many samples on my Kindle right now include several recent bestsellers, as well as a collection of YA suggestions gleaned from various sources, usually the kids around me at school.  I have become much more savvy to what they are talking about because I carry my Kindle about wherever I go these days and read it during every opportunity - meetings, doctor's appointments, etc. I even enjoy reading in the evening using the Kindle.  When my eyes are tired at the end of the day, I enlarge the font and continue to burn the midnight oil.  Some of the books I have purchased either in Kindle or hardcopy and am reading now include several memoirs, for which I thank Roz Reisner.  Roz, author of 'Read On...Life Stories: Reading Lists for Every Taste" and 'Jewish American Literature; Reading Lists for Every Taste" gave a great session at the Association of Jewish Libraries Convention in July and provided a recommended list which I am pouring through:

Anne Roiphe,  'Epilogue'; Tom Reiss 'The Orientalist', Michael Chabon 'Manhood for Amateurs'. 

Bialik Reads!

My summer reading was vastly improved when I received the gift of a Kindle.  Suddenly, I could upload books I was longing to read immediately, and carry a library full around in my summer bag and backpack.  Kindle reading has advantages and disadvantages, (not for the beach, okay for the pool).  The ability to switch between books and to read while spending long hours in an airport without carrying much weight around, are some of the advantages.  Not having to wait to get to a bookstore, unless it is amazon.com, is another advantage of the text-addicted, as I am.  As a librarian, I like to know what books are about before I buy them with my limited library budget, so now I can instantly download free book samples from amazon and read them on the go.  Samples consist of several chapters of the latest bestsellers, as well as substantial portions of older titles.  I have probably doubled the amount I am reading using the Kindle, and it has really aided my collection development for the coming year.  Disadvantages to the Kindle have to do with text size (although it is adjustable), no back light for night or bus/metro reading, and the size of the control button (it should be bigger and rounded, like on a laptop).  The audio is a terrific idea, but better voice quality would help.  I am now saving my pennies for an Apple I-pad and hoping the price will drop soon.

Books on my Kindle right now: Daniel Silva,  The Rembrandt Affair; Justin Cronin, The Passage; plus many samples of wonderful new books like 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett, and Alan Furst' 'Spies of the Balkans'.  Check my next post for a list of books on my bedside table.  I have a stack of hardcopy books and articles to blog about.