Amy's Class -- Our Roots

We constructed a word cloud based on our families' places of origin:



courtesy http://www.wordle.net. Images of Wordles are licensed Creative Commons License.

"I want a scary book!"

My librarian mentor, in the all-boys school where I started out, used to lament the fact that boys would not check out The Secret Garden.  "If only they would put a picture of a bloody hand on the cover..."  The problem still remains.  Let's face it: kids are influenced in their reading choices by the cover design. One of my favorite childrens' lit blogs, Scope Notes, has been publishing a series on Unfortunate Covers.  Another blog, Jacket Whys, is devoted entirely to book jackets. I'm wishing that the publishers would catch on and package an easy-to-read, scary-but-not-too-scary book with in a cover that could compete with any Goosebumps title, rather than one with wide-eyed little kids running away from cute little ghosts and goblins. 
Which book looks scarier?

Thank You Rosie Mendez!

Hats off to our City Council Member Rosie Mendez for her support of our library.  Thanks to a grant from her office, we will be able to perform a much-needed upgrade of our technology!

Top Ten Circulating Titles

The Library's current Top Ten books checked out are: 
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (books 1 & and 2), Bone (graphic novel series) (1 and 2), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (manga), Babymouse (1): Queen of the World (graphic novel); Hulk (vol. 1): (graphic novel), Babymouse (4): Rockstar, Babymouse (5): Heartbreaker; Bone (10): Ghost Circles.  Do you see a pattern here?

Library Word Wall

For years I have dreamed about having a Library Word Wall in our library. When I discovered chalkboard paint, my fantasy began to take vivid shape. Thanks to our school's fantastic custodial team--Willie and Manny--and the graphic designer (and Neighborhood School mom) extraordinaire, Harriet Spear, that dream has come true! Can you think of any library words that begin with the letter U, X, or Z?

Our Community of Readers