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

Jane Addams Book Award

Lindsey (our library intern) and I dashed out of the library this afternoon and up First Avenue to get to the Jane Addams Children's Book Awards Ceremony at United Nations Plaza, where I purchased this charming stuffed replica of the pioneer social worker and feminist Jane Addams (pictured left). The Jane Addams Children's Book Awards are given annually to the children's books published the preceding year that effectively promote the cause of peace, social justice, world community, and the equality of the sexes and all races. I'm looking forward to sharing the 2009 winners with students: Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai will resonate with those students who have been concentrating on environmental concerns and The Storyteller's Candle/La velita de los cuentos, about Pura Belpre, the New York Public Library's first--and influential--Puerto Rican librarian. Each author delivered a moving acceptance speech, humbling his/herself in the service of promoting the subject of in his/her book instead.