Picturebooks about Animals in Libraries

July 31, 2015July 24, 2015 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

My daughter is animal mad. She loves anything and everything animal related. Animal print clothes, pretending to be a wolf cub, watching Wild Kratts, and so on. I am a librarian, and so it follows that I love all things book related. I love the feel of books, the smell, and of course the reading experience. This inspired me to combine our passions and look at picture books about animals in the library. There is an unexpectedly large number of picture books featuring critters of some nature spending some quality time at their local library.

1. Dewey: There’s a Cat in the Library! by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter

2. Bats at the Library by Brian Lies

3. The Fox in the Library by Lorenz Pauli

4. Can I Bring Woolly to the Library, Ms. Reeder? by Lois G. Grambling

5. Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen

6. There’s a Dragon in the Library by Dianne de Las Casas

7. Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk

8. Dinosaur vs. the Library by Bob Shea

9. No T. Rex in the Library by Toni Buzzeo

10. Homer, the Library Cat by Reeve Lindbergh

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You might want to look at A Library Book for Bear by Bonny Becker, Library Mouse: a Friend’s Tale by Daniel Kirk, Our Library by Eve Bunting, Library Mouse: Home Sweet Home by Daniel Kirk, Dewey’s Christmas at the Library by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter, Quiet! there’s a Canary in the Library by Don Freeman, and Llama in the Library by Johanna Hurwitz as well.

Author Jill Shalvis Never Disappoints!

July 29, 2015July 28, 2015 / Linda / Leave a comment

I read a lot of contemporary romance books, although lately, I haven’t been reading much. The books seem to carry the same theme and they were all starting to sound alike. I’ve even passed on some new books by a few of my favorite authors. But then one of my most favorite authors came out with a new series and I gave her new book a shot. Nirvana! I was not disappointed in the least!

Second Chance Summer by Jill Shalvis is the first book in her new series, Cedar Ridge. Cedar Ridge, Colorado, is famous for crisp mountain air, clear blue skies, and pine-scented breezes. And it’s the last place Lily Danville wants to be. But she needs a job, and there’s an opening at the hottest resort in her hometown. What has her concerned is the other hot property in Cedar Ridge: Aidan Kincaid-firefighter, rescue worker, and heartbreaker. She never could resist that devastating smile .

The Kincaid brothers are as rough and rugged as the Rocky Mountains they call home. Aidan has always done things his own way, by his own rules. And never has he regretted anything more than letting Lily walk out of his life ten years ago. If anyone has ever been in need of rescuing, she has. What she needs more than anything are long hikes, slow dances, and sizzling kisses. But that can only happen if he can get her to give Cedar Ridge-and this bad boy-a second chance .

There have been plenty of books about firefighters and rescuers, but somehow (because she’s overflowing with talent?), Ms. Shalvis consistently writes books that are fresh, new, and exciting – and this one is a real page turner. From the very first chapter, you are completely engaged in the characters and the location. Readers can relate to the Kincaid family – it is flawed and struggling with a life that hasn’t been easy. Ms. Shalvis’ description of the town of Cedar Ridge makes you want to move there. The story flawlessly moves along enveloping you in lots of romance and laughter, great chemistry between characters, and enticing secondary characters throughout that make you very excited for the next book to come out!

POST NOTE: On July 25, 2015, Ms. Shalvis was awarded a RITA award at the Romance Writers of America conference in New York City for her book, One In A Million, the last book in her Lucky Harbor series.

(RITA Award – The purpose of the RITA award is to promote excellence in the romance genre by recognizing outstanding published romance novels and novellas. The award itself is a golden statuette named after RWA’s first president, Rita Clay Estrada, and has become the symbol for excellence in published romance fiction.)

Adult Non Fiction about Librarians and Libraries

July 27, 2015July 15, 2015 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

I was inspired by the new series of posts about the work that goes on behind the scenes in our library to gather some of the best books about working in a library and the history of libraries to share. If you want to know a little more about life behind the desk, and some history of our little corner of the world and beyond, you might want to take a look at these titles.

I Work at a Public Library: a Collection of Crazy Stories from the Stacks by Gina Sheridan
Collects strange-but-true anecdotes, heartwarming stories, and humorous interactions with patrons from a public librarian.

Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian by Scott Douglas
An autobiography set in a Southern California public library offers a quirky description of life as a caretaker of modern literature and furnishes an account of the history of libraries from the Gilded Age to the present day.

The World’s Strongest Librarian: a Memoir of Tourette’s, Faith, strength, and the Power of Family by Josh Hanagarne
Traces the public librarian author’s inspiring story as a Mormon youth with Tourette’s Syndrome who after a sequence of radical and ineffective treatments overcame nightmarish tics through education, military service and strength training.

This Book is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson
In a celebration of libraries and the dedicated people who staff them, the author argues that librarians are more important than ever, and discusses a new breed of visionary professionals who use the Web to link people and information.

Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference by Joanne Oppenheim
Provides the story of life in a Japanese internment camp during World War II through the correspondence of the children in the camp to their librarian, Miss Clara Breed, who worked on their behalf to show the injustice of their imprisonment.

Library: an Unquiet History by Matthew Battles
Provides an intriguing historical study of libraries and books, their preservation, and destruction, from the U.S. to Europe and Asia, from medieval monasteries and Vatican collections to the ever-changing information highway of today.

For further reading about the history of libraries and what it can be like on the other side of the counter check out: Running the Books: the Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian by Avi Steinberg, Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert, Dewey: the Small-town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter, The Library: an Illustrated History by Stuart A.P. Murray, Library: the Drama Within photographs by Diane Asséo Griliches ; essay by Daniel J. Boorstin, The Librarian’s Book of Quotes compiled by Tatyana Eckstrand, and Revolting Librarians Redux: Radical Librarians Speak Out edited by Katia Roberto and Jessamyn West.

Oprah’s Summer Reading – 2015

July 6, 2015June 25, 2015 / Linda / 2 Comments

O, The Oprah Magazine has listed their favorite books for the upcoming summer season. Below is the short version. You can see the full list in the July 2015 issue of the magazine.

Ladies on the move

Paris, He Said – Christine Sneed – Aspiring painter Jayne is questioning the choices she has made in the years since college and is struggling to pay her bills in Manhattan when she is given the opportunity to move to Paris with her wealthy lover and benefactor, Laurent Moller, who owns and operates two art galleries.

The Enlightenment of Nina Findlay – Andrea Gillies – Seeking refuge on a tiny Greek island after an estrangement from two brothers with whom she was in a long-time love triangle, Nina discovers in the wake of an accident the influence of her parents’ marriage on her own.

Re Jane – Patricia Park – Jane Re, a half-Korean, half-American orphan, escapes to Seoul where she reconnects with her family while struggling to learn the ways of modern-day Korea, and wonders if the man she loves is really the man for her as she tries to find balance between two cultures and accept who she really is.

Mysteries and Thrillers

The Ice Twins – S.K. Tremayne – Moving to a tiny Scottish island a year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah are shattered when their surviving daughter claims they have mistaken her identity and that she is actually the twin they believed dead.

Hyacinth Girls – Lauren Frankel – When her 13-year-old daughter Callie begins receiving suicidal notes from Robyn, the girl she supposedly bullied, Rebecca is determined to save the unbalanced Robyn, refusing to let the school stand in her way, but in doing so, unknowingly places her own daughter’s life in great danger.

Jack of Spades – Joyce Carol Oates – Enjoying his successful career and devoted family, a best-selling writer secretly authors a masochist-themed series that threatens his respectable community standing and becomes subject to a plagiarism lawsuit.

Biography and Memoir

The Pawnbroker’s Daughter – Maxine Kumin – A new collection of work from the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet depicts her childhood during the Depression in Philadelphia, her education at Radcliffe College, her rural New England farm and the changing tone and subject matter of her poetry over her lifetime.

My Generation – William Styron – collection of work spanning the career of the author includes complex pieces on race as well as extracts describing his daily walks with his beloved dog.

Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County – Kristen Green – A reporter, combining hard-hitting investigative journalism with a sweeping family narrative, exposes a little-known chapter of American History, revealing her hometown’s shameful legacy of refusing to integrate after the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education.

Literary Fiction

Our Souls at Night – Kent Haruf – A senior-aged widow and widower forge a loving bond over shared loneliness and respective histories, provoking local gossip and the disapproval of their grown children in ways that are further complicated by an extended visit by a sad young grandchild.

Death and Mr. Pickwick – Stephen Jarvis – A novel based on the life of artist Robert Seymour describes the birth of “The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club,” a series of whimsical sketches by Seymour that were paired with stories by a young Charles Dickens, using the pen name Boz.

The Sunlit Night – Rebecca Dinerstein – In the barren landscape of the Far North, under the ever-present midnight sun, Frances, who lives in an isolated artist colony, and Yasha, who arrives from Brooklyn to fulfill his beloved father’s last wish, form a bond that offers them solace amidst great uncertainty.

Happy Summer Reading!

Behind the Scenes at CPL- Children’s Cataloging

July 3, 2015June 25, 2015 / Sharon Tyler / 1 Comment

CPL staffer Louise shared in a recent blog post some of the effort that our staff puts into choosing materials for our collection. some of the effort that our staff puts into choosing materials for our collection. It is an important and challenging task, using our limited funding in the most efficient and useful manner to serve our patrons. However, once those materials are ordered our work has only just begun. It is after the books are ordered that the next round of tasks begin. My focus will be on the cataloging of children’s and young adult print materials, because that is how I (and one other staff member) spend any hours not at a public service desk.

You might think that the tasks for cataloging would only start once the physical books arrive, however we have some preparations to make first. We need to print out all orders and get the catalog records in the computer so that holds can be placed on the material.

When the books do come in we need to check the packing slips and orders against the titles and details of the books in all the boxes. Sometimes Baker & Taylor or other suppliers do make mistakes or materials are damaged or flawed in some way. It is important to catch any of these problems long before labeling and cataloging actually begin.

After we have the books unpacked, checked, and in hand the real fun begins. In the children’s department there are several different categories of books, each of which need different labeling. There are board books, picturebooks, easy readers, easy non fiction, non fiction, graphic novels, juvenile fiction, and young adult materials. Each of these types have several sub categories and a variety of necessary labels, just to keep things interesting.

We sort all the books by type, and decide on the call number, genre, and more will be for each book. Every book will need a spine label with the call number, a barcode, and a RFID tag. They also need to be stamped with the Cheshire Children’s room address stamp and have the call number and barcode written on the interior of the book. Each type of book gets a different set of stickers. Some will need colored stickers over the call number to indicate subject matter, a sticker designating its reading level, awards won or nominated for, or its genre. Rather than giving you a long list of all the stickers, I will just give you a look at a few of the ones I use daily.

Yes, there are many more. This is about half of the regularly used stickers and labels. After all the stickering fun is done there is still more to do. Paperbacks will need to be taped or covered to extend its life in circulation. Some hardcovers will need a cover on its dust jacket as well. Now we need to check the RFID tags in each book and either program them or make sure the correct barcode number is programed onto it.

Now it is time to enter the material into the computer. This can be the quickest part of the job, but also the most important. Small mistakes at this point could make materials nearly impossible to find on the shelf. We need to make sure the call number, barcode, location, and other vital information is all correct in the catalog. If a book is newly published, this is also when it gets a New sticker added to the previous collection of stickers. Then we check in the item and make it available for the first hold, or put it on the shelf for you to check out.

aterials in the children’s and young adult collection keep the new designation for six months. After that they are collected and pass through staff hands again so that the sticker can be removed and the information updated in the computer. You might see me doing this while working at the Children’s Desk. When material are damaged or are sadly in need of removal from the collection we then need to discard the book from our collection. This means more stamping and computer work. If you visit the third floor of the library, you can browse the discarded children’s and young adult materials that are still in good condition. You are welcome to take these home and keep. We hate having to let go of books, even though we have to in order to make room for more, and knowing that someone will use and enjoy them makes it a little easier.