June is Audiobook Appreciation Month! Did You Know Audiobooks Raise Reading Scores?

Some people consider audiobooks “cheating” or “not really reading”. But did you know including audiobooks in your child’s reading can improve their overall reading abilities? Not to mention, they are lots of fun! Cheshire Library has hundreds of audiobook titles for children and teens,  in both CD and digital formats.

Audiobooks have been used in classrooms for decades because listening builds a another set of skills than visual reading. Oral language precedes written language developmentally, making listening an important component of language acquisition. Audiobooks are a proven resource for teaching reading, at all reading levels. Among the many benefits, listening builds critical vocabulary, comprehension, fluency and listening skills; in fact, adding a listening component to reading instruction has been shown to improve student achievement.

audiobooks

Among the many benefits, audiobooks:

  • reinforce literacy skills.
  • supplement reading instruction to develop a positive attitude towards literature.
  • develop understanding of content area material when decoding or other literacy skills are delayed.
  • model the appropriate use of oral vocabulary, fluent reading, and use of phonics.
  • bring literature from the classroom to home and back on a portable device.

Why not add some audiobooks to your reading list today? In addition to CD audiobooks in our library, audiobooks are also available to download via the library’s online OverDrive  and OneClick Digital catalogs.

[sources: tales2go and School Library Journal]

10 Books We’re Looking Forward to in June

Summer reading never looked so good, here are some great new titles for your beach bag!

Every month, librarians from around the country pick the top ten new books they’d most like to share with readers. The results are published on LibraryReads.org. One of the goals of LibraryReads is to highlight the important role public libraries play in building buzz for new books and new authors. Click through to read more about what new and upcoming books librarians consider buzzworthy this month. The top ten titles for June are:

  1. Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healy
  2. China Dolls by Lisa See
  3. The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street by Susan Jane Gilman
  4. I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You by Courtney Maum
  5. The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand
  6. Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch
  7. The Lobster Kings by Alexi Zentner
  8. The Hurricane Sisters by Dorothea Benton Frank
  9. The Quick by Lauren Owen
  10. Rogues edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois

 

What’s Happening at Cheshire Library in June

Fantastic programs, new services, and of course, Summer Reading are coming your way in June!

Social Media Marketing Made Simple and
LinkedIn for Business
Tuesday, June 3rd at 7:00pm

This information-packed seminar offers a basic review of the essential strategies and best practices an entrepreneur should understand to successfully use social media and LinkedIn. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library. 

More Information
Register for this program

 

Survivors Swing Band
Sunday, June 8th at 4:00pm
The Survivors Swing Band, a 7-piece professional jazz band, based in Connecticut, plays classic melodies from an era gone by–hot tunes and soothing ballads of the Swing Era– plus many of the wonderful melodies from the two decades that followed. This event is free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

More Information

 

Cooking with Chef John Bencivengo
Wednesday, June 18th at 6:30pm
Chef John Bencivengo of Chowder Pot lll will prepare 6 delicious dishes for you & will give out copies of the recipes. In addition, Chowder Pot lll will donate three Raffle Prizes you can win the evening of the event. There will be a donation fee of $5.00 per person to be paid at the door on the evening of the event to cover material costs. Seating is limited.  Please register.

More Information
Register for this program

 

Teen Games Drop-in
Friday, June 20th at 2:30pm
No registration required. Nintendo Wii available for group play with ROCK BAND 2, DDR, MARIO KART, BRAWL, and lots more! We’ve got board games too, so come play games and nibble snacks,  

More Information

Visit the Teen Page of our website!

 

Summer Reading Program
FIZZ, BOOM, READ! – will begin on Monday, June 23rd. We have a great summer planned for readers of all ages, including a wonderful line-up of fun kids’ programs that often have a science theme. And for those of you who are fans of “the Cheshire Library Cat,” we have some really cool t-shirts as giveaways again this year!

So be sure to look on our web site for information about how to sign-up for our online summer reading program – or come into the library and the children’s staff will be happy to answer any questions you have.

More information

Visit the Kids Page of our website!

 

Fab Film Saturdays
Saturday, June 28th at 2:00pm

How to Train Your Dragon. Hiccup is a young Viking who defies tradition when he befriends one of his deadliest foes – a ferocious dragon he calls Toothless. No registration required!
More information

Visit the Kids Page of our website!

 

Stream Videos
Now Available!

OverDrive, your source for free downloadable ebooks and audiobooks, has a new collection available: videos! You can borrow and watch free shows, movies, and more from the library’s digital collection right in your web browser without having to download files or use special software. We also just purchased Sesame Street videos for our streaming videos collection!

More Information

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New Circulation Software at the Library
Monday, June 2nd

The library will be upgrading its software to a next-generation technology platform. This will enable us to offer new services in a rapid and cost-effective manner. We are working with the system provider to convert the current system to the new platform while ensuring minimal disruption of patron services. As with implementing any new enterprise-level software, the library may experience intermittent service issues during the brief transition period.
More Information

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Summer Saturday Hours

The library will be open Saturday mornings from July 12 through August 23, from 9:30 a.m. To 1:00 p.m.
Come on in to cool off or grab a book for summer reading fun!

Summer Calendar

Handling Questions About Bodies with Your Young Children

I think every parent dreads certain questions and discussions with their children. There are a thousand difficult things that we will need to discuss with them as they grow up, and no matter how well-prepared we think we are, they are bound to ask a question or make an observation we are unprepared for. In order to help us feel better about approaching the discussion about body differences, changes, and babies I put together a few book lists to help all of us.

In this post I will offer suggestions for parents in deciding what to say and when, and how to broach the body discussion with the youngest children that need to know why boys and girls are different, and why certain actions or questions might be inappropriate. I followed up that list with some book suggestions that you can share with even the youngest children to help explain matters.

There is another book list coming with suggestions for books intended for middle graders as well as preteens and teens.

Books for Parents:

1. What your Child Needs to Know about Sex (and when): a Straight-Talking Guide for Parents by Fred Kaeser

2. What’s the Big Secret?: Talking about Sex with Girls and Boys by Laurie Krasny Brown and Marc Brown

3. Everything you Never Wanted your Kids to Know about Sex, (but were afraid they’d ask): the Secrets to Surviving your Child’s Sexual Development from Birth to the Teens by Justin Richardson and Mark A. Schuster

4. It’s Perfectly Normal: a Book about Changing Bodies, Growing up, Sex and Sexual Health by Robie H. Harris; illustrated by Michael Emberley

5. Talking to Your Kids about Sex: from Toddlers to Preteens by Lauri Berkenkamp and Steven C. Atkins

6. Ten Talks Parents Must have with their Children about Sex and Character by Pepper Schwartz and Dominic Cappello

7. The Big Talk: Talking to your Child about Sex and Dating by Laurie Langford

Books for the Youngest Kids:

1. It’s Not the Stork!: a Book about Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families, and Friends by Robie H. Harris; illustrated by Michael Emberley

2. Amazing You: Getting Smart about your Private Parts by Gail Saltz; illustrated by Lynn Cravath

3. Who Has What?: All about Girls’ Bodies and Boys’ Bodies by Robie H. Harris; illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott

4. Human Body by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

5. My Body by Andrea Pinnington and Penny Lamprell

6. Human Body by Margaret Hynes; illustrations, Andy Crisp

Need more suggestions? Just stop by the Children’s Room and the librarian on duty can point you in the right direction!

10 Books We’re Looking Forward to in May

So many great books coming out in May, it’s hard to pick just ten!

Every month, librarians from around the country pick the top ten new books they’d most like to share with readers. The results are published on LibraryReads.org. One of the goals of LibraryReads is to highlight the important role public libraries play in building buzz for new books and new authors. Click through to read more about what new and upcoming books librarians consider buzzworthy this month. The top ten titles for May are:

  1. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
  2. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
  3. The Bees by Laline Paull
  4. Delicious! by Ruth Reichl
  5. The Forgotten Seamstress by Liz Trenow
  6. Bird Box by Josh Malerman
  7. Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
  8. Delancey: A Man, a Woman, a Restaurant, a Marriage by Molly Wizenberg
  9. Sixth Grave on the Edge by Darynda Jones
  10. The Blessings by Elise Juska