Movies and Books tied Together

On early release Wednesdays we have begun to showcase a movie and book together by showing the movie in the library (for free). Since we are open until 4 or later everyday, and since we have a large group of kids who wait for late buses, it makes sense to have something for these kids to watch or do. Most of them don't actually watch the movie. It's kinda like what we do at home; turn on the tv while we cook just to have it on in the background. It seems to calm the chatty ones and provide some sort of minor distraction for others. Of course, we pull the copies off of the shelves and place it with the movie. Then we chat it up with kids during the course of the day; asking them if they have seen the movie or read the book(s). So far so good. It makes our after school hours fly by.

Slow Internet Connection but still busy here

Some days the Internet drags like molasses thru a sieve. Today was one of those days. But even with a slow computer, kids still flocked to the library. Maybe it was the drizzle outside but we rarely see more than 2 kids in here during 6th period. It was a welcome surprise to have multiple tables full of students working on their studies.
On another full library note, you should see this place in the mornings. Pam opens the doors at 7:30 and every table and kiosk fills up. Students on computers and standing in the stacks leaves no room for nonsense. But the kids seem to get it and are usually amazingly considerate. Thanks always to Gisela for her volunteer service in these early pre-school time days.

Really Good Books

Among a few of the books floating in and out of the library that are becoming my favorites as well as some student recommendations are the following:

1) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Imagine the Roman Coliseum with its Lions and Christians battling for survival and combine it with Shirley Jackson's The Lottery short story and you get all the killings, survival tactics and the "sitting on the edge of your seat" drama of The Hunger Games. Oh and it involves teenagers killing other teenagers in a game of survival. It's well written, moves quickly, leaves you hanging in suspense and so far every kid that has read it has loved it.
2) An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
This book needs to be made into a movie! Two teens, one a brilliant genius and one a bit overweight and unambitious, travel in an old beat up sedan to Tennessee and stumble into a couple of jobs interviewing the mill workers in Guttshot. You know those stories where the characters become so close to you that you feel they are sitting right next to you telling you how it all unfolds. This is one of those stories. Amazing details and in depth characters.

Celebrating the Inauguration in the Library

In honor of this historic day, the library as well as many other locations around campus, is streaming, via cable tv, today's inaugural festivities. It is an awe-inspiring moment and we are proud to host students in the library to partake in the day. It's never been so quiet in here. We are all mesmerized by the spectacle of what we are seeing on our big screen. It's one of those days that we will all look back on, reminisce and remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when the 44th President of United States was sworn into office. I am very happy to be part of that memory. Our library will be housed in the memories of these dozens of students sitting completely rapt by this important day in their lives.

Attention Students!

We need you! To be a commentator on this blog and add your favorite books, library stuff and reviews. Come on! It's cool!

Top VHS Titles Dec/Jan

Monthly, we tally up the top titles and give that information to staff. What the library patrons read and what they read in class don't always match up. But on occasion they do. For instance, in November 2008 one of our top (most checked out) titles was Bless me, Ultima and this month one of our top titles was 1984. So some kids are reading for their classes. Most of the time, our students choose books based on what they really want to read. And even then the most popular books shift. In the fall, the most popular books were Manga. Now they are Darren Shan books and all of the Twilight series. Granted in the fall we brought in new Manga so there was a mad-dash of sorts to read those new books. And just recently we brought in the Demonata series by Darren Shan and it has turned out to be really popular. So without further ado, the top titles for Dec and Jan were... drumroll please;
1) Lord Loss by Darren Shan
2) New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
3) Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
4) Twilight by who else? Stephanie Meyer
5) 1984 by George Orwell
6) Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
7) The astonishing life of Octavian Nothing, traitor to the nation by M.T. Anderson
8) Cirque du Freak: A living nightmare
9) Cirque du Freak: the vampire's assistant
10) Close to a killer by Marsha Qualey

Not surprised by the Cirque du Freak but Close to a killer and Dan Brown books puzzle me. I wonder what is going to be next.