Bren's Biblioblog

Summer is quickly drawing to a close

2011-08-15T19:04:00.002-05:00

...but I have finished all 20 of the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees! Thanks to a road trip to Omaha, Nebraska I was able to breeze through the last three on my list: Elephant Run by Roland Smith, No Girls Allowed (Dogs Okay) by Trudy Trueit, and Listen! by Stephanie S. Tolan. Once again, it is a good thing I am not eligible to vote in the actual contest, because I can never pick just one favorite one. My top five are Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt, Listen!, Elephant Run, The Juvie Three by Gordon Korman, and Stolen Children by Peg Kehret.

I think kids will like The Maze Runner by Dashner, but it just isn't quite my cup of tea.

Besides the 20 MHL books, I read these Newbery medal and honor books: The Graveyard, Moon Over Manifest, One Crazy Summer, Turtle in Paradise, and The Evolution of Capernia Tate. The Graveyard is a little weird but I enjoyed them all.

As for more adult reads, this summer I read: The Postmistress, The first 3 of the Flavia mysteries by Alan Bradley beginning with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie(looking forward to number four coming out in November), the first two of Julie Kramer's books with 3 and 4 loaded and ready on my Nook, The Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke, and The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews.

Next up is my August book club book Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards.

Summer Reading Blitz

2011-07-20T21:40:00.002-05:00

Heat Index of 115 degrees, guess I will sit in the AC and read a book or ten.
I have half the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees read so far this summer. So far my favorite is Getting Air by Dan Gutman. It's a little hard to buy into the premise that a group of kids and old ladies take out four high jackers on an airplane, but you do get pulled into the story and how the survivors of the plane crash cope while waiting for rescue.

Kids who like the Hunger Games trilogy will like Maze Runner by James Dashner. It's another tale of kids surviving on their own, this time set in a maze. It ends with a cliff hanger; so be sure to have some copies of the next book, The Scorch Trials, in your library collection. Also, the third book called The Death Cure comes out October 11, 2011.

I enjoyed my re-read of The Brooklyn Nine by Alan Gratz. It takes you through the changes in baseball from 1845 to present day by telling the story of different generations of a family. For more information on Vintage Base Ball (yes, it was originally two words) see Roosters Vintage Base Ball Club (Rochester, MN.) on facebook or www.19cbaseball.com. I happened to be reading this book while waiting for one of the Roosters' games to commence!

Exact Change

2011-04-13T18:28:00.002-05:00

We rarely have change in the library; so we ask kids with fines to please pay by check or else bring the exact amount in cash. You get what you ask for. Today a girl with a two dollar fine paid with one dime and 190 pennies. Yes, we do accept all legal tender!

Number 13

2011-03-18T20:52:00.002-05:00

Today a girl returned Thirteen Reasons Why and checked out 13 Treasures. I guess she doesn't suffer from triskaidekaphobia!

Do you know of any other books with 13 in the title in case she comes back asking for suggestions?

Mars Needs Moms

2011-03-17T20:02:00.002-05:00

Did you know the movie, "Mars Needs Moms" is based on a picture book by Berkeley Breathed?
Wonderful illustrations!! Story is sweet. Hope the movie will be great too.
Thinking you've heard of Mr. Breathed before? He's the guy who did the Bloom County comic strip in the 1980's. Remember Opus the Penguin? My fave.

Liar, liar pants on fire

2011-03-07T16:55:00.003-06:00

Advisory teacher calls me and asks if so-and-so came in and paid for his lost book this morning.
No, I have seen no money from anyone today.
Short time later kid comes to library. I ask him if he has a pass. He says, "No, I have this." It is a folded up overdue notice. I say do you have an ID? He says no. I ask, "Did Mrs. so-and-so send you here?" "Yes."
Me: "Why did you tell Mrs. so-and-so you paid for your book this morning when you didn't?" Kid: " I gave the money to another kid who was coming to return a book."
Me:"You gave your money to some other kid?"
Kid: "Yeah."
Me: "Who is this other kid?"
Kid: "I don't know."
Me: "You gave your money to some other kid and you don't know his name?"
Kid:" Yeah."
Me: "No, really. Who is the kid? I'll call him in here and get your money."
Kid: " I don't know who he is."
Me: "You gave 8 dollars before school this morning to some other kid who you don't even know?"
Kid: "No, not this morning. In my third hour class."
Me: "What class do you have third hour?"
Kid: "Math."
Me: " And who is the teacher?"
Kid: "Mr. so-and so."
Me:" You gave 8 dollars to a kid in your math class and you don't know his name?"
Kid: "Yeah, he was coming to return a book."
Me: " We don't usually get kids in here from math to return a book."
Me: "Who is the kid? I'll get him in here."
Kid: " I don't know his name, but he's in my 5th hour too. I'll talk to him then."
Me: "He's in your third hour and your fifth hour and you don't even know his name and you gave him 8 dollars?"
Kid: "I think it starts with M."
Me: "I don't believe you. I don't believe you would give 8 dollars to some kid you don't even know. When you do have 8 dollars, you come in here with it yourself and pay for your book yourself."

I call Mrs. so-and-so back to see if she would like to hear the story he gave me. She tells me the story he gave her was that he couldn't pay for it this morning because he didn't have his ID. I said, "Oh no, he can pay for a book without his ID. I will figure out who he is."

So, first he paid for the book, then he couldn't pay for the book because he didn't have his ID, then he gave the money to some other kid he doesn't even know to come and pay for his book for him. I wonder what story he will have the next time.

I feel like going into his math class tomorrow and telling the whole class he said he gave 8 dollars to someone in here who was going to return their book and then asking, "Which one of you is it?" We could make it into a math lesson. Draw a Venn diagram of the students in this class and also in so-and-so's fifth hour class. Now, of these students, which one returned a book to the library during this class yesterday? And of this set of students, which one, whose name may or may not start with an M, has his 8 dollars? Oh, none of you? Fancy that. { } Empty set.

I finished

2011-01-18T19:14:00.002-06:00

Just after the new year started, I finished reading all of the MHL winners to celebrate 30 years of the award. I must admit that last one was a struggle for me...Silverwing by Ken Oppel. It is a good book, but not my cup of tea. Fantasy where animals take on human traits such as talking just don't do it for me. To top it off, the characters in this one are bats. Also, not my cup of tea, to put it mildly. Lasky's Guardians of Ga'hoole series featuring owls doesn't grab me either. But there are kids who just devour them. So, to each his own.

Adult read I just finished is The Hungry Season by T. Greenwood. It's about a man and wife and their son, Finn, and what happens to their family following the death of Finn's twin sister, Franny. Basically, they are all adrift, each reacting to the death in his/her own way. They come to realize that they need each other and to come to terms with it together as a family. I'll let you figure out how Franny died. Very well done.

Check This Out

2011-01-01T21:24:00.002-06:00

For true inspiration in reading check out the blog from my friend Beverly Sharp who works at the Dover Eyota High School library. It's called "The Wormhole".
http://wormyhole.blogspot.com

Maud Hart Lovelace progress and more

2011-01-01T20:41:00.003-06:00

I've made quite a bit of progress in meeting my goal to read all the winners of the Maud Hart Lovelace award since it began in 1980. I have just one left, Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel. In recent days I have read Danger in the Desert, Night of the Twisters, Crash, Stone Fox, and Million Dollar Shot.

Not everything I read is for the middle school library:

I also read Shanghai Girls for my book club and Swan for the Money just because I like Donna Andrews' Meg Langslow series.

Also in my To Be Read (TBR) pile: Spoken from the Heart by Laura Bush, Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children's Book, There Really is a Santa Claus: The History of Saint Nicholas and Christmas Holiday Traditions, Gingerbread Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke and the other two holiday selections in that volume, and my set of four mini books Peanuts Philosophers by Charles M. Schulz. They are all Christmas gifts or loaners recently acquired.

I am looking forward to these books coming out in 2011: Damage by John Lescroart, The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews, and Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke. And on the middle school note: A companion book to Alabama Moon by Watt Key that comes out in July called Dirt Road Home. Alabama Moon is one of this year's MHL nominees.

Searching for info on the next book in Sue Grafton's alphabet series so far has been fruitless. V is for .....???? Her official website doesn't appear to have been updated since U is for Undertow came out December 2009.

Summer of the Monkeys

2010-11-28T11:47:00.002-06:00

"I don't care what kind of a problem a man has, he can always find the answer to it in a library." p.157 Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls

What's Hot in Your Library?

2010-11-05T17:48:00.002-05:00

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins is by far the hottest commodity in my library right now. Waiting lists galore for all three of the books. Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan is also popular right now. His Percy Jackson and Olympians series can't be kept on the shelf. New buzz is surrounding The Missing series by Margaret Petersen Haddix..Found, Sent, and Sabotaged.

The Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter is in demand by the girls and her new one, Heist Society is piqueing their interest as well. The Clique series by Lisi Harrison remains strong. Not as much cross over to her new Alphas series as I thought there might be.

As for the boys, they like anything by Mike Lupica and the Tim Green sports stories are a strong second place.

And, of course, the popularity of anything vampire rages on.

What's hot in your library?

Celebrating 30 years of the Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award

2010-10-27T21:45:00.006-05:00

For several years I have entertained the idea of going back and reading all the books which have been nominated for the Maud Hart Lovelace Award. The contest began in 1980. I have read all the books from 2003 thru 2010. That means I have 22 years' worth of back log. Hmmm...I'm not sure how many books that is, but I know it is in the hundreds. There were 18 nominees per year when I started reading them all in 2003 and that number was upped to 20 per year when they expanded the shared division. Maybe I should dial it down to just reading all the winners first. 1980-1996, there was just one division so that makes 17 winners. Then they went to Division I Grades 3-6 and Division II Grades 6-8, with one winner from each division. 1997-2002 there are 11 winners because Mick Harte Was Here by Barbara Park won both divisions in 1998. 28 books. I might be able to do that. Perusing the list, I see 7 more titles I have already read. 21 books. I will give that a shot! Check back and see how I am doing! Better yet, join me in reading them and let me know how you are doing! The lists are on the website: http://www.maudhartlovelace.org/

P.S.

If I ever get all the MHL nominees read, my other lofty goal is to read all the Newbery books..honor and medal. Some of those probably aren't even in print anymore!

The problem is there are always new books coming out, nominated for awards or not, that I want to read too!

Maud Hart Lovelace Award

2010-04-25T13:48:00.002-05:00

http://www.maudhartlovelace.org/pages/winners.html

http://www.maudhartlovelace.org/pages/nominees.html

Gloom and Doom

2010-01-15T16:36:00.002-06:00

Rochester Public Schools Media Specialists took a hit in the budget cuts for this year and they are on the list for next year too. Reminds me of Agatha Christie book, And Then There Were None.

Searching for the silver lining

2009-10-21T19:42:00.001-05:00

Benefit of H1N1: Enough students are out sick so that we have enough computers for everyone in the increased class sizes!

Net Op

2009-10-17T10:50:00.002-05:00

Hmmm....let me see...Why would you be told to get off the computer?
Well... perhaps because you went to Google Images and typed "sex" into the search box.

Thanks to our new Net Op we can actually catch students who are using the internet inappropriately.

It's that time of year

2009-05-20T17:05:00.002-05:00

Our little Asian friend moved away. She tried desperately to obtain and read all of the Twilight series in 25 days. We managed to get her through 3 of the 4. At least she returned her books instead of skipping town with them like a lot of these schmucks.
OK, maybe schmucks is uncalled for but we are in the process of getting all the books back and we can get a little cranky. Besides that it was 94 degrees outside yesterday and 85 inside with no AC...Media Center is located in the center of the building on the second floor...no windows. Hope the renovation of the heating and ventilating system that has begun will be worth it in the end!

Back to 6 hour time difference

2009-04-06T18:55:00.003-05:00

They sprang ahead in the UK the end of March so we are once again 6 hours behind Spencer. He was not in the earthquake in Italy. Flew from Rome to London yesterday morning at planned.
We ate fish and chips in the UK at Epcot to pretend we were visiting Spencer even though he was in Italy at the time. Then when we went to Cocoa Beach we were connected by the Atlantic Ocean.

Librarian!

2009-03-12T16:51:00.003-05:00

3 times today between classes: Little Asian girl pops in the door and yells "Librarian!" Runs to the shelves, grabs a book, runs to the circulation desk to check it out and disappears down the hall. So far it is much more entertaining than a" please ring bell for service" alternative. Perhaps we should remind her she can have more than one item out at a time to cut down on the frequency of her visits.

Time Waits for No Man

2009-03-07T21:03:00.003-06:00

Going to see if these clocks on here adjust themselves for daylight savings time. We Spring ahead at 2am. Spencer said they change their time over there too, but it isn't until the end of March...so for a while we will be only 5 hours behind him. That's comforting and seems to bring him closer in an odd sort of way......

Oh, someone told me about a book tonight called Your Love (I think I am remembering that right) by Sue Miller. It's about a kid who has been away in England studying abroad and how he has changed when he gets back and how the mom is wishing he was her little boy again....Oddly, enough, I have already been telling myself to be prepared for Spencer to be way different when he returns. Oh, and the person who told me about the book didn't know Spencer was over there.

Cue the "Twilight Zone" theme song.....

The Excitement Never Ends

2009-02-28T10:47:00.001-06:00

Lock down drill, snow day, and evacuation due to gas odor all in one week!

Takes the Cake

2009-02-24T16:43:00.002-06:00

This takes the cake...the same student has been in Thursday, Friday, and Monday....doesn't remember his computer login and password and then also needs his Study Island login and password! We have told him to write it in his planner every time...He didn't come in today...chances are that just means he wasn't on a computer today, not that he actually wrote the information down. :)

Middle School Kids Cannot Get Enough of....

2009-02-18T17:29:00.002-06:00

The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer, The Clique Books by Lisi Harrison, The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books by Jeff Kinney, The Percy Jackson Olympian series by Rick Riordan, The Bluford Series by Langan, Schraff and now Kern, The Cirque du Freak series by Darren Shan, A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer, and Go Ask Alice.

Made My Day

2009-02-14T14:27:00.002-06:00

We have had some crazy busy days lately in the Media Center. Upon returning from my lunch break one day I was met by an 8th grader exiting with a book. He gasped, "Mrs. Gaskell, they really need you in there!"

Currently Reading and Recommending

2009-01-30T16:05:00.003-06:00

The Shack by William P. Young Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant "The Shack" wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!

Heard from Spencer the world traveler

2009-01-21T16:12:00.001-06:00

Spencer has made it to his destination! Unexpected part of the trip was routing to Dublin. Looking forward to details on his blog.

Random thoughts

2009-01-19T16:12:00.001-06:00

20 hours and 18 minutes to take-off.
Packing is still in progress.
Obama will have officially taken office shortly before Spencer takes off on his journey to live amongst the Redcoats.

Gadgets and More Gadgets

2009-01-17T19:37:00.002-06:00

I've added a few more gadgets. A currency converter for British Pounds, a couple of news sources for England, and a flicker of London photos. I was really looking for a countdown clock thingy...Spencer leaves in approximately 64 hours and 50 minutes.

9 Days and Counting...

2009-01-11T15:33:00.003-06:00

It's now 9 days until Spencer departs for his semester at Leeds University in Leeds, England. Here is a link to his blog: http://mav-across-the-pond.blogspot.com/

The countdown begins...

2009-01-01T18:56:00.002-06:00

19 more days until Spencer flies to England. I have added clocks with UK time and our time for easy reference. They are 6 hours ahead of us here in the Midwestern United States.

I think Spencer may be setting up a blog of his own to record his experiences for one of his classes. I will post a link to it, when, or if, it becomes available.

Love the Library...

2008-12-14T18:46:00.003-06:00

Girl comes in every day asking if the book she requested is here yet.
Book finally arrives.
Excitedly tell girl before she asks that her book is here.
Girl looks at me like I am stark raving mad...says, "What book?"
"Moonrise" I say.
"Oh, I don't need that anymore."

Holiday Shopping

2008-12-05T20:35:00.002-06:00

Girl who barely looks familiar at Kohl's: "Oh, you work at my school!!" Comes over and hugs me and then says, "But I don't remember your name."
Me: "It's Mrs. Gaskell and what is your name?" Now I will have to try to remember it!

Not a service we provide....

2008-12-04T16:57:00.002-06:00

Student: "Do you see that girl?"
Media Specialist: "Yes."
Student: "I think I like her."
Media Specialist: "Do you think so?"
Student: "Yes, could you tell her?"
Media Specialist: "Sorry, match making is not a service we provide. You'll have to tell her yourself."

Love the Library

2008-11-25T17:27:00.002-06:00

Kid has overdue book that was interlibrary loaned from another location. Kid insists he returned the book. Every day for two weeks kid comes in asking us if we have found it yet. We have checked shelf numerous times and now call lending location to see if by chance they have it on their shelf. Guess what? They don't have it either. I then escort the kid to his locker. He opens locker and says, "See. No book." I say, "Take everything out." Guess what was in the bottom of the locker underneath an empty book bag, two jackets, a hooded sweatshirt, and a winter coat? You got it...the book he has insisted every day for two weeks that he returned! Classic.

Too Many Other Things

2008-09-13T11:19:00.002-05:00

Well, it's pretty obvious that I am not going to finish all 23 things by Monday's deadline. I have let too many other things push my online learning to the back burner.....in the efficacy model vernacular...I became disengaged.

Not a thing

2008-08-03T09:31:00.002-05:00

Yes, I have been ignoring my 23 things. I have been busy plowing through all the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees for this year. Never fear! I will have them all read before school starts. I have, however, not been totally ignoring the techno world. Yesterday my daughter showed me how to rip a cd to the computer and then sync it to my new MP3 player. Is that a future thing I didn't get to yet? Maybe I can get extra credit.

Thing 7 Web 2.0 Communication Tools

2008-07-21T14:20:00.003-05:00

I think this Thing is more relevant to public or university libraries than to me in a public middle school setting. Our middle school students are not allowed to email, IM, or text message during the school day and after hours there would not be a library staff person there to respond to reference inquiries. I don't even personally have text messaging included in my cell phone plan, although I do use email and IM a lot at home and all staff use email at school...some are better at reading and responding to it than others.

I think it would be interesting to shadow a reference librarian who uses instant or text messaging. How much traffic do they have? Are they IM'ing with several patrons at a time? How many staff are assigned just to those tasks? As a patron, I think it would be handy. I have emailed different libraries who have "ask a librarian" on their websites, but the response times vary with that. I can see where students who need instant help would love to IM or text the librarian...but are we just enabling procrastinators? :)

I will check out the Web conferencing part of this Thing later when I have a little more time. Right now I need to get up and move around and get the baseball uniforms out of the dryer.

Image Chef

2008-07-21T13:31:00.001-05:00

Thing 6 Online Image Generators

2008-07-21T13:24:00.002-05:00

My creation
Originally uploaded by humbird1962

I can see that my problems all began when I just wanted to explore Flickr and not create an account, which is what I had to end up doing to get the trading card to upload.

Thing 6 Online Image Generators

2008-07-21T13:06:00.002-05:00

These are great. Kids love stuff that is personalized. Two of my own three kids can rarely find their names on the pencils, pens, mugs, etc. you find in the stores. You can use these to add spice to a lot of things in the library!

Back on the Stick- Thing 5 Revisited

2008-07-21T12:03:00.004-05:00

I had better get myself back on the stick or I am never going to finish all 23 Things! I have copied and pasted the html from my Spell with Flickr several times and all I get is the red x in a box image. I actually saw my image on the compose page, but it would not appear when I went to view my blog. I am moving on...

Thing 5 More Fun with Flickr

2008-06-30T16:09:00.008-05:00

This is not more fun...the Webmonkey links don't work. I spent a lot of time dinking around making things like puzzles and spelling with photos and I can't figure out how to get them to my blog. I need one of those Common Craft videos in plain English. I really like those! As for me, I am going outside to enjoy the sunshine instead of spending any more time in the basement on the computer. My hummingbird feeders need filling and reading another Maud Hart Lovelace nominee out on the deck will be way more fun than this!! And the time on this post is wrong...it is now 4:40pm.

Thing 4 Photosharing with Flickr

2008-06-30T15:24:00.003-05:00

I can see where Flickr is a great resource to find photos and share photos. I don't know if I will use it for my personal photos. I usually just email the photos I want friends and relatives to see. They get them right in their inbox and don't have to go looking for them like with Snap fish or some other online service. I don't normally care to have strangers commenting on or using my photos although I do realize you can restrict access. I might if I had photos of general interest like landscapes or hot air balloons or something, but not of my daughter's birthday. Posting wedding photos has really become a big trend. I see there are over 7 million of those on Flickr! I searched Rochester Honkers looking for pics from the baseball team...there were some of those, but the first thing that comes up is this nice photo of Giant Canada geese by Olivander.http://farm1.static.flickr.com/30/37203412_652f57560d_t_d.jpg

Thing 3 - RSS feeds

2008-06-17T14:17:00.002-05:00

I now have a Google Reader account set up and have added some blogs and websites to it. I had previously wondered if there was a way to know when someone had updated their blog without checking it every day as I was doing. Now I know! And I will save myself some time!

I chose the Google Reader and the Google Blog Search tool because I already set up a Google account to make my blog. I don't like always having to set up a new account all the time to try different things. I think it is hard to go back and eradicate things from the internet. You read about people who didn't get a job offer etc. because of something that was on their Facebook or My Space a long time ago. They even thought they had deleted it...well, it was no longer on their page but the footprint is still out there in cyberspace somewhere. I don't know, maybe I am more leery than I need to be..... Even so, it's just a pain to keep setting up accounts and passwords for everything.

Time to sign off...I am spending way more than 15 minutes a day with this stuff as was mentioned in the video as part of Thing 2. On the upside, I did get in 30 minutes on the exercise bike today too!

TTFN

Back to Thing 1-- My Avatar

2008-06-15T15:55:00.004-05:00

I hope a Meez qualifies as an avatar. I think I need a dictionary. Took me forever to choose all the features, wardrobe, background etc. and then figure out how to get the thing on my blog. No wonder kids are always messing around with the fun stuff on the computer instead of getting the meat of the assignment done!

Thing 2--Web 2.0

2008-06-15T14:21:00.004-05:00

I am glad that Round 2 was offered during the summer months. Since I work in a school library this will enable me to hopefully have more time to work on doing the 23 things. There are a lot of technology tools which I know nothing about and I probably wouldn't explore them all on my own. I hope to at least be able to know what the kids are talking about at school!

I do think we need to proceed with caution. There are evil people out there who use the internet for evil purposes. We also need to not poo-poo old ways of doing things....just because something is new or can be done on the computer doesn't make it better.

I find it interesting how the meaning of "conversation" has changed; being face-to-face with other people is no longer part of the definition. I think that is sad. I am finding more and more that people don't know how to really interact with each other in person. There are nuances in conversation which are lost when you don't make eye-contact or see the accompanying body language, or hear inflections in the voice. "Conversations" can become vicious, especially between teens, because there is no fear of repercussion.

I'm not exactly sure what Library 2.0 is all about yet. I do know that it is about change and change always meets with some resistance. I hope as I move through the 23 things I will see how I can apply them to my work situation, but not get all gung-ho about change just for change's sake. There needs to be a purpose for the change and the purpose should be improvement or enhancement.
TTFN

Thing 1--Set up a blog and get an avatar

2008-06-12T11:35:00.003-05:00

Ok, Here we go! I have a blog! Now what is an avatar and how do I get one?

Bren's Biblioblog

Summer is quickly drawing to a close

Summer Reading Blitz

Exact Change

Number 13

Mars Needs Moms

Liar, liar pants on fire

I finished

Check This Out

Maud Hart Lovelace progress and more

Summer of the Monkeys

What's Hot in Your Library?

Celebrating 30 years of the Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award

Maud Hart Lovelace Award

Gloom and Doom

Searching for the silver lining

Net Op

It's that time of year

Back to 6 hour time difference

Librarian!

Time Waits for No Man

The Excitement Never Ends

Takes the Cake

Middle School Kids Cannot Get Enough of....

Recommended YA reads

Made My Day

Currently Reading and Recommending

Heard from Spencer the world traveler

Random thoughts

Gadgets and More Gadgets

9 Days and Counting...

The countdown begins...

Love the Library...

Holiday Shopping

Not a service we provide....

Love the Library

Too Many Other Things

Not a thing

Thing 7 Web 2.0 Communication Tools

Image Chef

Thing 6 Online Image Generators

Thing 6 Online Image Generators

Back on the Stick- Thing 5 Revisited

Thing 5 More Fun with Flickr

Thing 4 Photosharing with Flickr

Thing 3 - RSS feeds

Back to Thing 1-- My Avatar

Thing 2--Web 2.0

Thing 1--Set up a blog and get an avatar