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 Selections
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The newsletter of the Sarasota County Library System |
~ May 2009 ~ Volume 4, Issue 2 | |
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Read Selections online each month or sign up here to have it delivered to you by email.
If you have difficulty reading the newsletter in your email, read this issue here. |
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In this Issue:
This month's issue is brought to you
by the Youth Services staff of the
Sarasota County Library System
to highlight the
Be Creative
Summer Reading Program.
Featured Internet Sites:
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Youth Librarians all over the country have created websites with their program information, book lists and their favorite internet sites for games and research. We want to update our Kid Zone site to keep it useful and fun for you and your children. Some libraries' sites that we have visited are:
If you want to let us know which ones you like and why, click here! | |
Events:
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2009 Summer Reading Programs:
Be Creative and Express Yourself at Your Library!
Build, draw, write, paint, dance, sing, explore, create and READ! That is what the 2009 Be Creative Summer Reading Program is all about. An exciting summer is planned for preschool and school-age children that includes story programs, guest speakers, art workshops, theater performances, storytellers and more.
Program information will be available at your community library, or check the library calendar at sclibs.net/calendar.aspx for summer events, activities and programs during June, July and August.
Older children and teens are invited to participate in the Express Yourself Summer Reading Program. A great lineup of programs, book discussions and workshops is planned.
Younger readers will set their reading goals and complete a reading log. There will be lots of story programs, craft programs, special guests, performances and much, much more! All children who participate will received a FREE book as a reading incentive. The incentives will be provided by a grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation. Read more in Local Library News.
The State of Florida provides planning tools and resources for the Florida Library Youth Program through a federal grant. This year, we are participating in the Collaborative Summer Reading Program. Participating libraries all over the United States will be using the Be Creative and Express Yourself themes. So, if you are traveling around the country this summer, you will find many other children busy reading, creating and expressing themselves! |
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Local Library News:
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Take Home a Book!
Every child who participates in Sarasota County Libraries' 2009 Summer Reading Program will receive a FREE book. Thank you to the Friends of the Library Alliance for their first ever grant request that will benefit young readers throughout Sarasota County. Funded by the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, the grant will provide books to an estimated 5,000 children.
Receiving a book of their own is a very effective incentive for young readers. They can read the books over and over again and keep them on their own bookshelves. According to Page Ahead, a national children’s literacy group, having a personal library motivates children to engage in voluntary reading.
Owning books is a critical feature of a child’s intellectual development. The group also reports that children who have their own books are eight times more likely to list reading as one of their favorite activities. |
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National Library News:
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Animals at the White House!
Barack Obama's daughters have gotten their new dog, Bo. Read about how Bo is becoming a star in schools and libraries nationwide in this article from School Library Journal.
Do you want to know more about pets who lived at the White House before Bo?
Get the book or DVD, "White House Pets," or read "Wackiest White House Pets" by Kathryn Gibbs Davis.
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Featured Story:
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The Benefits of
Summer Reading
Summer is a time to enjoy reading. Children and teens can catch up on all of their favorite books and authors. Younger children who participate in the summer reading programs are provided reading logs so they can track the number of days they spend reading and also record the titles of the books they have read or listened to.
Experts agree that those who read during the summer while school is not in session gain valuable reading skills. According to studies, those who do not stay mentally active during the summer risk losing what they learned during the previous school year.
The goals of the summer reading programs are to create lifelong readers and library users. The value of the public library and the services that are offered are emphasized. It is an opportunity for children to explore the wealth of information and fun that is waiting in a friendly, encouraging atmosphere. The programs will help to expand knowledge of the world, while enhancing literacy skills.
For more information about the value and benefits of summer reading programs, visit www.cslpreads.org/famlit/benefits.htm. |
Featured Database:
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"Help! It's 8:00 and the library is closing! All the books on Greece have been checked out and my paper is due tomorrow. My teacher says I can't use internet sources. What should I do?"
Use the libraries' electronic resources! They are subscription databases which have been reviewed for accuracy and quality, and most teachers will be thrilled you are using them. Using kids' versions of the electronic resources now will get parents and kids ready for big research projects in high school and college.
If you are 6 to 10 (or any age!), you will enjoy the short articles, maps, charts and pictures for all kinds of topics in Kids InfoBits. Click around to have fun exploring right now, and you'll be totally ready to do some serious research when your next project is assigned!
Find Kids InfoBits and other databases on the library website's Electronic Information Resources page: sclibs.net/resources.aspx.
A Sarasota County Library card is required to access databases from outside the library.
Read database descriptions from previous issues of Selections here and in the newsletter archives. |
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Books may well be the only true magic.
--Alice Hoffman, author
When I was about eight, I decided that the most wonderful thing, next to a human being, was a book.
--Margaret Walker,
poet and author
When I was young, we couldn't afford much. But, my library card was my key to the world.
--John Goodman, actor | |
Community Connection:
Read with the Dogs
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The Sarasota County Library System has a unique partnership with the two Humane Societies in Sarasota County. This partnership originally began when the Suncoast Humane Society approached the youth department at the Venice Library to offer a special reading program they had heard about. What developed was a program that originally was called “Doggie Tales” and is now known as “Read with the Dogs.” Children read to certified pet therapy dogs on regularly scheduled dates. Because of its popularity, this program spread to The Frances T. Bourne Jacaranda Public Library, the Elsie Quirk Library and the North Port Library. After hearing of the success of the program in libraries in the southern part of the county, the youth department at Gulf Gate Library contacted the Humane Society of Sarasota County and started the program there. It then spread to Selby Library.
Staff, as well as our young readers and their families, have gotten to know the dogs by name, and children will often request a certain dog to read to. The dogs are patient listeners, and the children enjoy the relaxed atmosphere that encourages reading aloud.
Suncoast Humane Society sponsors "Read with the Dogs" from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at these libraries:
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North Port Library - first Tuesday of the month
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Venice Library - second Tuesday of the month
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F.T.B. Jacaranda Library - third Tuesday of the month
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Elsie Quirk Library - second Monday of the month
Humane Society of Sarasota sponsors "Read with the Dogs" from 4 to 5 p.m. at these libraries:
Come to the libraries and read with the dogs! |
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Volunteer Spotlight:
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Mr. Jim Stephenson, Volunteer Extraordinaire!
"Mr. Jim," the Venice Library Preschool Storytime volunteer, is the most celebrated voice that the children like to hear read stories each Tuesday morning.
Here are the Top Ten things that you’d most like to know about this exceptional volunteer:
1. Mr. Jim has been Venice Library’s weekly storytime reader for 7 years, starting when he was still a crossing guard and coming over to read to the children.
2. Mr. Jim celebrated his 85th birthday and started volunteering in the Circulation Department, too, calling the patrons when their reserve books come in.
3. Mr. Jim loves to read and has been doing so even before he started school in Leesburg, Florida.
4. Mr. Jim loves music and has sung in three barbershop quartets.
5. Mr. Jim was the radio announcer at WENG in Englewood. Now we know why we like his nice deep voice. He also uses his voice as a church reader at Epiphany Cathedral.
6. Mr. Jim is married to Maureen and loves children. He has 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.
7. Mr. Jim has many hobbies including Community Theater (on stage and backstage), working with his model trains, working crossword puzzles, painting by numbers and--his newest adventure--working with matchsticks to build a railroad train—matchitecture!
8. Mr. Jim and his wife live in Nokomis and enjoy gardening.
9. Mr. Jim has lived in Sarasota County for the past 40 years and loves to tell stories of life long ago in Florida.
10. Mr. Jim says that he is always "Top Drawer," and we think so too!
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Reference Question of the Month:
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I have to read a biography and write a report on Carolyn Keene, the author of the "Nancy Drew" series. Where is her biography?
We don't have her biography because she is not a real person!
Carolyn Keene is a pseudonym first used by Edward Stratemeyer. He started a whole company making mystery novels and also wrote a lot of the first "Hardy Boys" books!
Read more about Edward Stratemeyer in "The Nancy Drew Scrapbook" by Karen Plunkett-Powell.
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Your Feedback:
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Your Favorite Poems
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Last month you were asked the title and author of your favorite poem. This is what you submitted:
Thank you to everyone who shared your favorite poem! |
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May is "Get Caught Reading" Month!
What are you reading now?
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Selections doesn't count!
What are you reading for pleasure this month?
Send in the title and author of what you're reading, and in next month's Selections, we'll publish the list of what everyone was caught reading.
Submit your titles through the library website's "Suggestions and Comments" page: sclibs.net/comments.aspx or send email to librarywebmaster@scgov.net.
Please be sure to write "Caught Reading" somewhere in your message. |
| ** Important Notice Regarding privacy and e-mail.SB 80 effective July 1, 2006: Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public-records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead contact this office by phone or in writing. |
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Staff Picks:
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Since the summer reading theme is "Be Creative" here are some books about doing just that!
In "I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More!" by Karen Beaumont, a little boy is caught painting on the floor, ceiling, walls and everything in-between. Mom has had enough, hence the title, and puts the boy’s paints high on a closet shelf. But this enterprising little boy retrieves his paints and brushes and proceeds to paint himself from head to toe!
"Riley and Rose in the Picture" by Suzanne Gretz is an engaging story about a dog named Riley and his feline companion, Rose. The two friends are stuck inside on a rainy day with nothing to do except fight…and draw! Riley likes to draw geometric shapes, but Rose likes to draw scenes that tell a story…and she puts them right over Riley’s shapes! Can this twosome be creative and still keep the peace?
"Storybook Art: Hands on Art" by Mary Ann Kohn is a book parents won’t want to miss. Children can enjoy their favorite storybook illustrators in a new way by imitating their art, following the simple art projects presented.
"Katie and the Sunflowers" by James Mayhew finds Katie admiring Van Gogh’s painting Sunflowers. She decides she must have one of the seeds in the painting and reaches in for it. Now begins an adventure into paintings by Van Gogh, Gaugin and Cezanne where Katie and a friend meet two dogs, some new friends and find pirate treasure.
"I Spy Shapes in Art" by Lucy Micklethwait introduces children to works of art while they search for objects in the shapes of hearts, triangles, and squares in the paintings of famous artists.
Children of all ages enjoy puppet shows and older children want to be in the school play or ham it up with a stand-up comedy routine. What happens "When the Library Lights Go Out?" Megan McDonald has written a story about what the library puppets do when the library is closed. Join them as they search for their friend Hermit Crab and enjoy a picnic under the stars.
Older readers will enjoy "Mary Margaret Center Stage" by Christine MacLean. Mary Margaret thinks she’s a shoo-in for the part of Cinderella in the community play. After all didn’t she have the best idea for raising the money they need to produce the play? So Mary Margaret is quite unprepared when her nemesis, Ellie, gets the part of Cinderella. How can she hold her head up?
Some other titles in the children’s fiction section that include would-be thespians as heroes and heroines are "Stage Fright on a Summer Night" by Mary Pope Osborne (Magic Tree House #25), "Junie B. Jones, First Grader—Shipwrecked" by Barbara Park and "The Talented Clementine" by Sara Pennypacker.
We’ve all got music—rhythm and blues, pop and classical for starters. Ever wonder what goes on at home and behind the scenes before the first note of a concert? "The Philharmonic Gets Dressed" by Karla Kuskin is about the preparations orchestra members take each day before the curtain opens. From bathing to getting dressed to saying goodbye to their families, the 105 members of the Philharmonic Orchestra come to the concert hall to play beautiful music.
"Berlioz the Bear" by Jan Brett is a cumulative tale centered around a bear named Berlioz and the buzzing noise coming from his double bass. Berlioz and his fellow musicians are due to play at a ball in the village square. But Berlioz is so distracted by the buzzing that he forgets to guide the mule, which leads to the wheels getting stuck in a hole. And the mule sits down and won’t budge an inch! Can anyone get Berlioz and his musicians to the ball in time?
Not all music is made by conventional instruments, as we find out in "Max Found Two Sticks" by Brian Pinkney. It was a day that Max didn’t feel like talking, so he sat on his front steps watching the breeze which sent two big twigs his way. Max “talks” using the beat of his sticks and in the end receives his own set of real drum sticks.
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Good children's literature appeals not only to the child in the adult,
but to the adult in the child. ~Anonymous |
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