HELLO!

Hello to All!
I’d like to introduce myself to those of you who don’t know me. My name is Patty May Brown and I have been recently named the new Children’s Librarian at the Marion County Public Library.

I am so excited about being employed in this position and am looking forward to working with all of the children in the community. I have 2 of my own – a six month old daughter and a six year old son.

I am a 1994 graduate of Marion County High School and a 1999 graduate of Campbellsville University. I have a BS in Communications with an emphasis on electronic media, and a BA in English. I also obtained my high school teaching certificate and worked from 2000-2005 at MCHS. After having my son, I returned to work at WLBN/WLSK as the News Director, and was hired July 2010 here at MCPL. It took awhile, but I finally have the job I have always wanted!

One of my first projects was to spruce up the children’s area a bit. We are talking about ordering some new furniture and have recently added some new book themed stuffed animals to our stuffed animal zoo.
We have also rearranged our “E” books, which stand for Easy, but as I like to say “the everybody” books – since there is no age requirement to enjoy a good book. We now have a section just for holidays. So, for an example, all of the Christmas books are all together now. No more searching in the shelves for books during the holiday season – they are easily identifiable.

We are also trying to increase the amount of Easy Reader level books we have and working on obtaining more level 4 books. We are also trying to increase the number of bilingual books, Spanish titles, books with audio cd’s and audio books for younger ages.

I have big shoes to fill since Ms. Lisa has left us, but I feel up to the challenge.

New calendars are out for the month of September, and our story hour calendars are out that include Toddler Tales (at 11am on Wednesdays) and  Wacky Wednesdays – a program designed for elementary age children from 4:15-5:15pm on Wednesday afternoons.

I know that school has started and all of the kiddo’s are anxious to get started on those AR points, so bring them in and we will show them how they can identify AR books and how to find out on AR Bookfinder how many points they are worth.

Again, come in and let’s meet!

 *Patty May Brown

SUMMER READING 2012!

Check out the NEW Summer Reading blog page at the top of this web site for all Summer Reading program information!  Please call the library for more information or stop by to register!    Don’t wait, some slots are limited and will fill up fast!

2012 Literary Award Winners!

2012 YOUTH MEDIA AWARD WINNERS

(awards for top books, videos, and audiobooks for children and young adults)

AS AWARDED BY THE ASSOCIATION FOR LIBRARY SERVICE TO CHILDREN (ALSC)

AND THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION (ALA)

*information regarding the following awards was obtained from the official press release at the American Library Association web site 

John Newbery Medal for most outstanding contribution to children’s literature:

•  “Dead End in Norvelt”, written by Jack Gantos (winner)
•  “Inside Out & Back Again”, written by Thanhha Lai (honor)
•  “Breaking Stalin’s Nose”, written and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin (honor)

Randolph Caldecott Medal for most distinguished American picture book for children:

• “A Ball for Daisy”, illustrated and written by Chris Raschka (winner)
• “Blackout”, illustrated and written by John Rocco (honor)
• “Grandpa Green”, illustrated and written by Lane Smith (honor)
•  “Me … Jane”, illustrated and written by Patrick McDonnell (honor)

Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children’s book translated from a foreign language and subsequently published in the United States:

• “Soldier Bear”, originally published in Dutch in 2008 as “Soldaat Wojtek,” written by Bibi Dumon Tak, illustrated by Philip Hopman, translated by Laura Watkinson and published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (winner)
• “The Lily Pond”, published by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., written by Annika Thor, and translated by Linda Schenck. (honor)

Pura Belpre (illustrator) Award honoring a Latino writer and illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience:

• “Diego Rivera: His World and Ours”, illustrated and written by Duncan Tonatiuh (winner)
• “The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden Stirred”, illustrated by Rafael López, written by Samantha R. Vamos (honor)
• “Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match /Marisol McDonald no combina”, illustrated by Sara Palacios, written by Monica Brown (honor)

Pura Belpre (Author) Award:

• “Under the Mesquite”, written by Guadalupe Garcia McCall (winner)
•  “Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck”, written by Margarita Engle (honor)
• “Maximilian and the Mystery of the Guardian Angel: A Bilingual Lucha Libre Thriller”, written by Xavier Garza (honor)

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for most distinguished beginning reader book:

• “Tales for Very Picky Eaters”, written and illustrated by Josh Schneider (winner)
• “I Broke My Trunk”, written and illustrated by Mo Willems (honor)
• “I Want My Hat Back”, written and illustrated by Jon Klassen (honor)
• “See Me Run”, written and illustrated by Paul Meisel (honor)

Robert F. Sibert Medal for most distinguished informational book for children:

• “Balloons over Broadway:  The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade”, written by Melissa Sweet (winner)
• “Black & White: The Confrontation between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene ‘Bull’ Connor”, written by Larry Dane Brimnerand (honor)
• “Drawing from Memory”, written and illustrated by Allen Say (honor)
• “The Elephant Scientist”, written by Caitlin O’Connell and Donna M. Jackson, photographs by Caitlin O’Connell and Timothy Rodwelland (honor)
• “Witches!: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem”, written and illustrated by Rosalyn Schanzerand (honor)

Coretta Scott King (Author) book Award recognizing an African-American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults:

• Kadir Nelson, author and illustrator of “Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans” (winner)
• Eloise Greenfield, author of “The Great Migration: Journey to the North”, illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist (honor)
• Patricia C. McKissack, author of “Never Forgotten”, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon (honor)

Coretta Scott King (illustrator) Book Award:

• Shane W. Evans, illustrator and author of “Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom” (winner)
• Kadir Nelson, illustrator and author of “Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans” (honor)

Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement This award pays tribute to the quality and magnitude of beloved children’s author Virginia Hamilton:

• Ashley Bryan is the winner of the Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime achievement.  Storyteller, artist, author, poet and musician, Bryan created his first children’s book in first grade. He grew up in the Bronx and in 1962, he became the first African American to both write and illustrate a children’s book. After a successful teaching career, Bryan left academia to pursue creation of his own artwork. He has since garnered numerous awards for his significant and lasting literary contribution of poetry, spirituals and story.

Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience:

• (The Jury chose not to award a book in the category for children ages 0 – 8 because no submissions were deemed worthy of the award.)
• “close to famous”, written by Joan Bauer (co-winner of award for middle grades, ages 11 – 13)
• “Wonderstruck: A Novel in Words and Pictures”, written by Brian Selznick (co-winner of award for middle grades, ages 11 – 13)
• “The Running Dream”, written by Wendelin Van Draanen (wins teen award, ages 13 – 18)

Andrew Carnegie Medal for excellence in children’s video:

• Paul R. Gagne and Melissa Reilly Ellard of Weston Woods Studios, Inc., producers of “Children Make Terrible Pets” (winner).  The video is based on the book written by Peter Brown, and is narrated by Emily Eiden, with music by Jack Sundrud and Rusty Young, and animation by Soup2Nuts.

May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award recognizing an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children’s literature, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site:

• Michael Morpurgo will deliver the 2013 lecture.  Born in England, Morpurgo was teaching when he discovered the magic of storytelling and began writing. His books are noted for their imagination, power and grace. In 1976, he and his wife established the charity Farms for City Children.  He is an officer of the Order of the British Empire and served as Britain’s third Children’s Laureate.  His novel, “War Horse,” has wowed theater audiences in London and New York and movie audiences all over.

2012 LITERARY AWARD WINNERS:
AS AWARDED BY YALSA (YOUNG ADULT LIBRARY SERVICES ASSOCIATION) 

Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18:

• “Big Girl Small”, by Rachel DeWoskin
• “In Zanesville”, by Jo Ann Beard
• “The Lover’s Dictionary”, by David Levithan
• “The New Kids: Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens”, by Brooke Hauser
• “The Night Circus”, by Erin Morgenstern
• “Ready Player One”, by Ernest Cline
• “Robopocalypse: A Novel”, by Daniel H. Wilson
• “Salvage the Bones”, by Jesmyn Ward
• “The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures”, by Caroline Preston
• “The Talk-Funny Girl”, by Roland Merullo

Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults:

• Susan Cooper is the 2012 Edwards Award winner. Her books include: The Dark Is Rising Sequence: “Over Sea, Under Stone”; “The Dark Is Rising”; “Greenwitch”; “The Grey King”; and “Silver on the Tree.”

William C. Morris Award honors a book written by a first-time author for young adults:

• “Where Things Come Back”, written by John Corey Whaley (winner)
• “Girl of Fire and Thorns”, written by Rae Carson (finalist)
• “Paper Covers Rock”, written by Jenny Hubbard (finalist)
• “Under the Mesquite”, written by Guadalupe Garcia McCall (finalist)
•  “Between Shades of Gray”, written by Ruta Sepetys (finalist)

YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults:

• “The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery”, written by Steve Sheinkin (winner)
• “Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom and Science”, written by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos (finalist)
• “Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition”, written by Karen Blumenthal (finalist)
• “Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way)”, written by Sue Macy (finalist)
• “Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein”, written by Susan Goldman Rubin (finalist)

Odyssey Award is awarded to the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States:

• “Rotters”, produced Listening Library, written by Daniel Kraus and narrated by Kirby Heyborne (winner)
• “Ghetto Cowboy”, produced by Brilliance Audio,  written by G. Neri and narrated by JD Jackson (honor)
• “Okay for Now”, produced by Listening Library, written by Gary D. Schmidt and narrated by Lincoln Hoppe (honor)
• “The Scorpio Races”, produced by Scholastic Inc., Scholastic Audiobooks, written by Maggie Stiefvater and narrated by Steve Westand Fiona Hardingham (honor)
• “Young Fredle”, produced by Listening Library, written by Cynthia Voigt and narrated by Wendy Carter (honor)

Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:

• “Where Things Come Back”, written by John Corey Whaley (winner)
• “Why We Broke Up”, written by Daniel Handler, art by Maira Kalman (honor)
• “The Returning”, written by Christine Hinwood (honor)
• “Jasper Jones”, written by Craig Silvey (honor)
• “The Scorpio Races”, written by Maggie Stiefvater (honor)

Stonewall Book Award -Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award given annually to English-language children’s and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience:

• “Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy”, written by Bil Wright (winner)
• “a + e 4ever”, drawn and written by Ilike Merey (honor)
• “Money Boy”, written by Paul Yee (honor)
• “Pink”, written by Lili Wilkinson (honor)
• “with or without you”, written by Brian Farrey (honor)

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2011 in review

Pretty neat stuff!  (At least it is for a little small town library blogger like me!)

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,800 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 30 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Wrapping Up 2011

Time flies when you’re having fun!  It’s already the last month of 2011, and our minds are turning to dreams of sugar-plums and thoughts of a jolly old elf.  Here at the Marion County Public Library we’ve been making a list and checking it twice, planning programs for all ages!  There’s no time to settle our brains for a long winter’s nap as we look forward to movies, craft days, club meetings, parties, and even a visit with Mrs. Claus!  No need to pout or cry, simply call the library at 270-692-4698 and RSVP for “Milk & Cookies with Mrs. Claus”.  See you soon!

Is It Halloween Already?

Why, yes…yes it is!  In my humble opinion, Halloween is becoming a very under-appreciated holiday.  At this very moment, Christmas merchandise is being snuck into stores everywhere to entice buyers into an early shopping season.  Well…here at the Marion County Public Library, don’t think we’re planning on skipping it!  Nuh uh, nooo way.  In fact, Halloween is one of our most favorite times of the year!  Spooky (but not too spooky) stories for the little ones, terror and mayhem for the older kids, Halloween candy for all, and dressing up in costume…what’s not to love?

Information about this year’s “Happy Halloween @ the Library!” can be found on the attached flyer at the bottom of this post.  Plan to take a few moments this Thursday night to stop by and kick off your Halloween early with a few fun treats and, who knows, maybe even a few tricks!  (Please call or stop by the library to register).

Here It Comes!

 

 

Due to a potential forecast of inclement weather, Cinema at the Square was rescheduled.  The new date is Friday, Sept. 2, 2011.

All other details, such as time and place, remain the same.

Well, by now Summer Reading is but a fond memory.  We hope that everyone who participated enjoyed all of the “travels” that took place this summer.  To those who participated in daily lunches, joined us for tea parties and made fruit tacos, attended Friday movies, and traveled with us on our first field trip to Derby City Comic-Con (to name but a very few of the programs that took place this summer), we loved being able to spend the summer with you!!  But before we mention that we can’t wait for Summer Reading 2012, we’d like to remind you that awesome library programs take place ALL YEAR LONG!  Fall calendars will be posted soon to our web site and blog!

Today, in addition to wishing the students of  Marion County a great school year, the Marion County Public Library would like to announce that on Friday, September 2, 2011 at Centre Square’s Johnston Field, the Marion County Public Library will be hosting the 3rd annual Cinema at the Square.  This year’s movie will be the Disney hit ‘Tangled”.  Doors open at 7:00 p.m., with the movie beginning at dark.  If you have never been to a Cinema at the Square event, we HIGHLY encourage you to stop by!  What better way to spend a summer evening but to enjoy a free evening movie on a blanket under a beautiful night sky?  Lawn chairs, blankets, and picnics are welcome, and even encouraged.  On-site vendors will be available for those who wish to purchase snacks and other food items.  (No pets or alcoholic beverages please.)  Please join us and experience for yourself this fun-for-all ages event!

Shameless Summer Movie Promotion!

Being a librarian, it’s always exciting to see a favorite book come to life on the big screen!  Introducing…”Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer”, coming soon to a movie theater near you (June 10, 2011)!

Screen-Free Week!

According to the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, Screen-Free Week (formerly TV-Turnoff Week) is “an opportunity for children and families to turn off screens and turn on life!”  Confession time:  in my own home, we are rarely screen free.  In a household of 5, someone (at any given moment) is usually on some type of screen, whether it’s on a computer, watching TV, texting, or playing a video game.  (Then there’s the MP3’s…do they count?)  When my oldest child was small, I monitored the amount of time she spent watching TV, and even tried to make sure the shows she did watch had some educational value.  I was fortunate to be a stay-at-home mom at the time, so at a certain time (once caffeine had entered my bloodstream and cleared the fog out of my not-a-morning person brain), the television would go off and we’d officially start our day.  Then the youngest came along, during the age of a square, yellow sponge.  He tended to watch a bit more television (with the oldest), and although the shows were harmless and entertaining, I can’t exactly say that they were extremely educational.  Fast forward to the tween and teen years.  While we don’t have TV’s in every room, there are definitely enough screens, of every sort, shape, and size to be found in our house.  I find that it’s so easy to get in an electronics rut!  Which brings us to Screen-Free Week!

For the next week, instead of relying on screens for entertainment, make an effort to play, read, daydream, explore nature, and enjoy spending time with family and friends.  Stop by the library and check out book, bring your child to a library program, take a walk, play frisbee, board games, or even start Screen-Free Week a few days early and enjoy a local pool, park, or other activity!

For more information, check out…

http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/factsheets/screentime.pdf

Or for official endorsements (state and national organizations)…

http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/screenfreeweek/endorsers.html

2011 KY Bluegrass Awards

An Annual Award for the Best Books

as chosen by the students of Kentucky

• “Rhyming Dust Bunnies” by Jan Thomas, Grades K-2
• “Nubs: the True Story of a Dog, a Marine and a Miracle” by Major Brian Dennis, Grades 3-5
• “Million-Dollar Throw” by Mike Lupica, Grades 6-8
• “Maze Runner” by James Dashner, Grades 9-12

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