art created from piles o’ books

feeling clever?  create poetry using the spines of books.  magnetic poetry is so over

(via Shelf Awareness)

Take our poll……..please

To paraphrase Henny Youngman

“Take our poll……..please, but seriously……”

We would like your opinion so tell us what you think by voting in our not so old school polling doohickey to the right.

We can begin signing our posts if you find it helpful, and would like to know who to ask for more information on something we’ve written.

Old School Voting. The way it should be., originally uploaded by Just-Us-3.

Is the Newbery Medal winner what kids want?

The Newbery Award is presented each year by the Association for Library Service to Children which is a division of the American Library Association to “the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.”  The librarians on the Newbery committee work very hard each year to select a winner, but do young people really want to read what they select?

Anita Silvey from School Library Journal researched this very topic. “Are children, librarians, and other book lovers still rushing to read the latest Newbery winners? Or has the most prestigious award in children’s literature lost some of its luster? To answer those questions, I spent the last few months talking to more than 100 people—including media specialists, children’s librarians, teachers, and booksellers—in 15 states across the country. Although most spoke on the condition of anonymity, all of them were eager for me to share their insights. ” (Has the Newbery Lost its Way, SLJ 10/1/08)

School librarians stated that they simply don’t have enough money to spend money on books that kids won’t find interesting.  Book critics and reviewers stated that recent Newbery committees are dismissive of popularity.

The Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, IN, has a “totally biased group of readers” who have ranked their Newbery favorites and don’t hold back on what they feel has stood the course of time and what hasn’t.

Should the Newbery committee be looking for good books for children or the best? (via Bookshelves of Doom)

Midwest Tape new audio book cover art announcement

Midwest Tape new audio book cover art announcement

Originally uploaded by Sno-Isle Libraries Collection Development

Midwest Tape will be adding new audio book cover art beginning in November. I’m excited that covers will be a little more dynamic aesthetically, but I never really had a problem with the old color coded covers since they represented such a great value to the library. I’m not really surprised at these changes it seemed like the whole cover art situation was an evolving one that would eventually work itself out.

From the Midwest Tapes website.
“Over the next few months you’ll be seeing some new approaches to cover art on audiobooks from Midwest Tape. While many “back catalog” releases will still carry the color coded standard art you’ve already seen, there are three new types of covers that we believe will help you increase circulation.”

Jim