Tales from a Loud Librarian

I am off for two weeks. Usually, during this time I read up a storm. However, I have been doing more socializing than reading these days. It is something that I feel is important to my psyche. I brought home a huge stack of books from school. I figured that I would only read what really catches my interest. So if I start something and don't like it, then I have another to take its place. I read another Kathe Koja novel, Kissing the Bee . Love her work. Her books are short, but they pack a punch. I wish I could write so well. I am plowing my way through a fantasy called Flora Segunda  by Ysabeau Wilce. It came out about two years ago to rave reviews. Not too many of my students were interested, so I started reading it to see if it was a book that I could push. I just looked for the author's name on line and found out that there are two sequels! Anyway, the author uses a lot of made up words that stem from Spanish and English. at least I think that they do. I am feeling sort...

First we skyped in the library, then we used the brand new PolyCom system for a video conference and skyped all in the same session. Today four schools: Riverdale, Bonnabel, Grace King, and Patrick Taylor all participated in a video conference. The presenters were Scott Walker from WDSU television and Bill Symonds from Harvard University, formerly of Business Week magazine. Scott Walker was live at Riverdale. He spoke to the students about life as a broadcast journalist. Then Bill Symonds spoke about being a print journalist via a skype feed set up at Riverdale. After that the students from each school were allowed to ask questions. My students liked the Q and A best. The picture below gives the view that the students and presenters saw of Patrick Taylor via the Polycom system. That's me standing up and looking kind of goofy. Here is a shot of Scott Walker live at Riverdale and Bill Symonds on Skype. On Monday, my library book group used the new PolyCom system to talk ...

It has been two weeks since my last post. I apologize. I try to post at a minimum weekly. Let's see, first I had a birthday on the 2nd. It wasn't a milestone, so I won't mention any numbers here. Then I went to Baton Rouge for two days for LACUE (Louisiana Computer Using Educators) conference. I was disappointed with most of the sessions that I attended. I am so much more technologically advanced than what I was receiving at the sessions. I am not bragging, just stating the truth. Then I spent three days in bed with a fever. This past Saturday there was a flooding rain, and there you have the last couple of weeks. Along the way I finished Hate List by Jennifer Brown. I really liked the premise. The book opens explaining the May 2nd school shooting by Valerie's boyfriend, Nick. Did Valerie know about the plan or was she just along for the ride? We learn a lot about Valerie by the end of the book, as it is told in her voice. The novel alternates chapters from the ti...

I finished three books during my week off from school. I am glad to be back in the reading groove. The library book group meets weekly on Mondays. I always like to start off the meeting with some new book suggestions. I will be sharing the titles that I just finished with the group tomorrow. I try to have some question to pose to the book group every week. This week I thought I would ask them what books were required for a class, but they would have enjoyed reading even if the book had not been assigned by a teacher. I hope that I get some answers. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the movie based on the The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Percy Jackson and the Olympians will be out on February 12th. View two trailers here--> http://www.percyjacksonthemovie.com/

Are you addicted to the food channel? Do you think of yourself as a foodie? Then this book might be for you. This is a "sweet" young adult novel for all the teenage foodies out there. Stella's father is a famous French chef with his own restaurant. Her mother owns the Open Kitchen which has a demonstration kitchen where chefs cook for an audience then serves them dinner. Stella has just finished her sophomore year and plans to spend the summer working for her mother and hanging out with her boyfriend and gal pals. Plans often go awry and do so in this story. Stella is smitten by her mother's new intern, and seems to forget Max her dedicated boyfriend. Then she receives a call from the newspaper with an offer of an internship. The thought of a paycheck entices her to take the job. When her boss asks her to write restaurant reviews for the paper, she thinks that she has been hired because of her family connections, not her talent. The book is definitely mind cand...

Any book worth banning Is a book worth reading.  Bumper sticker I saw on the back of a car in New Orleans at 4:00PM today.

Have you ever played with www.wordle.net ?  I had an idea the other day to create some wordles for a display outside the library. I searched the net for the first chapters of popular young adult fiction. I copied and pasted the texts of one chapter to create a wordle. Then I put the wordles up on the board with pictures of the book covers. I have been watching the students stop and study the board trying to figure out which title goes with which wordle. It is easier to show than explain, so I will give you some examples here. Wordle 1: Wordle 2: Wordle 3: These first chapter wordles can be found in one of these books. Can you guess which go together?: