watch a book being born

This is an absolutely beautiful video about making books the old fashioned way--with people and printing presses.  I first thought, how interesting can it be, but then i watched it--twice so far, and it's just awesome. 

 
http://flavorwire.com/276008/watch-a-book-being-born

why stories are good for us

I am a big believer in the value of a great story.  I think almost all kids love stories, and we never really outgrow that love, we just don't endulge it as often.  so, it's nice there's now scientific proof of the value of a well-spun yarn.

http://nyti.ms/FPj8Jj

world book night

I was chosen to be a distributer for World Book Night!!  It's on my Dad's birthday, April 23rd, and I get to hand out 20 copies of "Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian," which is one of my favorite books, to people who don't normally read.
 
More information here:
http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/

wonders of picture books ALWAYS

This article makes some wonderful points about kids' books.

http://www.babble.com/kid/kids-school-learning/children-early-reading-age-childrens-books/

pictures of Cool Libraries

Follow this link to photographs of some very cool libraries. 

http://flavorwire.com/261320/20-beautiful-private-and-personal-libraries?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+flavorwire-rss+%28Flavorwire%29#1

Book Spine Poetry

This is a very cool idea: http://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2011/03/national-poetry-month-is-better-with-book-spine-poems/

When i tried it, this is what i got:

Kindles are OUT!

Today I checked out twelve Kindles to students.  It was very exciting--for the kids and for me!  I had loaded them with about 25 books, from a variety of genres. 

cool re-use of a library book

I have no idea how this was done, but it's very cool.

Better World Books shipping confirmation

A fellow librarian posted this; I think it's wonderful!

I've ordered twice from Better World Books, and I just love their 
email notifying me my order has shipped.

Hello Friend,

(Your book(s) asked to write you a personal note - it seemed unusual, 
but who are we to say no?)

Holy canasta! It's me... it's me! I can't believe it is actually me! 
You could have picked any of over 2 million books but you picked me! 
I've got to get packed! How is the weather where you live? Will I need 
a dust jacket? I can't believe I'm leaving Mishawaka, Indiana already 
- the friendly people, the Hummer plant, the Linebacker Lounge - so 
many memories. I don't have much time to say goodbye to everyone, but 
it's time to see the world!

I can't wait to meet you! You sound like such a well read person. 
Although, I have to say, it sure has taken you a while! I don't mean 
to sound ungrateful, but how would you like to spend five months 
sandwiched between Jane Eyre (drama queen) and Fundamentals of 
Thermodynamics (pyromaniac)? At least Jane was an upgrade from that 
stupid book on brewing beer. How many times did the ol' brewmaster 
have one too many and topple off our shelf at 2am?

I know the trip to meet you will be long and fraught with peril, but 
after the close calls I've had, I'm ready for anything (besides, some 
of my best friends are suspense novels). Just five months ago, I 
thought I was a goner. My owner was moving and couldn't take me with 
her. I was sure I was landfill bait until I ended up in a Better World 
Books book drive bin. Thanks to your socially conscious book shopping, 
I've found a new home. Even better, your book buying dollars are 
helping kids read from Brazil to Botswana.

But hey, enough about me, I've been asked to brief you on a few things:

We sent your order to the following address: ********

We provide quick shipping service to all our customers. You chose 
Standard shipping. It should arrive in 6 to 9 business days. At this 
time, we are not able to offer tracking on our Standard shipments.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact my friends at 
Customer Care by submitting a ticket. If you could please include your 
order number (deleted) that would be very helpful.

Eagerly awaiting our meeting,

<list of 10 items I ordered>

The end of the road web site

For my U of I class this past fall, I created a webpage that is designed to help librarians choose quality picture books that help young children deal with death.  There are some wonderful books that can be very comforting to kids, but we can't use them if we don't know about them.  Here's the link:

http://theendoftheroad.weebly.com/

book store at night video

Common Sense website

I love this website.  It's not as comprehensive as I would like, but i am glad it's gaining momentum lately.  I use it a lot for movies, as I tend to be conservative in what I like, and what I want my children to see.  But I also use it for books I am considering purchasing for the library.  It's hard to tell from just editorial reviews what the real content is like, but this website evaluates it on several different aspects, and that's very helpful.
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/reviews