From the Children’s Room

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Several months ago the Children’s Room started a 1stSaturday of each month story hour. Time 10 AM to 10:30AM New books are introduced with an old favorite added in now & then. Come join us June 2nd for our next Saturday story hour. The American Library Conference has been held in New Orleans several times in the past so when I read a review for a book about Jean Lafitte, the hero of New Orleans I was curious. Jean was raised by his Jewish grandmother after his mother died and from her he learned how their family suffered for practicing …

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Minerva Tips

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Secret Hint –  If you are reserving an extremely popular title on Minerva, look for and reserve the large print copy.  Chances are that it will have fewer reserves on it, and you will therefore get it faster.  A couple of examples would be The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins – 237 holds on the regular print copy, compared to 20 holds on the large print copy.  Or . . . Guilty Wives by James Patterson – 129 holds on the regular print and 20 on the large print edition.  

Marvelous Marvel

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Have you “checked out” Marvel recently?  From many library websites around Maine, including the Gardiner Public Library website, you may access this wonderful database provided by the Maine State Library. One of the MANY databases that are available to you with your library card is the Dictionary of Literary Biography.  With just a few quick clicks, you can access information about many of your favorite authors. For fun, I tried Nora Roberts, and immediately learned her birthday, her nationality, and place of birth.  Further information includes awards she has received, as well as the year received; a list of titles …

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Battle of the Book

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Do you think that you are smarter than a 5th grader?  I am not so sure this is a true statement for me anymore.  I am a judge for the Battle of the Book over at Pittston Consolidated School and part of my duty as judge is to read 5 YA titles.  Okay, what is YA?  YA is a fairly new genre to the publishing world that concentrates on the teen and pre-teen audience.  Please think of the Harry Potter series and the Twilight series…. very large audiences and huge profits for the publishers.  Though these blockbusters are not titles …

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April is Garden Month at the library.

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For those who are taking part in our “Year of Reading”, this month the theme is Gardens/Gardening.  Read a book, watch a movie, listen to an item, read a magazine, that somehow pertains to gardens and/or gardening (yes we are being very relaxed about the relationship of your item to our theme) and have your name entered for the April drawing!  This month’s sponsor is the Black Crow Bakery in Litchfield. They have generously donated a gift certificate to be won by a lucky user of the Gardiner Public library. January was sponsored by At Home Veterinary Care, in West …

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What are you reading right now?

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Several years ago I watched an HBO movie on the life of Temple Grandin, a woman born with severe autism, who became a PhD professor at Colorado State University.  When I read a recent review for a new children’s book about this remarkable woman I knew it was one we should have in our collection. Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World, by Sy Montgomery is truly a memorable story for children as well as for adults.                                        Charlene Wagner, Children’s Librarian   The question was asked, “What are you reading right now?” …

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