Celebrating Black History Month

 February is Black History Month, and one of our library displays reflects several important events and people associated with that. 

Mike Rawls's website thebookwrangler.com has a fantastic resource for February's celebration of Black History Month, and I tailored it to reflect our own library collection here at the Middle School. Each day of the month highlights an event or person, and it also includes a related book for students to learn more or explore an interest. While many of the featured books are biographies and collected biographies, some stand-alone nonfiction titles are also part of the recommendations. See below for just a few of the people and events recognized:

And you can see the full month here:

Take a look if you're in the library, or stop by each day to see that day's specific person or event. Happy reading!

ABCs of DCGMS Library: P is for Passive Programming

Today's ABCs of the DCGMS library features the letter P for passive programming. Throughout the school year library displays on walls and shelves promoted new books and old favorites. Other than a quick explanation about what students could expect with some of the displays, we really didn't spend much time talking about them. However, a picture is worth 1,000 words, and many of these books were checked out by the end of the day!

Here are some of the more popular examples of passive programming from the year:

Because of the success of the shelf displays, be sure take a look once school starts again. More and new displays and bulletin boards are coming!

ABCs of DCGMS Library: J is for January Jackets

Today's ABCs of DCGMS library post is brought to you by the letter J for January Jackets.

Photo by Thom Holmes on Unsplash

Here in Iowa, our winters--and January in particular!--can be wicked cold, but the jackets we featured were book jackets, of course! With just a little passive programming, we were able to focus our attention on several books, many of them new to the library just that month. Using a white board speech bubble from the Scholastic catalog, we highlighted multiple books from several different genres. Every book was spoken for after 3 days' time on the shelf; students were quite eager to read them! Mission accomplished!

See a book you're interested in reading? We still have them, and you're welcome to ask about the January Jackets books when school resumes. See you then!

Celebrating Black History Month

February is Black History Month, so in an attempt to "up" the passive programming in the library, we're using QR codes in our new display. Many thanks to librarian Erin Londregan-Berens who posted an image of her own library display that inspired this one.

Each image features a different person along with the QR code that students and staff can scan to learn more about that person. Want to know more about Katherine Jackson? The QR code links to her biography on NASA's website. How about Kehinde Wiley? The code links directly to his website where you can learn more about his art and life.

Stop by and feel free to scan the QR codes--and maybe while you're in the library you'll want to check out a book about a famous African American!

Classic Retellings

Looking for a new genre to try? A popular genre with many options to read is classic retellings.

So what are classic retellings? Think of a traditional fairy tale, but with a switch or twist to it.

Many options wait for you to check out. Looking for a Cinderella story? Cinder or Ash and Bramble might appeal to you. 

Or maybe you're a fan of Beauty and the Beast? Then try Beastly, As Old As Time, or Hunted.

Looking for something different? Take a look at some of our other classic retellings:

We hope to see you soon--and maybe with a classic retelling to check out!

How About Some Narrative Nonfiction?

Remember when you were in elementary school and it was check-out time in the library? Chances are you headed to the nonfiction shelves and found books that interested you. What about now that you're a middle school student? Many of our students have now gravitated to fiction books, but what if you found nonfiction that read like a novel? We have it!

Narrative nonfiction books often read like novels and relate to the topics you still care about. Take a look at our new library display featuring some of our narrative nonfiction books:

Included in the display are titles from categories like these:

•  the Lincoln assassination

•  sports events & figures

•  modern American history

•  World War II

•  famous people

•  nature & dogs

If you're looking for a nonfiction book or want to step away from fiction for a change of pace, why not give one of these narrative nonfiction books a try? Feel free to ask about other similar titles, too! Happy reading!

New (Interactive) Library Display

We're so excited in the library about our newest display! A recent Twitter post with the hashtag "ReadIt" showed a student holding a book in front of a Twitter-inspired space, and an idea took hold. A quick Instagram search showed more than 186,000 posts with the "#ReadIt" tag. How could we not add our own #ReadIt pictures?!

To kick off the display, Mrs. Howard and I each showed off what we'd read (and loved!), and now we're ready for you to join us. Stop by the library, grab one of your favorite books, and get ready to be part of our #ReadIt display! We'll add posts to Instagram--be sure to follow us at @DCGLibraries!

More Library Displays!

With the return to classes, it's time to update the library displays. Students might first notice the lighting that stretches along all of the fiction shelves.

Also on the fiction side of the library is a display highlighting several of our "snowy" titles. Thanks to Epic Reads for the display inspiration!

Finally, the newest display called "Made for each Other" features companion novels--novels, while not direct sequels, that do include repeat characters and/or plot lines.

Come on in to see the new displays and perhaps check out a featured book! See you soon!

November Library Displays

With Thanksgiving around the corner, we decided to add an interactive library display:

Students write their names on their "turkeys," along with a book for which they are thankful. They even get to add faces and legs to their turkeys!

The other new library display is inspired by a recent post on Pinterest from the group Epic Reads. They pictured several "shadow" books with the phrase "What we read in the shadows." Here's our inspired display:

New Library Display

We're featuring a new library display in our two-sided display case at the entrance to the library--check it out!

We featured our top 9 titles--all of them Iowa Teen Award nominees--along with items from Starbucks to find out if anyone was "thirsty for a good book."

Got a Device? Read from our eBook Collection!

There's a new library display that you might find helpful if you've got a device and would like to read from it.

Thanks to the Clear Falls Library (@CFHS_Library) on Pinterest for the inspiration!

With spring break coming up, some of you might be spending time traveling...why not load some eBooks onto your device and pass some of that time reading! 

What you need to know (thanks to @kellyreinhold for the template to use!):

Once you have downloaded the BryteWave app, you'll need to know our FollettShelf web address: https://wbb05737.follettshelf.com. You'll need to log in using your Destiny Quest log-in information (username = lunch/library ID#; password = first name). If you're unable to log in using this information, just stop by the library and we'll reset everything for you.

What sort of eBooks do we have in our collection? Take a look at just some of the hundreds and hundreds of titles we have:

Stop by the library for more information and to pick up an informational bookmark to make the eBook process go a little more smoothly! See you soon! 

Love is in the Air!

With February and Valentine's Day coming up soon, we decided it was time to show some love to a few of our unloved fiction books here in the library! We've got a new display that features some great (and sometimes award-winning) novels that just don't seem to be checked out as often as other books. Take a look:

Each book has its own speech bubble that has a quick summary or teaser to encourage students to check it out.

Stop by today to read about these great books--and maybe share your love! :)

Happy Holidays from the Middle School Library!

This month we have several things in and around the library to show our holiday spirit! As we have done in the past, we're celebrating the Library 12 Days of Christmas, this year with new clues and new prizes!

Each day outside the library you'll see that day's clue, and on Fri. Dec. 19, you can turn in your guesses to the library. We'll go through all of the entries and announce the winner on Mon. Dec. 22.

Also adding to the festive spirit, and making its return for the third year, is our "upcycled" holiday tree made and oversize ornament.

We also have a new library display to encourage reading:

Hopefully the holiday spirit is catching and you're enjoying the season!