Final Week Feature: New Books!

With the start of school just about one month away, it's time to showcase some of the new book purchases from the summertime! 

Several of our new titles are series books--books that add to a series you might already love, series books by an author you might love, and graphic novels in series. For Moon Base Alpha and Spy School fans, the Stuart Gibbs FunJungle series will now be part of the library.

Photo Citation

New books in the Unwanteds Quests series by Lisa McMann will also now be available in the library.

Photo Citation

For those graphic novel fans, we've added to some of the GN series in the collection, including finishing out the Percy Jackson series and the Lumberjanes series.

Photo Citation

Several favorite authors have new books out, as well, and we were fortunate to be able to get them added to the collection over the summer. Look for new titles by Margaret Peterson Haddix, Gordon Korman, April Henry, and Jason Reynolds.

Looking to try something completely new--maybe by a new author or in a genre you're interested in? How about one of these? 

Based on the author's first semester in sixth grade, Rex Ogle describes what it was like as he and his younger brother often went hungry, wore secondhand clothes, were short of school supplies, and was on his school's free lunch program. If you liked The Benefits of Being an Octopus or Crenshaw, this book is for you.

Want to try a survival story with a twist? Why not take a look at Dead Voices, a story about three friends who have to figure out how to escape from a haunted house.

Or maybe you'd like to read Clean Getaway by Nic Stone, the author of Dear Martin? This one tells the story of "Scoob" Lamar, who can't seem to stay out of trouble, especially at school. When he has the chance to road trip with his grandmother, he jumps at the chance. But this isn't your typical roadtrip story!

With almost 100 new books added to the collection this summer, you're sure to find something that interests you! Why not stop in to see what you can find!

First Week Flashback: STEAM in the Library

In this month's First Week Flashback, we take a look at some of our STEAM activities from Literacy Studies classes.

Citation

Over the last several years, students have had access to a variety of materials and activities to explore and make. In 2014, students could choose to participate in Library Lab, a before-school activity that included electronic choices and hands-on manipulatives for students to enjoy and explore. (You can read about it HERE.) Two or three days a week students could choose from things like origami, LEGOs, Marble Run, coding, and gaming.

Over the years, Library Lab became something students might choose to do during their study hall time, but most recently, these sorts of opportunities have become part of the Literacy Studies class that nearly all students take. Using book fair profits and receiving a State of Iowa Scale-Up STEM grant have allowed for additional opportunities for students. Several times a semester students can choose from materials such as:

                • Spheros            • Cubelets

                • littleBits            • Felting

                • 3D pens            •  3Dux Designs

You can see some of their making and exploring below:

With the sudden end to in-person learning at school, students weren't able to enjoy all of the second semester STEAM days planned, but hopefully this fall they can continue to explore and make with these and additional items, like Root Robot, Makedo Construction materials, and Makey Makeys. Stay tuned!