For Reading Out Loud

"The single most important activity for building knowledge for their eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children." from Becoming a Nation of Readers, a 1985 report by the Commission on Reading.

This is still true 23 years later. The best way for reading aloud to children is a parent reading to a child.

The Cooperative has received, on behalf of the libraries a grant funded by the Florida State Legislature for 2008. For Reading Out Loud will purchase audio materials for children in the three counties.

This grant program, Community Libraries in Caring,(CLIC), will allow the libraries to purchase additional audio materials for children. If you haven't already seen a display in the libraries of these new audio materials, you will soon.

While audiobooks are not the exact same thing as reading aloud in person, there are enough similarities to make this an adjunct to in-person reading aloud.

And we've partnered with the Rotary Clubs in each county. Each Rotary club donated additional money to supplement the grant award for each county. March was Literacy Month in Rotary and literacy is a special project of Rotary clubs worldwide.

A big thank you to local Rotary clubs and the Florida State Legislature.

So much info

Florida Online Resources

U.S. Government Online Resources

Ask A Librarian

Florida Electronic Library

Heritage Quest

Ancestry Library Edition

Infotrac

Librarians' Index to the Internet

NetLibrary

Learning Express

Price It

Chilton Automotive

Arthur C. Clarke

A well known writer has died. Arthur C. Clarke died on March 19, 2008 at his home in Sri Lanka.

Arthur C. Clarke was a man of many accomplishments, but is probably best remembered as a writer. He wrote many science fiction novels; his best known is 2001: A Space Odyssey. Many will remember this as a movie.

Libraries find that Sir Arthur C. Clarke's books are perennially popular. You'll find them in the fiction section.

Pi Day

Do you remember your high school math? Can you recite Pi to 5 digits past the decimal point? 10 digits? More?

Pi represents the relationship between a circle's diameter and its circumference. Pi = 3.14159 and on and on. Computer programs have calculated Pi to over a trillion digits past the decimal point.

Since Pi=3.14, March (the third month) 14, is celebrated by math fans as Pi day.
March 14 equals 3/14 equals 3.14

Celebrating Pi Day is a fun way to remember this math concept. Have a piece of pie, or pizza pie, or a pi-neapple!

March

As I look out of my office window, I can see a beautiful pink azalea in bloom. At home I have many azaleas and a dogwood tree, and camellias are still in flower. As you drive around the area, spring is everywhere, in the lovely plants in bloom.

In our area of north Florida, it seems as though it is spring even though it is not 'officially' spring on the calendar. That official first day of spring is March 20.

March is a month of many happenings....daylight savings time starts on March 9 and St. Patrick's Day, when almost everyone is Irish enough to wear green, comes around on March 17.

Do you remember the Ides of March? It is the that day Julius Caesar was assassinated and recalled from the reading of that play in high school. Beware the Ides of March!

And of course, Easter, this year on March 23. Easter is a movable feast, observed on the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the day of the vernal equinox (the first day of Spring.)

Your library has many books on spring holidays and occasions for children and adults. Just ask library staff for help in finding some.