Staff training day

On February 15, library staff from the three counties joined together for a staff development day.

The sessions included items to help us to better do our work, which is helping you, our customers.

Olympics 2010

The winter Olympics 2010 start today.  You will probably watch various events on television, but don't forgot there are good stories about past Olympics to be read too.

Sports in general are in the 796 nonfiction section of the library.  There are also individual biographies on well known Olympic athletes. 

Library staff will be happy to help you find the information you need.

Olympics 2010:  the official Olympic webpage.

Michael L. Printz Award

Going Bovine by Libba Bray received the 2010 Michael L. Printz Award.

The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. It is named for a Topeka, Kansas school librarian who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association.

If this book is not already in your public library, it will be soon.

For a complete list of Printz Award winners check here.

Newbery Award

The Newbery Award for 2010 winner is When Your Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.

The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

If it is not already of the shelf in your library, it soon will be.  For a full list of Newbery Award winners check here.

Caldecott Award

The 2010 Caldecott Medal winner is The Lion & the Mouse, illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney.  Lovely watercolor illustrations retell this Aesop fable. 

The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the American Library Association for excellence in illustrations in children's  literature.

Look for this and other Caldecott winners at your library.  You can see a list of winners for other years at the American Library Association website. 

Robert Parker

Well known crime novelist, Robert Parker, died suddenly on January 19.  He was working at his desk on another novel when apparently he was killed by a heart attack.  He was 77 years old.

He is best known for his Spenser series and Jessie Stone series of mystery novels.  Characters and books from both series were the basis of movies.

Spenser was a disciplined and prolific writer.  His editor tells us that more books will be released since he had some already finished.

Information from the New York Times is availalbe here.

The LIbrary Brand

The library brand is books, (though libraries do provide other services, such as computers.)

Some visitors never make it past the new book section of the library. That’s okay, but don’t forget some of these tried and true authors who aren’t necessarily on the best seller lists.

C. J. Box writes a suspenseful series about an ‘unlikely hero,’ game warden Joe Pickett . The author states that his main character is something of, by necessity, a lone wolf, as his enforcement area can be 5,000 square miles of rough country with backup far away. Joe Pickett is an ordinary man who wants to do the right thing.

Tony Hillerman’s books are set in the American southwest and feature Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police. Hillerman is known for his attention to detail and weaving Navajo culture and lore into his mystery stories. The movie Skinwalkers was based on his books. Hillerman died in 2008.

William Faulkner is considered one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949. Most of his books are set in his native state of Mississippi.

In recent years, three of his books, As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury, and The Light in August were featured on Oprah as part of her book club.