For those who are familiar with their Friendly South Branch Librarian, you won’t be surprised at all that this post has nothing to do with soccer, hockey, the Olympics or anything pertaining to sports. For those of you who were hoping for a sports-related post, you have my apologies, but you’ll have to look elsewhere.
Instead, I’d like to talk a bit about the amazing kids we have here at the South Branch. While I’m fairly biased, we have some truly awesome kids who participated in this year’s “Galaxy of Reading” summer reading program. We had over 20 kids read over 1,000 minutes this summer (with one particularly exceptional child reading over 6,000 minutes!) and, I’m extremely proud to say that the kids collectively reached the South Branch’s minutes goal of 100,000 minutes with a week still to spare before school starts (hence the post title).
Lest you think this Librarian is a slave driver, this goal was based on last year’s summer reading numbers which came so close to 100,000 minutes, that I couldn’t help but see if, with a little encouragement, the kids could cap that mark on their own. Mission accomplished! And I am so proud of these kids that I felt a simple Facebook post just wasn’t enough to celebrate their achievement.
Kids’ couldn’t get enough of “Tidepools Alive” when the New England Aquarium came to visit the South Branch.
For those of you who are thinking back when summer reading wasn’t a Big Thing (it wasn’t when I was a kid), allow me to fill you in on how things have changed. All of the Peabody Library’s locations put together exciting (free!) programs designed to engage and inspire kids to take advantage of their library privileges beyond school work and assigned reading. Plus, the Topsfield Fair is incredibly generous in offering free prize packs (including an admission ticket to kids who don’t already get in for free) and Chipotle offers free kids meal coupons to kids who reach the library’s set goal. This year, to be consistent with the schools, we requested that each child read 500 minutes over the summer.
Our “Read to Lydia” program was very popular among dog lovers.
These summer reading programs and incentives aren’t just a way to help kids from falling into the “summer slide” but are ways to enrich a child’s experience with the library, showing them how reading can be fun and not just something that’s assigned, that the library is a place to come to enjoy themselves, beat the heat and connect with their friends and community. There are a LOT more benefits to the library than just checking in and out books, and I hope that we’re instilling this into the young’ns so that they can grow to continue to take advantage of all of the amazing programs, project and information the library has to offer throughout their lives. Summer reading doesn’t just get kids reading. Hopefully, if it’s done right, it creates lifelong library users, and that’s always something to celebrate.
Most people think of the “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer” during this time of the year. It’s easy enough to do, especially on scorching hot days when the Peabody water ban has been turned to “Mandatory.” But on those rainy days when outdoor summer fun isn’t an option, or those unseasonably chilly days when it feels like we’re having October in July, sometimes it’s not always easy to think of what to do indoors.
While I’m a big fan of crafts and watching those DVDs borrowed from the library, I also use some of my summer time for organizing and cleaning. Spring and fall cleaning tend to be more popular with people as the shoulder seasons are times of renewal and, quite frankly, better weather; but for me, spring is the season of allergies which keep me from getting as much as I want done and fall is the time of year when I prefer to be outside and enjoying the weather, colors and smells of the season. So I tend to get my cleaning and organizing done during the summer and winter season when the weather (and my general preference) is more likely to keep me indoors.
If your fortunate enough to have air conditioning or it’s one of those weird, cool New England summer days, you might want to consider tackling some of those indoor projects. Fortunately, were here at the South are ready for your organizing and cleaning needs with an array of books that will help you tackle those projects.
Organizing your whole house might be a bit ambitious for any one organizing project, but this book is broken down by each room, so you can tackle one at a time without putting too much onto yourself. It’s also put together by the editors of Family Handyman magazine, so you’re bound to get some great, tried-and-true tips that go beyond fad organizing.
This book is a brand new one that just came in a couple of months ago to the South Branch, and it hasn’t spent much time on the shelf. At all. Ewer organizes her book first with philosophies about organizing a home (don’t let the P-word scare you off; her philosophies are just as clear and simple as the rest of her ideas) and then has separate chapters for sections of the home, rather than rooms. She has plans for food, surfaces, clothing and paper, all handily organizes to take you from start to organized finish with great clutter-busting tips.
This book is as beautiful as it is helpful. Using essential oils and other natural items, Berry guides the reader through recipes for homemade products, including great non-toxic solutions for cleaning your home. This is a great time of year for this type of book as many of the ingredients, like sunflowers and basil are readily available in their fresh forms.
Ever wonder how places like Downton Abbey stayed spotless? This book gives you the inside scoop on how the servants kept those sprawling British mansions in tip-top shape. Some of these cleaning hints have been lost to more modern styles of cleaning, but these tips rely less on manufactured chemicals while still minimizing elbow-grease. Perfect for warmer-weather cleaning!
If this post doesn’t have you convinced that summertime might just be the right time for tackling some of those indoor projects, never fear. The South Branch has some great fall programs coming up next month that will help you with the more traditional fall-cleaning binges including: Moon Signs where you’ll learn about how the moon (and maybe not the seasons) can help you figure out when to tackle a house project and Creating an Organized and Efficient Life with tips from a professional organizer. Till next week, dear readers, whether you prefer your cleaning in warmer climes or more traditional times, just remember that the library is here all-year-round with resources to help you.
The library as a concept is a living, breathing organism that changes all the time. We have to because the communities we serve are constantly changing. Needs change, tastes change and ideas change and it’s our job to try and keep up to make sure that our communities are able to use the library for exactly what they want and need, not what we tell them they want or need. Sometimes these changes come in the form of a new program or service, sometimes it’s a new policy designed to make sure that the patrons are treated fairly. Whatever it is, we always hope it’s for the best.
I’m sure many of you (perhaps all of you) use some form of inter-library loan (ILL). No matter how hard we try, any individual library (especially one as small as the South Branch) can’t have enough space or budget to purchase every single item that every patron would want (try though we may). That’s why being part of the NOBLE consortium is so beneficial to both North Shore library professionals and our patrons. Getting books from another library that your home library may not have is a huge boon for all of us, and this information is unlikely to surprise any regular library user. You may not know, however, that libraries in the NOBLE system have a feature called “holds go home.” This means that Peabody patrons have preference for books circulating from the Peabody Libraries.
This week was the start of something new, not just for the Peabody Library, but for all the libraries in the NOBLE system. The due dates for books circulating through the ILL system have been standardized for when an item goes out from its home library. Peabody books picked up from a Peabody location will still have the same due date rules we always have: 2 weeks for a new book; 3 weeks for a book on the shelf more than 1 year, or audiobooks, or large print books; 1 week for DVDs and music CDs. However, if borrow an item from another NOBLE library and pick it up at a Peabody location, there will be a standard due date for any item from a library outside of Peabody: 2 weeks for any book, 1 week for a media item.
This is likely to cause a bit of confusion for a brief time because some libraries have wide due date discrepancies and post stickers on book spines such as “7 Day Loan” and some libraries will give as much as 4 weeks with a book or a DVD that’s a TV series. With the new system in place, regardless of what the item may tell you, if it came from a library outside of Peabody, you’ll have 2 weeks with a book and 1 week with a DVD. For most people, this won’t cause any issue, but for those of us who have extensive hold lists, we may have to adjust our strategies slightly. If you’re at all concerned as to whether you’ll be able to read/watch/listen to all of your items by the due date posted, might I suggest you take advantage of suspending some of your holds. I’ve talked about suspending holds previously here, with step-by-step instructions on how to do it. This will allow you to stagger when your holds come in and, if you’re in a long queue for an item you will not lose your place in line.
Because of the “holds go home” rule embedded in the system, if you have an item on hold and one of the Peabody Libraries has a copy, you are more likely to get the Peabody copy and possibly have a slightly longer due date. This standardization of due dates, however, will not affect our level of service and dedication to our patrons. The only thing that will possibly change is the due date on your receipt. (FYI- if you don’t have one already, feel free to ask about the magnetic receipt holders that have been generously provided by the Friends of the Peabody Institute Libraries.) You also have the opportunity to take advantage of our digital services like Overdrive and the newly added Hoopla for downloading and streaming of ebooks, audiobooks, music and videos .
Standardizing can be a good thing in a lot of ways; it allows procedures to be less confusing overall in the long run and it helps us treat everyone equally and fairly, which is something a public library should always keep as a top priority. But when any change takes place, it takes a bit of getting used to. If you ever have questions about library policies or any changes that have taken place, never hesitate to ask your friendly Peabody Library employee! We’re here to help and serve. Till next week, dear readers, know that we’ll never stop working, and occasionally implementing changes, to make the Library serve you the best it possibly can!
I’ve talked about children’s books here in the past, but a recent article on the Publishers Weekly blog got me thinking about them again, specifically picture books. In her blog entry, Josie Leavitt talks about the comfort and stress relief of revisiting favorite children’s books. She’s currently using them as a cure for insomnia, which strikes me a bit of genius. I don’t know about you readers, but I’ve very often stayed up waayy past my bedtime in order to finish a chapter, section or sometimes even an entire book that has me engrossed. Books, love them though we may, can be a bit insomnia-inducing. So when Leavitt mentioned that picture books, particularly those containing her favorite characters offered her a certain amount of calm that, it’s implied, helps her with her insomnia, I started thinking more about why this might be.
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When I read picture books (and I do I do fairly often, if only to suggest great new ones to my littler patrons) I’ve noticed that even the new ones have several characteristics that could make them a form of comfort reading:
1) They’re short. Yes, this is an obvious one, but it does allow for a certain level of comfort. You know that you’ll reach the end of the book in one sitting, so there’s less anxiety when it comes to worrying about what will happen. You’re pretty much guaranteed not to stay up very far past your bedtime when it comes to reading a picture book that’s about 32 pages long.
2) They come to a satisfying conclusion. There’s certainly something to be said about open-ended fiction. It makes you think, opening up your neural passageways into speculations and ponderings. This is fantastic when it comes to open-mindedness, but not so great when you finish an open-ended book or story right before bed and then have to spend the subsequent hours you should be sleeping, lying awake thinking about the what ifs. There is no such worry with picture books. They end neatly in some form of satisfying way because they’re designed to. Picture books are there to enable children to think about what they’re reading, but also to give them an inherent sense of comfort with a solid ending. This allows kids to trust in what they read. It never hurts for adults to reap that benefit sometimes!
3) They’re illustrated. I know, another obvious one, but illustrations allow the reader to visualize the story without being extraordinarily taxing. Words without images force the reader to conjure up their own mental illustrations which is great exercise for the brain and is another reason why reading is so good for people, but it can be somewhat taxing on an overstressed mind. Taking some of the burden off the reader for imagining things can allow the reader to still enjoy the story, but also relax the mind a bit to allow it to wind down.
There are arguments out there, like this one, and this one that say that kids shouldn’t be pushed out of picture books into chapter books because picture books still have value for teaching skills and reinforcing literacy skills. There’s really no reason for adults not to reap these benefits as well! Particularly in the summertime when people are looking for light, fun reads, there’s no harm in revisiting an old favorite to remind yourself of when you learned to love reading. Or maybe you can discover a new picture book to love that can connect you with your inner child and rediscover the fun of finding a new picture book to love.
With the goal of light, comfort reading in mind, here are a few of my favorite picture books, old and new that I’m always happy to go back to and share with young and old alike:
Having had a 1st grade teacher named Mrs. Nelson, this book is particularly endearing to me. I’ve never forgotten the illustrations and was thrilled to see that there are 2 more of these books with Miss Nelson and her class. This book can still appeal to adults in reminding us not to take the amazing people in our lives for granted.
Considering the South Branch had Caturday! earlier this month, I’m sure it will come as no surprise that this book is among my favorites. It is a story about cat fostering and how furry litter critters who can’t talk can still somehow burrow their way deep into our hearts. I was so moved by this book that I contacted Alicia Potter almost as soon as I closed the back cover. Fortunately, she was as kind as her protagonist and she was a fantastic addition to Caturday!
There are tons of Amelia Bedelia books out there and while the newer, younger versions of Amelia written by the original author’s nephew Herman Parish still have a lot of charm, my heart belongs to the original Peggy Parish creations. They are funny and contain puns that are as delightful to adults as they are to kids. My mom and I whiled away countless hours reading these books again and again and I’m always happy to revisit those wonderful, nostalgic times. You can start with the original, but really, pick any of them in the series. Trust me, you can’t go wrong!
I would be remiss if I didn’t put in one of my new favorite children’s authors. The Knuffle Bunny (pronounced Kuh-nuffle) trilogy is a heartwarming group of ruminations on child development and the bond between parents and children. No, really. Yes, they’re also about a child and her favorite stuffed toy and many other things, but Willems has the rare gift of appealing equally to adults and children with themes to which both can relate. This was one of the books that the Kindergarten class I read to this year asked about repeatedly. It is completely deserving of re-readings with a small caveat: the third book is tear-inducing so it may not make the best bedtime reading for grownups unless you’re ready to cry yourself to sleep. (I can neither confirm nor deny that this is a caution from actual experience….)
I must have read this book dozens of times when I was a kid. Stevenson’s sketchy watercolors were as soothing to me as the text. This book had the right combination of humor and lesson and to this day, I still crack up that the child version of grandpa also had a mustache, indicative of the way kids just can’t seem to think of adults outside of their adult form. I was thrilled to discover that this book is one that still remains in the collection of treasured picture books that have been kept from my childhood. This book is worth reading over and over again.
I hope that this entry has offered you, dear readers, another view of picture books and that you’ll consider picking one up as a cure for insomnia or just out of curiosity. Please feel free to stop by the South Branch to discuss them anytime. I love talking about the new ones that have come into our collection and have many more old favorites to share! Comments about your favorite picture books are most welcome as well. Till next week, dear readers, sweet reads and sweet dreams!
It should be no secret that we here at the library love our patrons and love when our patrons give us recommendations. Most of the time these recommendations are in person, often in the form of a brief mention when the book is brought back such as: ” I couldn’t put this book down!” or “I didn’t expect to like this book, but it was great!.” Of course things also swing the other way when patrons get disappointed by their favorite authors who just didn’t measure up with the latest installment of the series. Never doubt for a second that we take these comments seriously and will tuck it away in the back of our minds. It helps us when it comes time to order new books and it helps us immensely when other patron come in looking for a recommendation for themselves. Sometimes, saying “someone else loved this book” can be so much more powerful than saying “I loved this book.”
But sometimes, we get the rare treat of opening a book and finding a note left by a patron talking about how much they enjoyed the book. While we don’t condone writing in library books, these delightful nuggets appear in the form of a post-it or a slip of paper; totally removable, but unmistakably left for a library staff member or a future reader to find. When I find them at the South Branch, I try to leave them in the book whenever possible. No harm in spreading an enthusiastic endorsement and hopefully passing on the joy of discovering that someone else out there enjoyed this book.
So this week, for your enjoyment, I thought I’d post two of the most recent, delightful notes I’ve found in the South’s collection:
This adorable post-it was discovered in one of Shel Silverstein’s volumes of poetry, which somehow, made this note that much more wonderful.I love getting feedback on audiobooks. This one is now on my list! Thank you, patron!
This has been a brief post, I know, but sometimes it’s beneficial to quiet down and let other speak. So feel free to add to this post by making your own suggestions for books (or DVDs or CDs) that you’ve loved in the comments; tell us if you’ve found some great, inspiring stuff in your library books; or feel free to leave a (non-permanent) note in one of your library books for someone else to find. Till next week, dear readers, keep on letting us know what you love!
Do you recognize that feeling? A book ends and you’re just not done with the plot (especially if it’s a bit open-ended), the characters or sometimes the whole kit-and-caboodle. The book has left you so ensconced that you’re not ready to let it go yet. I recently had that feeling with the Raven Cycle books.
The Raven Cycle was a 4-book YA series that had me entranced. I’m not generally a YA reader, not because I don’t see value in that type of book, but because the topics of more traditional “adult” books appeal to me more and those titles end up higher on my (seemingly infinite) to-read list. In the end, though, these books weren’t that much of a departure for me. While it didn’t fall under the “gaslamp fantasy” type that I usually fall head-over heels for, this was still a “here’s a regular world that just happens to have magic in it” series; the world just happened to be a modern one. The only departure was that it centered almost entirely on teenagers, which isn’t something that wends its way into my usual readings.
The reason this series ended up on my radar at all was because it reminded me of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (yup, that again). OK, reminded might be a bit too mild. I found out that the final book in the Raven Cycle was called “The Raven King” and nearly sucked the air out of my office gasping with excitement. For those of you who have been following the blog, it will surprise exactly none of you that even the slightest reminiscence of Clarke’s tome sent me clamoring for these books. The action of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is significantly compelled by the search for the mythical Raven King, an exceptional magician who communed with Faerie but disappeared; naturally, I had to find out if there were any references in Stiefvater’s series.
There weren’t. Not exactly anyway. The Raven King of the Stiefvater series is a dead Welsh king said to grant a wish for finding his body. (Dont’ worry, that’s not a spoiler; the search for the Raven King sets up the action for the entire series fairly early on in the first book.) So I didn’t find Clarke’s Raven King, but what I did find was an amazing storyteller in Stiefvater. Her ear for character dialog, the sense of subtle, biting humor that appears to break extremely tense moments (and there are plenty of those) and the weaving of wildly different characters who have the ineffability of having a part of their personalities mesh when, by all rights they shouldn’t get along at all, made these books a rare treat.
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I was fortunate enough to find out about these books at the time the final book came out, which means I didn’t really have to wait in order to have the series continue (those who have read Schwab’s A Gathering of Shadows will feel my pain on waiting for a new installment). they made for a delightful binge-read, with me devouring one after the other, and while I was still a bit hungry for more even after the series concluded (good books will always leave you with something of a book hangover), it wrapped up fully enough that I could move on with my reading life. That’s the double-edged sword of series. The good ones will leave you hungry for more and usually satisfy that hunger with more books. The only trouble is when the reader’s appetite outweighs the author’s ability to churn out books and someone (often both parties) ends up frustrated and anxious.
Since it’s the summer, a time when people often go on vacation and tend to have a little bit of time for binge-reading, but not so much time that they can wait months (years, even) for the next installment of a series to come out, here are some series that are completed so you can binge-read without waiting:
The Passage trilogy by Justin Cronin – This series just ended with The City of Mirrors, published in May. The Passage trilogy is set in a dystopian future with vampires. For me, nothing more need be said, but for those of you who may need a bit more, the series is known for its relentless narrative and over 4 star ratings for each of the books on Goodreads. Amy, a child who has been captured and imprisoned by a government experiment that has apocalyptic consequences. Amy finds others who help her lead the fight to save humankind, but to give you much more would involve spoilers. You’ll just have to find out for yourself. In order the books are: The Passage, The Twelve and The City of Mirrors.
The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante – This series has taken the literary world, the New York Times bestseller list and the library holds lists by a storm. Pseudonymous author Ferrante writes an intricately woven tale of two impoverished Italian friends throughout their lives across a span of four books. Readers often comment about how real the characters feel to them in these intensely moving novels. In order they are: My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay and The Story of the Lost Child.
Last Hundred Years: A Family Sagaby Jane Smiley – Pulitzer Prize-winner Smiley spent the last few years churning out a trilogy of books that covers 100 years in the life of a family, the Langdons, in Iowa. The series begins on a farm in 1920 and follows a couple who eventually have 5 children and the saga continues with the generations that follow. This has been a fairly popular series at the South Branch with Smiley’s followers eager to finish the 3rd book which came out late last year. These books in order are: Some Luck, Early Warning and Golden Age.
Discworldseries by Terry Pratchett – The Discworld series has ended primarily because Pratchett passed away last year after a battle with Alzheimer’s. The author himself insisted that readers can read any of these novels in any order without feeling lost or left out. While I agree that each Discworld book can stand independently; for me, there’s something about having backstory and character origins under my belt that makes the reading experience richer. I’ve read a few of the novels out of order and while I wasn’t lost, I feel much more firmly grounded now that I’m working my way through them in order. Read them in whatever way will give you the most enjoyment, knowing that there will be plenty for you to satisfy even the most lengthy of binge-reads.
Till next week, dear readers, I hope all of you have a wonderful, safe Independence Day holiday! For further binge-reading suggestions or to let us know what your favorite series are, feel free to leave a comment below, or stop by any of the Peabody Library locations to chat about one of our favorite things: books!
As the facilitator of the Wanderlust Book Discussion Group, it’s no surprise I’m a big fan of travel both local and far-flung. As a book-lover, I’m also a fan of literary travel. Not necessarily traveling by book (though you already know I’m a huge fan of that). I’m talking about visiting places with literary connections. I’ve been to literary sites as close as The House of the Seven Gables and as far-flung as Edinburgh, Scotland, (the *entire city* is a UNESCO World-Heritage site for literature; my kind of place!). It’s a particular passion of mine to get my geek on in places were great authors have lived or that have inspired some of my favorite books.
We’re very fortunate here in Massachusetts to have many literary connections and places that have preserved (or are in the process of preserving) the sites where some of our state’s great literary magic have happened. Which basically means that during the summer, “staycations” are within easy reach and there’s no dearth of options to choose from. Here are some options should you like to take a road trip to some of our awesome literary sites:
A mere train ride away lies the statue commemorating Robert McCloskey’s immortal tale inspired by true events in the Boston Public Gardens. This is a great, free way to spend part or all of a day and maybe make some duckling friends of your own. Walden Pond
The site of Henry David Thoreau’s experiment in simplified living in a tiny-house, long before it became the rage on HGTV and where he composed much of his eponymous book.
A short ride North, this relatively new commemorative park celebrates one of the most famous Beatniks and Lowell, MA native. You can also pay your respects to the “On the Road” author at the Edsom Cemetery, where he’s buried.
Edward Gorey holds a place in my heart for being the illustrator of the John Bellairs books I so loved as a child and for being a cat lover. His illustrations are still widely seen (most notably on Masterpiece Mystery) and his house is now a well-maintained museum on Cape Cod.
Further west, you’ll find the reclusive poet’s home no longer closed off. It is open to the public as a museum, (which has put its manuscripts of Dickinson’s poetry online!) and the gardens are being restored to their former glory with heirloom varieties that were grown by the Dickinsons.
Here at the South Branch, we offer several Massachsetts and New England travel guides so that even if your travel tastes don’t trend towards the literary the way mine do, you’re sure to find something locally to enjoy these warm summer days:
Tougias is best known for his historical writings such as Ten Hours Till Dawn and So Close to Home, but he has co-authored this New England guide with travel writer O’Leary to find some great hikes and out-of-the way inns that are worth the trip. We had O’Leary come to the South Branch to talk about this book last September and believe me when I tell you, she knows her stuff. Anyone who enjoys hiking, the outdoors or resting in a cozy B&B is bound to find some great nuggets of info here that will get them packing the car.
This guide is as-advertised, offering locations that are hidden gems amidst even some of the most popular, well-known areas. Broken down by sections of the State (North Shore, South Shore, Pioneer Valley, Cape Cod, etc.), this book is also easy to plan from so you won’t be looking at hidden gems on opposite ends of the state on the same page.
All hail Susan Sulich who had the brilliant idea to find fantastic B&Bs across New England and not only put information about why they’re great into a book, she also found out what dishes they’re famous for and put those recipes in the book. This is perfect companion to discover a great getaway and have a fantastic memento to remind you of your trip that you can make over and over again. They say sense memory creates the strongest recall, so you’re sure to make some delicious memories with this book.
The perennially popular TV show Chronicle published a book a while back based on their popular segment: Main Streets & Back Roads. What resulted was this compendium of people and places distinct and worth visiting in their own unique ways.
Till next week, dear readers, whether the weekend takes you far afield or only as far as your favorite reading spot, I hope you enjoy it!
"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." ~Frederick Douglass
