As we travel the open seas this summer, our staff are recommending some “hidden gems” for your reading. These gems are books that may have slipped your notice but have been read by at least one of our staff and they’re confident that you may like it, too. Even better, this gem collection is easy to find.
Continue reading “Hidden Gems are in Plain Sight”
It’s a challenge so simple, it’s a breath of fresh, spring air. Complete a prompt from our activity list or read for an hour. Do either one five times. Fill out your tickets (up to five per person) and turn them in for the grand prize drawing. What could you win? Keep reading to find out.
Reed Memorial Library’s Petals and Pages challenge runs March 1 to 31st and is for all ages and all readers. You’ll get a matching magnet when you pick up your ticket board (so that you can hang it on the fridge). Want to get started right now? You can download and print your ticket board, too.
Like we said, it’s super simple: any combination of prompts from our activity list or reading for an hour. The activity list has all sorts of fun choices like reading in the sun, reading a book about butterflies or spring sports, and even visiting the story trail in Dix Park. There’s an activity for every age and reading level so the whole family can participate.
Fill out your tickets and bring them in for an entry. Do it one at a time or all five at once, just turn at least one in by March 31. One lucky ticket will be drawn for the grand prize.
Here’s what you will win:
One month to read and/or complete fun activities, one grand prize to win. Pick up a ticket board in the library or download and print your own and get started!
Simply put, a library challenge is a fun way to ensure that you, your kids, your family, are reading and learning. A challenge can be set up like a game, a BINGO board, a checklist, a tracker, or some other fun way to record reading and activities. Prizes and rewards are given for completing challenges and sometimes along the way. Library challenges grew out of a need to keep younger readers on track during school breaks by measuring and rewarding reading. We think that rewarding reading is appropriate for everyone and all seasons.
We’re nearing the end of our year-long Bookworm Challenge and November feels like the start of the home stretch. It’s time make a full throttle, wide open sprint towards the finish line. Nonfiction is the genre, giving you permission to pick anything to read, so long as it’s true. Cookbooks? Yes! True Crime? Of course! Decorating? Yep. Crafting? Sure. Rembrandt? Absolutely!
Creating a recommended reading list for nonfiction would be counterproductive since nonfiction is such a broad vista. If you know what topic you’re interested in, you can always search the catalog to find it. But what if you prefer to choose books by browsing around the shelves? For you browsers, lets acclimate you to the shelving system. Then, you can wander through the stacks but not wander aimlessly.
If you still remember the Dewey Decimal system from grade school or if you’re a frequent visitor to these shelves, you probably don’t need to read the rest of this post. Go wild and find your next read for Nonfiction November! If you don’t know the shelving system and don’t know where to start, keep reading.
First, all non-fiction is shelved by assigning broad topics to a numerical range from 0 to 900. This classification guide at right shows the ten classification categories. Inside a sequence, similar subtopics are shelved together, using more decimals and letters as you get more specific.
Let’s look at history as an example. History and Geography are all assigned within the 900-999.99 numerical sequence. Any true (nonfiction) book about historical topics will be shelved inside these numbers. Within the 900 sequence, you find subdivisions like geography and travel (910), biographies (920), European history (940), etc. The chart below, from the website LibraryThing, gives you an easy visual representation of this breakdown.
So if I were looking for a book about the American Civil War, I am able to browse everything our library has about the war in the 970-979 sequence. If I wanted to read about Chinese history, I would browse through the 950-959 sequence. Is it making sense yet?
We have some handy charts inside the library to remind you how the classification system works. If you’re a browser, don’t be discouraged. Reference the chart, look up a keyword in the catalog for a starting point, or ask one of our friendly library staff, “Where can I find books about whales?” Whichever way you use, with the broad shelves of nonfiction to choose from, you’ll have no trouble finding something that interests you.
We’re in the Bookworm Challenge home stretch – finish strong, bookworm!
What’s the scariest book you’ve ever read?
In our year-long Bookworm Challenge, October is, of course, the month to get a taste of the horror genre. For your reading pleasure, we present a list that spans the barely-scary “cozy horror” to books you should read only during the daytime with all the lights on. We developed a ghost-rating system to make it simple.
Continue reading “Oh, the Horror! An October Book List”
“Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Are you ready for action and adventure? The great thing about this genre is that it can fit pretty much any kind of story and subject. If you search our catalog using “action, adventure” as keywords, you get nearly 1,500 results. Adventure is found in all types of books, both fiction and nonfiction. It could be a Le Carré spy novel, a fantasy adventure like The Hobbit or a true-life exploration adventure like The Lost City of Z.
For those of you working on our Bookworm Challenge, this month’s Action & Adventure theme opens up a roller coaster ride of stories. You can take a dive and easily find something you like. [If you haven’t heard of our Bookworm Challenge, learn all about it here and sign up on Beanstack.]
Below, we’ve compiled a list of Action & Adventure books that you may want to read for the Bookworm Challenge, the Readin’ Rodeo or maybe just to experience living dangerously from your armchair.
Continue reading “Armchair Adventure Awaits: A Book List”“I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.’
I should think so — in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
This year, you get to pace yourself. We’ve restructured our smaller, sometimes fast ‘n furious library challenges into one, yearlong challenge: The 2024 Bookworm Challenge. This year, we’ll take a more leisurely tour through the various genres, or types, of books.
Continue reading “2024: A Bookworm’s Journey”
We invite you to explore two exciting events that celebrate community, literature, and the spirit of autumn. “Read the Rustbelt” with Bonnie Jo Campbell’s book, “American Salvage” and participate in our short ‘n sweet RML Fall Challenge. Keep reading to learn more.
Continue reading ““Reading the Rustbelt” Meets the Fall Challenge”
Last Friday, April 28, the Bookworm Challenge officially ended. We wish an enormous thank you and congratulations to everyone who participated!
In this post, we’ll share some impressive stats from the Bookworm Challenge, as well as insider information about the upcoming summer reading challenge.
Continue reading “Thanks for participating in our Bookworm Challenge!”
Sincerely, Cornelius 