Celebrating Picture Books @ the Library

Picture Book Month is an international literacy initiative that celebrates the print picture book during the month of November each year.  It is supported by numerous literacy and cultural organizations, authors and others, including local libraries. Here are a few ways you can help celebrate at the Ridgefield Library throughout the month.

• Come in to the Lodewick Children’s Library, find a picture book you really like on the shelf, and bring it to the desk so we can add it to a display of Readers’ Favorites.
• If you love picture books, head for our special shelves of Caldecott Award winners, where you will find beloved classics as well as the newest talents. The Randolph Caldecott Medal annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children", beginning with 1937 publications. It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).
• Watch the Library’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts for postings by our staff of their personal picks, then chime in with your own suggestions.
• Read a picture book to or with a loved one and experience the joy!

BookSizzle!

With thousands of new books being published each year, deciding what to read next can be daunting.  The Ridgefield Library provides many ways to help in this selection process.   The newest tool is an electronic newsletter called BookSizzle.

Once you sign up to receive BookSizzle, it will appear weekly in your email inbox.  This online newsletter features the Library’s latest acquisitions including new fiction, non-fiction, mystery, business, science, children’s chapter books, and more.  In addition, you’ll find lists of the current bestsellers and recommended titles on themed topics and current events as well as in-depth features on popular authors.   Book suggestions link directly to the Library’s catalog where you can check for availability or place a reserve.  Each week our staff will also highlight items and events of special interest to Ridgefield Library users.  To sign up for BookSizzle, visit our website or fill out a form at any of the Library’s service desks. 

     

While BookSizzle is a great resource for remote access to reading recommendations, we hope you’ll utilize our in-person readers’ advisory services when you visit the Library.  Our staff is always ready to offer personalized suggestions based on your unique interests. 

Contributed by Adult Services Head Dorothy Pawlowski

Bookmarks Mark Ridgefield

The Library is currently partnering with The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art on a project dubbed “Bookmarks Mark Ridgefield.” Community members of all ages are invited to be part of Aldrich artist Ruth Root’s ongoing project exploring her love of books.

CREATE. Drop into The Aldrich’s Education Center or check at the Ridgefield Library for times to make and donate your own bookmark to the Library’s stacks.  All the materials you need are supplied, including fabric and paper selections from the artist’s studio.

DISTRIBUTE. Tuck your completed bookmark (or one supplied by the Library) into any book on the Library’s shelves.  Choose a favorite title, or search out something new and interesting.

DISCOVER. Find a bookmark in an item you take off the shelf. Keep it to use yourself, or put it in another book for the enjoyment of a fellow reader.

SHARE. Into social media? Take a picture of a bookmark you have made or found and post it to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #rlbookmarks.  For fun, make it a selfie or a shelfie!

VISIT. Ruth Root’s work will be on exhibit at The Aldrich through April 3rd. Stop by and learn more about this very creative and inspiring woman.

Twenty years of Great reading

This month, the Library’s longest-running book discussion series, the A.M. Book Group, marks its 20^th anniversary. Since its first meeting on January 10, 1996, the group has read and discussed 220 books.  Several hundred individuals have participated over the years, and there are even a few original readers from 1996 still attending regularly!

While the group principally reads works of classic and contemporary literature, its successful experimentation with other genres led to the launch of The Nonfictioneers, the Poetry Discussion Group and the Murder by the Book mystery discussion group. Its readers have tackled Steinbeck, Joyce, Dickens, Proust and Fitzgerald as part of thematic community reading initiatives and have delved into children’s classics. They have read their way through the decades in honor of the Library’s centennial, sampled local authors during the town’s 300^th anniversary and commemorated the Civil War and the International Year of Astronomy.  But the constant theme is an enthusiasm not only for reading but for sharing responses with a group of fellow enthusiasts.

New readers are always welcome, and it is not necessary to register or to come to every session. This winter our selections run from “Pilgrim’s Progress” to Ian McEwan.  Please join us!  Details are available at www.ridgefieldlibrary.org. 

It's Picture Book Month

Read it again!  We’ve all heard those enthusiastic words.  The times we share reading a story to a child are treasured memories. It’s a child’s first time being read to and their first introduction to the visual arts.  These positive reading experiences help them develop into life-long readers and learners.
A picture book is much more than a simple story with pictures. A well-crafted story is born of an author’s imagination. The artist’s illustrations are essential as they are created to reveal more of the story.  Within 32 pages and sometimes in even fewer sentences, a skilled writer and illustrator create a story that takes us on a magical adventure certain to capture your heart.  It can make us giggle, weep, imagine and reminisce.  We will find wild things, Martin’s words, an unimaginary friend and frogs on flying lily pads.

November is Picture Book Month - a good excuse to check out some picture books, no matter your age. Sharing stories with a child is priceless and creates life-long memories.  Next time a child says, “Read it again,” be assured they are asking for precious time with you as well.

You can see some of our staff's favorites on our FlickR page at https://flic.kr/s/aHskpRFrfJ

Contributed by Gayle Pulley, Head of Children's Services

The Inside Scoop on New Books for the Fall

Recently, I had the good fortune to attend Book Expo America, an annual event where publishers and authors promote their upcoming titles to booksellers and librarians. Here is a preview of some of the fall’s most anticipated books.

Watch out for new titles by popular authors Adriana Trigiani, Gregory Maguire, Lee Child, Geraldine Brooks, and Jane Smiley.  Coming in September, Jonathan Franzen’s “Purity” is being touted as his best to date and a literary feat.  For fans of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series, a new author continues Lisbeth Salander’s exploits in “The Girl in the Spider’s Web.”

By all accounts, the fall fiction debut to watch out for is “City on Fire” by Garth Risk Hallberg.  At a whopping 944 pages, this novel set in 1970s New York City is purportedly impossible to put down and triggered a bidding war among publishers.  The most talked about upcoming non-fiction includes “The Three-Year Swim Club: The Untold Story of Maui’s Sugar Ditch Kids and Their Quest for Olympic Glory” by Julie Checkoway and Dan Marshall’s comic memoir “Home Is Burning.”

One thing is certain. With hundreds of new titles on the horizon, readers have a lot to look forward to this fall.

Contributed by Dorothy Pawlowski, Head of Adult Services

Children’s Book Award Winners @ the Ridgefield Library

Readers, young and old! It’s our favorite time of year again, when the American Library Association announces the winners of its legendary annual awards: the John Newbery Medal for the best in children’s fiction, and the Randolph Caldecott Medal for the best in children’s picture books. This year’s winners are Kwame Alexander’s “The Crossover” for the Newbery, a chapter book that fuses the rhythm of poetry and basketball, and Dan Santat’s “The Adventures of Beekle” for the Caldecott, a story about a little creature who longs to be someone’s imaginary friend.

You can check out these, and many more award winners, in our special Juvenile Award Winner collection in the Lodewick Family Children’s Library. This collection contains the Newbery and Caldecott winners from every year, dating back to 1922! The two sections are organized in reverse chronological order, so you can see the progression of titles over the course of nearly a century. You’ll recognize some wonderful bedtime favorites, such as “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak, among the Caldecotts. Reread some great stories, like Robert O’Brien’s “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH,” in the Newberys. Take a look on ALA’s website (www.ala.org) for a full list of these timeless classics. 

Contributed by Ann Victor, Children's Collection Management Specialist

Shop Local and Support your Library at the Same Time

You can be part of the effort to Shop Small by shopping locally with the annual Ridgefield Library Days at Books on the Common during the weekend after Thanksgiving.  Just show your Ridgefield Library card at the register, and 15% of the proceeds of your purchase will be donated to the Library. To make your holiday shopping even easier, the bookstore will be open Friday the 28^th from 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM, Saturday the 29^th from 9:30 AM – 6:00 PM and Sunday the 30th from 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM.

The 29^th is also Small Business Saturday, when shoppers get a rebate on purchases made with an American Express card at participating small retailers including Books on the Common. As a special incentive that day, the bookstore will be participating in IndiesFirst, a program in which authors take a turn at being booksellers at their local independent bookstore – drop by and Lauren Tarshis, Roz Chast, Peter Spiegelman and Mark Slouka will be on hand to serve you!

The Library will be closed on Thursday the 27th and Friday the 28th, so be sure to come in before then if you don’t have a card. Stop by the Circulation Desk today; all you need is proof of Ridgefield residence. 

November Is Picture Book Month

November is a time for thanksgiving!  So what better opportunity to give thanks for children’s picture books? November has been designated as Picture Book Month, and we are celebrating this special genre with a display of time honored contributors – Margaret Wise Brown, Eric Carle, Bernard Waber, and Dr. Seuss – to mention just a few!  The America Library Association defines a picture book as one which “provides the child with a visual experience” and has a “collective unity of story-line, theme or concept.”  Beatrix Potter’s “Tale of Peter Rabbit” from 1902 is one of the first picture books and is still popular today! Picture books are a unique balance between story and illustration – in the best ones the story line and the picture complement each other. Since 1938, the Caldecott Medal has been given annually to the artist of the “most distinguished American picture book for children published by an American publisher.” In the Lodewick Children’s Library, we keep the Caldecott winners together in one shelving location so they are easy to find. Please drop by and explore our Caldecott collection or visit our special picture book display and introduce your children to some of your old favorites!

Contributed by Acting Head of Children's Services Kathy Cherniavsky

Reading Together Workshops

“Conversational Reading” is the theme for new parent-child reading together workshops at the Ridgefield Library.  Conversational Reading is about finding meaning in a story by asking questions and talking about the stories children are reading.  Families with children in Kindergarten through 4^th grade can learn skills to create thought provoking conversations about books they read together with their children.  Parents can learn how to help their children express themselves and their reactions to literature. Questions that require speculation, pondering and prediction enhance children’s understanding of the story and their ability to relate their own experiences.  

The workshops, the first set of which are scheduled for November and December, begin with a delicious pizza dinner for all, followed by an engaging book discussion. Library staff will share techniques for creating thoughtful questions.  Attendees will receive a favorite picture or chapter book to read and discuss at home, together with “Reading Together,” a book by Diane Frankenstein which is a wonderful resource for creating discussions about children’s literature.   Space is limited in the workshops. Participants need to register on the library’s online program calendar, where you can find more details about each workshop.

Contributed by Children's Program Coordinator Diane Antezzo

Celebrating Arts and Humanities this Month

National Arts & Humanities Month (NAHM) is a coast-to-coast collective recognition of the importance of culture in America, organized by Americans for the Arts and taking place this year in October. It is designed to encourage all Americans to explore new facets of the arts and humanities in their lives, and to begin a lifelong habit of active participation in the arts.

The Ridgefield Library is here to help you with your journey, whether you are an elementary school student who wants to share your love of all things magical in our Harry Potter Club or a senior citizen who wants to learn more about Wilfred Owen or T.S. Eliot with our monthly poetry discussions. To start, The Big Read this month and next offers an exciting line-up of arts and humanities events at the Library and other venues around town. We also have a full schedule of author talks, art exhibits, writers’ networking groups, book discussions, concerts and more. You can browse the special new reading rooms for Literature and the Fine & Performing Arts or take advantage of thematic displays and booklists prepared by our staff to add context and background to events being hosted by Ridgefield’s many fine cultural organizations.

Nonfiction Summer Fun

What is the Who Was... series?  It’s a series put out by Penguin Publishers that has our youth coming to the Lodewick Children’s Library and combing our Biography section looking for titles they haven’t read yet.  Of our 82 copies of Who Was… titles, 41 were checked out on the day this article was written.  We have two young patrons with a rivalry going to see who can go home with a new title first! Our readers are not the only ones who have discovered this series. The website, www.whowasbookseries.com, had a contest to see who would be the topic of the 100^th book, due out in 2015. There were over 67,000 votes tallied. And the winner is… Steve Irwin! Fans may want to come in and discover the series’ new line of books on events in history: What Was… titles. New titles now have their own display shelf in our New Nonfiction area.

The genre of easy chapter book fiction has some wonderful new series too! These are for our readers taking the giant leap from easy readers to chapter books.  Some of the new series are Captain Awesome, Heidi Heckelbeck, Violet Mackerel, and Doreen Cronin’s The Chicken Squad.

All hot series for some fun summer reading!

Contributed by Kathy Cherniavsky, Acting Head of Children's Services

Looking Forward to Summer Reading

It’s only the first day of spring, but here at the Library we are already well into planning for Summer Reading.  Here are a few highlights you can look forward to.

In celebration of our new building, our Summer Reading theme will be “Discover...the Ridgefield Library.”  Local artist Paul Siegel is creating a special work of art for the poster, which will feature a “Where’s Waldo” style cut-away drawing of the new Children’s Library, and summer readers will be encouraged to go on a treasure hunt to find the many exciting things featured in the drawing.

For the first time, we will be offering a Summer Reading opportunity for youngsters aged two to five.  Parents will read with or to their pre-schoolers and fill out a game card to earn a prize.

To help children create accounts and track their books, hand out prizes and encourage more reading, the Library will be looking for approximately 50 middle and high school volunteers, each of whom can make a significant time commitment (16 to 20 hours between June 23 and August 9). For more information contact Geri Diorio at the Library or at gadiorio@ridgefieldlibrary.org. 

New Year’s Resolutions

It’s the time of year for New Year’s resolutions.  If yours is to make more time for reading, here are some suggestions:

  For some, deciding what to read is the biggest obstacle.  Whether you’re looking for a light or a literary read or something in between, our staff is here to help you find the perfect book for your reading enjoyment and edification.

Listen to an audiobook.  Finding the time to read is often a challenge, and audiobooks provide a great way to enjoy the content of a book while driving, exercising, or multi-tasking at home.  The library offers a large selection of audiobooks on CDS and in downloadable formats that are compatible with most computers, tablets, and smartphones.  

Join a book group.   The structure of a book group can provide the impetus to make time for reading.   The Ridgefield Library offers a variety of ongoing book groups, and their monthly selections offer something for almost every interest.  No membership is required, and new readers are always welcome.  Stop by the library or check our website for more information. 

On our side, our resolution is to continue to provide the best resources for readers in 2014.

Contributed by Adult Services Librarian Dorothy Pawlowski.

Newsletter for Nonfiction Lovers

When people come up to the Reference Desk at the Ridgefield Library looking for suggestions for a “good read,” they are not always seeking a romance, mystery or work of literary fiction.  Indeed, many readers prefer non-fiction – biography, memoir, history, science and many more subjects, from award-winning and very readable authors such as Nathaniel Philbrick and David McCullough.  We even offer a monthly discussion group, The Nonfictioneers, who only read non-fiction. A new publication, Nonfiction News, is now available for these individuals.  Each monthly issue will feature an author profile, a selection of new titles, and articles about what’s new in the nonfiction book world.  The upcoming January newsletter, for example, highlights the author Doris Kearns Goodwin, whose new book “The Bully Pulpit”  is receiving excellent reviews, and lists the “Best Nonfiction of 2013” chosen by The New York Times, Washington Post, Publishers Weekly and Library Journal.

Stop by the Library and pick up a copy of Nonfiction News from the display at the Reference Desk or find current and past issues in printable PDF format on the Library website @ ridgefieldlibrary.org.  Just click on “Reader’s Resources” and navigate to “Finding a Good Book.”

Contributed by Reference Librarian Carole Clark

Who is Reading What

I had the opportunity last week to attend a presentation by Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project.  The Center is in the midst of a 3-year survey about reading and libraries funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and their findings have some thought-provoking implications. Here are a few selected results.  More about the project can be found at libraries.pewinternet.org.

75% of people aged 16+ reported having read at least one book in the past 12 months.  The average number of books read was 10; the median was 7 books.  While consumption of e-books continues to rise over time, as of 2012 only 23% of this population reported having read an e-book while 67% had read at least one book in print.   13% of respondents reported having listened to an audiobook.

Contrary to popular conceptions about young people’s allegiance to their gadgets, three-quarters (75%) of younger Americans say they have read at least one book in print in the past year, compared with 64% of adults ages 30 and older.  

For reading with a child, survey respondents overwhelming prefer print books (81%), while travelers gravitate strongly (73%) towards the convenience of e-books.

Read Before You Watch

Here at the Ridgefield Library we feel that the book is always better than the movie. But the sheer number of adaptations out there means the odds are against you having read the book before being exposed to the cinematic or televised version. Of course you were aware that The Hobbit and The Great Gatsby are based on books; but did you know that World War Z was? Max Brooks is the author. Or that Divergent is based on a very popular YA book series by Veronica Roth? Sequels like The Sea of Monsters and Catching Fire are probably on your book-to-film radar, but you may not know that The Mortal Instruments and Austenland are based on novels by Cassandra Clare and Shannon Hale respectively.  

Television is also rife with adaptations. Game of Thrones (books by George R.R. Martin) and Under the Dome (Stephen King) get a lot of press, but if you like Justified, you may want to read the Elmore Leonard books on which it’s based.

Come to the Library to read before you watch, or to read after you watch, or even to read and then write a script yourself before anyone else gets the idea! In addition to novels, we also have books on screenwriting. 

Contributed by Geri Diorio, Teen Services Librarian and Head of Children's Services