Nutmeg Book Awards News

The Nutmeg Book Award winners for 2017 have been announced, and the 2018 Nutmeg nominees have arrived in the Library!

Annually, in Connecticut, works of fiction published within the last five years that have been determined by librarians and school media specialists to be well-written, with strong characterization, well-constructed plots, rich settings and striking language are announced on May 1^st.  The nominees are broken into four divisions with ten titles in each grade range: Elementary (grades 2-4), Intermediate (grades 4-6), Teen (grades 7-8), and High School (grades 9-12). Children and teens are encouraged to read these selected works of quality fiction throughout the year and vote for their favorite by April 30^th.

This year’s winners are Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth by Judd Winnick, Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson, The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, and I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson.

Readers in several age divisions will be getting together at the Library over the summer to discuss many of the nominees. A full schedule of these meetings is available on our website. Come in to get your copies and checklists so you can keep track of your Nutmeg reading.

Contributed by Children's Services Library Assistant Sonta Frindt

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!

April Is Nutmeg Book Award Time

It’s April, and that means it is time for the children of Connecticut to vote for the Nutmeg Book Award winners. The Nutmeg Book Award encourages children in grades 2-12 to read quality literature and to choose their favorite from a list of nominated titles. It is Connecticut’s homegrown book award. The nominated books are chosen by committees of public and school librarians from across the state. There are four divisions: Elementary for grades 2-4 (the only division that includes nonfiction), Intermediate for grades 4-6, Teen for grades 7-8, and High School for grades 9-12. Many Ridgefield students will be voting in their school libraries, but the Ridgefield Library offers a way to vote that may be appealing to people in middle and high schools – online. You can see a link to the Nutmeg ballots if you stop by our website. Students who are not voting at school are encouraged to vote online using our ballot. Please only vote once, either at school OR online. The winning books will be announced on May 15, and the new list of nominees will come out at that time as well. Spring is Nutmeg Book Award time!

Contributed by Teen Services Librarian Geri Diorio

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

What Did You Read in 2015?

The list makers have done their work, and the Best Books of 2015 have been announced by the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time magazine, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, the editors at Amazon, and even the mighty Oprah, among others.  Among the perennial top vote-getters you’ll find here are Anne Tyler, Geraldine Brooks, Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, Jon Meachem, Erik Larsen and David McCullough.  But there are also some sleeper hits that have attracted critical and reader attention, such as Lauren Groff’s novel “Fates and Furies” and the National Book Award-winning meditation “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates.  There are the latest installments to long-running series and surprising debut efforts.

How many have you read?  How do you decide which to put at the top of your “To Be Read” pile? Library staff have compiled the most influential rankings into handy brochures complete with annotations and library shelf locations, one for fiction, one for non-fiction and one for mysteries and thrillers.  You can pick up copies in Adult Services at the Library or find them in printable form on the Reader’s Lists page on our website (look under “Reader’s Resources”).  Here’s to great reading in the New Year!

Students Vote for State Book Award at Ridgefield Library

It’s April, and that means it is time for the children of Connecticut to vote for the Nutmeg Book Award winners! The Nutmeg Book Award encourages children in grades 2-12 to read quality literature and to choose their favorite from a list of nominated titles.  The nominees are chosen by committees of public and school librarians from across the state. There are now four divisions: Elementary for grades 2-4 (new this year and the only division that includes nonfiction), Intermediate for grades 4-6, Teen for grades 7-8, and High School for grades 9-12. It is Connecticut’s own book award.  To help make voting easy, the Ridgefield Library has put Nutmeg Book Award ballots online. You can see a link to them if you stop by our Facebook page, or if you follow us on Twitter, or on the Library’s website. Students who are not voting at school are encouraged to vote online using our ballot. Please only vote once, either at school OR online. The winning books will be announced on May 15, and the new list of nominees will come out at that time as well. Spring is Nutmeg Book Award time!

Contributed by Teen Services Librarian Geri Diorio

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