Drake Public Library

Seeking Excellence

Archives for September 2015

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I stand with the banned

This book has been banned by some libraries.

This book has been banned by some libraries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey did you know it is Banned Book Week?

 

Banned Book Week was started in 1982 as a way to bring attention to books that were being banned. Why do books get banned? They get banned for containing material that is deemed inappropriate by the School Board or the Library Board, or any organization that governs a library.

 

Here is a list of the top banned books in 20014 from Bannedbookweeks.org website:

 

1)     The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

Reasons: anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence. Additional reasons: “depictions of bullying”

2)      Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi

Reasons: gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint. Additional reasons: “politically, racially, and socially offensive,” “graphic depictions”

3)      And Tango Makes Three, Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

Reasons: Anti-family, homosexuality, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “promotes the homosexual agenda”

4)      The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison

Reasons: Sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “contains controversial issues”

5)      It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris

Reasons: Nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group. Additional reasons: “alleges it child pornography”

6)      Saga, by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Reasons: Anti-Family, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group. Additional reasons:

7)      The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited to age group, violence

8)      The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “date rape and masturbation”

9)      A Stolen Life, Jaycee Dugard

Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group

10)  Drama, by Raina Telgemeier

Reasons: sexually explicit

 

 

Promote your freedom to read by checking out a title that is controversial from your local library.

 

For more information about banned books, check out the American Library Association website at ala.org

 

 

 

 

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Book Review

The luckiest girl alive by Jessica Knoll

 

I picked this title off of Bridges for an easy read. I thought it would be standard light fluffy “chick lit” and would be easy mindless reading. Boy was I wrong!

Ani is the narrator and she is getting married to a seemingly perfect hunk. Then the story is told through flashbacks that delve into her turbulent teen years. She starts a new high school and tries so hard to fit in with the popular kids. She makes some foolish and downright dangerous decisions that alter her life forever. Her mom is portrayed as a clueless and narcissistic social climber. Her dad is there, but not there in Ani’s life.

The characters in this story are not good people! Everyone is flawed. Ani is probably the most flawed of all. The book begins to discuss an “event” from her high school. I found myself staying up late, avoiding conversations, and frantically reading to get to the “event” and find out what was going on.

The climax of the story seems horribly realistic. The author Jessica Knoll is able to put the reader right in the middle of the chaos. The story is satisfying and twists and turns to a finale.

Fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train will enjoy this story and the main protagonist. I will definitely read all of Jessica Knoll’s books in the future. Her debut novel is a stunner. I recommend it to anyone who struggled to be “popular” in high school! I ordered a copy for the library, so readers can find it online at Bridges or on the shelf at the Drake Library.

 

Other new titles on the Drake Library shelves include:

 

Dance of the Bones by JA Jance

Good Girl by Mary Kubica

Driving Heat by Richard Castle

Dishing the dirt by MC Beaton

Gilded life of Matilda Duplaine by Alex Brunkhorst

The Drowning by Camilla Lackberg

Corridors of the Night by Anne Perry

Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

Why Not Me? By Mindy Kaling

 

 

New books at the Drake Library

New books at the Drake Library

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News from the Children’s Department

Iowa Public Television Announces 2015-2016

Ready for School Communities

Education specialists work to strengthen math and literacy skills of young Iowa children

 

Johnston, IA – Iowa Public Television’s (IPTV) commitment to early childhood education continues with the expansion of its Ready for School initiative. Educational specialists will work with educators, parents, care providers and community partners in 25 Iowa communities to implement literacy-based activities for children ages two through eight years old.

 

“Iowa Public Television uses the power of media to spark children’s curiosity and excite them about learning,” said Terry Rinehart, director of Educational Services at IPTV. “Ready for School activities are designed to enhance early reading and math skills for young children. This roll-out to twenty five new communities furthers IPTV’s efforts to serve families across Iowa with trusted educational content.”

 

IPTV’s third year of Ready for School will focus on giving all children equal opportunity to succeed. IPTV will provide access to high-quality educational media resources including online games, instructional materials and educational activities that help children increase their school readiness and success. The Drake Public Library Children’s Department has been provided 3 iPads as a part of Ready for School, a collaborative project between Iowa Public Television and the Drake Public Library. The multimedia content and related activities are based upon the work of educational children’s programming from PBS, such as The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That!, The Electric Company, Odd Squad, Martha Speaks, Sid the Science Kid and Super WHY!

 

The program builds from the successful pilot testing of these methods and resources in Storm Lake, Perry and Waterloo that IPTV began in 2008. The initiative has been validated by scientifically-based research funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Ready for School has been deployed in fifty other Iowa communities prior to this year.

 

The 25Ready for School communities for 2015-2016 are:

 

Allamakee Community School District

Anamosa Community School District

Atlantic Community School District

Cedar Rapids Community School District

Centerville Community School District

Coon Rapids-Bayard Community School District

Des Moines Independent Community School District (2)

Estherville Lincoln Central Community School District

Fairfield Community School District

Green County Community School District

Howard-Winneshiek Community School District

Maquoketa Valley Community School District

Moravia Community School District

Mormon Trail Community School District

Mount Pleasant Community School District

Newell-Fonda Community School District

North Fayette Community School District

North Union Community School District

Oskaloosa Community School District

Postville Community School District

Saydel Community School District

Spencer Community School District

Starmont Community School District

Wayne Community School District

 

Learn more at Iptv.org.

 

For more information about Iowa Public Television, please contact Susan Ramsey at 515.725.9703 or Susan.Ramsey@iptv.org.

 

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P.O. BOX 6450 l 6450 Corporate Drive, Johnston, Iowa 50131 l515-725-9800

Iowa Public Television is Iowa’s statewide public broadcasting network. IPTV provides quality, noncommercial programming to make a difference in the lives of Iowans. As one of the last locally controlled media enterprises in the state, IPTV is committed to telling Iowa’s stories like no one else can. Our mission to educate, inform, enrich, and inspire Iowans enables IPTV to present an unequaled array of programs of lasting value to Iowans regardless of where they live or what they can afford. More than 2 million viewers a month turn to IPTV for programming that reflects a range of interests for Iowans in all demographic categories. Iowa Public Television offers three programming channels statewide: IPTV, IPTV LEARNS and IPTV WORLD. Iowa Public Television stations include: Channel 11, Des Moines; Channel 12, Iowa City; Channel 21, Fort Dodge; Channel 24, Mason City; Channel 27, Sioux City; Channel 32, Waterloo; Channel 32, Council Bluffs; Channel 36, Davenport; Channel 36, Red Oak. Information on programming channels, reception and more can be found at Iptv.org.

 

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Whatever floats your goat…………

The coins are counted, the goat is home, the kiss is just a memory.

Greger Barth won the contest sponsored by the Friends of the Drake Library. The contest raised $438.77. All proceeds will go to the library. Thanks to our candidates, Mr. Barth, Jan Spurgeon, Mark Waits and Pete Lind.

 

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September tidbits from the Drake Public Library……

JeNel is hosting after school programs on Mondays and Thursdays. Join her Mondays at 4 p.m. for storytime for grade school children. Thursdays at 4 p.m. she is holding a hobby hour. All programs last until 5 p.m. For more information, call JeNel at the library at 641-856-6676.

Toddler storytime is still Wednesday mornings at 11:30 am.

The library has a new color/black and white copier. The machine, prints, copies, scans, and faxes. Black and white copies are 10 cents a page and color copies are 50 cents per page. Faxing is $1.00 per page to send, faxes sent to a toll free number are free.

Genre-Shifter’s book club is currently reading “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern. Join us for book discussion on Friday September 25th at 6 p.m. October’s book is “Beyond the Great Snowy Mountains” by Louis L’Amour.

Wondering about that classmate that you sat by in High School Geometry class? Did you know that the Drake Library has CHS yearbooks dating back into the 1920’s? Stop by and browse the years and giggle over those out dated hair styles!

The library will be closed on Saturday September 26, 2015. This holiday is known as Pancake Day and the librarians enjoy eating pancakes and shushing people during the “Big” parade.

Don’t forget that September is National Library Card sign up month.

“You want weapons? We’re in a library! Books! The best weapons in the world!”
— The Doctor, Season 2, Episode 2

Fun Fact: Did you know that the Drake Library subscribes to over 90 magazines? All paid for by the Friends of the Drake Public Library.

Goat kissing ceremony will be Friday September 11, 2015 at 3:30 p.m. Information and photos on next week’s blog.

Greger Barth

Write in candidate for Goat Kissing Contest

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Book review

Book Eeny Meeny by M.J. Arlidge

Eeny Meeny by M.J. Arlidge

This thriller was suggested to me by a patron. The premise is frightening, a couple or pair are abducted and wake up in an enclosed space. There is no water, food, or other means of survival. There is a burner phone with a sinister text message and a gun. To get out, one must die. This horror story plot makes for a gruesome story with some disturbing moments. The abductions happen to more than one couple. Each one more terrifying than the last.
The police cannot figure out the abductions. The main investigator, Helen Grace, is a lone wolf with a damaged background. She doesn’t trust others, has no family and is full of secrets. In a somewhat stereotypical role, we don’t really get to know her or her personality. She rides a motorcycle at extremely high speeds, hits the gym, and doesn’t trust a lot of people, but has a hidden heart of gold.

The brief chapters are two to three pages at the most. The story jumps around from character to character with flashbacks in time. The plot advances with these techniques in place. The mystery or puzzle of the abductions keeps the reader guessing until the very end.

This is the author’s debut novel. She has a series planned around the chief police investigator Helen Grace. The next novel, Pop Goes the Weasel will be out on October 6, 2015. I will definitely read the next title. I enjoyed the suspense and the unknown perpetrator in this story. However some of the violence may be a turn off for readers.

Other new books recently in at the Drake Public Library:

X by Sue Grafton
Friction by Sandra Brown
The Solomon Curse by Clive Cussler
Dark Ghost by Christine Feehan
Purity by Jonathan Franzen
Undercover by Danielle Steel
Starlight on Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs
The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny