Drake Public Library

Seeking Excellence

JeNel Barth

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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

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Hey–what’s your genre?

Genre is a word that I say all the time! As a librarian and a nosy person, I constantly ask people what their favorite book or genre is. According to Merriam Webster, genre is defined as: a particular type or category of literature or art.  I love to find out what other people read, so I guess I have the perfect job as a librarian.

Goodreads ranks the most popular book of the year (2015) so far as “The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins. This title is a mystery/thriller. Mysteries seem to be a very popular genre right now. Authors like Gillian Flynn, James Patterson, and John Sandford are in demand at the Drake  Public Library and currently  rule the New York Times Bestseller list. “The Girl on the Train” has been a steady winner on the list for the last 29 weeks.

Romance novels are a fun genre also. The romance section includes, paranormal romances like “All I want for Christmas is a Vampire” by Kerrelyn Sparks. Other sub genres within the romance world include historical romances, inspirational romances, and young adult romances. According to the Romance Writer’s of America website, in 2013, annual total sales of romance novels (print and electronic) totaled 1.08 billion dollars! The romance genre makes up 13% of all adult book sales. 84% of romance readers are female and 16% are male.

I am writing about genres today because we are starting a new book club at the Drake Public Library. The book club will read a different genre each month. The goal is to try other genres and sub genres of literature. There is time to join. Our first selection is “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern. It is a fantasy tale full of magic, competition, and a dash of romance.  Stop by and request your copy. We will be borrowing copies from other libraries in the state of Iowa. If you are interested, the group will be meeting in September to discuss this book. Check the website’s calendar for the exact date and time.

 

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Breaking the first rule of book club—talking about book club

Drake-Public-Library-drawin

We are a society of opinionated people and thanks to social media we enjoy sharing our vast and varied opinions with others via Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and the likes. However, there’s something to be said about sharing your thoughts and ideas from behind the safety and shield of a computer screen versus doing so in “real life”. It simply cannot compare to the thrill, risk and intellectual engagement of sharing those thoughts and opinions in person with people who may or may not hold the same ideas. Especially considering that while a highly communicative generation of humans we are finding ourselves communicating less and less with other humans. So drawing inspiration from the Socratic method of Ancient Greece, The Stein Salon of 27 Rue De Fleurus and the classroom of John Keating at Welton Academy* the Librarians at the Drake Public Library would like to invite you to consider joining our new Book Club the Genre Shifters.

 

I will confess that from time to time I do thoroughly enjoy engaging in the art of debate however the goal of the Genre Shifters if to provide a gathering for book lovers for the purpose of having fun and exploring a variety of literary options. We’ll be picking a different genre of literature each month to encourage those of us who perhaps get caught in a rut of reading similar subjects. Says the library who is on her 8th Arthurian tale in a row….

 

Would you consider joining us on this new adventure? There will be cookies!

 

We will be hosting an informative tea on August 10th from 5-7:30 to answer any questions.

By: Crystal McKissick

 

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Dog days of Summer

Two boys creating Lego sculptures

 

Join us on Thursday July 16, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. for a visit from Honey Creek State Park Naturalist. She will be presenting “How to be an environmental Hero” free of charge in the meeting room at the library.

 

Friday at 11:00 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. Friends of the Drake Library will be cooking out at Fareway in Centerville, Iowa. They will have a menu of delicious food that can be assembled for lunch! Proceeds go directly to the Drake Public Library.

 

 

Bulldog and girl.

Bruno the bulldog visits a young fan.

 

The hot temperatures make staying cool a real chore. Remember you are welcome to use the library as a cooling station. We welcome you during our operating hours Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Stay cool and drink plenty of liquids!

 

 

 

 

Here are some pictures from our recent events: American Girl Doll Tea Party, Doggie Day, and Lego afternoon.

 

A girl and her American Girl Doll

Young boy and dog.

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Reading challenge

A boy reading a book.

A boy relaxes at the Drake Library

 

 

To ignite your reading, try a reading challenge list. Here is one I found on popsugar.com

 

A book with more than 500 pages

A popular author’s first book

A book that scares you

A book written by an author with your same initials

A trilogy

A book with bad reviews

A book based entirely on its cover

A memoir

A book that came out the year you were born

 

 

Challenge your kids to a summer reading list. Some ideas:

A book with no pictures

A book with a sequel

A book that a movie was made from

A book that has over 200 pages

A book recommended by Mom or Dad

A book published over 100 years ago

 

Keep reading this summer!

 

 

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July Activities

July Round-Up “Fun” Raiser

Fareway and Friends

Here is what you do:

Pick up your grocery items, go to the checkout, tell the cashier to press the YELLOW “Round up for Charity button” for a donation to Friends of the Drake Public Library.

Drake Library benefits from all proceeds

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Author Event

Saturday July 11, 2015

11 a.m. in the Drake Library meeting room on the top floor.

Linda McCann will be discussing her book “Prohibition in Eastern Iowa” at the Drake Library.  She is seeking information on the Civilian Conservation Corps camps in Iowa.  Join us for an informative event!

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A page out of our busy summer play book

The library is bustling! Kids are in every day turning in time logs, collecting prizes, and checking out more books. As of 6/23/15 we have 321 kids signed up for the program. 55 kids have turned in their time logs. This means that each of them have read 10 hours.

The Friends of the Drake Library sponsor the entire program. They have purchased all the t-shirts, yard signs, and most of the prizes. Several businesses have donated to the prizes as well.

 

Summer Reader

Summer Reader

The Blank Park Zoo program was well attended with roughly 50 kids at each program.  In July the library will host a Veteran’s Program to thank our heroes for their sacrifices for freedom. The Science Center of Iowa will be here for a big program on Thursday July 23, 2015 at 11 am about super hero science.

A lego event and an American Girl Tea Party are also planned for July! JeNel Allen Barth, youth librarian, works hard to plan fun events.

The Finale Event will be a movie night at the library on Saturday August 1, 2015. We will show a movie behind the library, projected on the wall of the KFC. We will also show a different movie upstairs in the meeting room. We plan on having popcorn, hot dogs, drinks, and a make your own minion bar.

It is not too late to sign up! Stop by and visit the children’s section of the Drake Library and remember—“Every Hero has a story!”

Summer Reader

Another reader

Summer program activity

Kids working on an activity.