YAfter School Program

Once a week the library listens for the sound of twenty or more middle-schoolers eagerly bounding through the doors of the library and heading for pizza in the Hazzard Room.  A bus from the Gardiner Area Middle School brings them down to socialize, do homework and experience the library in new ways. While chatting with the students, I learned that they come for a variety of reasons but being able to chat with friends they don’t see during the school day is a big reason to come.  After the pizza is devoured, they roam the library and enjoy the freedom …

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The Land of Young Adult: Where Reading Gets Messy

I’m fairly certain that every parent feels their child is a genius in some capacity or another. I’ve heard it time and time again at school, at family reunions, and at my local library. This commonly held belief is extraordinary; it instills confidence in our kids, providing the “I’m capable of anything” mantra at an often impressive young age. This statement holds a significant amount of power, especially as that child develops into a pre-pubescent, hormones-on-overdrive stranger who rents a room of your house for free. This is the moment when “genius” crosses paths with “reading level” and a new …

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Check this out! – Young Adults for 2013

Librarians read review magazines that come out once or twice a month to know what to buy for our patrons. These magazines give books starred reviews that are the best for the month in their viewpoint. Here are some of the best ones for 2013 that you might want to check out soon at your local library. Click on the title to check request these items!     The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepard * “The fast-paced book is rife with excitement, romance, and intrigue.” School Library Journal (starred review) The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth LaBan* “Debut novelist LaBan takes …

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Battle of the Book

Do you think that you are smarter than a 5th grader?  I am not so sure this is a true statement for me anymore.  I am a judge for the Battle of the Book over at Pittston Consolidated School and part of my duty as judge is to read 5 YA titles.  Okay, what is YA?  YA is a fairly new genre to the publishing world that concentrates on the teen and pre-teen audience.  Please think of the Harry Potter series and the Twilight series…. very large audiences and huge profits for the publishers.  Though these blockbusters are not titles …

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