All Things JCPL

Continuing a tradition 30 years in the making, the 2013 teen Kentucky Bluegrass Award nominees have been announced. The Kentucky Bluegrass Award (KBA) is a student choice program. The purpose of the KBA is to encourage the students of Kentucky in grades K through 12 to read a variety of quality literature suitable for their age and reading abilities. All Kentucky public and private schools, as well as public libraries, are welcome to participate in the program. Books are divided into grade lists, and readers vote on their favorite, and the winner will be announced in the spring of 2013. In the past, West Jessamine Middle School and East Jessamine Middle School have required reading from the Grade 6-8 list. The titles from that list for 2013 are:

Addie on the Inside – James Howe.
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2011.

Outspoken thirteen-year-old Addie Carle learns about love, loss, and staying true to herself as she navigates seventh grade, enjoys a visit from her grandmother, fights with her boyfriend, and endures gossip and meanness from her former best friend.

The Apothecary – Maile Meloy; Ian Schoenherr, ill.

G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2011.

Fourteen-year-old Janie Scott, newly arrived in London from Los Angeles in 1952, becomes friends with a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows, and is drawn into a dangerous adventure with Benjamin when his father is kidnapped and Russian spies try to steal his book of secrets.

The Fourth Stall – Chris Rylander.

Walden Pond Press, 2011.

Sixth-graders Mac and Vince operate a business charging schoolmates for protection from bullies and for help to negotiate conflicts peacefully, with amazing challenges and results. Described by the publisher as Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets The Sopranos.

Legend – Marie Lu.

Putnam’s, 2011.

In a dark future, when North America has split into two warring nations, fifteen-year-olds Day, a famous criminal, and prodigy June, the brilliant soldier hired to capture him, discover that they have a common enemy.

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 - Richard Paul Evans.

Mercury Ink/Simon Pulse, 2011.

Fourteen-year-old Michael discovers he has special electrical powers and, with the help of his best friends, becomes aware that there are other teens with similar powers, but something or someone is hunting them. After Michael’s mother is kidnapped, he will need to rely on his powers and his friends to rescue his mom, protect himself, and save the others.

A Monster Calls – Patrick Ness.

Candlewick Press, 2011.

Thirteen-year-old Conor awakens one night to find a monster outside his bedroom window, but not the one from the recurring nightmare that began when his mother became ill–an ancient, wild creature that wants him to face truth and loss.

Okay for Now – Gary D. Schmidt.

Clarion Books, 2011.

Fourteen-year-old Doug Swieteck faces many challenges, including an abusive father, a brother traumatized by Vietnam, suspicious teachers and police officers, and isolation, but when he meets a girl known as Lil Spicer, he develops a close relationship with her and finds a safe place at the local library. This novel is a companion to Schmidt’s The Wednesday Wars.

Same Sun Here – Silas House and Neela Vaswani.

Candlewick Press, 2012.

A twelve-year-old Indian immigrant in New York City and a Kentucky coal miner’s son become pen pals, and eventually best friends, through a series of revealing letters exploring such topics as environmental activism, immigration, and racism.

Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different: A Biography – Karen Blumenthal.

Feiwel & Friends, 2012.

Steve Jobs’ story has become legend: a college dropout who started a wildly successful tech company in his parents’ garage. A devoted husband, father, and Buddhist, he battled cancer for over a decade, became the ultimate CEO, and made the world want every product he touched. Here is the complex man behind the myth.

True (…sort of) – Katherine Hannigan.

Greenwillow Books, 2011.

For most of her eleven years, Delly has been in trouble without knowing why, until her little brother, R.B., and a strange, silent new friend, Ferris, help her find a way to be good–and happy–again.

While the high schools in Jessamine county do not require students to read from the Grades 9-12 list, the titles on the list are both popular and quality fiction appropriate for high school readers. The Jessamine County Public Library has at least 10 copies of all of the Grades 6-8 titles and at least 1 of the Grades 9-12 titles.  To check the catalog for all teen KBA books, click on the cover of the books below.

Maybe you weren’t able to join us for the Nature Scavenger Hunt this past Saturday, but you can easily design your own scavenger hunt using a few of the books in our collection and some online resources.

Try using Birds of Kentucky: Field Guide by Stan Tekiela (598.2) the Birds of Kentucky online checklist, and the Birdzilla internet birding site to compile a list of birds to find.  For finding Kentucky wildflowers, I recommend Wildflowers and Ferns of Kentucky by Thomas G. Barnes & Wilson Francis (582.1309769) and the web site Kentucky Wildflowers. Both of these resources even divide the plants by season and color. Mammals of Kentucky by Roger Barbour and Wayne Davis (599.09769) will introduce you to our state’s most common mammals.  The Kentucky AWAKE  (All Wild About Kentucky Environment) web site and  the Kentucky Crosswords web site have general lists that include a large variety of Kentucky plants and animals.

Compose a list, print some pictures and head out to one of the many beautiful parks.  If you’re having trouble picking a place to hike, visit the Kentucky State Parks web site for a nice tour of some of the best spots.

Having trouble making a list or printing the pictures?  Email Our Adult Programming Librarian, Les Lehman at llehman@jesspublib.org, and she’ll give you a copy of the list that we used for the JCPL Nature Scavenger Hunt.

The deadline for filing income tax returns is fast approaching. If you have not filed yet, you can pick up forms and instructions for federal (but not state) tax returns at Jessamine County Public Library. We have copies of the most commonly used forms and instructions, and we also have a notebook of reproducible forms from which you can make copies. If you need forms we do not have, you can get them from the IRS website: www.irs.gov.

Tax time can be stressful, whether or not you expect to receive a refund. Here are some stress-relieving tips that were sent to libraries from the IRS.

Six Tips for Reducing Tax-Time Stress

Tax preparation doesn’t need to give you a headache. There are several ways to make it easier on yourself. The IRS offers six tips to help make your tax-filing experience a breeze this year.

1. Don’t procrastinate. Resist the temptation to put off your taxes until the very last minute. Rushing to meet the filing deadline may cause you to overlook potential sources of tax savings and will likely increase your risk of making an error.

2. Visit the IRS website. More than 322 million visits were made to www.irs.gov in 2011. Make “1040 Central” your first stop to check for the latest news and find answers to your questions about tax filing.

3. Use Free File. Let Free File do the hard work with brand-name tax software or online fillable forms. It’s available exclusively at <"http://www.irs.gov" target="_blank">www.irs.gov. Everyone can find an option to prepare their tax return and e-file it for free. If you made $57,000 or less, you qualify for free tax software that is offered through a private-public partnership with manufacturers. If you made more than $57,000 and/or are comfortable preparing your own tax return, there’s Free File Fillable Forms, the electronic versions of IRS paper forms. Visit www.irs.gov/freefile for options.

4. Try IRS e-file. Last year, 79 percent of taxpayers – 106 million people – used IRS e-file, which is the safest, easiest and most common way to file a tax return. If you owe taxes, you can file immediately and pay later (by the April 17 tax deadline). Best of all, when you combine e-file with direct deposit  the IRS can generally issue your refund in as few as 10 days.

5. Don’t panic if you can’t pay. If you can’t pay the full amount of taxes you owe by the mid-April deadline, you should still file your return by the deadline and pay as much as you can to avoid penalties and interest. More than 75 percent of taxpayers eligible for an Installment Agreement can apply using the web-based Online Payment Agreement application available at www.irs.gov. To find out more about this simple and convenient process, type “Online Payment Agreement” in the search box at www.irs.gov.  You can also contact the IRS to discuss your payment options.

6. Request an extension of time to file – but pay on time. If the deadline clock is ticking, you can get an automatic six-month extension through Oct. 15. However, this extension of time to file, which must be filed or postmarked by the April 17 deadline, does not give you more time to pay any taxes due. If you have not paid at least 90 percent of the total tax due by the April deadline you may also be subject to an estimated tax penalty. You can obtain an extension through Free File at www.irs.gov/freefile. Or, file Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, available for downloading at www.irs.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676) to have a paper form mailed to you. Allow at least 10 days for mailed forms and publications.

HOW TO GET KENTUCKY TAX FORMS AND INSTRUCTIONS

To download state forms on the computer, go to http://revenue.ky.gov/forms

If you want the forms mailed to you, call the Kentucky Department of Revenue at 502-564-3658.

Finally, please note that your JCPL librarians cannot give tax advice. We cannot even tell you which form is best for you!

People say the book is usually better than the movie.  We’ll let you be the judge.  But we can tell you for certain that the demand for a book goes up after the movie is released.  We order as many copies of the book as we can (would you believe that we have 24 copies of The Hunger Games?), but you may still have to wait for a blockbuster title. 

Get the jump on the competition by checking out one of the following books.  All are scheduled to be released as movies later this year.