On January 23rd, the American Library Association announced the winners of its Youth Media Awards, which includes the Newbery and Caldecott Medals, the Printz Award, and the Corretta Scott King Awards. See below for books available at JCPL, or click here to see the full list of winners and runners up.
Photo credit: The Farmers' Museum
JCPL has launched a unique program series, “Third Thursday,” specifically for homeschooling families in the community. Begun in November, the series will take place every third Thursday of the month and cover a variety of topics.
After meeting with parents and receiving feedback about interests and needs, the children’s and teen librarians have planned programs that homeschool families can apply to each student, no matter the age. The programs help families address the need for field trips and professional instructors, for FREE.
For November’s program, “A Visit to the More House,” the library took advantage of its Internet-2 connection to take a virtual field trip to the New York State Historical Association’s Jonas More House kitchen to see how food was stored and prepared in the 19th century. Internet-2 is an advanced networking consortium led by the U.S. research and education community, with access to an upgraded high speed internet for clear two-way conferencing. Jessamine County has used the revolutionary technology to great effect over the past few years and considers it an integral part of the library’s programming goals. The More House program, scheduled with Thanksgiving in mind, was a success with homeschooling children, teens, and parents. More than 30 participants were able to speak directly with “Mrs. More,” watch live methods of cooking and ask questions about traditional foods. As one homeschooling mother commented, “It really brought history to life for the kids.”
Want to ace your A
CT? Write better? Impress your history teacher with multimedia? Get tips on the college admissions process? For high school students, www.Shmoop.com is the answer. A website with the mission “to make learning and writing more fun and relevant to students in the digital age,” this site has everything you need to embrace and excel at school. All the material on the website is created and maintained by educators and experts, a vast majority of whom have classroom experience at the high school or college level. Shmoop.com is one of only two education websites honored by the Webby awards in both 2009 and 2010. PC Magazine called it “the best of the internet,” and it’s easy to see why.
From the homepage, students get all that Shmoop offers at a glance: Literature, Poetry, Bestsellers, US History, Civics, Biology, Test Prep, College 101, and much more. The website embraces lifelong learning, not just passing classes, so it offers reading analysis guides to popular fiction, such as Twilight, Hunger Games, and Harry Potter, as well as required reading selections like Shakespeare and The Great Gatsby.
College admissions tips, including application writing and financial aid, can be found in the College 101 section. “Best of the Web” highlights the favorite learning websites of PhDs on staff. Test prep offers free and paid options to help you ace the ACT, AP, SAT and other common tests. Teacher Resources are available and appealing to school teachers and home schooling parents. And, when students need a break, the site offers the hilarious “Recess” section for entertainment.
One of the best aspects of the site is the tone of the writing. Even the driest subjects are presented with an updated, fun voice that makes it engaging to teens and adults alike. Shmoop.com has succeeded in creating a space for learning that marries educational content and online capabilities that students today have come to expect. A+
Do you know a teen who’s full of creativity? The Jessamine County Public Library now offers regular monthly programs to inspire teens in 6th through 12th grades.
On the second Thursday of each month, teens can join the Animé & Manga club. We meet at 4:30 pm to explore Japanese animation, culture and food. In October, we screened the popular animé series Avatar: The Last Airbender and hosted a manga drawing competition. Registration is required to attend so that we can make sure we have enough Japanese snacks and drinks.
On the third Saturday of each month, JCPL hosts the Living Arts and Science Center for an art class just for teens. With a bit of art history, criticism, and hands-on activity, participants discover specific artists and techniques. In November, teens will investigate Kentucky contemporary arts and crafts and create their own Kentucky-inspired art to take home. For more information check out the JCPL Calendar of Events at: http://www.jesspublib.org/calendars/index.php?c=0&o=1
For those teens who are more interested in writing, JCPL offers a creative writing club for teens. Join other teen writers for inspiring exercises, peer reviews, and more! This is a writers’ club, not a class, so all activities are influenced by teens. No grades, no requirements, just writing for fun. The club meets at 2:30 pm on the third Saturday of each month. All teens are welcome.
And, as always, the Jessamine County Public Library is open to new ideas. If you have a suggestion for a creative teen program, feel free to stop by the information desk or call 885-3523.
This afternoon JCPL teens celebrated the artistry of India by watching a Hindi-influenced movie, tasting Indian food, and getting henna tattoos from a professional Mehendi artist. Click on “read more” below to see their chosen henna designs.
JCPL teens can include a book review to complete the requirements of their summer reading logs. They can rate the books from 1-5 maps. Here are a few of their reviews:
Ezra, age 11, reviewing The Line by Teri Hall:
I gave the book 3 maps because it was too well, unrealistic. The reason was that the line was supposed to protect America and the people on the other side could not cross. How did they get a message over the line? Did they have a key? A special ability from the bomb? etc. This is why I give this book 3 maps.
Emily, age 12, reviewing The Clue of the Leaning Chimney by Carolyn Keene:
(4 maps). I feel this way because The Clue of the Leaning Chimney is an exciting fun book. The Nancy Drew books make it really seem like you’re on the adventures. Carolyn Keene is a very spiritive author.
As the JCPL Summer Reading Program gets underway, teens have begun submitting reading logs. Several teens have chosen to include a book review to complete the requirements of the log. Here are a few of the reviews:
Isabella, age 11. Reviewing Marked by PC Cast & Kristin Cast:
Marked is a fantasy book where a teenage girl is marked to become a vampire. But the catch is at the House of Night in Tulsa, you either live or you die. This book deserves 5 maps because at any moment any of her best friends could drop dead!
read more »
JCPL kicks off this year’s college readiness series with a College Application Essay Workshop on Saturday, March 5, at 1:00 p.m. Tutors from the Asbury University Writing Center will explain how to make your application essay stand out from the crowd. Click here to register.
And don’t miss the Financial Aid Workshop on March 12th or the College Fair on March 19th. Attending all sessions of the College Readiness series will get your name entered into a prize drawing on March 19th, the day of the College Fair.
See below for books on writing college application essays, or come see our display of college readiness books in the library!
On Thursday, October 7th, 2010, patrons will have the unique opportunity to view a live interview with Lois Lowry, author of the Newberry Medal-winning young adult novel, The Giver. Jessamine County Public Library, using Internet 2 capabilities, will join students from the St. Louis metropolitan area as they ask the author questions about her background and writing style as well as questions about the plot, characters, setting, themes and language of the novel itself.
Discussion of The Giver will form the core of the program. Elements of the story, including important moments of the plot as well as themes and concepts, will be revealed during the program. For this reason, we recommend this program for students who have already read the novel or who are in the process of doing so.
The Giver is an incredibly popular book for teens, for pleasure reading and classroom curriculum. The book is about twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal world. It is not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver that he begins to understand the dark secrets behind his fragile community.
The program will take place from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm, and attendees will be able to email questions to Lois Lowry during the program. Our patrons will not interact face to face, as it is a “view only” event.
