Fun, sillly picture book

Egg Drop by Mini Grey
Mini Grey, author of such fun picture books as Traction Man Is Here and The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon, has written another winning story in Egg Drop. This cautionary story relates the sad demise of an adventurous egg who risked everything in order to fly. Alas, the egg was not patient and did not listen.
This is a perfect picture book for children older than the normal picture book crowd. The silly humor and fun pictures will appeal to kids in kindergarten and early elementary school. Reviewed by Kathleen

Egg Drop by Mini Grey

Mini Grey, author of such fun picture books as Traction Man Is Here and The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon, has written another winning story in Egg Drop. This cautionary story relates the sad demise of an adventurous egg who risked everything in order to fly. Alas, the egg was not patient and did not listen.

This is a perfect picture book for children older than the normal picture book crowd. The silly humor and fun pictures will appeal to kids in kindergarten and early elementary school. Reviewed by Kathleen

Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building

Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building by Deborah Hopkinson and illustrated by James Ransome describes how the Empire State building was built in just fourteen months. At its completion in 1931 this building was the tallest building in the world, 1,250 feet high. A young boy, whose father recently lost his job, describes how he watches as the lot at Thirty-fourth and Fifth is cleared and piers are sunk into rock fifty-five feet down. As the support columns climb the young boy watches workmen climb like spiders and walk along beams hardly wider than their shoes. The boy’s father surprises him with tickets to enter the newly completed building on May, 1931 and they marvel at the sights from the eighty-sixth floor observation deck. Through the boy’s word we come to see how the Empire State building stood as a beacon of hope in a time of stress and fear.

Grades 1-3 will be discussion this wonderful story on Monday, May 18 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. We will watch a short clip from 1930 showing these amazing “sky boys” working high above ground.

ASSIGNMENT 8, VIRTUAL LIBRARY, 5/4/08-5/11/08

You have until Mother's Day for the Virtual Library Assignment:
Part one: Go thoroughly through our library’s website. Pay particular attention to other department areas or links you’ve never used before.
Comment this week with: What aspects of our website do you like the most? Do you have any ideas for new services we can provide through the virtual branch? What other ways can the library improve its web presence?

Part two: Choose the database you are the least familiar with. Spend at least 20 minutes exploring it; try to answer a question that a patron might have. Comment with the name of the database you chose, and what your experience with it was like.

Part three: Take a look at the public library "hall of fame" at http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Website_Design.
Choose at least 5 public library sites to browse. Comment on whether or not you see any good ideas that we can add to our own library website.

Transforming Libraries and Communities

http://www.sarahlong.org/podcast/?_episode=97 (25 minutes)
4/21/08 Exec Director of NSLS Sarah Long talks with James LaRue, director of the Douglas County Libraries in Castle Rock CO since 1990 and speaker at NSLS "Embracing Change: Transforming Libraries and Communities" Symposium 4/29/08.

He helps synthesize ideas about some current trends, and he echoes some of the points Michael Stephens has made: the Library is bigger than the building, and the Library needs to take advantage of Circulation staff’s opportunity for Reader’s Advisory.

Listen, and see what you think. He makes some great points, and I don't think he's after growth in market share for its own sake.

Podcasting in Plain English

Just in time!
http://www.commoncraft.com/podcasting

Assignment 7, (Penultimate) Podcasts, 4/27/08-5/3/08

http://www.sarahlong.org/podcast/?_episode=98 April 23, 2008 Longshots #98 - Linda Braun and Podcasting: Sarah Long of NSLS talks with Linda Braun, an Educational Technology Consultant, about the potential of podcasting (17 minutes).
Explore one of these podcast directories to find a podcast to suit your personal interests:
The Library Success Wiki, at http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Podcasting has an extensive list of public libraries, academic libraries, and affiliated organizations that are podcasting.
Learn Out Loud features educational podcasts, at http://www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory Browse the "Podcast Directory" on the left hand side.
Podcast Alley, at http://www.podcastalley.com/index.php is a general podcast directory.
Answer these questions:
1. Which library podcast did you listen to?
2. Do you see podcasting as a useful tool for our library?
3. Any ideas about which topics our patrons might be interested in hearing?
4. Do you have any other experience with listening to or creating podcasts?