The Evolve Project…
Well, this isn’t exactly reading, but I am amazed at what Brian Pichman and Dave Hesse of the Digital Innovation Department at the Mokena (IL) Community Public Library District have been doing with their Evolve Project. I encourage you to take about an hour and see for yourself. You may not have the resources they do but you might come up with some new approaches to draw children and families into your libraries.
Go
here and click on “Archived
NCompass Live Sessions” and then click on: “NCompass Live: Tech Talk with Michael Sauers: The Evolve Project” which aired on April 25, 2012.
Visit their web
page, too, to find out how they went about putting this project together. Who knows what kind of ideas will pop up in Nebraska!
I recently checked Carl Hiaasen’s new book,
Chomp, out of the library. Fans of Hiaasen’s humor and environmental viewpoint will enjoy this one, which is aimed at the middle school age crowd. Wahoo and his dad, Mickey, are hired to provide animals for the reality TV show “Expedition Survival!” and it is soon clear how fake this particular reality show is. The star, Derek, is a clueless ham forever getting himself into danger. When he decides things should go from controlled (on Wahoo and Mickey’s property) to the real, wild Everglades, and then disappears in the middle of the shoot, it is clear Derek could end up really dead. Loyalty, family love, and courage are spotlighted, along with another look at the Everglades and how fragile it is.
(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers. After review, the books are distributed free, via the Regional Library Systems, to Nebraska school and public libraries.)
