NCompass Live: Pretty Sweet Tech: Computers in Libraries 2025 Highlights & Trends

Posted on April 25, 2025 by Christa Porter

Highlights & Trends from Computers in Libraries 2025 will be shared on next week’s NCompass Live webinar on Wednesday, April 30 at 10am CT.

Special monthly episodes of NCompass Live! Join the NLC’s Technology Innovation Librarian, Amanda Sweet, as she guides us through the world of library-related Pretty Sweet Tech.

Computers in Libraries is the world’s leading technology and innovation conference for librarians! In this session I will cover come of the awesome ideas, tools, tips and tricks of the trade I picked up while in D.C. this year.

I hope to see you there! As a side note, if you’re looking for more emerging tech trends in the library, check out Computers in Libraries magazine.

Upcoming NCompass Live shows:

  • May 7 – Everyday Advocacy for Smaller Libraries: Practical & Affordable Solutions
  • May 14 – The 2025 Public Library Accreditation Process
  • May 21 – Small Adjustments for Big Changes
  • May 28 – Pretty Sweet Tech
  • June 4 – Food for Thought: Addressing Food Waste, Access & Insecurity through Rural Libraries
  • June 11 – Sparking Community Connections: Rural Public Library Partnerships
  • June 18 – Outreach at Any Size
  • June 25 – Pretty Sweet Tech

To register for an NCompass Live show, or to listen to recordings of past shows, go to the NCompass Live webpage.

NCompass Live is broadcast live every Wednesday from 10am – 11am Central Time. Convert to your time zone on the Official U.S. Time website.

The show is presented online using the GoTo Webinar online meeting service. Before you attend a session, please see the NLC Online Sessions webpage for detailed information about GoTo Webinar, including system requirements, firewall permissions, and equipment requirements for computer speakers and microphones.

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#BookFaceFriday “House of Sticks: A Memoir” by Ly Tran

Posted on April 25, 2025 by Bailee Juroshek

Get your hands on this #BookFaceFriday!

This #BookFace is a sneak peek at our next Book Club Spotlight! “House of Sticks: A Memoir” by Ly Tran (Scribner; First Edition; 2021), follows Ly’s life from childhood when her and her family immigrate from a small town along the Mekong river in Vietnam to a two-bedroom railroad apartment in Queens and she finds herself torn between two worlds.

A New York City Book Awards Hornblower Award Winner and one of Vouge and NPR’s Best Books of the Year, Ly Tran writes a deeply compelling memoir. We have 8 copies for your reading group to borrow in our Book Club Kit collection, and you can look forward to reading the upcoming spotlight on May 6th!

“Powerful … showcases the tremendous power we have to alter the fates of others, step into their lives and shift the odds in favor of greater opportunity”

— Minneapolis Star Tribune

Book Club Kits Rules for Use

  1. These kits can be checked out by the librarians of Nebraska libraries and media centers.
  2. Circulation times are flexible and will be based upon availability. There is no standard check-out time for book club kits.
  3. Please search the collection to select items you wish to borrow and use the REQUEST THIS KIT icon to borrow items.
  4. Contact the Information Desk at the Library Commission if you have any questions: by phone: 800/307-2665, or by email: Information Services Team

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

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Friday Reads: “Cinder” by Marissa Meyer

Posted on April 25, 2025 by Holli Duggan
Book cover of "Cinder"

Cinder is the first book in Marissa Meyer’s young adult fantasy/science-fiction series, “The Lunar Chronicles” (and is her debut novel). This series follows classic fairy tale characters as they’re rewritten into Earth’s only hope for survival against powerful villains from a lunar colony.

Among the crowded streets of New Beijing, humans are battling a increasingly deadly virus outbreak. Cinder works as a skilled mechanic with her best robot friend, hiding the fact she’s a cyborg. As a cyborg, she could be “traded in” to be a research subject at any time by her stepmother, who threatens her so daily.

Cinder is approached by Prince Kai one day to fix his android, leading to a royal invitation (of course). Between the Prince, her beloved sister’s illness, and past secrets, she quickly finds herself in the center of an intergalactic struggle – complete with an evil Queen.

Meyer, M. Cinder. Square Fish. 2012.

The series continues with Scarlet – a spaceship pilot searching for her grandmother, Cress – an imprisoned computer hacker, and Winter – a kind and beloved Lunar princess. As the plague mutates, dangers grow, and the Queen continues to gain power, all four must team up to fight evil and save the world.

Book cover of "Scarlet", "Cress," and "Winter"

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2024 Public Library Survey Data are Now Available

Posted on April 24, 2025 by Sam Shaw

The 2024 FY public library survey data are now available on the NLC website. Thanks to all of you who submitted your statistics. Historical data (back to 1999) are also available on our website. The next survey cycle begins in November, but you should be collecting those statistics now. If you are a new library director, check out the Bibliostat guide.

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Throwback Thursday: Tree Planting

Posted on April 24, 2025 by Bailee Juroshek

Happy early Arbor Day #ThrowbackThursday!

In this 8″x10″ glass plate negative from 1915, men pose with two horse-drawn wagons loaded with trees. Behind them trees have been planted along a walkway.

This image is published and owned by the Townsend Studio, which has been in continuous operation since its foundation in 1888 in Lincoln, Nebraska. The studio holds a collection of glass plate and acetate negatives of early Lincoln and its residents.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information.

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Continuing Education: Weekly Resources (4/21 – 4/25)

Posted on April 22, 2025 by Holli Duggan

Below is a list of free training opportunities coming up this week and some recently recorded webinars! There is also a monthly list of free training resources which is compiled each month by the Maine State Library and WebJunction.

Many webinars are recorded and can be watched later.

For more information, please visit WebJunction: Free Training

To submit CE hours for the NLC certification programs:

Questions about CE hours or the certification programs, please contact: Holli Duggan

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NCompass Live: Do You Know Your Logins? Password Best Practices for Libraries

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Christa Porter

Learn how to implement Password Best Practices at your library on next week’s NCompass Live webinar on Wednesday, April 23 at 10am CT.

In this session, we will learn about the importance of having the library’s account logins and passwords fully documented. Especially for staff changes. Don’t leave new staff in the lurch! Sherm will also cover other password related topics such as password security, creating strong passwords, and using a password manager.

Presenter: Andrew “Sherm” Sherman, IT Infrastructure Support Analyst, Nebraska Library Commission.

Upcoming NCompass Live shows:

  • April 30 – Pretty Sweet Tech: Computers in Libraries 2025 Highlights & Trends
  • May 7 – Everyday Advocacy for Smaller Libraries: Practical & Affordable Solutions
  • May 14 – The 2025 Public Library Accreditation Process
  • May 21 – Small Adjustments for Big Changes
  • May 28 – Pretty Sweet Tech
  • June 4 – Food for Thought: Addressing Food Waste, Access & Insecurity through Rural Libraries
  • June 11 – Sparking Community Connections: Rural Public Library Partnerships

To register for an NCompass Live show, or to listen to recordings of past shows, go to the NCompass Live webpage.

NCompass Live is broadcast live every Wednesday from 10am – 11am Central Time. Convert to your time zone on the Official U.S. Time website.

The show is presented online using the GoTo Webinar online meeting service. Before you attend a session, please see the NLC Online Sessions webpage for detailed information about GoTo Webinar, including system requirements, firewall permissions, and equipment requirements for computer speakers and microphones.

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Friday Reads: The Deep by Rivers Solomon with Jonathan Snipes, William Hutson, and Daveed Diggs

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Jo Mezger

The Deep is a short and profound Afrofuturist read.

The wajinru are an underwater people who live peacefully together. Yetu is the tribe’s historian—she holds their collective memory so the rest of the tribe can escape the pain of it. Each year, Yetu extends the entirety of their history to the rest of her people in a ceremony called the Remembrance. It is the only day where she does not shoulder the burden of their gruesome history alone.

Her people, the wajinru, are the descendants of pregnant women thrown off slave ships crossing the Atlantic. The lore of their survival is detailed with reverence—the babies born in the water, the whale that mothered them, the infinite renewal of changing waters.

We meet Yetu at a breaking point. She did not ask to carry the weight of her people’s pain that is now driving her towards death. She flees in the midst of the Remembrance, leaving her people thrashing with their history. We follow both Yetu and the wajinru as they both find ways to deal with the trauma of the past.

Rivers Solomon was tapped to write The Deep with experimental hip hop group, clipping., made up of Jonathan Snipes, William Huston, and Daveed Diggs, after their group had put out a song with the same name in 2017.
Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EnPFsk4lOo

“Remember now or perish. Without your history, you are empty,” Yetu told them. “Everyone, shout this person’s name so they remember!”

Clipping. drew from the myth created by Detroit techno group, Drexciya. Their 1992 album, Deep Sea Dweller, and their subsequent recordings allude to a Black underwater utopia also called Drexciya, built by the descendants of the pregnant women who were thrown off of slave ships during the middle passage.
Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1zhZVisJxY

Hip hop and science fiction often find their way to each other to imagine a different Black experience. Key aspects of hip hop, like sampling and reference, intrinsically honor the past while creating something new. Solomon and clipping. fold their layers of reference into a percussive and evocative prose in a way that loses nothing.

Solomon, R., Diggs, D., Hutson, W., Snipes, J. The Deep. Saga Press. 2019.


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#BookFaceFriday “Regular Haunts” by Gerald Costanzo

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Tessa Timperley

Relax and read a verse this #BookFaceFriday.

April is National Poetry Month, and we wanted to highlight Nebraskan poets and our collection of poetry here at the Commission. This week’s #BookFace, “Regular Haunts: New and Previous Poems” by Gerald Costanzo (University of Nebraska Press, 2018), is a part of the Ted Kooser Contemporary Poetry series from the University of Nebraska Press, a collection of eight titles edited by Ted Kooser. This title is being featured in our lobby for National Poetry Month and is a part of the Nebraska Publications Clearinghouse, which receives documents every month from all Nebraska state agencies, including the University of Nebraska Press (UNP). UNP books, as well as all Nebraska state documents, are available for checkout by libraries and librarians for their patrons.

If you’re looking for ways to celebrate National Poetry Month, take a look at the poetry genre from the drop-down menu on our Book Club Kit page or peruse the large collection of poetry available on Nebraska Overdrive Libraries.

“There’s that delightful surface, sparkling with wit, with satire, with wordplay, and then there’s always that something else, that mystery maybe a fathom beneath the sun on the waves.”

—from the introduction by Ted Kooser

Book Club Kits Rules for Use

  1. These kits can be checked out by the librarians of Nebraska libraries and media centers.
  2. Circulation times are flexible and will be based upon availability. There is no standard check-out time for book club kits.
  3. Please search the collection to select items you wish to borrow and use the REQUEST THIS KIT icon to borrow items.
  4. Contact the Information Desk at the Library Commission if you have any questions: by phone: 800/307-2665, or by email: Information Services Team

Find many more poetry titles through Nebraska OverDrive! Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 194 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 26,174 audiobooks, 36,611 ebooks, and 5,210 magazines. As an added bonus it includes 130 podcasts that are always available with simultaneous use (SU), as well as SU ebooks and audiobook titles that publishers have made available for a limited time. If you’re a part of it, let your users know about this great title, and if you’re not a member yet, find more information about participating in Nebraska Overdrive Libraries!

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

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Throwback Thursday: History Club

Posted on April 17, 2025 by Bailee Juroshek

Let’s dive into history this #ThrowbackThursday!

This 5-1/2″ x 3-1/2″ black and white photograph from 1916 shows the History Club posed in a classroom in the Administration Building, Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney. Third from left, back row, is Professor C.L. Anderson.

This image is published and owned by the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Archives, Calvin T. Ryan Library. Their collection includes images that show faculty, students, buildings and activities from the first dozen years of the school’s existence.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information.

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Nebraska Football Book Available on BARD!

Posted on April 15, 2025 by Miranda Shreves

“More Than Winning: The Story of Tom Osborne” by Tom Osborne and John E. Roberts is now available on cartridge and for download on BARD, the Braille and Audio Reading Download service. BARD is a service offered by the Nebraska Library Commission Talking Book and Braille Service and the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled at the Library of Congress.

Tom Osborne give an in-depth, personal account of his life—the forces that shaped his values, his own accomplishments in sports, and his experiences as head football coach at Nebraska. Throughout, he maintains that his strength and success come from a deep faith in God.

TBBS borrowers can request “More Than Winning: The Story of Tom Osborne” DBC02006 or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.

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Continuing Education: Weekly Resources (4/14 – 4/18)

Posted on April 14, 2025 by Holli Duggan

Below is a list of free training opportunities coming up this week and some recently recorded webinars! There is also a monthly list of free training resources which is compiled each month by the Maine State Library and WebJunction.

Many webinars are recorded and can be watched later.

For more information, please visit WebJunction: Free Training

To submit CE hours for the NLC certification programs:

Questions about CE hours or the certification programs, please contact: Holli Duggan

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NCompass Live: One Book For Nebraska Kids & Teens 2025

Posted on April 11, 2025 by Christa Porter

Wouldn’t it be great if kids all over Nebraska were talking about books? Hear about the Nebraska Library Commission & the Regional Library Systems’ program where kids can all read and discuss the same book on next week’s NCompass Live webinar on Wednesday, April 16 at 10am CT.

NOTE: This is a rescheduled session, due to technical issues with the original show.

Join Sally Snyder, the NLC’s Coordinator of Children and Young Adult Library Services; Aimee Owen, Information Services Librarian; and Bailee Juroshek, Office Specialist, to learn all about the One Book for Nebraska Kids and Teens program.

Our 2025 titles are: One Book For Nebraska Kids – Lions & Liars by Kate Beasley, and One Book For Nebraska Teens – Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest.

Upcoming NCompass Live shows:

  • April 30 – Pretty Sweet Tech: Computers in Libraries 2025 Highlights & Trends
  • May 7 – Everyday Advocacy for Smaller Libraries: Practical & Affordable Solutions
  • May 14 – The 2025 Public Library Accreditation Process
  • May 28 – Pretty Sweet Tech
  • June 11 – Sparking Community Connections: Rural Public Library Partnerships

To register for an NCompass Live show, or to listen to recordings of past shows, go to the NCompass Live webpage.

NCompass Live is broadcast live every Wednesday from 10am – 11am Central Time. Convert to your time zone on the Official U.S. Time website.

The show is presented online using the GoTo Webinar online meeting service. Before you attend a session, please see the NLC Online Sessions webpage for detailed information about GoTo Webinar, including system requirements, firewall permissions, and equipment requirements for computer speakers and microphones.

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Friday Reads: “The Crime Brulée Bake Off” by Rebecca Connolly

Posted on April 11, 2025 by Bailee Juroshek

I love watching cooking and baking shows. From classics like Masterchef, or more fun shows like Netflix’s Nailed It or Dropout’s Gastronauts, or YouTube content like Tasting History with Max Miller, there’s a plethora of options to choose from with different themes and vibes. But one show takes the cake, and that would be The Great British Bake Off. My friends and I will often have watch parties as the newest season airs, choosing bakers to root for as the season goes on. So when I visited my local library and saw The Crime Brûlée Bake Off by Rebecca Connolly with their new mystery arrivals, I was instantly interested and as soon as I had a chance to sit down and read it I found myself charmed by the parody it creates.

The novel follows Claire Walker, a teacher with a love for history who just learned that she will be one of the bakers on the newest season of Britan’s Battle of the Bakers. This season is set to take place on the estate of Blackfirth Park, where our secondary character and future love interest Viscount of Colburn Jonathan Ainsley lives. Claire’s peppy and quirky energy is juxtaposed with Jonathan’s more serious (and somewhat annoyed) tone every other chapter, swapping perspectives as the show goes on.

At first it seems like a simple re-imagining of the classic Bake Off show, with a few changes such as a cash prize. But after the first round of baking one of the bakers is found dead in the estate’s mill, the body found in the exact same way as the 10th Viscountess who had died mysteriously many years ago. The novel becomes a very fun murder mystery where the suspense grows alongside the budding romance between Claire and Johnathan, who are helping the lead detective look into the death and the various suspects. Some say it was the ghost of the Viscountess herself, the local government and showrunners are more than happy to say it was an accident, but they’re convinced it was a murder. But they need to prove it before the show ends, and hopefully before Claire gets sent home for a bad bake.

If you love The Great British Bake Off and enjoy a good romance mystery novel, The Crime Brûlée Bake Off makes for a fun and lighthearted read. Claire’s silly exclamations such as “crepes alive!” had me giggling, and the mystery of the murder kept me guessing. Plus, once you’re finished with the story there are six recipes in the back, each a story-relevant bake from the book. I certainly can’t wait to give one of them a try!

Connolly, Rebecca. The Crime Brûlée Bake Off. Shadow Mountain. 2025.

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#BookFaceFriday “The Trial and Execution of the Traitor George Washington” by Charles Rosenberg

Posted on April 11, 2025 by Tessa Timperley

We’re up in arms about #BookFaceFriday!

You say you want a revolution. Well, you know, we all want to change the world. If you devour military history books, love a good historical fiction, or are just looking for something new to read, check out what’s being showcased on the Nebraska OverDrive Library home page. you’ll find titles like this week’s #bookface, “The Trial and Execution of the Traitor George Washington: A Novel” by Charles Rosenberg (Harleqin Audio, 2018) which is a historical fiction read touted as “A thought-provoking novel that imagines what would have happened if the British had succeeded in kidnapping General George Washington.” It’s available as an audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries and is currently featured in the “250th Anniversary of the American Revolution” curated collection, along with many other novels and nonfiction centered around this particular piece of American history.

“If you love history, you love to speculate. When it comes to the American Revolution, Charles Rosenberg can speculate with the best of them: What if the British captured George Washington and spirited him off to England? And that’s just the beginning of this hugely satisfying journey through time… a fascinating premise, a brisk pace, a storytelling high-wire act performed as deftly, convincingly, and entertainingly as it can be done. If you love historical speculation, you will love this novel.”

— William Martin, New York Times bestselling Author of Citizen Washington and The Lost Constitution

Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 194 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 26,898 audiobooks, 36,794 ebooks, and 5,133 magazines. As an added bonus it includes 130 podcasts that are always available with simultaneous use (SU), as well as SU ebooks and audiobook titles that publishers have made available for a limited time. If you’re a part of it, let your users know about this great title, and if you’re not a member yet, find more information about participating in Nebraska Overdrive Libraries!

Love this #BookFace & reading? We suggest checking out all the titles available for book clubs at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub. Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

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Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund Banned Books Week Event Grants

Posted on April 10, 2025 by Christa Porter

For more grants like this one, check out the NLC’s Grant Opportunities for Nebraska Libraries.

Applications are open for the Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund Banned Books Week Event Grants. Each year the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) distributes $1,000 grants for organizations to support activities that raise awareness of intellectual freedom and censorship issues during the annual Banned Books Week celebration
, being held this year October 5-11, 2025. Staff at all types of libraries, schools, universities, and non-profit community organizations are encouraged to apply.

Applications are accepted now through April 30, 2025. 

Learn more and apply on the Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund Banned Books Week Event Grants webpage.

The Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund is dedicated to continuing and promoting the remarkable legacy of Judith Krug, founding executive director of the Freedom to Read Foundation and founding director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom. For over 40 years, Judith made it her life’s work to protect the First Amendment to the US Constitution and the principles of intellectual freedom, in libraries and beyond. Judith is remembered for her fierce advocacy for the First Amendment, for the principles of freedom of access to information in the US and around the globe, and for the importance of education and its centrality to a strong democracy.

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Throwback Thursday: Children’s Room, Kearney Public Library

Posted on April 10, 2025 by Bailee Juroshek

Happy National Library Week #ThrowbackThursday!

This 9.5″ x 7.5″ black and white photograph of the children’s room of the Kearney Public Library shows model sailing ships sitting on top of bookcases, tables with built-in lamps, and view of circulation desk. Library building was funded by Carnegie, and completed in 1904.

This image is published and owned by the Nebraska Library Commission. The collections include material on the history of libraries in the state of Nebraska, items from the 1930s related to the Nebraska Public Library Commission bookmobile, as well as items showcasing the history of Nebraska’s state institutions.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information.

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ARSL 2025 Conference: Scholarships and Session Proposals

Posted on April 9, 2025 by Christa Porter

The 2025 Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL) Annual Conference will be held at the Albuquerque Convention Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, from September 17-20, 2025.

This year’s conference theme is Libraries Rise!

This theme captures the resilience, innovation, and collaboration that define small and rural libraries. We recognize the challenges our communities face—tight budgets, small spaces, and limited staffing—but also the incredible creativity and determination that allow us to soar despite these obstacles.

ARSL 2025 Conference Scholarships

Applications for ARSL-funded conference scholarships are still open for select grants! Applications close Monday, April 21!

Each year, the ARSL Grants, Awards & Scholarships (GAS) Committee accepts applications for competitive scholarships to facilitate first-time attendance at the ARSL Conference:

  • Dr. Bernard Vavrek Scholarship for LIS Students, Deadline Extended!
  • Thorndike Press Champions of Large Print Scholarship

See the full details about all of the scholarships and apply on the ARSL Conference Scholarships page.

ARSL 2025 Conference Session Proposals

Are you a community engagement superstar? Have a storytime formula that can’t be beat? Do your reader’s advisory recommendations always hit the mark? We need YOU to present at ARSL 2025! The program presenters are the heart of the conference, bringing valuable skills and experience to share with fellow attendees.

Submit your proposal by April 25 at 5:00 PM CT. Notification of proposal outcomes will be sent by May 30.

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Book Spotlight – Other Words for Home

Posted on April 8, 2025 by Mackenzie Marrow
Cover for Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga. A young, hijabi girl looks confidently off to the side. Her hijab is silhouetted by a row of houses at the bottom, with a plane flying through the pink sky of fabric

It’s National Library Week once again, and as always, the best way to support your library is to use your library! At the Commission, we provide Book Club Kits, which are available for any public library or school in Nebraska to use. We have a wide selection of titles available and reading the Book Club Spotlight is a great way to get to know our incredible collection! Today’s Book Club Spotlight, Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga, has been listed as a notable book for the Association for Library Service to Children, a Forbes Best Kids Book of 2019, and a Newbery Honor Book! Half-Jordanian, Warga was inspired by her community to write a story about how love and generosity can transcend country borders through the eyes of a young girl, arriving in America.

Jude is an average girl who enjoys her peaceful and fun life on the coast in Syria. She loves running around with her friend Fatima, and visiting her dad at his store as tourists bustle in and out. Whip-smart and confident, Jude often gets in trouble for talking too much, constantly being told to “skety!” (hush!) Her older brother, Issa, fights with her dad a lot about the future of their country, and Issa even moves out so he can better focus on helping others. Suddenly, their home isn’t so safe anymore. Jude and her pregnant mother move across the Atlantic Ocean to stay with family in far-flung Cincinnati, Ohio. There, Jude has to deal with all the normal middle school problems, but in a whole different country! She makes friends, learns English in her ESL class, and even auditions for the school play! It’s hard being the new kid, and here in the United States, she’s suddenly not so normal anymore. 

“You will belong here. 
You will belong wherever you want. 
You will make anywhere beautiful”

– Jasmine Warga

Being from Syria, Jude’s first language is Arabic, and to express the expressive and lyrical Arabic language in English, Other Words for Home is written in free verse – meaning that it is written with poetic intent and metaphor that flows rhythmically but doesn’t have to rhyme. This can be a great introduction to readers learning about the different ways to write and tell stories. All ages of Book Club Groups can discuss how even though Jude faces difficulty in her new country, she stays true to herself. Warga hopes young readers will be inspired by Jude’s big dreams, confidence, and love for her culture. Like other middle schoolers, Jude is trying to navigate growing up like anyone else, learning to fit in and find where to call “home”. 

If you’re interested in requesting Other Words for Home for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 10 copies. (A librarian must request items)

Warga, Jasmine. Other Words for Home. Harper Collins. 2019.

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#BookFaceFriday “On the Trail: A History of American Hiking” by Silas Chamberlin

Posted on April 4, 2025 by Bailee Juroshek

Take a hike with #BookFaceFriday!

Take in the sunshine and breath some fresh air. “On the Trail: A History of American Hiking” by Silas Chamberlin (Yale University Press, 2016) is the first history of the American hiking community and its contributions to the nation’s vast network of trails.

Delving into unexplored archives, including those of the Appalachian Mountain Club, Sierra Club, Green Mountain Club, and many others, Silas Chamberlin recounts the activities of hikers who over many decades formed clubs, built trails, and advocated for environmental protection. It’s available as an eBook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries and is currently featured in the “Take a Hike!” curated collection, along with many other novels about hiking and the wilderness.

“This winning, thought-provoking book offers insight into a relatively unknown aspect of environmental history.”

— Library Journal (starred review)

Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 194 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 26,898 audiobooks, 36,794 ebooks, and 5,133 magazines. As an added bonus it includes 130 podcasts that are always available with simultaneous use (SU), as well as SU ebooks and audiobook titles that publishers have made available for a limited time. If you’re a part of it, let your users know about this great title, and if you’re not a member yet, find more information about participating in Nebraska Overdrive Libraries!

Love this #BookFace & reading? We suggest checking out all the titles available for book clubs at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub. Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

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