You can keep the Christmas lights up till January with this #BookFaceFriday!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Nebraska Library Commission! As you’re setting up all those new tablets, Ereaders, and phones that were unwrapped on Christmas morning, don’t forget to download the Libby App and link your Library Card. You’re whole family can have access to free books through your library, and that includes picture books for your youngest kids like this week’s #BookFace “First Dog’s White House Christmas” written by J. Patrick Lewis and Beth Zappitello, and illustrated by Tim Bowers (Sleeping Bear Press, 2010). It’s available as a an eBook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries: Kids & Teens, and can be found in the specially curated collection “Get Wrapped Up in a Good Book??: Juvenile Holiday Reads,” which is filled with holiday themed titles for kids and teens.
“In this wonderful picture book, the authors give readers a delightfully dog-centric picture of a Christmas gala at the White House. Readers will learn about Christmas traditions from many lands around the world, and they will also come to appreciate that though traditions might be different, the meaning of Christmas is the same the world over, if you are human or canine.”
— Marya Jansen-Gruber, Through the Looking Glass
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!
The center of this image at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Somers, 1015 North Somers Avenue, is the Christmas tree and the two small boys posed beneath its branches. The tree lights are wax candles in tin holders with ball weights for counter balance. Ornaments of German blown glass and paper or pasteboard are scattered throughout the branches. Discernable shapes include a fish, a crescent moon and a mandolin. The small child at the right of the image is Lester A. Somers and his movement has slightly blurred a wheeled toy. The child on the right is unidentified. A marble fireplace front and the cast iron grate are partially visible. This photograph is dated around 1901-1902.
This image is owned by the Dodge County Historical Society, and published by Keene Memorial Library. Both are located in Fremont, Nebraska, and they worked as partners to digitize and describe content owned by the historical society. The collection of photographs documents life in Fremont in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
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.
“Prayer and Peanut Butter” by Nebraska author Shirley Lueth 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.
A collection of short, humorous essays about home life with a family of seven children, appearing originally in the author’s column in the Grand Island Daily Independent.
TBBS borrowers can request “Prayer and Peanut Butter” DBC02040 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.
Winter break is almost upon us and it’s the perfect time to get your kids set up to check out ebooks and audiobooks while they’re at home for holiday break. Even if winter weather ruins your regular trip to the library you and your kids can still enjoy new books like “All Wrapped Up: A Geek Girl Special” by Holly Smale (HarperCollinsChildren’sBooks, 2022). It’s available as an eBook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries: Kids & Teens, and can be found in the specially curated collection “Get Wrapped Up in a Good Book??: Juvenile Holiday Reads,” which is filled with Holiday themed titles for kids and teens.
“A feel-good satisfying gem that will have teens smiling from cover to cover, and walking a little taller after reading”
— Books for Keeps
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!
The interior of a department store filled with a crowd of women can be seen in this 3-5/8″ x 4-3/4″ black and white acetate negative. Dated 9/29/1938, a display counter with merchandise can be seen on the floor, along with a filing cabinet with floral arrangements on top of it.
This image is published and owned by the The Durham Museum. The William Wentworth Collection at The Durham Museum consists of 4663 negatives of images that document life in Omaha, Nebraska from 1934 through 1950. William Wentworth worked as both a freelancer and a commercial photographer, providing a unique view of architecture, businesses, and community life in Omaha.
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.
The FCC Form 471 Application Filing Window for Funding Year 2025 will open on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at noon EST and close on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 at 11:59pm EDT. You can read the USAC announcement for full details.
To prepare for the window opening:
If you haven’t already done so, and you are not exempt, file your FCC Form 470 now! You do not have to wait for the Form 471 window to open.
To file your FCC Form 470, log into the E-Rate Productivity Center (EPC). You must wait 28 days after your FCC Form 470 is posted to the USAC website before you can close your competitive bidding process, select a service provider, sign a contract (if applicable), and submit an FCC Form 471. If you issue an RFP after the FCC Form 470 is posted, you must wait 28 days from the release of the RFP to select a service provider.
Wednesday, February 26, 2025 is the deadline to post your FCC Form 470 to the USAC website or issue an RFP and still complete all of these actions before the window closes.
Update Your EPC Profile During the Administrative Window – Update your EPC profile by January 9, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Review your EPC profile and confirm all of your information is accurate including your organization’s name, address, and other details. Your profile is currently unlocked and available for you to insert any further updates, but will be locked again before the 471 Filing Window opens. Libraries should confirm their square footage, main branch, and public school district of the main branch information is correct and that any bookmobiles or kiosks are included. View the EPC Administrative Window webpage to learn more.
Please contact Christa Porter, Nebraska State E-rate Coordinator for Public Libraries, if you have any questions or need any assistance submitting your E-rate forms.
This #BookFaceFriday can see the writings on the wall!
This week’s #BookFaceFriday isn’t superstitious at all! Happy Friday the Thirteenth, if you’re avoiding black cats, walking under ladders, or opening umbrellas indoors, this BookFace is not for you! Check out “Unlucky 13” by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Grand Central Publishing, 2015) it’s the thirteenth installment in Patterson’s “Women’s Murder Club” series. San Francisco Detective Lindsay Boxer is hoping the luck is on her side in this murder mystery thriller. We think your luck is changing because it’s available as a an eBook and Audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, and can be found alongside the entire twenty four book “Women’s Murder Club” series all on OverDrive.
“Those who haven’t read any of the novels in the Women’s Murder Club series are cheating themselves.”
— BookReporter.com
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!
No series has so quickly enraptured me like Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files, with each book pulling me deeper in than the last. Set in Chicago, the series follows Harry Dresden: wizard for hire, paranormal investigator, and perpetually down on his luck. He’s got a sharp wit, one-liners that leave you laughing out loud, and a hero complex that puts him in dangerous situations for the sake of others that you can’t help but feel for.
Believing in magic has always come naturally for me, I was raised on Disney after all, but the world of The Dresden Files really blends the idea of the supernatural into the real-world setting of Chicago so seamlessly that it leaves you looking for bits of magic around you- though perhaps in more dangerous fashion than Disney magic might have you believe. Ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and of course wizards have all played major roles in the series up to this point- but my favorite has always been the fae.
While the fae had been introduced in previous books, Summer Knight really delves into the world of Faerie and even further expands the magical world that Butcher has been building up for the past three books, so I couldn’t have been more delighted when very early on Harry gets a visit from one of the Faerie Queens, Queen Mab of the Winter Court. His fairy godmother (long story) has sold his debt to her, and she’s here to cash in.
While I won’t delve too deep into the plot points of Summer Knight, it generally covers a brewing war between the Summer and Winter Courts of Faerie, due to the murder of the Summer Knight- and the Summer Queen Titania thinks Winter is to blame. Queen Mab tasks Harry to discover the murderer in order to prevent the coming war between the courts. The book moves at a thrilling pace, involving old characters that you’ve already grown to love as well as introducing some new key characters as well throughout the story. And of course, Harry has the world against him once again as he fights to complete his task on time.
If you’re looking to dip your feet into the world of The Dresden Files, I highly recommend the audio books. I’ve always struggled with audiobooks, either losing focus or not processing parts of the book due to the strange way my brain works, but The Dresden Files has been the exception. The audio books are all done by James Marsters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame, and his performance as Harry is incredible. The audiobooks really make you feel as if Harry is sitting across a table, telling the story to you himself. It’s an extra layer of immersion into Butcher’s magical world, as well as a way to give Harry the ever so sarcastic tone of voice he deserves.
I’m more than excited to move onto the next book in the series, and have already pre-downloaded the next couple audiobooks onto my phone to listen to while traveling over the holidays. With seventeen books currently out and more to come, I know I’m in for a thrilling treat.
A bird in a cage is sitting on top of a display of Geisler’s bird seed in this 3″ x 5″ black and white acetate negative. A sign on the birdcage reads: “Geisler’s Authoritative Bird Foods”. This image was taken for Geisler Max Bird Company, located at 113 N. 16th Street in Omaha, Nebraska.
This image is published and owned by the The Durham Museum. The William Wentworth Collection at The Durham Museum consists of 4663 negatives of images that document life in Omaha, Nebraska from 1934 through 1950. William Wentworth worked as both a freelancer and a commercial photographer, providing a unique view of architecture, businesses, and community life in Omaha.
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.
“Wild Seasons: Gathering and Cooking Wild Plants of the Great Plains” by Kay Young 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.
For nature lovers as well as cooks, there’s plenty to whet the appetite in this unique field guide-cum-cookbook. Starting with the first plants ready for eating in the early spring (watercress and nettles) and following the sequence of harvest through the late fall (persim-mons and Jerusalem artichokes), Kay Young offers full, easy-to-follow directions for identifying, gathering, and preparing some four dozen edible wild plants of the Great Plains. And since most of the plants occur elsewhere as well, residents of other regions will find much of interest here.
‘This is not a survival book,” writes the author; “only those plants whose flavor and availability warrant the time and effort to collect or grow them are included.” The nearly 250 recipes range from old-time favorites (poke sallet; catnip tea; horehound lozenges; hickory nut cake; a cupboardful of jams, jellies, and pies) to enticing new creations (wild violet salad, milkweed sandwiches, cattail pollen pancakes, day-lily hors d’oeuvres, prickly-pear cactus relish). Synopses courtesy of University of Nebraska Press
“Kay Young knows more than anyone else I know about wild plants and their uses. . . . If you are interested in wild plants, the Plains, and good eating, you will want a copy of Wild Seasons in your library.” — Roger Welsch, Roger, Over and Out
TBBS borrowers can request “Wild Seasons: Gathering and Cooking Wild Plants of the Great Plains” DBC02011 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.
It’s Friday, #BookFaceFriday, with “Stormbreaker” by Anthony Horowitz (Philomel Books, 2001), the first book in the The Alex Rider Series, a British Spy novel series for kids. Even better, it’s a brand new addition to the Book Club Collection. We love it when book clubs and libraries donate their book sets to us after they’re done reading, making them available to all the other book clubs across the state. Thanks to the Central Plains Library System, we have ten copies of this title available as your next book club read. You can also find it in eBook and Audiobook format in Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Kids and Teens collection.
“Readers will cheer for Alex Rider, the 14-year-old hero of British author Horowitz’s spy thriller (the first in a projected series). When his guardian and uncle, Ian, is mysteriously killed, Alex discovers that his uncle was not the bank vice-president he purported to be, but rather a spy for the British government.”
— Publishers Weekly
Book Club Kits Rules for Use
These kits can be checked out by the librarians of Nebraska libraries and media centers.
Circulation times are flexible and will be based upon availability. There is no standard check-out time for book club kits.
Please search the collection to select items you wish to borrow and use the REQUEST THIS KIT icon to borrow items.
Contact the Information Desk at the Library Commission if you have any questions: by phone: 800/307-2665, or by email: Information Services Team
This 4″x6″ glass plate negative is full figure portrait photograph of Oren and Tinnie Thayer, from David City, Nebraska. Oren is wearing a three-piece suit with white shirt and knotted tie, a long-haired full-length fur coat with wide collar and a wide-brimmed, felt hat. Tinnie is dressed in a floor-length skirt and white stand-collar blouse, ankle-length, dark wool overcoat with bodice embroidery and wide cuffs on the gathered sleeves with a dark fur collar and fur scarf, wide-brimmed hat with ostrich feather and ribbon trim and black leather gloves, holding a box-style purse.
Oren Mortimer Thayer was born December 4, 1855, in Winnebago, Illinois, to Elbridge & Mary Thayer. He married Mary “Polly” Farrell about 1876. They were divorced about 1905. Oren married Tinnie Belle Van Matre, December 12, 1906, in Schuyler, Nebraska. The photograph is probably their wedding picture. Tinnie was born January 21, 1873 in Illinois. Oren died October 29, 1932, in Dawson County, Nebraska, and Tinnie died January 21, 1934, in Kearney, Nebraska. They are both buried in the David City Cemetery.
This image is published as part of the Boston Studio Project collection, and is owned by both them and the Thorpe Opera House Foundation. The Boston Studio Collection consists of over 68,000 negatives that record life in and around David City, Nebraska from 1893 to 1979.
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.
What’s It Like Being a Corporate Librarian? Find out on next week’s NCompass Live webinar, ‘To Librarianship and Beyond’, on Wednesday, December 4 at 10am CT.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a librarian in a corporate environment? Attend this session to hear Emily Nimsakont discuss her position as digital librarian for a software company. She will compare and contrast her job to more traditional library positions, discuss the pros and cons of working in the corporate world, and offer advice on breaking into this area of library work.
Presenter: Emily Nimsakont, Digital Librarian, Posit PBC.
Upcoming NCompass Live shows:
Dec. 11 – Best New Children’s Books of 2024
Dec. 18 – Fostering Healthy Communication in Your Library
Dec. 25 – NO NCOMPASS LIVE THIS WEEK – HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Jan. 1, 2025 – NO NCOMPASS LIVE THIS WEEK
Jan. 8, 2025 – Best New Teen Reads of 2024
Jan. 29, 2025 – 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.
This postcard shows a black and white photograph of a family standing in a general store or butcher shop. There are sausages and cuts of meat hanging on the walls. The man and woman both wear aprons and stand behind a counter with a large scale on it, weighing a turkey, while two children stand in front of the counter.
This image is published and owned by the History Nebraska. They digitized content from the John Nelson and the J. A. Anderson collection. John Nelson came to Nebraska with his parents at the age of seventeen from Sweden. His photographs tell the story of small town life in Nebraska during the first decades of the twentieth century.
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.
“Big Red Confidential: Inside Nebraska Football” by Armen Keteyian 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.
This book brings to life the raw intensity and richly colorful experience of Husker Power. Yet it also shows that beneath this mighty exterior lies a turbulent, troubled team of players and coaches. It exposes the big-time money and pressures that come with being the winningest team in college football.
TBBS borrowers can request “Big Red Confidential: Inside Nebraska Football” DBC02024 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.
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.)
The Prairie Schooner journal selects one short story collection from contemporary writers each year for this prize series. The series is sponsored and vetted by the staff of Prairie Schooner and a venerable committee of judges, and the selected volumes are published each year by UNP with Kwame Dawes as series editor.
One of the most prestigious academic presses in the country, the University of Nebraska Press sends us around 75 select titles per year, which are added to the Nebraska Publications Clearinghouse, also known as the Nebraska State Documents Collection. This collection is comprised of publications issued by Nebraska state agencies, ensuring that state government information is available to a wide audience and that those valuable publications are preserved for future generations. University of Nebraska Press books, as well as all state documents, are available for checkout by libraries and librarians for their patrons.
“Janelle Bassett’s voice is one I can’t get enough of. The stories in Thanks for This Riot are fresh and unique and wickedly off-kilter but also burn with a wry, age-old, ironic wisdom. This collection is bitingly funny but sincerely so, with little lies and harmless untruths taking on an edge and inflicting irresistible damage.”
― Timothy Schaffert, author of The Perfume Thief and The Titanic Survivors Book Club
This murder mystery thriller set on the campus of Cambridge University in England fits perfectly in the Dark Academia genre. Group therapist, Mariana is still reeling from a devastating personal loss while trying to put her life back together. When her niece and adopted daughter Zoe calls from university in a panic, telling Mariana that a girl’s body has been found on campus, and her fears that it is her friend Tara. Mariana will be pulled back to Cambridge where she herself is an alumni, where she met her late husband, and where they shared so many tender memories. Mariana feels compelled to try and help solve the mystery of the murder on campus and has her sights set on the enigmatic American professor, Edward Fosca, that she and Zoey believe is the culprit. Sparked by Tara’s last words to Zoe, revealing that she’s been sleeping with a professor and his threats if she doesn’t stay silent about the affair. He’s charismatic and beloved on campus with an almost cult like following by a group of students he privately tutors and who refer to themselves as “The Maidens.” No one is willing to believe Fosca could be responsible and Mariana’s credibility and emotional stability will be called into question as she attempts to prove her suspicions. Intrigue and suspense make this a great read to get lost in if you love themes of Mythology, psychology, and dark twists.
Michaelides, Alex. The Maidens: A Novel. Celadon Books. 2021.
This composite of two black and white photographs shows the interior of the Sioux Indian Museum. Both photographs show a room with glass showcases on the floor and wooden display cases along the walls. Animal heads hang on one of the walls of the room. The top photograph was taken with the camera facing the back wall of the room, while the bottom photograph was taken facing a corner of the room. The Sioux Indian Museum was located in Rapid City, South Dakota. It housed John Anderson’s collection of Native American items.
This image is published and owned by the History Nebraska. They digitized content from the John Nelson and the J. A. Anderson collection. John Nelson came to Nebraska with his parents at the age of seventeen from Sweden. His photographs tell the story of small town life in Nebraska during the first decades of the twentieth century.
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.
Below is a list of free training opportunities coming up this week! 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.)
