Join us to learn how libraries in Nebraska are using Reader Zone to engage readers of all ages in quality reading programs on next week’s NCompass Live webinar on Wednesday, November 20 at 10am CT.
Reader Zone helps schools and libraries host amazing reading programs using the three principles that drive success: Engage, Adapt, and Report. There is no limit to the size and type of organization that can use the service.
The Nebraska Library Commission has renewed the state-wide subscription to Reader Zone for all public, school, and academic libraries, continuing access through September 2025. Jake Ball, founder of Reader Zone, will give a live demo of Reader Zone and answer any questions you have about the program.
Presenters: Jake Ball, Founder, Reader Zone and Denise Harders, Director, Central Plains Library System.
Upcoming NCompass Live shows:
Nov. 27 – Pretty Sweet Tech: Internet Librarian 2024 Recap
Dec. 11 – Best New Children’s Books of 2024
Jan. 8, 2025 – Best New Teen Reads of 2024
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.
Get ready for the 2025 Summer Reading Program, ‘Color Our World’, by learning about quality books for your library’s collection on this week’s NCompass Live webinar on Wednesday, November 6 at 10am CT.
Kids will be clamoring for both fiction and nonfiction titles as they read all about art and creativity at the library, the topic for the 2025 Collaboarative Summer Library Program.
Presenter: Sally Snyder, Coordinator of Children and Young Adult Library Services, Nebraska Library Commission.
Upcoming NCompass Live shows:
Nov. 13 – Nebraska Open Meetings Act: 2024 Overview and Update
Nov. 20 – Building Cultures of Reading with Reader Zone
Nov. 27 – Pretty Sweet Tech
Dec. 11 – Best New Children’s Books of 2024
Jan. 8, 2025 – Best New Teen Reads of 2024
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.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) – Region 4’s Science Kits for Public Libraries (SKPL) Grant program is offering up to $2,000 in funding to public libraries to establish a new circulating science kits collection. Open to public libraries that serve geographic areas inside or partially inside the IEEE-Region 4 – this includes portions of Nebraska – see the green-shaded area of this map: IEEE Regions in the USA
The Application deadline is January 16, 2025. Those libraries which have previously applied for the grant but did not receive funding are invited to submit again.
Public Libraries have a long tradition of building stronger communities by providing life-long learning opportunities for children and teens. The SKPL Team is honored to have the opportunity to enrich the services that public libraries offer. SKPL enables children, parents, and teachers the chance to borrow library kits for hands-on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) learning at home or in classroom.
Region 4, Science Kits for Public Libraries (SKPL) organization is a volunteer-based organization affiliated with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). SKPL believes all children – regardless of race, gender, financial condition, or home environment – should have access to high-quality, hands-on STEM learning experiences. By making catalyst grants available to public libraries, we empower them to start their own science kit collections that are free and accessible to the public.
Learn about Nebraska’s state reading and writing contest for youth, Letters About Literature, on next week’s NCompass Live webinar on Wednesday, October 23 at 10am CT.
The Nebraska Center for the Book is a statewide organization dedicated to the promotion of reading in all its forms. Its annual Nebraska Letters About Literature contest allows students in 4th through 12th grade to write to authors (living or deceased) about their favorite book or poem about how his or her book affected their lives. This session will provide helpful information for teachers and librarians interested in the competition. It will also cover the submission process and be an excellent opportunity to ask questions about the entire competition process. Teachers will be interested in this program that will help enhance and extend their classroom instruction.
Nov. 6 – Summer Reading Program 2025: Color Our World
Nov. 13 – Nebraska Open Meetings Act: 2024 Overview and Update
Dec. 11 – Best New Children’s Books of 2024
Jan. 8, 2025 – Best New Teen Reads of 2024
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.
Are your younger readers looking for a great book? Let us lend you a (tiny) hand in finding the right title! The Library Commission has a large collection of book club kits for children and young adults. Like this week’s #BookFace ,”Breaking Rank” by Kristen D. Randle (Turtleback Books, 2001), perfect for readers ages 12 and up; it’s a part of our Book Club Kit collection, with thirteen copies available for checkout. Diving into themes of peer pressure and independent thinking, this novel has been compared to The Outsiders, West Side Story, and Romeo and Juliet.
“This novel challenges stereotypes and stigmas when an unprecedented friendship develops between two teens of rival high school groups. “Randle is adept at conveying ingrained prejudices as well as the frustration and alienation that leads some youths to forsake the `straight’ world for a more friendly and accepting one of their own making.”
—Publishers Weekly
Need a hand searching our collection? Here are some tips! You can browse our collection by genre or grade level, or use a keyword search to find Golden Sower nominees and winners. If you need a large number of books for a whole classroom, limit your search to only those sets with enough books to meet your needs. Still can’t find what you are looking for? Let us know and we’re happy to help.
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
We’ve been at the Nebraska Library Association Conference this week connecting with Nebraska’s librarians and Library staff! Sally Snyder, NLC’s Children and Youth Services Coordinator, also had a table there full of her giveaway books, all available for libraries to take home with them. One of those books is this week’s #BookFace, “Healer & Witch” by Nancy Werlin (Candlewick Press, 2022). Perfect for middle grade readers, this coming-of-age YA novel is a fantasy and historical fiction story all rolled into one. All in all the perfect October read!
“Werlin’s first foray into middle grade is a thrilling and suspenseful experience; there are twisting reveals and adventure aplenty, though the story isn’t afraid to stop for lovely moments of quiet contemplation and recollection along the way. A budding, respectful romance and hints of deeper powers will have readers hoping for a sequel. It’s well worth joining kind and clever Sylvie on her harrowing journey of discovery.”
—Booklist (starred review)
This title comes from our large collection of children’s and young adult books sent to us as review copies from book publishers. When our Children and Young Adult Library Services Coordinator, Sally Snyder, is done with them, the review copies are available for the Library System Directors to distribute to school and public libraries in their systems.
With Halloween later this month, it seems appropriate to choose a story of magic, mayhem, and monsters for Friday Reads.
Living in a town on the fault lines of the magic sealed into the ground … this was every-day to Sid (she’s 17). Occasionally wisps of something floated up from the ground – this was what the tourists were hoping to see.
But then, one of the several Guardians of the sealed area is killed, his key taken, and is used to open one of the several fault lines. Out comes threads of magic that attach themselves to people and animals. Also, zombies and other monsters are now on the loose.
The person behind this event – murder and destroying one seal, so far – keeps claiming magic should be for everyone – but he is absorbing all the magic he can find to keep for himself. He wants all the seals opened to absorb more magic.
Sid joins the remaining Guardians (her brother being one) and struggles to help make a difference in this situation. Who will survive? Who else will die?
As the December 1, 2023 issue of Kirkus says, “The thoughtfully developed characters grapple with issues of race, insecurities, self-absorption, isolation, connection, family, loss, grief, and empathy. …readers won’t want to put [it] down.” This book is written for older teens.
Wasley, Robin. Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear. Simon & Schuster, 2024.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Tessa Timperley 402-471-3434 800-307-2665
Young Readers Invited to Write to Favorite Authors
Young readers in grades 4-12 are invited to write a personal letter to an author for the Nebraska Letters about Literature (LAL) contest, a state reading and writing promotion program. The letter can be to any author (living or dead) from any genre: fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic – explaining how that author’s work changed the student’s view of the world. Submissions must be completed online October 1 – December 31, 2024. Nebraska Letters About Literature is coordinated and sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book and the Nebraska Library Commission, with support from Lincoln City Libraries, Francie & Finch Bookshop, and Humanities Nebraska.
The Nebraska Center for the Book’s panel of judges will select a winner and an honorable mention per competition level (Level I for grades 4-6, Level II for grades 7-8, and Level III for grades 9-12) to be honored in a proclamation-signing ceremony at the state capitol during National Library Week in April 2025. Their winning letters will be placed in the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors at Bennett Martin Public Library in Lincoln. Nebraska winners and honorable mentions will receive state prizes.
Teachers, librarians, and parents can download the contest guidelines, free teaching materials, information on the online entry system, and past winning letters on the Nebraska Center for the Book website. An informational NCompass Live webinar will air on October 23rd, discussing this year’s contest, the submission process, and judging criteria. For more information contact Nebraska Center for the Book.
The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the national Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Nebraska Library Commission.
As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”
Learn more about the NLC Grants for 2025 on this week’s NCompass Live webinar on Wednesday, September 25 at 10am CT.
Nebraska Accredited Public Libraries and State-run Institutions! Do you have an idea for a program or project you would like to see funded? Apply for an NLC Grant!
The Nebraska Library Commission has made funding available for four grants for 2025: Continuing Education & Training, Internship, Library Improvement, and Youth Grants for Excellence. Don’t let your library miss out on these opportunities!
Grant applications for all 2025 NLC grants opened on September 20 and will be due November 15, 2024.
Join Christa Porter, Sally Snyder, and Holli Duggan, from the Nebraska Library Commission’s Library Development Team, as they provide an overview of the grants, including eligibility requirements and grant guidelines, the application process and grant review, timelines and deadlines. They will also share some tips on writing effective grants.
Upcoming NCompass Live shows:
Oct. 2 – Pretty Sweet Tech: Digital Navigators & Digital Equity in Nebraska
Oct. 16 – Dragons at the Library: An Exciting New Reading Program
Oct. 23 – Letters About Literature 2024
Oct. 30 – Pretty Sweet Tech
Nov. 6 – Summer Reading Program 2025: Color Our World
Nov. 13 – Nebraska Open Meetings Act: 2024 Overview and Update
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.
Nebraska Accredited Public Libraries and State-run Institutions! Do you have an idea for a program or project you would like to see funded? Apply for an NLC Grant!
The Nebraska Library Commission has made funding available for four grants for 2025: Continuing Education & Training, Internship, Library Improvement, and Youth Grants for Excellence.
Applications are being accepted for all NLC grants right now! Don’t let your library miss out on these opportunities!
Grant applications for all 2025 NLC grants are due November 15, 2024.
For more information about these grants, register for the September 25 NCompass Live webinar, NLC Grants for 2025.
Continuing Education & Training grants help assist Nebraska libraries to improve the library services provided to their communities through continuing education and training for their library personnel and supporters. Successful applications will show how the continuing education and/or training proposed will support the library’s mission. There will be two rounds of CE Grants. The first fall grants will open in September and applications will be accepted for events/projects/classes that must be completed before June 2025 . The second spring round will open in March and applications will be accepted for events/projects/classes that begin after June 2025.
Internship grants work to introduce high school and college students to the varied and exciting work of Nebraska libraries. The internships are intended to function as a recruitment tool, helping the student to view the library as a viable career opportunity while providing the public library with the finances to provide stipends to the student interns.
Library Improvement grants facilitate growth and development of library programs and services in Nebraska public and institutional libraries, by supplementing local funding with federal funds designated for these purposes.
Youth Grants for Excellence are available specifically for innovative projects for children and young adults in your community. The program encourages creative thinking, risk-taking, and new approaches to enable youth librarians to begin needed programs and try projects which they have been unable to undertake, and to offer an opportunity to expand youth service capabilities in new and different directions.
This free one-day online conference is tailored for staff from small libraries; the smaller the better!
Small libraries of all types – public, academic, school, museum, special, etc. – are encouraged to submit a proposal. We’re looking for seven 50-minute presentations and four 10-minute “lightning round” presentations.
Do you offer a service or program at your small library that other librarians might like to hear about? Have you implemented a new (or old) technology, hosted an event, partnered with others in your community, or just done something really cool? The Big Talk From Small Libraries online conference gives you the opportunity to share what you’ve done, while learning what your colleagues in other small libraries are doing.
Here are some possible topics to get you thinking:
Unique Libraries
Special Collections
New buildings
Fundraising
Improved Workflows
Staff Development
Advocacy Efforts
Community Partnerships
That great thing you’re doing at your library!
Speakers from libraries serving fewer than 10,000 people will be preferred, but presentations from libraries with larger service populations will be considered. Speakers must be from small libraries or directly partnered with a small library and submitting a proposal to co-present with the library.
Big Talk From Small Libraries 2025 will be held on Friday, February 28, 2025 between 8:45 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (CT) via the GoTo Webinar online meeting service. Speakers will present their programs from their own desktops. The schedule will accommodate speakers’ time-zones.
Learn ‘How to Make a Magic Butterfly Wand’ on next week’s NCompass Live webinar on Wednesday, August 28 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.
I’ve been having some fun using my butterfly wand to display lights in pop-up cards, so I’m going to show you how it works using Micro:bit radio control. Sort of like how you use a controller to make an RC car move, the butterfly wand controls a fun LED light display. It’s not too bad once you see it in action. By the end of this session you will have:
Customizable material listing
Code snippet you can download & re-use
Activity ideas using micro:bit for elementary to middle school
This session will having you flying home to make your own wands!
Upcoming NCompass Live shows:
Sept. 4 – Board Games & Computer Science in Libraries
Sept. 11 – Memory Care Initiative
Sept. 25 – Pretty Sweet Tech
Oct. 9 – NO NCOMPASS LIVE _ ENJOY NLA!
Oct. 16 – Dragons at the Library: An Exciting New Reading Program
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.
There’s so much to learn in this week’s #BookFace! “The White House: A Meet the Nation’s Capital Book” by Lindsay Ward (HarperCollins, August 2024) is a fun, interactive picture book that’s perfect for educating kids on the inner workings and different people who work inside of the White House.
“An expansive reminder that our government is of, as well as by and for, the people.” —Kirkus Reviews
We couldn’t resist bringing this week’s bookface with us to the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.! The Nebraska Center for the Book has selected one youth book and one adult book by Nebraska authors to represent the state at the 2024 National Book Festival: “Eat Your Woolly Mammoths!: Two Million Years of the World’s Most Amazing Food Facts, from the Stone Age to the Future” by James Solheim and “Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir of a Crime” by Debora Harding. Both titles will be part of the National Center for the Book’s Great Reads from GreatPlaces program. Check out the festival schedule, featured authors, and highlights for past events on the Library of Congress’s event page!
This title comes from our large collection of children’s and young adult books sent to us as review copies from book publishers. When our Children and Young Adult Library Services Coordinator, Sally Snyder, is done with them, the review copies are available for the Library System Directors to distribute to school and public libraries in their systems.
Don’t let the first few week’s of school push you over the edge! Back to school can be stressful, but finding great books for your kids to read doesn’t have to be. Whether its through our Book Club Kits collection, eBooks and Audiobooks in Nebraska OverDrive Library, picking up a title from our giveaway books. there is something for everyone in at all reading levels. Like this week’s #BookFace! “Murder on a School Night” by Kate Weston (Katherine Tegen Books, 2023) this funny, witty murder mystery for teens is written by a former stand up comedian and bookseller.
“Mean Girls meets Midsomer Murders with a dash of Louise Rennison in this genre-blending story that centers girls’ friendships and two ambitious best friends. Kerry and Annie are self-absorbed friends whose obsession over their lack of popularity results in hysterically funny dialogue and a lighthearted tone. Kerry’s crush on newcomer Scott offers sweet diversions. However, what really elevates the goofy capers and over-the-top scheming is how well Kerry and Annie know both themselves and each other. Secrets add depth and complexity to this insightful parody of teenage life. A nuanced, hilarious page-turning romantic mystery.” —Kirkus Reviews
This title comes from our large collection of children’s and young adult books sent to us as review copies from book publishers. When our Children and Young Adult Library Services Coordinator, Sally Snyder, is done with them, the review copies are available for the Library System Directors to distribute to school and public libraries in their systems.
Learn about ‘Helping Students Be Google Aware’ on next week’s NCompass Live webinar on Wednesday, July 3 at 10am CT.
Google has become the most common and dominant search engine in our culture. Students use it to find information about everything, including scholarly research. As teaching librarians, we have to ask: What do students use when not at school? More than likely than not, they will turn to Google to search. Because of this, we must teach them to become careful consumers of the information the Google algorithm produces. Relevance is a complex combination of advertising influence, proprietary interests, programmers’ language, and predictions (based off of prior search patterns). Schembri discusses how to recognize and report inaccuracies of marginalized groups, and how Google has worked to maintain a better, more neutral output for potentially inflammatory searches.
Presenter: Pamela Schembri, School Library Media Specialist, Horace Greeley High School Library, Chappaqua, NY.
Upcoming NCompass Live shows:
July 17 – Think Outside the Box: Transformative Training with Breakout Challenges
July 31 – Pretty Sweet Tech
Aug. 14 – Operating a Culture of Belonging: Personal Librarian 2.0
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 week’s #BookFace, “Long Way Down” by New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds, is a Newbery Honor Book and a Coretta Scott King Honor Book.
This electric YA novel is available as a part of our Book Club Kit collection, along with five other books written by Jason Reynolds.
“Spanning a mere one minute and seven seconds, Reynolds’ new free-verse novel is an intense snapshot of the chain reaction caused by pulling a trigger. Reynolds’ concise verses echo like shots against the white space of the page, their impact resounding. He peels back the individual stories that led to this moment in the elevator and exposes a culture inured to violence because poverty, gang life, or injustice has left them with no other option. In this all too real portrait of survival, Reynolds goes toe-to-toe with where, or even if, love and choice are allowed to exist.”
—Booklist, starred review
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 title is also available as an Audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. You can find ten other books by Jason Reynolds in our Kids and Teens collection! 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!
Registration for both in-person and virtual attendance at the 2024 Association for Rural & Small Libraries Conference is open!
The in-person 2024 ARSL Conference will be held at the MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts, from September 11-14, 2024.
This year’s conference theme is “Libraries are (r)Evolutionary.” Our conference provides an opportunity to explore the transformative power of rural and small libraries in our communities. Like chrysalises of change, these libraries nurture revolutionary ideas and evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of our patrons. Let’s embrace the (r)Evolutionary spirit of libraries and inspire each other.
Early Bird pricing for in-person attendance will be available through July 16.
*Must be an ARSL Advocate, Student, or Retiree member. **Preconference Workshop fees are charged in addition to Base Conference Registration and are available for in-person conference attendees only.
Book 1 in a new series, Orris, a rat, lived in an abandoned barn. He was happy there. One of his prized possessions was an old sardine can. It had a picture of a sardine king on the can, and the king said, “Make the good and noble choice.” He contemplated this advice regularly.
One evening Orris hears a horrible screech and a cry for help. Orris looked out from his nest to see a young owl caught in a mousetrap. The rat is not planning on helping his natural enemy until he recalls the sardine king’s advice. Slowly he moves towards the owl, asking him to stand completely still. Next to the talons, Orris pulls on the metal of the trap and tells the owl to move. When the owl is free, Orris is terrified and cowers, then creeps slowly to his nest.
But, rather than prey, the owl, Timble, thinks of Orris as a friend. Orris tells Timble the fable of The Lion and the Mouse. Soon they plan to meet every evening for more stories.
A marvelous introduction to the two main characters and the wonder of storytelling. “Make the good and noble choice” could show up again in future titles of the series.
This is an early chapter book aimed at readers who are ready for something longer than a beginning reader but not ready for a full-fledged novel, though many readers will enjoy it.
Orris and Timble: The Beginning, by Kate DiCamillo.Candlewick Press, 2024.
With another school year ending, that can only mean one thing: Summer Reading Program is upon us! This week’s #BookFace is “Defiant” by Brandon Sanderson (Random House Children’s Books, 2023), the fourth book in his Skyward series.
It’s available for checkout as an eBook from Nebraska Overdrive Libraries; it can be found in the “Adventure Begins at your Library” collection. This action-packed epic Sci-fi series is an excellent YA pick for both boys and girls and fits perfectly in this year’s Summer Reading Program theme.
“Sanderson delivers a cinematic adventure that explores the defining aspects of the individual versus the society…[and] fans of [his] will not be disappointed.”
— School Library Journal
Find this title and many more 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!
Join us on this week’s NCompass Live on Wednesday, May 22 at 10am CT, for ‘Fostering Nature’s Love: Collaborating with Local Author for Community Engagement’.
Friends of the Verde River has introduced its first children’s book, “On the Verde River,” authored by Arizona native Phoebe Fox and illustrated by Jim Fox. This book aims to inspire a love for nature among children aged 2 to 10. As part of our nonprofit’s efforts for Arizona Gives Day, we partnered with Verde Valley First Books to distribute copies of the book to children in need across the Verde Valley. Verde Valley First Books is another nonprofit that is dedicated to providing age-appropriate books to 3 and 4-year-olds living in poverty, currently serving 554 children monthly.
Our outreach includes collaborations with local libraries, participating in story times with activities like making paper otters, and featuring the book in Sunset Park’s StoryWalk in Sedona. Additionally, “On the Verde River” has been recognized by the Library of Congress’ Center for the Book, being listed among “Great Reads from Great Places” and will be showcased at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. on August 24, 2024. This recognition enhances the book’s reach and impact, promoting nature appreciation among young readers.
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.
