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Tag Archives: Summer Reading
#BookFaceFriday “Dear Librarian” by Lydia M. Sigwarth
SHHHH, this is a #BookFaceFriday!
Summer reading is in full swing all over Nebraska! So this week’s #BookFaceFriday is both a shout out to all those amazing librarians that put tons of work into Summer Reading Programs, but also that we have book lists for all ages on Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. “All Together Now: Summer Reading Program 2023” is a specially curated collection great titles that would be perfect picks for Summer Reading. Just like “Dear Librarian” written by Lydia M. Sigwarth and illustrated by Romina Galotta ( Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021.) It’s a perfect reminder of everything a library has to offer. It’s available for checkout as an audiobook from Nebraska Overdrive Libraries.
“Galotta uses an array of media, including watercolors and colored pencils, to lovingly reflect the heroine’s inner emotions and thoughts in the details and background on each page . . . This touching story celebrates the joys of friendship, finding a home, and the power of libraries.”
— School Library Journal, starred review
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. 188 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 21,696 audiobooks, 35,200 eBooks, and 3,964 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!
#BookFaceFriday “Across the Desert” by Dusti Bowling
Is it hot out here, or is it just #BookFaceFriday?
Well, we weren’t able to find a desert for this week’s #BookFace, but we did the best we could. If your kids are looking for a little adventure this summer, look no further! NLC has several great titles in their book club kit collection that would be great for taking their minds all over the world, like this week’s #BookFaceFriday “Across the Desert” by Dusti Bowling (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2023.) A middle-grade action-adventure story, about survival, friendship, and courage. It’s available for checkout as a book club kit or as an audiobook from Nebraska Overdrive Libraries. We have 10 copies available for your library to borrow today! We also have several other titles by Dusti Bowling available on Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, check them all out today.
“Experience has taught Jolene she can only count on herself, and she doesn’t think she counts for much. But when she witnesses her friend’s accident in the desert via live stream, she finds the strength to rescue them both. Across the Desert combines compelling adventure, honesty, danger, and love.”
―Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
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
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. 188 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 21,696 audiobooks, 35,200 eBooks, and 3,964 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!
#BookFaceFriday “I am Princess X” by Cherie Priest
Once upon a time, there lived a #BookFaceFriday!
Don’t let the summer slide happen for your tween and teen readers. With no homework to keep them busy, summer is a great time to start a YA book club. NLC has several great titles in their book club kit collection that would be perfect picks like this week’s #BookFaceFriday “I Am Princess X” by Cherie Priest (Scholastic Inc., 2016.) Don’t be fooled by the crown, this is no fairy tale! A young adult mystery, interspersed with graphic novel elements, it will surely draw in younger teen readers. It’s available for checkout as a book club kit or as an audiobook from Nebraska Overdrive Libraries. We have 10 copies available for your library to borrow today! We also have discussion questions available on the Book Club page so your book club members have a great place to start when talking about what they’re reading.
“Priest’s YA debut is an engrossing cyberthriller packed with a puzzling mystery, crackerjack detective work, and an eerie, atmospheric sense of place. Teens who roll their eyes at adults out of touch with Internet culture will eat this up.”
— 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
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. 188 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 21,696 audiobooks, 35,200 eBooks, and 3,964 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!
#BookFaceFriday “Sidetracked” by Diana Harmon Asher
On your marks, get set, #BookFace!
School is out, and that means Summer Reading Programs all over the state are gearing up. With this #BookFaceFriday we’re racing to the finish line with “Sidetracked” by Diana Harmon Asher (Harry N. Abrams, 2017.)
It’s available for checkout as a book club kit or as an eBook or audiobook from Nebraska Overdrive Libraries. The 2023 Summer Reading Program theme is “All Together Now,” kids will be reading all about Kindness, Friendship, and Unity, the topics for this year’s program. You can find a list of other titles on the Nebraska Library Commission 2023 SRP Book List, created by Sally Snyder, our Coordinator of Children and Young Adult Library Services.“An entertaining mix of events, conversations, anxieties, and reflections, Joseph’s first-person narrative engages readers on page one and never lets up…Justice is sweet when bullies get their comeuppance in this rewarding first novel.”
– Booklist
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. 188 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 21,696 audiobooks, 35,200 eBooks, and 3,964 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!
#BookFaceFriday “Half a Chance” by Cynthia Lord
Whatever floats your #BookFaceFriday! 
The summer camp vibes are strong with this week’s #BookFace! Take a break from the lake with “Half a Chance” by Cynthia Lord (Scholastic Press, 2016,) available in the NLC Book Club collection. Summer Reading Programs and book lists are the perfect opportunity to start some kid’s book clubs! Book clubs are a great way to fight the summer slide, encourage critical thinking, and developing social skills, not to mention another way to foster a child’s love of reading. This is your reminder that NLC’s Book Club Kits Collection is not just for adults. We have a huge collection of young adult titles that are perfect for fostering discussion.
— School Library Journal
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
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General, Youth Services
Tagged Book Club, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Cynthia Lord, Kid Lit, Summer Reading, Young Adult
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#BookFaceFriday “My Ocean is Blue” by Darren Lebeuf
It’s an ocean of possibilities with #BookFaceFriday!
School is out, and that means Summer Reading Programs all over the state are gearing up. So we’re diving in with this #BookFace, “My Ocean is Blue” written by Darren Lebeuf and illustrated by Ashley Barron (Kids Can Press, 2020.) It’s a part of the”Oceans of Possibilities” collection in Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Kids & Teens, a list of titles specially curated for the 2022 Summer Reading Program. It’s available for check out as an eBook, along with the 285 other titles in the collection. “My Ocean is Blue” is also on the Nebraska Library Commission 2022 SRP Book List, created by Sally Snyder, our Coordinator of Children and Young Adult Library Services.
“My Ocean is Blue … strikes just the right note as Lebeuf and Barron share a day at the seaside through a poetic text that is beautifully mirrored by exquisite watercolour, pencil crayon and collage illustrations.”
– The Globe and Mail
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. 188 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 21,696 audiobooks, 35,200 eBooks, and 3,964 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!
Posted in Books & Reading, General, Youth Services
Tagged bookfacefriday, ebooks, Kids, libraries, Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, Reading, Summer Reading
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#BookFaceFriday – “A Song Only I Can Hear” by Barry Jonsberg
If #BookFaceFriday were a mixtape.
With schools out for summer, librarians are just gearing up for our busiest season! You know what that means, Summer Reading Programs, teen and children’s book lists, and all the other ways libraries help combat the summer slide. So this week’s #BookFace is dedicated to you. Check out middle-grade read “A Song Only I Can Hear” by Barry Jonsberg (Simon & Schuster, 2020.) So whether you’ll be under the boardwalk, surfin’ USA, or spending your summer in the city, the library’s got something for you, like these Best Books lists for children and teens put together by Sally Snyder. 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. Public and school library staff are also welcome to stop by and select some titles for their library collections. We think this one would be a great addition to any library. Contact Sally Snyder for more information.
When Rob starts getting mysterious texts from an unknown number, he has to make a decision—stay under the radar, or risk being exposed in a way he’s not prepared for—in this “stirring” (Booklist) middle-grade novel that’s perfect for fans of Wonder.
This week’s #BookFace model is Hollin Attendola, one of our TBBS Reader Advisers.
Love this #BookFace & reading? We suggest checking out all the titles available in our Book Club collection, permanent collection, and Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Nebraska Libraries Report 1,000,000 Minutes of Reading
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 7, 2020
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Denise Harders
402-462-1975
denise.cpls@gmail.com
Central Plains Library System
Summer reading programs are helping students become better readers
Hastings, Nebraska – Since mid-May, more than 100 Nebraska libraries have been carrying out Summer Reading Programs that have allowed patrons of all ages to log their reading progress.
As of July 7th, Readers have logged:
1,086,227 minutes read
10,457 books completed
110,272 pages read
1,928 literacy activities completed
The Nebraska Library Commission and the Nebraska Regional Library Systems have worked to engage more than 100 libraries in summer reading programs through an innovative reading app called Reader Zone. These programs consist of participants of all ages with the majority being kindergarten through 6th grade.
COVID-19 has greatly impacted libraries in every corner of the state. Libraries that typically carry out in-person events for summer reading have turned to virtual programs that allow them to remain engaged with their communities.
“We are excited to reach one million minutes and we thank all our hard-working librarians and our wonderful patrons for their dedication to literacy and reading,” said Denise Harders, Director of the Central Plains Library System. “But we’re not stopping at one million! I invite all Nebraskans to continue reading through July and join our August Reading Challenge.”
The August Reading Challenge will run from Aug. 1st– Aug. 31st. The challenge will be to read 1,000 minutes within the month. Anyone is invited to participate in these programs through your local library.
“Seeing Nebraska readers reach 1 million minutes demonstrates that there are many dedicated public librarians and engaged families throughout the state. We are extremely proud of Nebraska and I am certain that they will double or triple their reading numbers before the end of the summer. Students will return to school in the fall with their hard-earned reading skills sharpened and ready to learn,” Jake Ball, creator of Reader Zone.
Reader Zone is web-based reading program and app that helps organizations of all kind to build and deploy meaningful reading programs. Reader Zone offers a mobile app that makes participation in reading programs simple and rewarding for readers of all ages.
Nebraska’s Regional Library Systems are four non-profit corporations governed by boards representative of libraries and citizens in the region. Systems provide access to improved library services by facilitating cooperation among all types of libraries and media centers within the counties included in each System area.
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. The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.
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Posted in Books & Reading, Programming, Youth Services
Tagged Reader Zone, Summer Reading
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Friday Reads: The Pumpkin War by Cathleen Young
I don’t know about you, but reading during this pandemic has been a challenge. Between working from home, keeping a school-age kid on track with his lessons and a preschooler out of the cookie jar, not to mention feeding everyone 3-5 times a day (why are we so hungry?!?), and the constant blare of the news, I just don’t have the time or attention span to concentrate on a book. Is it just me? (Apparently not).
Fortunately, my public library recently started contact-less pickup and I got a load of middle-grade novels and picture books for the aforementioned children. The Pumpkin War by Cathleen Young was at the top of the pile.
Set on Madeline Island in Lake Superior, this is the story of a half-Irish, half-Ojibwe girl named Billie who is determined to win her town’s annual pumpkin race and get revenge on her former best friend for sabotaging her attempt the previous summer. It is also the tale of how every story has two sides, growing pumpkins is a full-time job, and sometimes winning isn’t something we do on our own. It was the perfect book to kick off my summer reading and yours too!
Young, Cathleen. The Pumpkin War. Random House, 2019.
Posted in Books & Reading, General, Youth Services
Tagged #FridayReads, cathleen young, Friday Reads, middle grade, pumpkin war, Summer Reading
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#BookFaceFriday “Let Your Voice Be Heard”
Let the good times roll with this week’s #BookFaceFriday!
Summer Reading Programs are happening all across Nebraska right now. This week’s #BookFace selection, “Let Your Voice Be Heard: The Life and Times of Pete Seeger” by Anita Silvey (Clarion Books, 2016) is the perfect fit since the Summer 2018 Reading Program motto is “Libraries Rock!” and the theme is music. Almost all public libraries, and a few school libraries, offer summer reading programs in Nebraska. It’s offered to the children, teens, and sometimes adults, of various communities across the state. Every year, the Library Commission provides a manual to public libraries in Nebraska, as well as a booklist of titles that relate to the theme.
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 the engaging, well-illustrated biography Let Your Voice Be Heard: The Life and Times of Pete Seeger, author Anita Silvey explains how this unlikely folk-music hero turned singalongs into social change.” –The Washington Post
This week’s #BookFace model is Nebraska Library Commission’s Talking Book & Braille Service Circulation Clerk, Nicholas Westra!
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!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged "Let Your Voice Be Heard", Anita Silvey, Book Art, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, Pete Seeger, Reading, Summer Reading
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