Tales from a Loud Librarian

Yesterday, the library sponsored its first author visit of the 2010-11 school year. We have three more authors coming before Thanksgiving! The sixth and seventh graders were in for a real treat when Ms. Rhodes began to read from her book, Ninth Ward . She had a wonderful energy that translated so well to middle school students. She explained how Mama Ya Ya was based on her own grandmother, but Lanesha was based on all the kids in New Orleans, like the students at Patrick Taylor, who had to suffer the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

 Here I am at LAMP with author Dianne de Las Casas  Who knew that you could plan a conference for 120 people in less than a week. On Friday, September 10th I got a call asking if I would plan the afternoon sessions for the annual Louisiana Library and Media Professionals Annual Conference (LaLAMP) held in New Orleans on the 16th. The venue, exhibitors, and morning keynote speaker were all set . I had to plan the afternoon and put together the sign in sheets, evaluations, and certificates as well as get helpers to deal with all the paperwork. The Jefferson librarians really stepped up to the plate. Several of them put together one hour presentations, and those uncomfortable with presenting helped with the other tasks. My hats off to all the wonderful ladies and gentleman who helped get it together in record time.

On Monday, Patrick Taylor, will host Jewell Parker Rhodes. Her first book for children has just been published. Ninth Ward is about a 12 year old girl who must prepare her home for Hurricane Katrina by herself as her aging grandmother is unable to do so. This book was selected for Al Roker's Kids Book Club. Click here to see her interview on the Today show .

The story takes place behind the mirror Yesterday, the library sponsored its first event of the new school year. Author, Cornelia Funke , broadcasting from New York presented a live streaming webcast to kick off the release of her newest book, Reckless .  The event happened to be scheduled during our lunch period. So, thirty students in 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grade piled into the library to view the program. I ran to the weekly farmer's market ahead of time to purchase kettle corn for the students to munch. Everyone was invited to bring their lunch to this event, too. It started 20 minutes late, which caused some issues for 4th period, but the kids who participated really enjoyed it. Students are engrossed in the presentation We had some sound issues early on, so this 8th grader decided to get as close as possible to the speakers

Here is the official notice of the program that Bookmarked was awarded for 2010-2012. Bookmarked is the official reading group of the Patrick Taylor Academy library. YALSA chooses 2010-2012 Teens' Top Ten book groups | American Libraries Magazine

Students have been back at school for four weeks. Books have been flying off and on the shelves. New books were put into the collection just as the students started back to school. Here are some titles that the kids are loving: The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins is hot, hot, hot. Boys, girls, middle school, high school -- everyone is reading them. I have been pushing them like crazy. I am a big fan of dystopian literature, and these are some of the best around. Jennifer Brown's Hate List about a school shooting is another title that just won't sit. It's edgy and unpredictable. All of the Sarah Dessen books are favs of the high school girls, but this one, Along for the Ride seems to be one that never gets reshelved. You just can't knock a good romance story. All of Ellen Hopkins' titles have been scorching the hands of readers for the last couple of years, but Identical has had more check outs than her other titles. Her themes and fast pace storylines

Yesterday, we received word that Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy was named a Blue Ribbon School. Click here to read the article in the Times Picayune giving all the details.

Here is a press release describing the wonderful program of which Bookmarked, the library book group, gets to join for the next two years: The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association, selected Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy in Jeffersopn, LA as one of the 16 public and school libraries from across the country to serve as official book groups for YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten. The Teens’ Top Ten is an ongoing project in which publishers of young adult books provide copies of their recent titles to teen book discussion groups in libraries, including the Bookmarked at Patrick Taylor Academy. In exchange, teen readers at Patrick Taylor will evaluate books from more than 30 participating publishers. Bookmarked will begin its term as a Teens’ Top Ten book group in November 2010 and will finish its duties in 2012. All teens across the US are able to vote for the Teen’s Top Ten favorite titles of the year. This year’s