A Year-long Celebration of Picture Books!

Recognize the librarian starring in the video above? Our own Miss Janet is featured in Candlewick Press' year-long celebration of picture books. Every day a new video will be posted featuring a Candlewick author, illustrator, staff member or friend who will share their favorite book or talk about why picture books are important. Click through to see what has been posted so far, and keep checking throughout the year. They will post a total of 365 videos, and you can even submit a video of your own to join the party!

Janet chose to share one of her favorites (and mine) Guess How Much I Love You. What book would you share?

Library Best Practices

The Oregon State Library has identified three best practices for services to youth (services to children outside the library, summer reading programs and early literacy training for caregivers) and compiled a list of libraries that excel at providing those services. It may not surprise you to find that Tigard Public Library is on that list, along with many other wonderful Oregon libraries. We live in such a beautiful and exceptional state!

The Picture Book Proclamation

Several picture book authors and illustrators got together recently and signed this proclamation, penned by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Carson Ellis. It's a refreshing take on what writers and illustrators need to do to produce interesting, beautiful and relevant books for children in a time when publishing is changing fast. This is a good reminder that "Children's books merit grown-up conversation," and "Grown-up conversation does not mean asking kids to leave the room." "Every day we make new children-- Let us also make new children's books."

Click through for a more legible version, and check out the fresh and lovely books of some of the authors listed at the bottom of the page. Thank you to Carson Ellis for bringing attention to the Proclamation through her blog.

Take a look...

Remember Reading Rainbow? I do. And I still mourn its loss. For 25 years LeVar Burton and his League of Extraordinary Children shared children's books every day on public television. They made recommendations, they narrated stories with clever animation, and LeVar traveled around the world to locations relevant to the daily theme. Basically, LeVar had the best job in the world (next to being a children's librarian) and I guess he's missed it because he's making plans to bring Reading Rainbow into the 21st century! He's launching a website (still under construction), and he's announced the development of an iPad app that will allow kids to explore topics of interest, with videos (some familiar and some new) of LeVar visiting relevant locations. And, of course, through the app he'll be sharing books. So, all you iPad users make sure to keep your eye out for the new app. You can say it's for your kiddos, but if you're like me, you may just want to get lost in the rainbow yourself.

But you don't have to take my word for it.

Letters for a Library

In 1972, Marguerite Hart, the first Children's Librarian in Troy, Michigan, wrote to dozens of actors, artists, musicians, politicians and writers to ask them to send letters to the Children of Troy about the importance of libraries, and their memories of libraries and books. She got 97 letters in return! These are all posted on the library website, and they are well worth a perusal.

I love running across stories like this on the Internets. I've met a lot of children's librarians, and so many of them share Hart's fantastic qualities: Imagination, dedication and a willingness to ask for the moon!

How much is your library card worth?

Sure, it didn't cost you anything to get your library card, but how much is it worth? One of the new features of our Tigard Library website is a Library Use Calculator. Plug in how much you use your library in a month (number of books and movies you check out, computer time used, programs attended, etc.) and you can find out. My card is worth a cool $506 a month! Now that's some savings. Let us know how much your card is worth in the comments.

Reading for Grownups

Surrounded by picture books and chapter books, I often get lost when it comes to books for grownups. Luckily our Adult Services Librarians are on the job. The new Tigard Library website has two excellent places to help you out: May We Recommend and New at the Library. With featured books, booklists and links to helpful sites, you'll find it a quick and easy way to grab a book for yourself. The booklists are linked to the catalog, so you can place a hold on something that sounds good and we'll let you know when you can pick it up!

Illustrated Envelopes

Over his storied (get it?) career as a children's book publisher, Klaus Flugge received hundreds of envelopes illustrated by authors. He's shared some of his favorites (like the one above) here.

As I perused these in wonder and delight, I found myself pondering why someone would spend so much time customizing something as disposable as an envelope. Were these letters particularly important? Did Klaus Flugge include a clause in his contracts that illustrators had to grace him with periodic free art? Then it occurred to me that there doesn't have to be a reason, the illustrators could have just felt like creating for the pure joy of art. Can you imagine the delight of the mail sorters and carriers? The secretaries? These envelopes must have passed through numerous hands before they reached Klaus and elicited all kinds of smiles. So, why not do the same when you send off a letter with your little ones. Even if they're not writing yet, have them decorate the envelopes. I'll bet the lucky recipients will treasure what was once mundane made beautiful!

Searching at Tigard

Did you know that if you want to search for a book specifically at the Tigard Library, there is a way to do that?

1. Go to the Washington County Cooperative Library Services site.
2. Click on Search in the upper right-hand corner.
3. Choose Advanced Search.
4. In the upper right-hand corner, you will see a drop-down menu labeled Switch to Another Branch. Select Tigard Library.
5. Do a Keyword or Advanced search.
6. Find the drop-down menu next to Limit By: and select Local Titles Only.

Your results will bring up only items owned by Tigard. You will still need to Check Availability to make sure the item is In at Tigard. Because you selected Tigard as your branch, Tigard items will be listed at the top.

I am pleased to announce...

that our Juvenile Hindi collection is now available for checkout! I know it's small, but we have to start somewhere! As I said in my post a couple of months ago, it joins the Juvenile World Languages collection along with Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Somali, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

Languages other than English

For those of you who don't know, we have a small Juvenile World Languages Collection. In addition to our rather large Spanish Language collection, we also have holdings in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Somali, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. And I am pleased to announce that we will also soon be adding Hindi! Some of the titles are bilingual. Ask a librarian to show you.

Story Times and Reading

Recently I came across this great article in the Huffington Post about the importance of story times for toddlers and how not important it is for them to learn to read. One of the best ways you can encourage your child to become a great reader is by enjoying books with them...no flashcards or videos required. Story times provide a good time for this; you and your child are singing, laughing, clapping and sharing.

One of my favorite quotes from the article: "...language skills and the actual activity of reading with an adult are the most important outcomes of toddler story time - not learning the words out of context."

So enjoy story time with your little one, whether they sit in your lap and listen, or play with a board book, or watch the other kids in the room! Know that they're soaking up all of it (the stories, social interactions and everything else happening!).

Spooky Stuff

Looking for some spooky fun in Tigard this weekend? Get in the spirit with a few spine-tingling tales from the display in the Children's Room of the library (in the Fiction section). Find just the right story to share with the perfect amount of scare.

Stop by the Tigard Farmer's Market on Sunday, Oct. 31 from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m., for the final day of the market and a special seasonal celebration. Bring bags for your treats, meet Gentle Biff the Clown and enjoy the market.

Tigard High will be hosting their annual Halloween Trick or Treat Rooms on Sunday, October 31 from 3 to 5 pm. There is no cost but they are asking for a donation of canned food.

School's Back!

School's started, which means homework is right around the corner. In addition to the wonderful resources available in your library (books and librarians, of course), don't forget the awesome resources available from your online library (ebooks, magazine and journal articles, encyclopedia and more).  There are databases about countries and states (CultureGrams), science experiments (Science Online) and current events (Kids InfoBits). Unlike the Internet, these are all updated, fact-checked, accurate resources for your student to use. And as always, your librarians would be glad to give you or your student a quick how-to for these homework helpers.

Connecting Families with Child Care

Going back to work and need child care? Did you know that there is a free service available that helps you find child care that's just right for your family? 

Community Action's Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) program offers free child care referrals. Just fill out a request form and their specialist will get work foryou. They also have resources on choosing quality child care and findng subisdy support. Last year they helped over 1,000 families find child care.

CCR&R supports providers as well, offering training opportunities in education, business and other skill development areas.

Good Deeds and Vocabulary

Fans of good deeds and vocabulary can help the Oxford Dictionaries Save the Words. On the interactive site you can browse through oft-forgotten words. Find a word you really like and pledge to "save" it by using it as often as you can.

For example, I found a nidifice in my wisteria yesterday. What word will you save from oblivion?

City Contests and News

Does your youngster dream of political greatness? They can get a headstart with the City of Tigard's poster/essay/video contest "If I Were Mayor" going on now through May 28th. Check the City's page for the full set of rules and how-to's. Tigard students (including homeschoolers) in grades 4th-12th can enter!

Also, the City is sponsoring a sidewalk art contest to decorate the new Burnham Street/Ash Street sidewalks. Students in 6th-8th can try their hand at creating a design for a concrete stamp depicting either the Western Pond Turtle or the Northern Red-Legged Frog. Check the City's page if you, like me, have no idea what either of those look like (and for more information!).

In a final note, the City has had to make some service and program reductions to support the budget. As of June 1st, the library will open three hours later on Thursday mornings, opening at 1 p.m instead of 10 a.m. Because of this and staff reductions, the Youth Services staff are making some small programming changes. Book Babies, starting in June, will move to Monday mornings at 10:30 a.m.  The Monday morning Preschool Story Time will be cancelled, although the Thursday afternoon Preschool Story Time will continue at 1:15 p.m. instead of 1 p.m. Also starting this summer, two Weekend Adventures a month will be offered instead of four. More information will follow with the new program brochure at the end of May and on the library's page of Kids Events.

Suzanne's Around Town

Getting bored of doing the same ol' thing around the house with the kids? Check out Suzanne's Around Town to get some ideas of fun things to do around the Portland Metro Area.

And the Winners Are...

The most dazzling awards event of the book world happened early Monday morning at the ALA Mid-Winter Conference. The winners were announced for a whole slew of awards.

And the Caldecott for distinguished illustration goes to Jerry Pinkney's The Lion and the Mouse!  This is a beautiful wordless book, making it great to share with all ages.  Two books received Caldecott honors: Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors by illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Joyce Sidman (I'll review this one later!) and All the World illustrated by Marla Frazee, written by Liz Garton Scanlon.

The Newbery, recognizing a book distinguished for its text and written for the 0-14 year old set, was awarded to When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. Mystery, family dynamics and time travel collide in this fantastic story.  Several honor books were named: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice written by Phillip Hoose, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate written by Jacqueline Kelly, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon written by Grace Lin, The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg written by Rodman Philbrick.

Other winners included....Benny and Penny in the Big No-No! written and illustrated by Geoffrey Hayes, the Theodor Seuss Geisel winner; Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream written by Tanya Lee Stone, the Sibert medal winner ; several Coretta Scott King Award winners and many more. Click here for a complete list, including "Notable" titles.

Babies need books too!

I was just catching up on my blog reading, and this post on Book Moot reminded me of one of the most important pieces of furniture in an infant's room: book shelves! Baby showers are a great opportunity to help a loved one start a library for their little one(s), and board books are the way to go. Board books often have just the right high-contrast pictures and minimal, rhythmic text to support very early literacy, and their thick, sturdy pages are perfect for the gooey fingers of little people who are just beginning to develop fine motor skills. So, give your babies books! And make sure they are on a low shelf, a crate, or even a basket for easy access once independent mobility ensues.