Sunday, June 24, 2012

90 Years of Newbery Winners



I presented a program to the Summer Reading Club at nearby Hawkes Children's Library on Thurday. Hawkes is 90 years old this summer and since the first Newbery Award was presented in 1922 the parade of Newberys made a nice correlation to the 90 years of this small library located in West Point, Georgia, on the banks of the Chattahoochee River.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

My, my, my.........


Just purchased a Kindle book from Amazon....Rapture by Lauren Kate.....and it was more expensive than the hard copy! Figure that. Didn't want to wait so got the ebook. Now I have used up all my gift card credits. Ugh, have to start paying real money.
This is the 4th book of a series. The 3rd book was rather convoluted although I like the premise behind them. The Fallen series.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Tuesday 6/5 Quick Write

The scribbles on the desk blotter add up to a week of hard work. Wiggles and circles and jigs and jags unconsciously drawn as I stopped to catch my breath. The filing cabinets are haphazardly stacked with books waiting to be appropriated to the proper box. Partially filled cardboard boxes crowd the office floor. The hot smell of melting plastic from the heated laminator breaks my spell. I toss aside the pen as I glance out the wall of windows. The narrow dingy hallway is crowded with the hot, flushed, and sweaty bodies of 6th graders, both girls and boys dragging in from afternoon PE. The air is spiked with dancing hormones as they shuffle, push, and punch their way to the classrooms. Dusty unread books, the warming scent of the carpet as the hot sun peeks in the outside windows making a pool of light on the floor, and the noises of chattering children are fighting in my mind. Combined with the acrid burning odor of scorched day old coffee it hits me hard. That sick to your stomach feeling that it will all soon be gone. The library is being divided, three-fourths of our student body are being reassigned. The faded blue cement block walls will be the home of a new group, the K – 6. We are getting the littlies, the lower grades, the criers, the snifflers, the scared. Hundreds of our books are leaving home and I am retiring.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Still Not Too Late to Get Into this Free Summer Program

From Kate Messner's Blog


Teachers Write! is an online virtual summer writing camp for teachers and librarians who understand how important it is for people teaching writing to walk the walk. If you’re a teacher or librarian who would love to work on your own writing, we’d love to have you join us.



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