Did You Know: Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum

Did you know…that in the early mid-seventeenth century when the French, English and Dutch were becoming established in the Caribbean, privateers, more widely known as buccaneers, become invaluable military forces in times of war in an age when permanent navies did not exist. They were merchants granted with “letters of marque and reprisal” authorizing their attacks on Spanish shipping and ports. They delivered the captured ships and in return they would be allowed to share the spoils…early days of piracy on the open seas! Read all about it in Gale’s World History in Context. Check it out or call your rep for more information.

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Did You Know: Not a very catchy name, now is it…

Did you know?

Did you know…the Popsicle had another name? The very first “icy treat on a stick” was called the Epsicle, named in 1924 by Frank Epperson who was a powdered lemonade vendor in California. Read about how the more popular name of this beloved frozen treat came to be, and much more, in the St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. Check it out or call your rep for more information.

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Partner Interview: Anne Marie Houppert of the National Geographic Society

What makes working for National Geographic a fulfilling experience and why should you be excited to add National Geographic Virtual Library to your collection? Find out straight from the source. In a continuation of our interview with the Geographic, we had the pleasure of interviewing Anne Marie Houppert.

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Did You Know: Time to hit the slopes!

Did you know?

Did you know…the earliest known snow skiers were from 8000 B.C. in the Altay region of China? However there is some dispute on this as others have said skiing started in Scandinavia. Read all about the history of skiing in National Geographic Virtual Library’s “The World’s First Skiers.” Check it out or call your rep for more information.

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My Mom Made Me Do it

By Debra M.  I fell in love with reading and books early on, and really became a voracious reader in third grade. We didn’t have much of a school library, so I used our public library in Jackson, MS as own personal bookstore. In college I was majoring in education, and while home for summer … Read more

Did You Know: Rock and Roll, it’s here to stay!

Did you know?

Did you know…that when it comes to music, Rock is such a broad category people organize the definition around a genre? Examples include Elvis Presley was Rockabilly, Bob Dylan as folk, Public Enemy as rappers and even Madonna who was considered a disco diva. Read all about it in GVRL’s What is Rock? The Birth of Rock & Roll: Music in the 1950s Through the 1960s. Check it out or call your rep for more information.

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School Librarian Feeds Sharks

By Margot H. 

My 5th-grader loves her school librarian, Miss S., who is quirky in the best possible ways. We often see her around town, walking while reading a book. Her newly hatched chicks are always a big draw at Back-to-School-Night. And Miss S. has a special knack for helping each student find the perfect book.

Last week, my daughter came home from school excited to share a story involving the librarian and our beloved Monterey Bay Aquarium.

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