Through the Library to the Stars

By Jonathan K.

Throughout elementary school, I was a fiend for library books. I was continually at my limit at my school’s library and the local public library branch. I learned about history from biographies, British humor from weird picture books, myself from some great kids’ fiction, and spycraft from anything I could get my hands on.

But one day I stumbled across a book with a big blue planet on the cover: ‘Isaac Asimov’s Library of the Universe: Neptune, the Farthest Giant’. This set me off on a course of discovery that took me through the travels of Voyagers 1 and 2, through the Orion Nebula, beyond the globular clusters orbiting our Milky Way’s center, to the Andromeda Galaxy and beyond.

Read moreThrough the Library to the Stars

Mommy-and-Me Dates at the Public Library

By Harmony F.

As mother to a busy-bodied 22 month old, I’m always looking for fun and easy activities to entertain and educate my curious boy, Henry. Henry is a little man on a mission and like most toddlers, prefers to explore his world in very physical ways.

Lucky for us, Henry LOVES books and is willing to sit still through dramatic readings of The Pout-Pout Fish or to lift page-after-page of flaps in search of Spot. The times each morning and night he spends curled up in our laps for story time, are often the only minutes in the day he stops moving. Unlucky for us, he usually loves ONE book at a time, 6-10 times per day.

Have you ever read Pete the Cat: Wheels on the Bus eight times in one day? As cute as Henry’s clumsy choreography is, it can be hard to take. We like to keep our selection of books fresh without breaking the bank.

Read moreMommy-and-Me Dates at the Public Library

Creating Magic for an 8-Year-Old

By Jolie V.

Ms. Valentine, do you have a book on the Greek alphabet?

Why, yes. Yes I do.

It’s Camp Read a lot time, and I can hear children at the picnic table, their voices raised to that particular shrillness that usually means an argument is about to boil over. There’s activity over at the fishing pond, too – but I don’t have a line of direct sight to the lines to see if anyone is swinging them…ah, no swinging yet. But I have, I estimate, about forty seconds to help you find a book on the Greek alphabet. After that, who knows what will happen with the fishing lines and the picnic argument.

Read moreCreating Magic for an 8-Year-Old

Library Research Forever Changed My Son’s Life

By Dana G. 

Last May, my 18-year-old son had a motorcycle accident and severely fractured his left clavicle. After two visits to local specialists and surgeons, I was disappointed by their prognosis…one said do nothing even though my son’s bones were bayoneted, almost poking through his skin; and the other said he should have surgery with a hip graft and 5” metal plate with six screws. This would leave a huge scar, his one arm would be shortened and he would most likely have back pain in his forties. …as a medical librarian, I said to myself, “I wonder what InfoTrac could tell me?

Read moreLibrary Research Forever Changed My Son’s Life

The Unexpected Roots of National Hispanic Heritage Month: Part One

Each year from September 15 to October 15, Americans celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Begun in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week, this celebration of the histories, cultures, and contributions of Americans of Hispanic ancestry was expanded in 1988.

Read moreThe Unexpected Roots of National Hispanic Heritage Month: Part One