Featured Publisher: Rourke Educational Media

An ongoing look at partner publishers available through GVRL

By Geoff Schwartz

Rourke Educational Media (Rourke) has been publishing eye-catching, engaging nonfiction children’s books that comply with national curriculum standards since 1980.

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In Other News: Ebola

A look at a current news item through the lens of different titles available on GVRL.

By Michelle Eickmeyer

Ebola. Just the word sounds scary. A surge in an extremely deadly, contagious virus, with no medical cure or approved treatment plan is killing hundreds of people in western Africa. Two American volunteers in the area are now suffering from the disease, raising new questions about the possibility and practicality of evacuation. With more than 700 deaths, the world is currently experiencing the largest Ebola outbreak on record.

Here are five titles that look at Ebola from different perspectives:

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In Other News: MH17

A look at a current news item through the lens of different titles available on GVRL.

By Michelle Eickmeyer

This story is heart-breaking. Everything about the events in Ukraine since 17 July have not made logical or reasonable sense. A commercial airliner with 298 passengers flew, at an approved height, over a battle zone. Fighters in that area blew it out of the sky, believing only a military plane would fly there, with weapons provided by another nation. Then, for days, the same fighters laid a sordid claim to the wreckage, holding the victims and their family in some cruel, unthinkable, inhumane limbo — they held the bodies of victims; they rummaged through their belongings; they took photos. Finger pointing began immediately, and few solid answers have found their way to the surface. The black boxes have finally been turned over and international authorities have begun an increasingly difficult task of proving what happened. Based solely on facts and without pressure from any side.

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In Other News: Hyperthermia

A look at a current news item through the lens of different titles available on GVRL.

By Michelle Eickmeyer

That’s the technical term — hyperthermia. To most of us, it’s the gut-wrenching and heart-breaking situation of a child dying in a hot car. Each summer, the saddest of stories plays out in the news. For one reason or another, a child is alone in a car and he or she dies. There are variants to the story, and, sadly, sometimes lingering suspicions of guilt. In 2013, 44 children died from exposure inside a vehicle in the United States. There have been nearly 20 already this year. (Source)

Here are five titles that look at hyperthermia from different perspectives:

Read moreIn Other News: Hyperthermia

In Other News: The King of Spain

A look at a current news item through the lens of different titles available on GVRL.

By Michelle Eickmeyer

There are few “jobs” in the world from which people don’t quit. In just over a year, we have seen two exceptions to this — the resignation of Pope Benedict and the abdication of Spain’s King Juan Carlos I. The latter giving just over the (Western) traditional “two weeks notice.” After making his intentions known on the 2nd of June, Spain crowned their new King, Felipe, on the 19th.

Read moreIn Other News: The King of Spain

In Other News: The Congressional Medal of Honor

A look at a current news item through the lens of different titles available on GVRL.

By Michelle Eickmeyer

On June 19, 2013, Corporal William Carpenter became the 15th recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for service in Iraq or Afghanistan.  It is the highest honor the United States government can bestow on a member of the armed forces.

Winston Churchill once said “never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few,” and the Congressional Medal of Honor is just one small, yet significant, way to honor those who have given much.

Read moreIn Other News: The Congressional Medal of Honor

Behind the Screen: At the Dibner Library

By Jennifer Albers-Smith

I’ve been to the Smithsonian a couple times before, and I’ve always thought of it as just a museum (and a glorious one at that) – giant covered wagon, old-fashioned cars, sewing machines, etc. I had absolutely no idea what lay behind the exhibits until my recent trip to do some filming for our latest Behind the Screen video at the National Museum of American History.

We lugged our film equipment through the side entrance and took a long walk through a dimly-lit maze to get to a wooden door – the entrance to the Dibner Library. I had never noticed the sign for the Dibner Library before. It’s right off the main entrance to the museum, and open to the public, but it’s tucked away, and most visitors have no idea it exists… What’s inside is an absolute treasure trove.

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Is Your Library Essential Enough?

are public libraries still essential?

By Brian Risse

This article, “Being Essential Is Not Enough,” is a compelling commentary on the environment in which today’s libraries must function. Though written from an Academic Library perspective, when you read it with public libraries in mind, it still rings 100% true. And as the author, Rick Anderson states, “it’s a hard truth.”

Read moreIs Your Library Essential Enough?

In Other News: D-Day

A look at a current news item through the lens of different titles available on GVRL.

By Michelle Eickmeyer

True story: I saw “Saving Private Ryan” in the theater twice because the fist time I couldn’t bear to watch the 27 minute opening scene — reputedly known for being one of the most accurate (read: horrifying) recreations of nearly 10,000 men injured or killed on a beach. (I also passed out while holding my breath during the final scene of “Black Hawk Down”; my fear and knowing the truth behind the real-life version of what happened next getting the better of me. But that is neither here nor there.)

Read moreIn Other News: D-Day