kids & teens

The  Children’s Library ...

serves as a vital gateway to literacy and learning.  It is our mission to provide materials and programs to prepare even the youngest members of our community to become ready for learning in and out of school, and to continue encouraging all youth to explore themselves and their world through literacy.   A wide range of text materials, including sturdy board books suitable for infants and toddlers, beginner books for emergent readers, award-winning literature for all young readers, popular series, classic tales.

Our diverse population is served by providing Spanish language books and videos.  Computers, board games, puzzles, and puppets round out the collection so that there is something for everyone.  The ambience of the lower level is enhanced by a “tree house” structure that invites children to climb up and get lost in a book inside its walls.  The Director of Youth Services firmly believes that, until they love books, all children will at least love the library.

The Children’s Library prides itself on offering programming for all ages that accommodates the busy schedules of today’s families. 

Morning and afternoon story times, after-school sessions, bedtime stories, and young adult programs are held each month.  Speakers, artists, storytellers, and other community members are tapped to share their ideas and experiences with our youth.

A comprehensive summer reading program is provided annually.  This year’s will focus on the animal world and a spectacular array of events for children, young adults, and families will be offered.  Through a special arrangement with the local school district, students will be awarded special incentives by participating in the library’s summer program and take the Accelerated Reading tests on which those rewards are based right at the library.

We also support those who work with children by offering resource materials for parents and professionals including daycare providers, preschool teachers, classroom teachers, and home school families.  With a background in education, the Children’s Department staff can offer expert selection assistance to teachers, parents, and mentors.

Strong bonds have been formed with area schools and the HeadStart and Council of Government agencies.  Story hours are provided at the library and in classrooms on a regular basis which, in turn, encourages families to visit the library and use its resources.  A library should be the heart of any community, and the Children’s Library  is determined to keep it beating.

Top 7 Guide Picks

Top Books by Sharon Creech

(with thanks to About.com)

From Elizabeth Kennedy,
Your Guide to Children's Books.
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Sharon Creech has won a number of awards for her novels for upper elementary and middle school children. These include a Newbery Medal and a Carnegie Award. I have not had the opportunity to read all of her books yet, so this list will probably expand over time. I highly recommend these books.

1) "Love that Dog"

This book, a boy's free verse journal, is both funny and poignant. At the start of a class poetry unit, Jack recounts his negative feelings about boys writing poetry. But with his teacher's help, he comes to not only appreciate the power of poetry but to create his own poem about the death of his dog. I recommend this for 8-12 year olds. (Joanna Cotler Books/HarperCollins, 2001. ISBN: 0060292873)

2) "Walk Two Moons"

This 288-page Newbery Medal winner is for older children (10-14). Two stories are interwoven: thirteen-year-old Sal's story of her trip with her grandparents in search of her mother and the story Sal tells about a girl named Phoebe and her mother. As Sal recounts both stories, the reader becomes engrossed in this novel about family, loss and love. (HarperTrophy, 1996. ISBN: 0064405176)

3) "Granny Torrelli Makes Soup"

This book is briefer than most of Creech's novels but full of insight and heart. It also has several drawings by Chris Raschka. The book is 140 pages and has numerous, very brief, chapters, in which twelve year old Rosie recounts her discussions with Granny Torrelli. With stories and affection, her grandmother helps her to understand why she and her best friend aren't getting along and how important friendship is. (Joanna Cotler Books, An Imprint of HarperCollins, 2003. ISBN: 0060292911)

4) "Absolutely Normal Chaos"

Ohioan Mary Lou Finney's summer journal, an assignment for school, is the thirteen year old's account of her life in "a normally strange family" with five children. In her free ranging journal, Mary Lou discusses all the surprises and changes summer brings: her first boyfriend, the death of a neighbor, and her growing appreciation for her visiting cousin. Creech based the family in the book on her own family. (HarperCollins Publishers, First American Edition, 1995; 1990. ISBN: 0060269928)

5) "Chasing Redbird"

Thirteen year old Zinny Taylor lives in Bybanks, Kentucky with so many brothers and sisters that she often feels lost in the choas and escapes next door to the quiet of her aunt and uncle's home. The death of her aunt, family mysteries, a boy who is more interested in her than in her older sister, and a mysterious trail that Zinny claims as her own all lead to a summer of growth and new understanding. (HarperCollins Publishers, First American Edition, 1995; 1990. ISBN: 0060269928)

6) “Ruby Holler”

Twins Dallas and Florida have had some bad experiences in foster homes. Now they live in a badly run orphanage where they frequently get in trouble. When 13-year-old Dallas and Florida are sent to spend the summer in Ruby Holler with an eccentric elderly couple, the “trouble twins” are very wary of Tiller and Sairy’s motives. It’s a summer of learning, love, and the beginnings of trust. Creech’s novel for 8-12-year-olds is both moving and funny. (HarperCollins, 2002. ISBN: 0060277327)

7) Replay

Part of growing up is beginning to see your parents and siblings as individuals in their own right, as 12 year old Leo discovers when he finds a diary written by his father when he was 13. With a moody older sister and two younger brothers, Leo feels like a “sardine, squashed in a tin.” His fantasies are an escape. When Leo becomes involved in a family mystery while preparing for a school play, he gains insight about his family and his feelings. (Joanna Colter Books, 2005. ISBN: 0060540192)