The Smart Card

Two-thirds of Americans have a library card, and this month, we want to see that number climb even higher. September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month, an effort spearheaded by the American Library Association. The emphasis this year is on making sure that school-age children have library cards. Do all the children in your family have a library card? If not, bring them to the library today, where getting a library card is easy. Remember, a library card is the most important school supply of all!

The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District and CSI: The Experience at the MGM Grand have teamed up to present “Love your Library? Tell a Friend!” It’s a library card sign-up campaign that begins Wednesday, September 1 through Thursday, September 30. (more…)

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Back-to-School with Modern Classics

Move over Tom Sawyer and hello Vladimir Tod? With all of the Facebook-ing, tweeting, and video gaming, how do we keep kids interested in books and reading?

It seems that library and schools are moving with the times and providing reading lists tailored to the modern youth. With the ‘new’ required reading titles such as Lovely Bones, Persepolis, Holes, in addition to the evergreen standards such as 1984, The Great Gatsby, Slaughterhouse Five, we are providing readers with a well rounded and modern perspective on literature.

Who cares if Sebold or Twain hooked them on reading-they are reading!

Here are some recommended modern classics for a mix of ages:

• Peace, Locamotion by Jacqueline Woodson
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Dicamillo
• Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
• Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
• I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
• Monster by Walter Dean Meyers

You can find these modern classics above in our eMedia Catalog.  What books published within the last 10 years would you consider as a modern classic?

September Events, Holidays & Rememberances

Image via Wikipedia

Monthly Events, Holidays & Remembrances

• Hawaii
  Source: Library of Congress (LOC)
  “Known as the ‘Aloha State’ (in Hawaiian, ‘aloha’ means ‘hello’), Hawaii is a group of volcanic islands in the central Pacific Ocean that together became the 50th state in 1959.” (LOC) Learn about the history and culture of Hawaii.

• Davy Crockett
  Source: Texas State Historical Association and the University of Texas at Austin
  This site tells the story of Davy Crockett, frontiersman, soldier, congressman, and finally a hero of the Battle of the Alamo.

• Hiroshima: A Survivor’s Story
  Source: Scholastic Inc.
  “This resource is part of the series WWII Remembered. This site provides a stirring personal narrative from a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing.” (SCHOLASTIC INC.) Follow the story of Francis Mitsuo Tomosawa, an American citizen who lived in Japan during World War II and witnessed the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

Spotlight of the Month topics are selected mainly from Chase’s Calendar of Events.

Back-To-School Time

Hey kids!  It’s that time again to get ready for back-to-school, so get out your smart phone and computer and add these cool tools so you are ready to do your homework!

• Bookmark the Library’s mobile website – use this to put holds on books for your assignments.
• Add the iPhone App Access MyLibrary – this will allow you to search from your phone for full text magazine and newspaper articles and reference books found in the Gale databases.
• Add  EBSCO Mobile to any smartphone – this will search all the EBSCO databases from your phone for magazine and newspaper articles.
• Start off the year right with your own online tutor and best of all it’s free! So bookmark your computer to go to BrainFuse Help Now!
• Last but not least bookmark the Library’s Homework Help site.  We have selected top databases and websites and arranged by subject area to make getting your homework done fast easy!

By using this cool tools on the school bus you will have half your homework done by the time you get home!

This program (Brainfuse) is funded in part by the Nevada State Library and Archives and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas.

Brain Teaser – Triple Play

In this brainteaser, all you have to do is to choose the correct meaning from three suggestions.  Need help? Try using the library’s online resource –  Credo Reference.

1. Is the kookaburra a kind of fish, an insect, or a bird?

2. Cummerbund means the German government, a slang term for a lazy person, or a wide sash worn around the waist?

3. Scapula means the shoulder blade, a surgeon’s knife, or the shaven top of a monk’s head?

4. Apiarian means before the time of the dinosaurs, belonging to the monkey family, or relating to beekeeping or bees?

5. A buckler is a small round shield, a decorated belt, or a trainer of race-horses?

6. Aspartame is a kind of long grass that grows on sand dunes, an artificial sweetener, or a kind of pasta?

7. A porbeagle is a kind of bird, a kind of whale, or a kind of shark?

8. Chervil means a kind of herb, a small kangaroo, or a servant in medieval times?

9. A czardas is a Siberian musical instrument, a Russian sweet containing caramel, or a Hungarian folk dance?

10. A neonate is a swelling on the skin, a newborn baby, or an African musical instrument?

Questions set by Tony Augarde, author of “The Oxford Guide to Word Games”.