UPCOMING CLOSURES

With the upcoming holidays and school breaks approaching, you might be wondering about the library's services and hours.  We will be closed Friday, December 23 through Monday, December 26. We will also be closed Friday, December 30 through Monday, January 2. 

While we are closed, you can take advantage of some of our online services. You might already be familiar with Libby and Hoopla as other options for borrowing materials, but have you tried some of our other online offerings? A couple of them are highlighted below in this week's blog post.

Gale Courses - This resource offers a wide range of instructor led courses that you can take entirely online. As a library card holder, you can enroll in these courses at no cost. Each course runs for 6 weeks and new sessions begin every month. Some popular classes include Speed Spanish, Accounting Fundamentals, Computer Skills for the Workplace, and Drawing for the Absolute Beginner.

Transparent Languages - This database allows for learners of all levels to build their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in a foreign language. You can choose from over 100 languages, and it also offers English for speakers of other languages.

Brainfuse HelpNow - This resource provides tutoring services for a wide range of academic needs such as a specific homework problem or writing a paper. Students have access to live, on-demand help. There is also a test center that offers practice tests for math, reading, writing, and the SAT.

Historic Evansville: A Digital Collection - This digital collection showcases materials from our Local History Room. On this site, you will find photographs from the Hall family circus, photographs of historic houses, school registers, and the Oriole yearbook.

You can find a list of all our online tools on our website at https://www.als.lib.wi.us/EFPL/online-tools/.

Have a safe and happy holiday season!

SNOWY DAY READS

December is here, and that means it is time for cold weather and snowy days. This week's blog post features books for all ages that are perfect for reading inside on a snow-filled day. Click on the links below for more information and to place a hold!

Children's Books

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Snow by Uri Shulevitz

First Snow by Bomi Park

Winter is Here by Kevin Henkes

Andy and Sandy and the First Snow by Tomie DePaola

Duck, Duck, Dinosaur: Snowy Surprise by K. George

Have Fun, Anna Hibiscus! by Atinuke

Poppleton in Winter by Cynthia Rylant

The Evil Wizard Smallbone by Delia Sherman

Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

YA Books

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp

Let It Snow by John Green

Six Months Later by Natalie Richards

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Locked in Ice by Peter Lourie

The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich

Adult Books

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

One by One by Ruth Ware

Winter by Ali Smith

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

A Wild Winter Swan by Gregory Maguire

Pictures from https://ent.sharelibraries.info/client/en_US/evansint/?

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: ANN RADCLIFFE

This month we are reading The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe for our Antemeridians Book Club.  Ann Radcliffe was born in London in the 1760s and is often considered to be the most representative of gothic novelists, and she is often credited as helping to develop the gothic novel.  Gothic novels typically use castles and/or monasteries as the setting of the story along with underground passages, hidden rooms, and trapdoors.  Radcliffe's works focused on terror rather than horror, and she included strong heroines that were able to defend themselves. Her first novels were published anonymously, but she achieved some fame with the publication of her third novel. When she published The Mysteries of Udolpho, she became a very popular novelist in England. 

A few years ago, we read Jane Austen's novel, Northanger Abbey. Her novel mentions The Mysteries of Udolpho and was part of the reason this book was chosen for our classic read of the year.  A list of Radcliffe's works are below along with gothic novels written by other authors.  Happy reading!

Books Written by Ann Radcliffe

The Castles of Athlin & Dunbayne

A Sicilian Romance

The Romance of the Forest

The Mysteries of Udolpho

The Italian

Gaston de Blondeville

Other Gothic Novels

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

Dracula by Bram Stoker

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

Pictures from https://ent.sharelibraries.info/client/en_US/evansint/?dt=list

First Chapter Book Club and Beginning chapter books

 

First Chapter Book Club and Beginning chapter books

Do you have a young reader who is just starting to read chapter books?  We’d love to see them at the First Chapter Book Club tomorrow! (Tues, Nov. 29 at 3:30 pm)  We will be reading the first chapter of a Mercy Watson book together, then playing a round of Book Character Bingo! While the Magic Tree House series seems to fly out of the library, if you’re looking for some other beginning chapter book suggestions, here are a few that have been popular in our homes:

My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett 

Secrets of Droon series by Tony Abbot (a favorite at our house, luckily there are 35 in the series!)

Ivy and Bean series by Annie Barrows

Sofia Martinez series by Jacqueline Jules

Zoey and Sassafrass series by Asia Citro

Kingdom of Wrenly series by Jordan Quinn

Narwhal and Jelly series by Ben Clanton

Princess in Black series by Shannon Hale

Yasmin series by Saadia Faruqi 

Happy Reading!

Pie in the Sky (and on your Thanksgiving Table)

 

Pie In The Sky (And On Your Thanksgiving Table)

One thing we’re always thankful for is pie, especially this time of year!  Another reason to be thankful this year is that the Friends are having a Pie Sale, so it is one less thing to add to our list of dishes to prep.  Pies will be available for pick up this Wednesday, Nov. 23^rd!

 

Do you have any special dishes you prepare on Thanksgiving?  A few dishes that we are fond of: carmelized sweet potatoes, scalloped corn, cheezy vegetables, ginger beets, Italian sausage and sage stuffing, wild rice with shitake mushrooms and chestnuts, butternut squash and toasted pecan pasta…

Looking for more recipe ideas?  We always love looking at the recipes in our cooking magazines (Taste of Home, Food Network Magazine, Midwest Living), and these books have some photos that are making our mouths water:

The Harvest Baker by Ken Haedrich

The Home Cook by Alex Guarnaschelli

Carla’s Comfort Foods by Carla Hall

The Complete Autumn and Winter Cookbook (America’s Test Kitchen)

Crisps, Cobblers, Custards & Creams by Jean Anderson

 

As always, we are thankful for you, our patrons, and all the wonderful stories you share with us throughout the year.  Wishing you all the best!

November is Native American Heritage Month

 

November is Native American Heritage Month

Happy Native American Heritage Month!  What does it mean to be Native American in modern times? The U.S. has a complex and fraught history with Native Americans and there are so many things that white Americans could learn in terms of the Native American experience, mired as we are in pervasive cultural stereotypes and prejudices, with a Hollywood veneer. 

To delve a bit deeper into hearing their own voices and experiences, here is a list of a few books that we believe offer great insight.  Please note that A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger was the winner of the National Book Award, a Newbery Honor award, and chosen as the 2022 Big Library Read (chosen by OverDrive/Libby as the global community read for the year.)  For more titles, we recommend Debbie Reese’s blog: https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/

 

If you’re interested in hearing more firsthand stories from other people/groups that are battling stereotypes, be sure to check out The Communication Project at the Library this Thursday, Nov. 24, starting at 5 pm.  Choose from a variety of topics and talk one on one with volunteers to hear their perspective.

 

Notable Native American Picture Books

(Non-fiction) Shaped by Her Hands: Potter Maria Martinez by Anna Harber Freeman and Barbara Gonzalez

(Non-fiction) Sharice’s Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman by Sharice Davids

Jingle Dancer by Cynthia L Smith

Forever Cousins by Laurel Goodluck 

Still This Love Goes On by Buffy Sainte-Marie

I Sang You Down from the Stars  by Spillett-Sumner, Tasha

We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom

Notable Native American Teen Books

(Graphic Novel) Borders by Thomas King

A Snake Falls to Earth by Little Badger, Darcie

Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac

Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
If I Ever Get Out of Here by Gansworth, Eric L.

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Notable Native American Books for Adults

(Poetry) Love at Gunpoint by Nila NorthSun

Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King

Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

There There by Tommy Orange

Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson

Yellow Woman by Leslie Marmon Silko

Five Little Indians by Michelle Good

Exploring Careers, Writing Inspiration & Challenging Stereotypes