Kent District Library (MI)'s Blog, page 110

New Features for eBook Site

OverDrive, the service provider for our eBooks & eAudiobooks, has added a number of new features to our site:

The user interface of our eBook website is now available in Spanish. (Note that this does not include title details or Help pages.)

 

 

School-specific information has been added to the Advanced Search and filtered search options. This includes Interest Level, ATOS Level (used by Accelerated Reader to represent readability), Lexile Measure and Reading Level. See OverDrive’s Help page for a more detailed explanation of these new levels.

 

The Read in Your Browser option for eBooks now features Notes & Highlights, an online Dictionary, and the ability to Download a book for Offline Reading.

Questions? Give us a call at 616-784-2007 or fill out the Support Request Form.

Happy Downloading!

 

Out of This World: Award-Winning Sci-Fi

The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. has announced the recipients of the 2012 Nebula Awards®.  The Nebula Awards® are voted on and presented by the active members of SFWA for outstanding science fiction and fantasy published in the previous year. The 2012 Nebula for a novel went to 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson. 

You can find many of the Nebula Award winners and nominees at the Kent District Library.

We Asked, You Answered: Inspirational Fiction

Recently, we published this question on our Facebook page:

If someone was looking to read Inspirational Fiction for the first time, what book or author would you recommend?

Here is a list of some of the authors that were mentioned. Click on their name to find a list of their books available for check out. Place a hold on one today!

Karen Kingsbury
Francine Rivers
Beverly Lewis
Lori Wick
Lisa Samson
Ted Dekker
Randy Alcorn
Jan Karon
Lynn Austin

Find more Inspirational authors using our lists of Popular Inspirational Authors (General) or Popular Inspirational Authors (Genres), and feel free to add your own favorite titles or authors in the comments!

 

New Teen Horror Booklist

Are you looking for a good scary story? But maybe you want one that doesn’t have vampires, werewolves or zombies in it. If so, then do we have the booklist for you! Our new Teen Horror booklist contains 15 books that are fairly new and pretty frightening. A lot of these books have ghosts or other paranormal activity as the main fear factor. So if you feel like you need a good scare without all the blood, gore, vampires and zombie madness, I highly recommend checking out one of these titles.

One book I read from the list is Daylight Saving by Edward Hogan. It was an interesting ghost story about an English teenager who is forced to go with his dad to this huge sports complex to spend some quality time together. However, upon arrival he meets a mysterious girl and every time he meets her it seems her bruises and cuts keep getting worse instead of better, and she is always alone. A nice quick teen read.

 

 

MeLCat Unavailable Wednesday, July 24

MeLCat, the service that allows KDL cardholders to request items from libraries around the state, will be unavailable starting at 1:00 PM Wednesday, July 24 to perform a software upgrade. Searching, placing requests, and renewing MeLCat items will not be possible during this time. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

 

Patron Story: Carrie Datema

Carrie Datema and her husband made a decision when the family’s budget grew tight: lose the cable television and Internet. Going without extras that many people consider to be household must-haves made life difficult on more than one front, but proved to be solvable with just one resource. Read Carrie’s full story here.

 

What’s your library story? Share it with us by filling out this form, and it could be included on the Branches page of our website.

 

Beat the Heat with Cool Summer Movies

It’s hot out there! Get out of the summer sun with a few movies that are sure to help you cool down. Here are a few suggestions:

 Ice Age: Continental Drift

 

 

 

 

The Day After Tomorrow        

 

 

 

 

  Miracle

 

 

 

 

  Winter’s Bone

 

 

 

 

   Doctor Zhivago

 

 

 

 

   Fargo

 

 

 

 

Gather the family, pop up some popcorn, crank up the A/C and settle in for a few hours of cool bliss. Get to your nearest library and check out a few good DVDs today!

 

KDL Gives Back: Another Success!

In a four-week period, KDL branches took in 354 old or damaged U.S. flags from library staff, patrons and community members. We promised to properly dispose of these for you through local Boy Scouts, who are pros at retiring Old Glory in the proper way.

Thanks again for your efforts to support these initiatives. Our next KDL Gives Back initiative will begin October 1 and will be in partnership with the Humane Society of West Michigan. Then, it’s all about puppies. And kitties. And bunnies. Oh my.

 

Early Lit Bits: App Review — Squiggles

One way to develop early writing skills and fine motor ability is through scribbling. The app Squiggles is an entertaining way to encourage scribbling by bringing a child’s drawings to life. Using different scenes, four drawing mediums and a variety of colors, sounds and animations, it allows you to watch your drawing become something special. When you choose a scene you simply make a squiggle, tap “GO” and let the fun begin. The app also includes the option of adding “stickers” to the created picture, as well as sharing, saving or printing it. Try asking your child to draw circular shapes, zig-zags and lines, which will help them in learning to form the parts of letters and numbers. This app is available free for iPad and iPhone.

– Julie R.

 

 

This article originally appeared in our Early Lit Bits eNewsletter. Read the most recent issue online or sign up to receive this monthly update highlighting early literacy tips and resources for parents and caregivers.

 

New Teen Booklists

Still can’t get enough Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins?  Look no further!  Browse our updated If You Like “The Hunger Games” booklist.

And, if you still need a Hunger Games-esque book, try our new Girls with Knives booklist.  Books about teenage girls who must fight to survive or even save the world!