All posts by Theresa

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Notable Dates for your Noggin: February 2015

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Introducing our new monthly update – Notable Dates for your Noggin!  Each month we’ll bring you a compiled list of fun national holidays, birthdays of authors, and publication dates of favorite books.  You can use these for your own personal use or for some library inspiration!

Did we miss anything?  Let us know if we did!

For our calendar of library events, including conferences and library days, check out our Events/Initiatives page.

And for more Notable Dates for Your Noggin, check out our Notable Dates page.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Brian Ellis returns to SCSU as Charles Darwin

Brian Ellis as Charles Darwin

Here is a great opportunity for all ages!  Check out this event announcement from The Library at St. Cloud State University: 

Award winning Chicago-area storyteller Brian “Fox” Ellis returns Feb. 11 and 12 to the Library at St. Cloud State University to help celebrate Charles Darwin’s birthday.

Ellis will perform “Charles Darwin and His Revolutionary Idea” at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 11 and again at 7 p.m. Feb. 12 in the Miller Center Auditorium. Each hour-long performance will be followed by informal conversation with Darwin in the Miller Center’s fireplace lounge. Both are free and open to the public.

Ellis recreates an evening at London’s Royal Geological Society with Darwin, shortly after the naturalist’s famous around-the-world journey on the HMS Beagle, which set sail from England on Dec. 27, 1831, returning home almost five years later.

Ellis applies his own training as a science teacher and his many years developing his craft as a storyteller to capture the spirit and intensity of the young Darwin, who was born Feb. 12, 1809. (The night of Ellis’s performance would be Darwin’s 205th birthday). As props in his performance, Ellis uses samples of fossils, insects, plants and animal skins to help the audience share in the sense of discovery that Darwin himself experienced.

In addition to these two performances, Brian Ellis will be visiting with hundreds of students in classes on Feb. 11, 12, and 13.

In October, Brian Ellis performed as Edgar Allan Poe to a standing-room only crowd in the Library at  St. Cloud State University. He has been touring the world telling stories and researching his subjects since 1980. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including award winning children’s books and lesson plans. To learn more about Brian Ellis, visit his website at http://www.foxtalesint.com.

The Library at St. Cloud State University provides scholarly resources and support services to the students, faculty and the university community as well as to the St. Cloud community. To learn more, visit the library’s homepage at http://lrts.stcloudstate.edu/library. Information on Brian Ellis’s visit and other Library programming is available at http://stcloud.lib.mnscu.edu/subjects/guide.php?subject=LibraryPublicProgramming

As mentioned above, Ellis performed as Edgar Allan Poe in October.  His performances were well-attended and very popular among high school and college students alike.  You can check out our recap here.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Recommended App: War Horse Interactive Edition

War Horse InteractiveRecently, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) came out with their 25 Best Apps for Teaching & Learning for 2014.  The apps were chosen because they foster innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration.

One of these is War Horse Interactive Edition.  Author Michael Morpurgo reads the story aloud as the words are highlighted on the screen.  AASL says, “history and English teachers…will be fascinated by the way this app integrates many disciplines, helping students develop a deeper understanding of the historical context of this novel.”

The app is priced at $6.99 and is only available on iOS.  It is recommended for grades 6-12.  Check out their video:

http://vimeo.com/51531038

For more apps, check out our 2014-2015 Recommended App archive!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Booklist: Read the Book, See the Movie

Sticking to the scriptYou probably don’t need any more titles on your booklist, but we found some more great ones!  Arielle Calderon of Buzzfeed has put together a list of 21 Books To Read Before They Hit The Big Screen In 2015.  Each entry features a starred review of the book from Amazon users, as well as movie trailers (when available).  The list is in chronological order, so you can plan accordingly!

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/nptavrl, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Top 10 OverDrive FAQs

OverDriveNow that OverDrive no longer charges an annual fee, more schools are thinking of making the move to use it.  This would give K-12 students a common eBook user experience between the school and the public library.  Carrie Smith of OverDrive Blogs has compiled their top ten questions into one nifty blog post, OverDrive’s 10 most frequently asked questions.  From ‘how to get started’ to ‘how to get titles on a specific device,’ this post is your one-stop shop for OverDrive basics!