Category Archives: Special

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Goodreads Choice Awards are In!

Are you interested in knowing what average readers like you and I deem to be the best books in 2012? The results of the Goodreads Choice Awards 2012 are in! The winners were voted on by the site users, making it a sort of People’s Choice of the book world. How many people voted? Over 1.1 million votes were cast this year and  winners and runner-ups are listed below. There were a few close calls, and more than a few landslide victories. It’s fun to see if your favorites this year match the list below. Feel free to comment on which ones were the best of the best in your eyes!

Best Fiction
The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling 11,525 votesGoodBook2
Where We Belong by Emily Giffin 7,841 votes

Mystery and Thriller
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (woohoo!) 27,502 votes
Celebrity in Death by J.D. Robb 6,364 votes

Best Historical Fiction
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman 6,918 votes
Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel 6,516 votes

Best Fantasy
The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King 8,226 votes
The Woman Who Died A Lot by Jasper Fforde 5,221 votes

Paranormal Fantasy
Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness 12,660 votes
Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich 5,917 votes

Science Fiction
The Long Earth by Terry Prachett and Stephen Baxter 7,670 votes
Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey 5,624 votes

Romance
Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James 22,967 votes
Bared to You by Sylvia Day 8,306 votes

Best Horror
The Twelve by Justin Cronin 7,414 votes
Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz 6,549

Best Memoir & Autobiography
Wild by Cheryl Strayed 8,207
Paris in Love by Eloisa James 4,308

Best History & Biography
Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch by Sally Bedell Smith 6,507 votes
Drift by Rachel Maddow 4,313 votes

Best Nonfiction
Quiet by Susan Cain 7,532 votes
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo 5,356 votes

Food and Cookbooks
The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond 7,977 votes
The Homemade Pantry by Alana Chernila 2,888 votes

Best Humor
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson 13,066 votes
I Am A Pole (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert 4,984 votes

Graphic Novel and Comics
The Walking Dead, Vol. 16: A Larger World by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard 8,614 votes
Avatar by Gene Luen Yang 6,937 votes

Best Poetry
A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver 5,520 votes
Alien Vs. Predator by Michael Robbins 1,333 votes

Best Goodreads Author
Insurgent by Veronica Roth 20,328 votes
City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare 13,858 votes

Young Adult Fiction
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 37,438 votes
Easy by Tammara Webber 8,890 votes

Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction
Insurgent by Veronica Roth 23,827 votes
City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare 14,814 votes

Middle Grade & Children’s
The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan 16,681 votes
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney 7,912 votes

Picture Books
Olivia and the Fairy Princesses by Ian Falconer 7,699 votes
The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems 6,971 votes

Academic, General, Public, Special

We’ve Learned: Staffing News and Updates from Around the Region

We’ve Learned… is designed to keep our readers informed about news concerning personnel in CMLE libraries/media centers. Please keep us informed of any “happenings” regarding staff members in your area so that we can include them in the next write-up! Happenings can include: changes in staffing, awards, honors… you get the idea!

  • Ron McGriff, Faculty Librarian, has resigned his half-time position at Pine Technical College with an effective end date of January 31, 2013. This will allow him time to assist in this college transition. McGriff began work at the college as a consultant in 2003 to assist in library service planning including the relocation of services into a renovated space in the main, campus building. In 2005, he was appointed to the position of faculty librarian. He will continue in his consulting business, now in its 28th year, of evaluating and planning spaces and services for all types of libraries in Minnesota and elsewhere.
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Recommended Resource: ClassBadges

Have you checked out ClassBadges yet? ClassBadges is a free online resource that allows educators to connect with their students and present them with awards, in the form of digital badges, badgesfor their successful work or completion of a project. The digital badges can be customized to your school, class, or the project your students are working on. For example, on their About Us page, they provide an example of badges utilized to track the progress of a research paper. If the student chooses, they can also share the badges they’ve received with friends or family – truly showing off their accomplishments! I love this idea, because it gives students a visual aid and provides a free extrinsic reward system – which definitely has impact on some students. Visit www.classbadges.com to learn more and get your class account set-up.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Wants Your Opinion!

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Libraries Initiative is seeking input from library professionals on how public libraries can continue to serve (and better serve) their communities, as devices are becoming increasingly popular and information is literally in the hands of many. It is an anonymous survey that should take about five minutes to complete. Those interested in taking the survey can access it at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/W3DBZ96

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Recommended App: Zite

Do you ever find it difficult to find all the news of the day that interests you? Enter Zite!

ZiteZite is a free personalized magazine for your device that automatically learns what you like and gets smarter every time you use it. Zite delivers all the great news, articles, blogs, and videos you want – and helps you discover new stuff that you’ll love. With Zite, you can select your unique interests, and the more you interact with the app, the better it’s able to highlight items that may be of interest to you.

Zite is compatible with  iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It was just updated December 4, and the newer version requires iOS 6.0. It is also compatible with Android and requires 2.1 and newer.