Tag Archives: Reading

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Recommended App: Browzine

Recently released by Minnesota-based company, Third Iron, Browzine is an app created by librarian, John Seguin. According to the Browzine press release “With BrowZine, users can easily find journals made available by their library, browse titles of interest, and read individual articles or the complete journal.” It also syncs with Dropbox and box.com for easy distribution Browzineand citation of articles.

There are two different versions of the app; one version gives the user access to open-access journals, and another requires a sync to occur between their library (whether public, school, or academic) and the app — authentication gains them access to most of their library’s online database collection. In other words, the library needs to have subscribed to the Browzine service for the sync to occur. If a library is interested in subscribing to Browzine they should consider reviewing this video, and visiting the Browzine website for additional information.

The app is free to the user, and is currently specific to the iPad (though plans are in the works for an Android app). It requires iOS 5.1 or later.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

New York Times: 100 Notable Books of 2012

The New York Times just released their list of the 100 Notable Books of 2012. The list summarizes the best of the best in fiction, poetry & non-fiction in 2012.

How many have you read? Which one is next on your reading list?

I know which ones I will be requesting from my local library soon… Enchantments by Kathryn Harrison and Pure by Julianna Baggott.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Young Adults and Library Usage – New PEW Study

According to a recent PEW study, a majority (60 percent) of young Americans ages 16 through 29 frequent and utilize libraries. Most use libraries for conducting research, borrowing print, audiobooks, and ebooks, and for reading magazines and newspapers. According to the survey, high schoolers in their late teens (ages 16-17) and college-aged young adults (ages 18-24) are most likely to have read a book or used the library in the past 12 months. This is important news for libraries of all types, as it indicates a youth that is receptive to and familiar with utilizing their library.

Interested in finding out more? Be sure to visit the article for more details!

So, what do you see in your libraries? Are your youth receptive to the resources available at their media center or public library? How are they most commonly gaining access to non-fiction and fiction titles? Is there still a love for print resources?

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

What Should I Read Next?

Have you checked out the all new “What Should I Read Next?” http://whatshouldireadnext.com site? Fresh for fall 2012, this is a fun way to get your reading list in order for all that cozy reading time you’re planning! Type in the title or author of your choice (preferably one you loved!) and up pops a list of suggested titles. The list of suggested titles populates from user’s favorites lists – and the more times the titles appear together on user’s lists, the higher the title moves up on the recommendation list. Pretty nifty… but, will never beat reader’s advisory or book talks! 😉 Use it with your patrons and students, too!

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

Youth Should Read More Non-Fiction

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Read this blog post as a reminder of the value and charm of getting kids hooked on nonfiction as well as fiction. As more schools move into 1:1 computing and away from print textbooks, it is inevitable that the role of non-fiction becomes more important. Read the post from the SmartBlog on Education, then weigh in here in Leave a Reply  field below. Question: What percentage of your collection is nonfiction?