Welcome back!

Welcome back to SCCS, the Library Media Center and a new school year!

The library will be open 7:30-4 Monday-Thursday and 7:30-3:30 on Fridays. Please come by the library in your free time! During out first two weeks all elementary and middle school students will come to the library with their classes to review the rules and check out books. I can't wait to see you, and meet the new students!

On to business: the new books haven't arrived yet. We expect them in the library by the end of the month. I'm heartbroken about this, but in the meantime there are a few new books that were donated or bought at the Feria de Libros. Please come by and take a look.

Current displays include the Olympics, and History and Mythology in Fiction (this will help with Mr. Dahlberg's social studies assignment).

Have a great year!

Santa Cruz History

Ms. Zapata, the elementary principal, just let me know about a great web site on Santa Cruz history. It's in Spanish, but should be fairly easy to read for all our students.

Thanks Ms. Zapata!

Veterans Day

Yesterday was Veterans Day in the United States. This holiday is a time for us to "honor all who served" in the military. War has a large presence in the literary world, many classic books have been written about both the glory and the horror of battle. The library has quite of few of these titles, and here are some general recommendations:

For younger readers a picture book called The Blue and the Gray, by Eve Bunting, has two young friends remembering the American Civil War. Good fiction books for adults on the Civil War include Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier and The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara.

Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes is a Newbery-award winning book for middle readers based during the American Revolutionary War. Sarah Bishop, by Scott O'Dell and The Pox Party, by MT Anderson are two other books written about that era.

If you prefer non-fiction works, They Marched into Sunlight, by David Maraniss, is a great read about different fronts in the Vietnam War. This work is recommended for older readers. For middle readers, Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers, is a fiction book about one young man's experience in the same war.

Please come to the library to find other books about war and veterans.

Free demo from ABC-CLIO online reference

SCCS has a free demo from ABC-CLIO online reference. The demo is of a variety of ebooks at middle and high school reading level. They cover a broad range of topics, including US and world history, religion, geography, technology, pop culture, folklore and government. Please come to the library for a password and login to explore the resource. The link will expire on December 15th, 2007.

This could be an incredible useful resource during the uncertain next few weeks when we may have possible school closings.

If you like the online ebook format, or find it useful, please comment either through the blog, or directly to Ms. Hanneman in the library.