Reliable information, please!

Last year Gale introduced AccessMyLibrary app for the iPhone/iTouch. While we do not offer this resource in the traditional database format through SBISD, it is available to all Houston Public Library cardholders. Could this app save you time and make research easier? Watch to find out how easy and important it is to have good resources at your fingertips.


After further review, the website answers the following question:

Do I need a library membership to AccessMyLibrary? No. All you need is a valid email address and postal code. Once you log in with that information, you'll have access to over 30 million full-text articles.

So what are you waiting for? Download AccessMyLibrary today!

HPL Author Event

An Evening with Paul Zelinsky

At the HPL's Central Library, 4th Floor Program Place

6 pm, Wednesday, October 20

Join Houston Public Library for a special author visit from children’s book illustrator Paul Zelinsky, who will read from and sign copies of his latest picture book Dust Devil.

Swamp Angel has a reputation as the greatest woodswoman and wildest wildcat in all of Tennessee. But when she grows too big for that state, she moves to Montana, a place so sizeable, even Angel can fit in. It’s there that she wrestles a raging storm to the ground and, at its center, finds herself a sidekick—a horse she names Dust Devil. And when Backward Bart, the orneriest, ugliest outlaw ever known, starts terrorizing the prairie, seems like Angel and Dust Devil may be the only ones strong enough to stop him.

Among many other awards and prizes, Paul Zelinsky received the 1998 Caldecott Medal for his illustrated retelling of Rapunzel, as well as Caldecott Honors for three of his books: Hansel and Gretel (1985), Rumpelstiltskin (1987), and Swamp Angel (1995). He lives with his wife in Brooklyn, New York. They have two grown daughters.

Watch Book Trailers and Vote!

Some readers enjoy making deeper connections with their books through the creative process of producing book trailers. Some readers enjoy viewing book trailers to make those initial connections to books. Either way, the creators, viewers, readers, and stories are important!

To recognize these video creators and their productions, School Library Journal is hosting the 1st Annual Trailee Awards. The call for submissions and voting were recently highlighted on Joyce Valenza's blog. Click the logo to watch, vote, and connect with a book or two. 

Voting ends at 9 PM CST, Friday, October 22.

New Experience

I am thrilled to participate today in my fist virtual conference. I'm very interested in the topic of ebooks and how they relate to school libraries. The one-to-many model is quite controversial. Admittedly, I'm perplexed about how this will look and play out. Will I leave today with more answers than questions? These are exciting times in the library world!

Enjoy the movie Ramona and Beezus?

Houston Public Library suggests reading these realistic fiction titles.MWE Library owns a copy of each.

Ivy + Bean: Book One by Annie Barrows; illustrated by Sophie Blackall
When 7-year-old Bean's mother pesters her to make friends with the nice new girl next door, Bean says, "No thanks." The new girl, Ivy, may be Bean's age, but that seems to be the only thing they have in common. Ivy wears a dress every day and spends a lot of time reading. Bean only wears a dress when her mom makes her, and she's usually too busy zipping about (or getting into trouble) to read. But when Bean plays a mean trick on her big sister and it backfires, Ivy comes to Bean's rescue. Maybe they can be friends after all! If you like reading about all the mischief that Ramona gets into, be sure to give this 1st book in the very funny Ivy + Bean series a chance.

Moving Day by Meg Cabot
After an awful fight with her best friend, nine-year-old Allie Finkle starts a list of rules to live by. Rule number one: Don't Stick a Spatula Down Your Best Friend's Throat. Then Allie finds out that her family is moving to a creepy old house across town, which means that she'll have to go to a new school. Her efforts to stop the move get spunky Allie in all kinds of trouble, and it'll take a whole new bunch of rules for her to figure out the Right Thing to Do. Like the Ramona Quimby books, the Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls series (this is the 1st; The New Girl is next) is about feisty girl who's just trying to get along with her family and friends...and who sometimes messes up.

Ruby Lu, Brave and True by Lenore Look; illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf
Happy-go-lucky Ruby Lu is nearly eight years old. She loves her family, her neighborhood, and performing magic tricks, and she really loves riding the No. 3 bus to Chinatown to see her pohpoh (grandmother) and gunggung (grandfather). But there are new things in Ruby's life that she might not love so much: her mom wants her to go to Chinese school--on Saturdays!--and her baby brother, Oscar, is learning how to talk...and how to ruin things for Ruby. Like Ramona Quimby, Ruby Lu is often misunderstood, and Ramona's fans will enjoy reading about her mishaps and her loving family.

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker; illustrated by Marla Frazee
Plucky third-grader Clementine always has great ideas "sproinging up" in her brain...but her latest scheme was maybe not so spectacular. She really was trying to help her friend Margaret, but she ended up cutting off ALL of Margaret's hair in an attempt to get a glob of glue out of one piece of it. And, to Clementine at least, drawing replacement hair on Margaret's head with a permanent marker was a brilliant idea. Ramona Quimby fans are sure to enjoy Clementine's one-of-a-kind personality and her funny misadventures and will also want to read the rest of the books in the series (The Talented Clementine is next).

These titles are part of HPL's NextRead Subscription email service. To get started, click the link, choose your favorite topics from the list, enter your account information, and let them link you to your next book or library event.

Interactive Storytime

For our early readers, Clifford Interactive Storybooks site features Scholastic’s Clifford the Big Red Dog in four interactive books and four fun games. The stories are available in English and Spanish. The games include concentration, make a word, letter match, and sound match.

My StoryMaker

MWE is filled with writers. In fact, I met an entire class of authors today in Mrs. Hill's kindergarten class.

Want to add pizzazz to your storyline? Try My StoryMaker.

Created for Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, My StoryMaker "gives children the freedom to create, print and share their own unique stories."

1. Go to the My StoryMaker page.
2. Click on Play My StoryMaker.
3. Follow the directions to create your story.
4. When you are finished, print out your story book.

I love to read, so please share your finished story with me!