Posts by Cari
Read On! Audiobooks
We’ve officially kicked off our Summer Reading Program with the 36th Annual Turtle Race, which was a lot of fun. Congratulations to all the winners!
This week, we’re hosting storyteller Robert Lewis for both our adult event (tonight at 7 pm) and our children’s event (tomorrow at 10 am and 2 pm). Robert Lewis is one of our favorite presenters to have at the library. He is engaging, informative, and entertaining. It’s the perfect trifecta! The Cherokee Nation is offering an amazing gift to our community through Robert Lewis and his stories.
Have you picked up your Summer Reading Program supplies yet? It’s not too late! We’ve got something for everyone!
If you’re searching for time to read for yourself or to your kids, I heartily recommend audiobooks. In my family, audiobooks are a staple in the car. For us, they’re a quick way to get a few minutes of reading in while we’re driving around town.
This summer, we’re listening to more kids’ audiobooks (downloaded to my phone from Overdrive) than anything because my son is trying to fill up his Kids’ Reading Record Sheet. Audiobooks, while without some of the mechanics of visual reading, offer the same experiences and hone similar skills. From reading comprehension to language development, audiobooks are a bonafide form of reading (and are perfect to use toward Summer Reading Program time goals). Plus, the whole family can enjoy and discuss the same book at the same time. It’s like a mini book club!
We have a nice selection of audiobooks on CD at the library and an even larger selection of downloadable audiobooks via Overdrive. Head to our website (www.pryorlibrary.org) to search our online catalog for audiobooks – both physical and downloadable. And, as always, if you need some recommendations, we’d love to help with that too!
Read On! Summer Reading
Summer is here and we’re so excited! It’s our busiest time of year with our Summer Reading Program for children, teens, and adults. We have classes and activities almost every day of the week and we have a huge increase in the number of people we see each day. It’s fantastic!
Beyond being super fun for both library staff and, we hope, our community, our Summer Reading Program has a very important purpose: it encourages kids and teens to read all summer long. All the research says that when students read over their summer break, they do better the next school year and avoid the dreaded “Summer Slide” where they forget what they learned the previous year.
We want our Summer Reading Program to be fun for all ages, so we have several different ways to participate. For our youngest participants, grab our Toddlers’ Activity Sheet with listening goals and family-friendly activities. For every five activities completed, the child gets a free book!
For kids entering Kindergarten through sixth grades, our Kids’ Reading Record Sheet is a place to keep track of time spent reading (or listening). For every 10 circles (five hours) completed, the child gets a free book!
For teens entering grades seven through twelve, our Teens’ Reading Record sheet uses lines to keep track of time spent reading. For every two hours of reading, teens get entered into a weekly prize drawing. For every 10 hours, they get a free book!
Because we all know kids mimic what the adults in their lives do (and because kids shouldn’t have all the fun), we have a reading and activity Bingo sheet just for grown-ups. For every Bingo, adults are entered into a weekly prize drawing. When you get a blackout, you’re entered in our grand prize drawing.
Visit the Library to sign up!
The Library will be closed for Memorial Day
Read On! Book Recommendations
At the library, we love to give our patrons book recommendations. It’s an opportunity for us to know what our community wants to read and it gives us a chance to tell you about books you may not have heard of.
Here are some tips for getting the best book recommendations possible from your library staff:
- Be prepared to answer questions. We are passionate about finding the right book for you so we’re going to ask you what you’ve read recently that you liked, what you liked about those books, what you didn’t like, what you’re in the mood for, etc.
- Be honest. We will not judge you for reading and/or loving teen books or steamy romances so if that’s the kind of book you’re looking for, tell us.
- Be open to new experiences. If you loved “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green because you like books that make you sob but you refuse to check out science fiction or fantasy, you’re going to miss “A Monster Calls” by Patrick Ness and all the tears that book produces. Also, if your taste is incredibly specific, it will be harder to find a good fit.
- Don’t worry that you’ll offend us. If you don’t think the books we suggest sound good, we need to know so we can suggest different books. I promise no one at the library will be offended if you don’t take the first book we recommend.
- Report back. Once you’ve taken a suggestion, please tell us what you thought of it! Even if you didn’t like it, getting feedback will help us make better recommendations to you and readers like you.
If you’d rather go it alone with book recommendations, the internet is a wonderful place. The search feature in Goodreads is a good place to start.
You can also use our online catalog to find inspiration. We’ve got book lists on the catalog’s front page to let you know what’s new, what’s popular, and what we love.