Help us welcome local author Kathy Brodsky!
Wednesday June 19th at 6:30 p.m., we will have a special treat – local author Kathy Brodsky will be at Griffin Free to read from her wonderful children’s books. She will also have books available for purchase and signing.
Author Bio:
Kathy is a psychotherapist, poet and award-winning author, writes and promotes quality books that are timely, visually exciting, educational and fun! She has presented her books to young and old alike.
Some comments following presentations and book purchases: ” Thank you for taking the time to put your words into such fun and creative books. We really appreciate you coming to our school.” “You are a real delight and so uplifting. I bought 3 of your books and think they are the best purchase I’ve made in a while. I love how you have life lesson discussions at the end of each book.”
A CatFish Tale – funny story about friendship between different types of friends.
A Horse Named Special – about a therapeutic riding horse.
Stover – a fun picture book about fitness and good health.
The Winner Is… about being yourself
Purrsnikitty - for cat lovers, young and old.
Just Sniffing Around – for dog lovers.
The Inside Story – recycling, change and the mail system.
My Bent Tree – diversity, conservation and social action. My Bent Tree was also made into a Talking Book and Book in Braille by Perkins School For the Blind.
Book Awards –
My Bent Tree and The inside Story –2010 Green Book Festival Honorable Mention.
The Winner Is… and Stover – 2011 Preferred Choice Awards, Creative Child Magazine.
A Horse Named Special – 2012Picture Book of the Year, Creative Child Magazine
A CatFish Tale – 2013 Picture Book of the Year, Creative Child Magazine.
Brodsky’s book for adults – Moments in Our Lives – a book of short vignettes about life and its transitions. – is available in paperback. Because of her psychotherapy background, she was quoted in the Wall Street Journal.
For more information on Kathy, please visit her website: http://www.kathybrodsky.com.
More Summer Reading Info…
We are hard at work getting everything squared away for the spectacular summer reading programs here at Griffin Free. As always, we want to keep everyone in the loop, so here are some new details on what we have going on.
Children’s Program:
Our finale event has been scheduled. Steve Blunt, a New Hampshire singer/storyteller with a great history of entertaining audiences throughout New England, will be here on Tuesday, August 13th at 3:00 for an outdoor (weather-permitting) concert performance. We invite the public to attend this event regardless of participation in the summer reading program.
Steve’s performance is funded in part by a Kids, Books, and the Arts grant awarded through the state library. Funding for these grants is provided by the Byrne Foundation, CHILIS, the Cogswell Benevolent Trust, the New Hampshire Library Association, the New Hampshire State Library, and through a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Science. Griffin Free would like to thank all of these groups for their generosity.
Teen Program:
Signups are bustling, and we are hopeful to get many more 12-16 year-olds for our teen challenge. This program is perfect for the busy youngster who plays sports or has other summer activities. There is no attendance component to this event. Sign up, collect a reading log, and keep track of your own reading independently!
Our grand prize – a Kindle with carrying case donated by Bill Herman – will go to the person reading the highest number of pages during the six weeks. All other prizes will be drawn at random, and available only to registered participants. The more participants we get, the more prizes will be available, so sign up today!
Adult Program:
Many people have been asking about this program. Like the teen program, there is no attendance required, and there is no signup necessary! Each of the six weeks will have a separate reading activity or challenge to do. You may do them at any time during that week that is convenient for you. For each week you participate, you will be given one entry into our prize drawing. The more weeks you participate, the more prizes you can win!
Our theme is “Groundbreaking Reads”. The challenges will be as follows:
- Week 1 – Re-read week. Choose a book from your past that was “groundbreaking” in your life, and give it another spin. See if time has changed the effect the book has on you.
- Week 2 – “Mystery Date” books. We will have a variety of books for you to choose from, but you won’t know just what you are getting until you make a selection! The books will be in paper sacks, with a small blurb giving just a taste of the book’s genre and plot. You choose one that sounds like a match and give it a shot. Maybe you’ll discover a new author or genre to love!
- Week 3 – Picture week. Come in anytime during the week to have your picture taken with a favorite book (you can bring your own or use the library copy). We will use these picture to create posters and other advertising for our Adult Summer Reading Programs in the future.
- Week 4 – Classics week. This time, the books are the “groundbreakers”. Choose from our selection of timeless classics, and see what you think of them.
- Week 5 – Nonfiction/Biography week. We have a wide selection of books about important and influential figures. Choose one that strikes your fancy and learn something about a historical person or group.
- Week 6 – Review week. Submit a short written review of any of the books you read for this Summer Reading Program. We will put the reviews on our website (without author’s names) so that everyone can benefit from your wisdom!
Full calendars for all Summer Reading events, and for our Library Card Drive, are forthcoming. We will update our online calendar as well as having paper copies available, as soon as possible. Check back in here at griffinfree.com for all the latest on the 2013 Summer Reading Activities!
Learning Our Online System, Mini-Lesson #4: Purchase Suggestions
This is the fourth in a series of tips on using our online catalog and your online account with Griffin Free. Today we will go over purchase suggestions, which is available to you if you log into your account. If you need a login and password for your library account, please let us know.
Once you have logged into your account – accessible through our online catalog – you will see a menu of choices along the left side of your screen. For today’s lesson, choose “My Purchase Suggestions”, then click the link for “New Purchase Suggestion”.
The form you see is pretty basic. All you need to do is provide as much information about the book as you can. Title and author is usually enough, but you are free to add as much information as you want. If you are requesting a DVD, audiobook, or other format, please note it in the “notes” section.
So why make a purchase suggestion?
Many of our patrons take advantage of the great Interlibrary Loan (ILL) program that we offer, which is run through throughout the state. One of the shortcoming of the ILL program is that new books are usually not available for loan. Therefore, when you read a review in the paper, or hear an interview with an author, the book you are discovering is probably not going to be available for 3-6 months.
However, Griffin Free is working to improve on providing the people of Auburn with materials to entertain and educate, that people really want to read. And we know that people love new books. So when you provide those suggestions through “My Purchase Suggestions”, we can review the items and pick those that will fit in with our collection.
You also might request a purchase for a series for which we only own some of the books. Or maybe a DVD of a classic movie you are having trouble finding through Netflix or Redbox. Or anything else that you think would be beneficial to Griffin Free.
If you use this form to make a purchase request, and we go on to fill that request, you will also have the benefit of being allowed to take the item out first! So get in there and make your requests. Let us know what you want to see. After all, Griffin Free is your library!
Summer Reading Sign-up is Here!
As you may have already seen, we are running three different summer reading programs this year – one each for children, teens (12-16), and adults (17+). Here is a brief overview:
- Children – twice weekly storytime events with activities focused on the “Dig Into Reading” theme. Also included is a book club meeting three times to discuss different book series. A special event will be held to mark the end of the program (look here soon for details!). Note: attendance at summer reading events is purely optional.
- Teen – keep track of your own reading on our provided logs. The teen with the most pages read over the summer will win our grand prize: a brand-new Kindle with carrying case! Other prizes will be available to other participants. Any younger child wanting to participate in this programs instead of the children’s program will be permitted to do so. All reading must be age-appropriate – no picture books or beginning readers!
- Adult – this 6-week program will feature a different reading “challenge” each week. Participate in as few or as many as you want. For each week you participate, get an entry into our prize drawing to be held at the end of the summer reading program!
PLEASE NOTE: In order to properly prepare for our activities and prizes, we require sign-up for the children and teen events. You may sign-up in person, over the phone, or by emailing staff@griffinfree.com with the subject line “Summer Reading Signup” (please include the participant name and which program in the message). Adult program participants do not need to sign-up in advance.
We look forward to having you join us for a great summer of reading and fun. Please check back with griffinfree.com for more information to come about the great things happening during these programs!
