👀 #TakeALookTuesday--Winter Solstice Edition

Photo by Esse Chua on Unsplash

Today is the winter solstice, the day when the North Pole is tilted farthest away from the sun and the hours of daylight are at their shortest. The good news? Beginning tomorrow, days will lengthen, and we will see more hours of daylight. 🌞

To celebrate today, the shortest day, why not stop by the library to take a look at some short stories and novellas? We have several--some that are likely even familiar to you!

Hope Nation and You Don't Even Know Me feature collections of short stories and poems, one about inspiring moments for the authors and another about boys in a variety of situations. Stars Above is from the Lunar Chronicles and includes several short stories that answer questions about many of the main characters. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner tells the story of one of the newborn vampires who finds herself in the final battle between the Voltori and the Cullen family.

Looking for short stories from some of your favorite authors? How about one of these:

If you enjoyed the Divergent trilogy or the Miss Peregrine series, you might also like the short story collections that accompany them, Four and Tales of the Peculiar. Perennial favorite author Stephen King also has a collection of short stories that also include autobiographical information about why, when, and how he can to write (or rewrite!) the short stories.

Still not sure? Maybe one of these appeals to you?

Edgar Allan Poe is a favorite among many, and his short stories might be just what you're looking for on this darkest--and longest--night of the year! Chris Crutcher's Athletic Shorts features sports-based stories of athletes who face challenges. Finally, Meet Cute includes stories of people who are destined to meet, written by some of your favorite authors like Katharine McGee, Dhonielle Clayton, and Nicola Yoon.

It's a short week of classes this week, so be sure to stop by to renew your books or grab another heading into the winter break. Hope to see you soon! 

👀 #TakeALookTuesday--Boggle Edition

Calling all word game fans! 

Students passing by or coming into the library now have the chance to participate in a little word game fun with our new Boggle display. Recently a similar post appeared in a Future Ready Librarians post online--thanks to Matt McClure and Lucy Stokes for the inspiration!

As students visit the library, they're welcome to play a little Boggle and engage in some friendly competition with their classmates and friends. 

Already see some words you can make? Bring in a friend and let the games begin!

Roller Coaster Fun

 Students in AO today had the opportunity to navigate through a Google Draw one-pager related to roller coasters.

CLICK HERE to access the page.

What began as a browse through the Library of Congress website turned into a decent amount of time looking at their Everyday Mysteries. The site includes Featured Mysteries as well as mysteries from a variety of categories. One that caught my eye was from the Physics category:

“Why Don't I Fall out When a Roller Coaster Goes Upside down?” The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/physics/item/why-dont-i-fall-out-when-a-roller-coaster-goes-upside-down/.

This led to a one-pager devoted entirely to all things roller coaster. Students could learn about roller coaster design or look over a database with the longest, fastest, or tallest roller coasters, or they could watch videos of the top 5 fastest roller coasters from 2020--which one of the students had even ridden! To add to the atmosphere, students also listened to songs from a Spotify playlist that included roller coaster songs!

To wrap up our time together, students had a ticket out: Tell me your roller coaster name. Examples included Unstoppable Falcon, Ultimate Avenger, Unstoppable Dragon, and Twisting Freak. 

More one-pagers to follow, DCG students, if you've missed these first few. (You can read about them HERE.) Be looking for one before the holiday break!

👀 #TakeALookTuesday--MackinVIA

In addition to the physical library collection, DCG students have access to thousands of ebook and audiobook titles through our AEA and MackinVIA.

Early in the school year, students in reading classes visited the library for a quick preview of MackinVIA and learned how to access their backpacks and accounts. You can CLICK HERE to revisit that information from the library website.

Throughout the fall, students have taken advantage of the many offerings--take a look at these quick snapshots of use:

According to user statistics, more than 150 individual titles have been viewed and/or checked out. The top 5 books viewed most often are below:

Still haven't tried MackinVIA? Why not log in and browse the collection? You can filter by ebook or audiobook, and newest additions to the collection always appear first. If you need help or aren't able to log in, stop by! I'd be happy to help! Happy reading!