New and Wonderful

Recently, we shook up the old OCPL by adding a new feature.  The Digital Library.  With this digital library, library patrons can now download audio and e-books.  We are trying to be diverse in format and subject matter, however those of you who use this feature are not only welcome to make requests, but it is actually preferred.  As with all aspects of the library, we are only as good as our collection.  Having said that, not all titles are available, and some may not be available in the format requested.  We'll do our best, but you've got to let us know or it is just guessing.  Educated guesses, maybe, but still guesses.  So please, tell us what you'd like. 

Audio books are available in two formats.  (Mp3, and WMA)  E-books also come in two different formats.  (PDF and ePub)  Many devices can support either format, however some are more specific.  To find out more, OverDrive has created a great resource page.  

We do have staff members who can assist you if you are experiencing problems, or just have questions.  Again, you just have to contact us or we can't help you.  A few weeks ago, we held a training/demonstration for patrons.  We will try to do this again soon, but you don't have to wait for one of these to get help. 

Another thing I'd like to share about the digital library is the selection that we do currently have.  We offer a variety of titles to interest the youngest readers through adults.  We have both e-books and audio books from authors such as Dr. Seuss, Judy Blume, and C.S. Lewis, as well as Nora Roberts, Stephanie Myers, and John Grisham.  Easy reading, cooking, suspense, romance, fiction, non-fiction....even some graphic novels and manga. Even Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys have made a crossover into the digital format. 

On a personal note, I never thought I could personally get into reading an e-book.  Audio books, I love.  Being able to download one onto my mp3 player (mine supports both formats) is great!  But read an e-book?  Nope, probably not.  Then I tried it.  I read an entire e-book, not just a few pages.  You know?  It isn't so bad.  I will always prefer the feel and smell of a 'real' book, don't get me wrong, but reading on an e-reader?  Not so bad at all.  So I thought I'd share with you my first ever e-book review.


The book was Billy Hooten:  Owlboy, by Tom Sniegoski. 

"Billy Hooten is a weird kid. He gets beat up a lot, and spends the rest of his time doggedly trying to build a robot. One day, Billy Hooten hears a cry for help coming from the cemetery that borders his backyard. Against his better judgment, he runs toward it. And after that, everything changes for Billy Hooten. Because Billy Hooten, you see, is Owlboy. A quickthinking, goggle-and-feather-wearing superhero who protects the bizarre and monstrous citizens of Monstros City, a city that exists under Billy's hometown of Bradbury, Massachusetts. But is Billy truly worthy of the moniker Owlboy?"

Billy is a bright kid who loves comic books and yeah, he's kind of wimpy.  When he answers the cry for help in the cemetery and consequently learns about Owlboy he is in no way prepared to become the next hero of Monstros City.  After reading all of the Owlboy comics borrowed from the personal collection of the mysterious comic book shop owner, Billy is completely in awe, but less completely sure that he is the wrong guy for the job.  He decides there is only one way to be sure, and that is to give it a try.  With the help of  his trusty new friend, the descendant of the previous Owlboys' assistants (think Batman's Alfred....but shorter), he just might make a great Owlboy.  The book is fun, and well written.  I was left with a couple of questions, however maybe there will someday be a sequel.  I'll just have to use my imagination until then.  There are lots of illustrations throughout the story, though this is a 'chapter book', something that is ever more popular.  I would recommend this book for anyone who likes adventure and superheroes.  It would make a great bedtime read-aloud as well. 

One more thing I want to share today.  Coming very soon our website will have a new feature.  Dear Reader, the host of our Online Book Club, now offers "New Book Alerts".  With this service you can click to see all newly cataloged items; books, dvds, magazines, you name it.  Library patrons will even be able to sign up to receive notices sent directly to their e-mails or RSS feeds.  I think this is going to be a great service to offer you, our patrons.  It will make finding out what is new at Owen County Public Library, and placing holds on those new items much, much easier. 

~Jennifer

Some Random Picture Books I Love

If you don't know, I work in the Youth Services Department, which explains why I mostly read "children's" or "young adult" books.  Plus, I love them, which may explain why I work where I do.  It is circular, but makes me happy.  Here are just a few Picture Books (or "Illustrated for Everyone") that I love.  I hope to share more with you each week.  ~ Jennifer

Up first today is Ling & Ting: Not Exactly The Same by Grace Lin.  This early reader is set into six small chapters and tells of two girls who, though identical twins, are (as the title says) not exactly the same.  The appeal here is on many levels.  The text is simple to read for beginning readers, the illustrations are charming, the stories entertaining and it may help to not judge 'a book by its cover'.  Anyone with a sibling (identical twin or not), knows that many people assume things about you based on their knowledge of your brother or sister.  "Are you _____ like your sister?"  Let's just say, it gets old.  I can only imagine the problem would be compounded by having an identical twin.


Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude is probably one of the most fun picture books I have come across. In this one, a boy and girl are paired to write a fairy tale as a school project.  The result is a funny mash up of girly and manly.  There are two distinct voices, three illustrators, and plenty of brilliant fun with storytelling.  The story is written by Kevin O'Malley, who also illustrated the "Boy" and "Girl". The Girl's story is illustrated by Carol Heyer.  The third illustrator, Scott Goto illustrated the Boy's story additions.  I have read this to classes ranging from 1st to 5th, and all love this story.  Instead of working together on this project, it is clear that the two have completely different ideas of what makes a great fairy tale.  From a pony-loving Princess and an ogre-ish pony eating giant, to the Cool Motorcycle Dude, this story has so much to offer.  Epic Battles (even the Princess gets to eventually kick some Giant backside) ensue, our hero and heroine eventually work together and are ultimately victorious, and the ending is even a bit romantic.....sort of.  Boys and Girls both love this story's humor.  It is 'aimed at' ages 6 to 10, however I think more people should read picture books, so whatever your age, consider picking up this delightful book.

The next book has no words.  A true picture book by David Wiesner entitled Flotsam.  In this story, which is one of the most visually delightful books I've ever 'read', a boy on a beach finds an old camera washed up on the beach.  He takes the film from this apparently waterproof camera to be developed and is astonished at the images.  Deep sea creatures in surprising and fanciful situations, the last photo being an image of a person holding a photo of a person, holding a photo, etc.  Upon magnification, it looks as though this camera has been around for a very long time, and has traveled the world.  It is easy to see why this book won the Caldecott Medal for 2007, one of three won by Mr. Wiesner.  This beautiful book is definitely worth exploring.

Video Games!

This year the library is going to start offering something we have never offered before. Starting this year we will be providing video games for checkout. The plan is to have games for the three big systems. Wii, Playstation 3 and Xbox.

We will have games from all different ratings. The rating system is shown below. They will range from Early Childhood to Mature (language and violence - war games)

*They are going to checkout just like DVD's do now.
*You have to be 14 to check one out.
*You will need to be 17  to check out anything with a mature rating.
*At first we will let you check out one at a time until we get more, then we will raise it to 2.

*You can have them for two weeks

There is NO CHARGE for this but remember just like everything else if you lose it or damage it you will have to pay the replacement cost. This can be up to $50 for some of the newer games. Please take care of them. 

We like to provide the kinds of things that you guys want. So help us out by taking care of the games so that we can build up a good collection. 

Here is where I need your help. I need you to tell me what kind of games you would like to see, even specific titles. We are going to try to get this started soon and be in full swing by Spring. 

So....please let me know! You can comment here or if you would rather email me at webmaster@owenlib.org

	EARLY CHILDHOOD Titles rated EC (Early Childhood) have content that may be suitable for ages 3 and older. Contains no material that parents would find inappropriate.
	EVERYONE Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language.
	EVERYONE 10+ Titles rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) have content that may be suitable for ages 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes.
	TEEN Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language.
	MATURE Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.

Something Fun

I sincerely hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and is now the better for it. Holidays and family are great! I will admit to being a little ok with the season being over though. I got pretty exhausted between all the fun, excitement, and good times.   

I wanted to talk a little about picture books.  It is believed by many that picture books are for little kids, and have no further use.  While this may be true with some, it is most certainly not the case with all.  There are many, many picture books that have complex ideas and subject matter that the little ones simply will not get.  Not to mention words that are downright hard for even second or third grade readers.  This is why we have decided to call our picture book section “Illustrated for Everyone”.  Please, never discourage your child (or yourself) from reading picture books.  Your imagination and inner self will thank you.

I wanted to post on Neil Gaiman's picture books, well, some of them at least. LOVE them. If you saw the episode of Arthur that he did, you heard a snippet of Instructions, which he did with Charles Vess. Wow. This is SUCH a "Me" book. This is a beautiful and poetic look at how to get through life, or any fairy tale. I have learned that there are those who believe in magic, and those who don't. To each their own, I am definitely a believer in magic. Therefore this book is amazing to me. So beautifully written and illustrated, it is the kind of book that I want to own and read often. I want everyone I know to read it, even though I know many of them won't. *Sigh* Sad but true reality.

The first picture book of Mr. Gaiman's that I "discovered" was The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish.  It was the first Neil Gaiman book I had ever read. Needless to say, I was hooked. This is a delightfully fun story of a boy who....well, read the title. All his Dad does is sit and read his newspaper anyway, so why not? His mother is not amused, however and makes him take his little sister with him to swap back. The problem is the boy with whom he has swapped has already swapped Dad for something else. The result is a swapping extravaganza until finally everyone has what they started out with and the boy and his sister have their father back.

 Another favorite that I want to post here about is The Wolves in the Walls. Oh goodness do I love this book! Partly because it has a definite Neil Gaiman feel about it, which means humour and British-ness and things strange and wonderful presented in a matter-of-fact way, and partly because I think I may have wolves living in the ceiling of my bathroom.

Lucy knows that the sounds and creepy watched feeling she experiences in her "big old house" is due to the fact that wolves are living in the walls, but her Mom says it is mice. Dad says it is rats, and her brother hopes it is bats. Couldn't be wolves, because you know what they say: "if the wolves come out of the walls, it's all over." I have read this book recently to kids ranging in age from 4 to 11. They all enjoyed it. That is one of the great things about a well done "children's book"; they can entertain everyone. Just another reason why one should never stop reading picture books.

I often wish that books didn't have to be labeled and classified. A good story is a good story, who cares what age group it is aimed at? Exceptions do apply, I suppose. Still, if anyone sees you with a great picture book, never be ashamed!

I know everyone has heard of, if not seen Coraline, but not as many know that it was written by Neil Gaiman. Also, Stardust, which is aimed a bit older, is very good.   Other great Neil Gaiman books for all ages are the Award winning The Graveyard Book and Odd and the Frost Giants.   Great storytelling.

I just today ordered several more titles for our library's digital collection. I'm looking forward to more stories from this amazingly talented author. The above titles should by no means be considered a complete summation of his work, only a part of his books for children (with the exception of Stardust). He writes for all ages, and I'll get around to some of the others as well.....sometime. (This could be considered a tribute in honor of his recent wedding, if not for the fact that I had been planning it for a while......)

~Jennifer