What have you been reading for Teen Read Week?   If you need suggestions, look at NPR's list of 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                I have enjoyed Seraphina by Rachel Hartman.   I love dragons, and this did not disappoint. In Hartman's world, dragons and humans co-exist, but it's not at all peaceful.  Humans are full of distrust of the dragons - what should Seraphina do when she learns a big secret about her background?  The story is full of secrets and royalty and dragons!  I liked the large part music plays in this book as well.

Tell us the books you're reading in the comment section.

And help pick the national theme for Teen Read Week 2013.  Fill out the survey here.

Overview:

Librarians are trained to locate information using a variety of techniques and are also trained to evaluate information in order to make sure that it's reliable.  Here are a few of the more basic tricks that we use to help locate items. The techniques that I'm writing about will work for a patron using our Encore library catalog, but these tricks (with some tweaking, perhaps) also apply to searching catalogs and databases in general.

Access Points:

Like anime? Manga? All things Japanese?  Join us for JAM (Japanese Animation & Manga)

Grades 7+

Meets most Fridays.

Expose yourself to the world through intercultural literature.

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai.

Grades 7+

Expose yourself to the world through intercultural literature.

The Red Umbrella by C. Diaz Gonzales

Grades 7+

Boys without names by Kashmira Sheth

Grades 7+

Expose yourself to the world through intercultural literature.

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park.

Grades 7+

Get "crafty" and make some holiday gifts for friends and family.

We invite all teens to come and create the worst art imaginable using the library's art supply stash.  Prize awarded for the worst art!

Books and Authors is an excellent database for finding books for casual reading.  Organized in a friendly layout, with its book entries accompanied by recommendations, summaries, and reviews, this database excels in helping people locate works of fiction and popular nonfiction.   You can find the database by following the link here. Also, you can get to the database by clicking on the "Research" button on the East Lansing Public Library's website.  Once there, click on the "Alphabetical list of all databases" link and then on the "Books and Authors" link.

Love architecture? Curious about buildings and houses in East Lansing? If you are interested in or have information about modernist architecture (1940-1970) in East Lansing, please join this community discussion led by Dr. Susan J. Bandes, Professor in the Department of Art/Art History/Design at Michigan State University. In collaboration with the East Lansing Public Library and the State Historic Preservation Office, MSU students are contributing to a statewide inventory (michiganmodern.org). Come learn about the project.

 The Original Database:

(Photograph from Cornell University Library)

Did you know that the East Lansing Public Library has many different databases to help you with your research?

This blog series will outline the types of databases that we offer, what they are used for, and basic techniques for searching the databases.

 Join us to welcome MSU international students and families to the East Lansing community!  

The event will feature food, live music, children's activities, community information, mingling and more.

Community ambassadors are needed to help set up and greet students and families as they arrive.  If you are interested in being a community ambassador, please contact Mary H. at mhennes@cityofeastlansing.com or Jennifer at jamormi@cityofeastlansing.com.

So summer is moving along, and you've read all those sequels you had been too busy to read during the school year.  Need some more suggestions?  Thank you to Rowena, who told me today about NPR's Young Adult Fiction Vote.  They have compiled over 200 titles, old and new, of the best young adult fiction, and are asking you to vote for your 10 favorite titles.   Look here for the list.   Post some of your favorites on ELPL's site, too!

You can also vote for YALSA's Teens Top Ten beginning on August 13.   This is a "teen choice" list, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year.You can find the books that will be on the ballot here.That voting goes from August 13 until September 13.