Gingerbread House Program

Monday, December 16
6th - 8th graders - 4:30 P.M.
9th - 12th graders - 6:30 P.M.

Create a gingerbread house from graham crackers and candy decorations. 

Registration is required by Saturday, December 14.  Register here. 

Library Card Sign-up Month

 
September is Library Card Sign-Up Month.  Throughout September, everyone who signs up for a library card or uses the card they already have may enter a drawing for prizes to be awarded at the end of the month.

A library card allows you free access to books, DVDs, magazines, audiobooks, ebooks, state parks, some museums, and more.

You are eligible for a free card from our library if you are at least four years old and live in our service area which includes the city of Milan, Augusta Township, and the parts of York Township and Pittsfied Township that are in Milan Area Schools.  You may also receive a free card if you work full-time in the city of Milan.

If you have a library card from another library that participates in the Michicard program, you may use that card (with a Michicard sticker on it) at our library.

See here for everything you need to know about getting a library card at our library and here for everything you can do with your card. 

Thank you to everyone who participated in our youth Summer Reading Program this year: children and teens for reading and parents for bringing your children to the library and encouraging them to read.

We also appreciate the Friends of the Library for funding the program each year and the following businesses for donating prizes: Basil Boys, Collins Center, Hungry Howie’s, Marco’s Pizza, McDonald's, Nagle’s Market, Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, Nicola’s Books, and Kohl’s.

All children and teens who submitted at least 10 hours or 20 days of reading have prize packets to pick up.  Packets include certificates for reading, free pizza from Hungry Howie's, and free Cheezybread from Marco's and other items. 

Prize drawing prizes include free admission to Ann Arbor Hands-on Museum; gift cards to Nicola's Books, Basil Boys, and Nagle's Market; stuffed animals donated by Collins Center and Kohl's; Summer Reading Program themed tote bags; and other items.  Prize drawing winners were notified with an additional label on their prize packet telling them what they won. 

New Teen Books

Do you like The Hunger Games? If so, try the new teen book The Testing. Not a fan? We have plenty of other new books, too. For more about these new books, see the "New Teen Books" section of our catalog.
 

Go Beneath the Surface and Try Something New

We are halfway through this year's Teen Summer Reading Program.  If you are looking for something new for the second half of the summer, try our "Go Beneath the Surface and Try Something New" reading challenge.

"Go Beneath the Surface" encourages you to try new things this summer:  read a book from a genre you don't usually read, try something new (magic trick, craft, experiment, etc.) from a book, read to someone else, etc.

You can choose five of the 10 activities provided.  There are a variety of choices, so there should be something of interest to everyone.  After you complete five activities, bring the form to the library to choose a prize from the prize box and enter the prize drawing.

The time you spend reading for these activities may also count for your reading time or reading days on the logs you already have.

You can download and print a copy of the "Go Beneath the Surface" form here or pick up a copy at the library.  They are in the display rack on the front of the circulation desk. 

We hope you have fun trying something new this summer!

Summer Reading Program

Teen Summer Reading Program 2013

Join us this summer to read, earn prizes, and attend programs at the library.  All 6th - 12th graders are invited to participate.

Friday, June 7 - First day to pick up reading logs from the library and begin reading.

Teen Tuesdays - Join us each week for different activities: games, crafts, book discussions and more.

Friday, August 16 - Last day to submit reading time

See updated information and program details on the Summer Reading Program page.  See our calendar of events here.  Registration will begin in June.

Questions?  Ask them here.

Youth Media Awards

The American Library Association (ALA) announced the 2013 youth media awards today.

Books that we have in our library are listed below.  See the complete list of winners here and check our catalog to see which ones are available or reserve them.

 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:

In Darkness by Nick Lake
In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, Shorty, a poor, fifteen-year-old gang member from the slums of Site Soleil, is trapped in the rubble of a hospital and as he grows weaker, he has visions and memories of his life of violence, his lost twin sister, and of Toussaint L'Ouverture, who liberated Haiti from French rule in 1804.

Printz Honor Book in our library:


Code Name Verity by  Elizabeth Wein
In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and great courage as she relates what she must do to survive while keeping secret all that she can.








Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience:

Teen award winner:

Somebody Please Tell Me Who I Am by Harry Mazer and Peter Lerangis
Wounded in Iraq while his Army unit is on convoy and treated for many months for traumatic brain injury, the first person Ben remembers from his earlier life is his autistic brother. 








Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults.  This year's winner is Tamora Pierce.  Her books in our library include the Song of the Lioness series and Protector of the Small series.


Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature:

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.
When Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in a down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby elephant that has been added to the mall, he decides that he must find her a better life.
Read about the real Ivan who inspired the story here.







Robert F. Sibert Medal for most distinguished informational book for children:

Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

Recounts the scientific discoveries that enabled atom splitting, the military intelligence operations that occurred in rival countries, and the work of brilliant scientists hidden at Los Alamos.

Sibert Honor Books in our library:

Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin by Robert Byrd 
Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson

  

Laura Ingallls Wilder Award honors an author or illustrator whose books have made a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.  This year's winner is Katherine Paterson.  Her books in our library include Bridge to Terabithia and The Great Gilly Hopkins.



See additional award winners and honor books here. 

New books

New teen books this week include:

See our catalog to reserve any of these books or look for additional new books. 

Right Where I Belong by Krista McGee
After her father's third divorce, seventeen-year-old Natalia decides to move with her stepmother, Maureen, from Spain to Florida to learn more of Maureen's faith and to discover who she is away from her father's expectations.

The 13th Sign by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb
On her thirteenth birthday, Jalen unwittingly brings the twelve signs of the zodiac to life through a mysterious old book, and soon she, her friend Ellie, and Ellie's brother, Brennan, are battling in the streets of New Orleans to defeat the twelve and their little-known companion before time runs out.

Endangered by Eliot Schrefer
Sophie is not happy to be back in the Congo for the summer, but when she rescues an abused baby bonobo she becomes more involved in her mother's sanctuary--and when fighting breaks out and the sanctuary is attacked, it is up to Sophie to rescue the apes and somehow survive in the jungle.

Chasing the Skip by Janci Patterson
When fifteen-year-old Ricki's mother finally leaves for good, Ricki's absentee father steps in, taking Ricki with him as he chases bail "skips" across the country, but their fledgling relationship is tested as they pursue attractive, manipulative, seventeen-year-old Ian Burnham.