Happy Friday the 13th!

Poster courtesy of the American Library Association 

Book Character Pumpkin Contest

Hey kiddos, it's that time of year again. To get in the spirit of the season (pun intended), the library is sponsoring its 2nd Annual Pumpkin Decorating Contest.  Last year, we had more than 50 wonderfully terrific entries.  We're hoping for even more this year.  

To participate, decorate a pumpkin as a book character.  For inspiration, you can always rely on Google, or look back through this blog or our school Facebook page for pics of last year's entries.  However, while it is more than okay to choose the same book or character as one from last year, make it YOUR OWN and don't just simply copy one already done. 

Pumpkins will be judged by a guest from the community. Prizes will be given to the best in each grade.  PLUS...there will be a contest for "Teacher Favorite" and overall "Fan Favorite" where students and Facebook friends will have the chance to vote on their pick.

RULES

Real pumpkins must be used.

NO carved pumpkins will be accepted.

Pumpkins should be no bigger than a basketball (roughly).  The student must be able to carry it.

Pumpkins may be painted and embellished with decorations and/or props.

Pumpkins should be turned in to the library on 

Friday, Oct. 20, 

Monday, Oct. 23 or 

Tuesday, Oct. 24.  

Voting for the Fan Favorite will begin on the afternoon of the 24th.  Winners will be announced on October 30!

Students, we're so excited to see your creations!  Good luck!

October

Me, too, Anne.

Coming Up: Banned Book Week 2023

Take a look at the following list of books.  What do you think they have in common?

A Wrinkle in Time

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Harry Potter series

The Higher Power of Lucky

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Bridge to Terabithia

The Giver

The Giving Tree

To Kill a Mockingbird

Little House on the Prairie

Think you know?  If you said they have all been challenged or censored, you would be correct.  Each of the titles above (and more) are books we have in our library that have been challenged and, in some cases, removed from schools and libraries across the United States.

Each year, during the month of September leading up to Banned Books Week, our library displays these books and the reasons they have been challenged. 

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and highlighting the value of free and open access to information.  Additionally, the week spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools.

Unfortunately, challenges are on the rise.  Each year, the Office of Intellectual Freedom tracks and collects information regarding book challenges. You can go here to see a list of the top ten books challenged each year and the number of total known challenges made.  You can also view the picture below to see some statistics regarding challenges.  

It remains as important as ever that we protect our right to free access to information in both our public libraries and our public school libraries.  Not every adult can afford to buy books from a book store or Amazon and not every child has a parent who is able to drive them to a public library during business hours.

This year, Banned Book Week will be officially celebrated from Oct. 1 – 7.

PT Conference Night Winners

Students and parents who stopped by to visit the library on Parent-Teacher Conference night were able to enter a drawing for a door prize.

Our parent winner was Randi Phillips, mom of seventh-grader Hadley Phillips.  Ms. Phillips won a free adult ticket to the upcoming Trivia Night along with a copy of the book Dear Highlights: What Adults Can Learn from 75 Years of Conversations and Letters with Kids.

Our student winner was sixth-grader Nevaeh Presley who won two tickets to the upcoming Trivia Night.

Congratulations to both winners!

I want to thank all the students and parents who stopped by to visit with me on conference night.

iPAD Deployment Week

Whew!  What a week!  We began checking out our new iPADS on Tuesday to our 6th graders, followed by 7th on Wednesday and then wrapping up yesterday with our 8th graders.  Today, we will give them to everyone who was absent earlier in the week.  Mrs. Fowler and Mrs. Graves have done a fabulous job of getting all our students set up on their devices.  

This wonderful gift from the county will be such a useful tool for our students to have.  Just remember, it is a loaned gift and must be returned at the end of the year.  Students, please be responsible and take the utmost care of your device, and remember what has been stressed to you this week regarding those responsibilities.

Parents, if you should ever have any concerns, please feel free to reach out to Mrs. Fowler, Mrs. Graves or myself.  We are here to help.  Also, please check out this parenting tech guide .  This site is a collection of free and paid tools parents can use to oversee their kids' devices - including school iPads.  This site has been created for you by your Sumner County school librarians.  

6th graders setting up their new iPads

6th grade

6th grade

8th-grader Alexa doing some work on her iPad

8th-grader Caitlyn checking in on her Google classes

It's Almost iPad Time

Today, our student iPads arrived.  We will be getting those into the hands of our students just as soon as we're given the go-ahead from the county.  We're so excited about this wonderful opportunity for our students.  Stay tuned...

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Oh, boy!  Are we excited to announce a new event or what! The library will be hosting a Trivia Night on Thursday, October 19.  This event will put the FUN in FUNdraiser.  If you love the fall/Halloween season, you will want to be sure to join us on this night.  More details soon to follow.  

Barbenheimer Comes To the Library

Have you caught Barbenheimer fever yet? On July 21st, Warner Bros. Pictures released the live action film Barbie based on one of the most prolific dolls in American history and Universal Pictures released Oppenheimer, a sprawling film about the leader of the Manhattan Project, J. Robert Oppenheimer, known as the ‘father’ of the atomic bomb.

To learn more about the history of these iconic figures, stop by the library...where we have books for every Barbie.

Book Haul is Back at Barnes & Noble

Stop by a Barnes and Noble book store to find HUNDREDS of titles for 50% off.  Shop in stores or online.

The closest stores to us are in Hendersonville and Bowling Green.

Barnes and Noble