The library creates a reading program each year to encourage students to be mindful of the ways the practice of reading enhances our lives - and how much fun it can be! We are especially excited about Books Change Lives with its connections to our summer reading of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind and its genesis coming from the Thompson family's desire to act on what they learned from reading about William Kamkwamba.  The google form is filling up with minutes and we are looking forward to collecting the slips brought in by PK-2nd graders on Friday.  We have set up ways for us all to see our progress in both Tanglewood Library and the Middle School Collection area. What can you do to make sure we meet our goals and get a library established in Nkwanta?

• Read, read, READ and report your minutes.  If you are in 3rd - 8th grade or are an adult who wants to support the program, log your minutes for each week on the google forms: Week 1 log , Week 2 log, Week 3 log, Week 4 log.    PK-2nd grade - bring in your slips each Friday.  Your minutes become miles to get the wildebeest and books to Nkwanta, Ghana.
• Donate new or gently used books that meet the suggested guidelines put out by The African Library Project.  We are setting up a Community Center Library and so are looking for all reading levels.  Bring your donations to the library.
• Drop some coins in the "Change for Change" jars. You can find them in both libraries, the Beestro, at division offices and Scott House. 

Keep These Kids Smiling

Books Change Lives reading program begins!

Our 25^th annual reading program starts this Friday, February 12^th, inspired by our summer read, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind and the Thompson Family.  We are partnering with Ali Thompson’s school, Green Acres, and the African Library Project to make some positive change in the world while celebrating the wonder and fun of reading.  For four weeks all LS and MS students and faculty will be keeping track of the time they spend reading outside of the school day.   Every 30 minutes of reading will equal 1 mile.  The community service aspect of the program is to collect 1000 new and gently used books to start a community center library in Nkwanda, Ghana like the one where William Kamkwamba found the book that changed his life.  Our 15,000 mile (450,000 minutes) goal represents the round trip distance from SSFS to New Orleans (where the African Library Project has a warehouse), on to the Open Hearts Community center in Ghana, and some miles to bring the wildebeest home.  Look for displays in the MS and LS to see our progress.  We will also be collecting change to help finance the shipping costs.  There will be jars around campus where change can be donated.  Students 3^rd  - 8^th grade and all faculty and staff can log their minutes on a google form each week.  PK-2^nd grade students will have slips of paper to take home to record their minutes and return to school each Friday.  Each week has a bonus challenge that offers  a way to earn an additional hour, and every student who reports their time gets a small gift from the library.  All the links and information you need to participate in the program will be found on the library website and here on the blog.    Book donations can be left at either library.  Is there a book that has changed your life?  Tell us about it .  Any questions?  Give us a call at x145  or send an email to elizt@ssfs.org. 

 Happy Reading!

Week 1 log  

Week 2 log 

Week 3 log

Week 4 log

Starting, Monday, November 16, both Chevy Chase Library and Potomac Library will be open Monday through Thursday from 10 am to 8 pm. On Fridays and Saturdays, they will be open 10 am - 6 pm.  Read more about expanded hours all Montgomery County Public Libraries at the MCPL website.

Chronicling America:  Historic American Newspapers, 1836-1922 @ 10 Million Pages

The Library of Congress announces that the Chronicling America web site now offers more than 10 million pages from more than 1,900 newspapers in 38 states and territories, and the District of Columbia. The site provides free and open access to historic American newspapers published between 1836 and 1922. The newspapers are accessible to students, researchers, journalists and others for all kinds of research, from family history to in-depth analysis of U.S. culture. The headlines, articles and advertisements capture the life and times of the American people, shining new light on historic events as they unfolded. 

Read the latest issues online!

October 2015

Fall 2015

Make Magazine Newsletter - Oct. 20

We are continuing our experiments with online magazines.  Flipster costs less and seems even easier to use than the vendor we tried last year.  They also have a better match with the magazines we subscribed to in print.  It seems  just wonderful to be able to offer great titles that everyone can read from anywhere at any time.  Want to give it a try? click the Flipster link above, Scan the QR code or click the Flipster graphic on the library website (www.ssfs.org/academics/libraries) and get full access to:
Art News, Backpacker, Cicada, Cobblestone, Cricket, Dig, Faces, Horse and Rider, Muse, Newsweek, Popular Science, Rolling Stone, Vegetarian Times, The Week, and Yoga Journal 
to read on all your devices.  To read offline, download the EBSCO Flipster app.  On campus you go directly to the magazines.  Off campus, you will be asked for a username and password;  use our generic one -  ssfs and friends  Give it a try and let you librarians know what you think.

The 15th Library of Congress National Book Festival will take place Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015, and feature more than 170 authors, poets, illustrators and special presenters. To mark this anniversary, as well as the the 200th anniversary of the Library's acquisition of Thomas Jefferson’s personal library, the festival has as its theme Jefferson's quote, "I Cannot Live Without Books."  For more information on this free event, including a detailed schedule and a listing of authors, click here  or visit the festival's Facebook page.

To download the National Book Festival App, visit the Library of Congress Apps page at loc.gov/apps/.