New Large Print Children's Collection Helps Bridge The Gap
Recent research from Project Tomorrow, an educational nonprofit, suggests that students who read large print books, particularly struggling and reluctant readers, significantly increased their reading comprehension, retention, and enjoyment.
That's why ICPL, thanks to a generous grant from the Iowa City Pilot Club, is introducing a collection of Juvenile Large Print items this month. Our opening collection comprises 127 titles (both fiction and nonfiction), and this collection will be growing, with new titles coming each month, including contemporary classics, award-winners, bestsellers, and high-interest titles. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, the Harry Potter series, the Percy Jackson series, Hidden Figures: Young Readers Edition by Margot Lee Shatterly, and last year's Newbery Medal winner by Meg Medina, Merci Suarez Changes Gears, are just a few examples of what is now available in Large Print.
You can find the jLarge Print books interfiled on the shelves with the traditional juvenile books, but the Large Print will be denoted by a sticker on the spine. Any of our librarians would be happy to help you find the jLarge Print items as well. Thanks to Iowa City Pilot Club for their generous support of the children in our community!
Beyond Oprah - More Celebrity Book Clubs Emerge
New reading recommendations come at us via many pathways: friends, local booksellers, news outlets, librarians (obviously!), and, more recently, the resurgent “celebrity” book club. The following are examples of some that resonate with Iowa City Public Library visitors.
Oprah Winfrey started the modern celebrity book club back in 1996, though no longer the sole literary kingmaker she still has a huge influence through her online Oprah’s Book Club which has periodic updates. Her most recent selection was Elizabeth Strout’s novel “Olive, Again”, a return of the author’s character presented in the earlier “Olive Kitteridge” (also an Oprah’s Book Club title).
The TODAY show’s monthly book club, #ReadWithJenna, features fiction and nonfiction picks from Jenna Bush Hager. Her December selection was the debut essay collection “Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss” by Margaret Renkl, a “tender and honest portrait of her complicated parents…braided into the overall narrative, [she] offers observations on the world surrounding her suburban Nashville home.”
Reese Witherspoon’s media company Hello Sunshine hosts her monthly book club picks featuring women at the center of the story. The December pick was Denise Mina’s latest thriller, “Conviction,” wherein a woman’s marriage abruptly falls apart as her dangerous past is revealed through a popular true-crime podcast.
Chicago rapper, producer, and poet Noname launched a book club this summer looking to reach younger adults featuring “reading material for the homies.” Two books are chosen each month, one by Noname and another by a friend, always with an emphasis on writers or characters of color. The December choices were political philosopher Frantz Fanon’s 1961 nonfiction book “The Wretched of the Earth” about the dehumanizing effects of colonization and Marjane Strapi’s graphic novel “Persepolis” a coming-of-age memoir set in Iran’s Islamic Revolution of the late 1970s.
Never Miss A Hold Again - Libby Adds Push Notifications
Attention eBook and Audiobook lovers!
Push notifications are now live in the Libby app. Users can choose which notifications they’d like to receive from the Libby menu under Manage Notifications, including:
When a hold becomes available
When a loan is about to expire
When a loan has expired
And more!
Other notes:
Notifications are device-specific, so readers can set their notification preferences for each device they use Libby on.
After swiping a push notification, a reader will be taken to their Reading Journey for that title, which displays any previous interactions and activity the user had with that book (notes, highlights, time read, etc.).
Readers on devices that don’t support push notifications (or where they’re disabled) can opt to receive notifications via email or in the Libby menu.
Along with a new Manage Notifications section, OverDrive has refreshed and simplified the Libby menu.
To enjoy notifications and other app improvements, be sure to install the latest update for Libby from your device’s app store.
Visit Libby Help for more information about notifications and other Libby features.
Valentine's Day Fun With Historical Iowa City Newspapers
I tore the tinted envelope To shreds, with trembling hand. My heart beat fast and sweet hope The spark of love to flames then fanned.
"Tis a valentine from darling" Like a song of joy I trill, Then my song is changed to snarling,
For I find - my tailor bill.
What longing! What heartbreak! So cruel for an 1890 tailor to tint the envelope to entice his payee to open it. Tricky! Did he add perfume, too?? Maybe some lipstick?
In other 1890 Valentine’s Day news, the jocular editors of the Iowa City Daily Republican put together a list of what they imaged local Iowa Citians received from their admirers in their own envelopes. They report: Henry Louis’s heart was made happy by a plain gold ring. Chas. Gramling received a mirror labeled “Apollo.” “Darby,” the tonsorial artist (wait, what?!) got a tract on “how to bung bangs.” Jim Fryauf, his competitor, became the proud possessor of a subdued pair of—trousers. (Alright, who can find out what subdued trousers are???) “Hank” Bartholomew weeps with joy over a brand new glass eye. (Groooooan.)
These editors were cracking jokes, 1890s-style, of course. But aren’t you wondering how handsome Mr. Gramling was to earn a mirror inspired by the leader of the Greek Muses? A tonsorial artist, by the way, is a barber. But who knows what “bunging bangs” is.
Back to the Historical Iowa City Newspapers to investigate further. No answer on what “subdued trousers” are, but an 1893 newspaper reports the Gramling Bros. guarantee the lowest prices for fur capes (and the Hinman & Showers’ has the finest celery on earth on sale).
Newspapers from the turn of the 20th Century may have had vastly different standards for what made headlines. They are entertaining nonetheless. Find more history fun on the Historical Iowa City Newspapers website, an online resource provided for free to everyone.
