Today is World AIDS Day 2009

Today is World AIDS Day 2009, a day designed to raise awareness and understanding about AIDS as well to fight HIVprejudice .  Our blog is going red for Tuesday, December 1 to help honor and celebrate this important day.  Here are some of our favorite resources and ways you can get involved:

• World AIDS Day 2009
• Give Red, Save Lives
• Search our databases for articles and facts on HIV and AIDS
• Search our card catalog for nonfiction and fiction books about HIV and AIDS

 

(RED) | Facebook via kwout

 

Official Google Blog via kwout

 

Google.org – World AIDS Day 2009 via kwout

 

joinred (joinred) on Twitter via kwout

Your Favorite YA Authors @ The Decatur Book Festival!

The 2009 AJC Decatur Book Festival Presented by DeKalb Medical via kwout

Make your plans NOW to attend the 2009 Decatur Book Festival!  Look at the authors who will be there—-YOUR favorites, students at the Unquiet Library!

• Charlaine Harris, author of the wildly popular Sookie Sackhouse supernatural mysteries, which are the basis for HBO’s hit show True Blood.

• Sara Shepard, author of the popular young adult fiction series Pretty Little Liars
• Jon Scieszka, Ambassador for Young People’s Literature from the Library of Congress
• Kate DiCamillo, award-winning author of Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux, and other bestselling books for children and adults.
• Lauren Myracle
• Ally Carter

You will also want to check out the Teen Fiction Events!

The 2009 AJC Decatur Book Festival Presented by DeKalb Medical | Teenagers via kwout

Today is World Malaria Day—You Can Help!

World Malaria Day: Tweet to Beat Malaria! via kwout

Today is World Malaria Day2009! What is the point of this day?

Civil society organisations across the world are making their contribution to the implementation of the Global Malaria Action Plan and achieving the goal of near-zero deaths from malaria by 2015.

You can help in several ways:

• Support  World Malaria Day 2009 on Twitter
• Become a fan of the World Malaria Day Facebook page

Help the Mashable effort for Malaria No More by Tweeting one or more of these messages:

• Every 30 secs a child dies of malaria. Nets save lives. Support World Malaria Day: http://bit.ly/30Io8 (Tweet this!)

• On World Malaria Day, a $10 mosquito net can protect a family as they sleep. Please donate! http://bit.ly/30Io8 (Tweet this!)

• On World Malaria Day, $30 buys 3 mosquito nets to save lives. Please donate! http://bit.ly/30Io8 (Tweet this!)

• On World Malaria Day, $50 buys 5 mosquito nets to save lives. Please donate! http://bit.ly/30Io8 (Tweet this!)

• Listen up, Twitter!! World Malaria Day needs your donation to save lives! Please donate: http://bit.ly/30Io8 (Tweet this!)

You can also follow Malaria No More on Twitter, become a Facebook fan or friend them on MySpace.

Get involved and make a difference!

It’s Coming: Operation Teen Book Drop 2009 and Readergirlz!

More details will be coming SOON as to how you can participate in this terrific event through The Unquiet Library at Creekview, but here is a video to get you fired up for Operation Teen Book Drop 2009—save the date to celebrate on April 16, 2009!

It’s Time for THE BIG READ!

Are you looking for something fun to do during the February Winter Break the week of February 16?  Look no further—the Sequoyah Regional Library System has fun and exciting activities planned to celebrate The Big Read,  an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture.

To see the complete calendar of events for each library branch, including storytelling, free books, and a tea party, visit http://www.eventkeeper.com/code/events.cfm?curOrg=SRLS#1239671 to see the complete lineup of festivities!  You can also read more about this fantastic community event in The Cherokee Tribune (see link below).

Cherokee Tribune – Sawyer, Twain coming to Cherokee via kwout

If you are active on Facebook, check out the Big Read group on Facebook!

The Big Read – Cherokee | Facebook via kwout

Fun Fall Teen Events@The Sequoyah Regional Library!

SRLS Teen Events                   Fall (September, October, November) 2008 

Cherokee READS     (September, October, November)

All American Girl                        by Meg Cabot

Samantha Madison is just your average disenfranchised sophomore gal living in D.C. when, in an idle moment sandwiched between cookie-buying and CD-perusing, she puts a stop to an attempt on the life of the president. Before she can say “MTV2″ she’s appointed Teen Ambassador to the U.N. and has caught the eye of the very cute First Son. 

Sequoyah Regional Libraries will be closed Monday, September 1 in observance of Labor Day. 

Collage Contest

During the month of September, Sequoyah Regional Libraries are hosting a collage contest inspired by the We the People Bookshelf on Created Equal.  Youth of all ages are encouraged to create a collage reflecting one of the titles featured on this special bookshelf.  Participants must choose a title from their grade category.  The last day to submit a collage entry to your library is Tuesday, September 30.  The collages will be displayed in each library in October for judging.  Winners will be chosen from each library and contacted at contest end.  

Library Card Sign-up Month

September is National Library Card Sign-up Month. 

Your Sequoyah Regional Library card is the most important card in your wallet!  

Teens Book’n Newsletter Deadline

Winter – November 1, 2008

Submissions for the newsletters can be submitted to any library or e-mailed to corraod@seqlib.org.  We are looking for teen creations – book reviews, poems, editorials and illustrations.  

Monday, September 22

6:30 PM @ RT Jones Memorial Library

Obstacle Course

Teens, ages 13 and older, will be introduced to the first of four communication programs hosted by teen leader, Leanne Livingstone, with an awesome obstacle course loaded with the secrets to making a positive first impression.  

Monday, October 6

6:30 PM @ RT Jones Memorial Library

Expression and Interpretation

Teens, ages 13-18 will explore and interpret literature with creative communication and games.  Prizes and refreshments provided.  

October 12-18, 2008

Teen Read Week       @ all SRLS libraries

Books With Bite

Sequoyah Regional Libraries will be celebrating reading for fun and showing teens what we have to offer within our doors and books.  

October 13-17            @ Cherokee County Libraries

Prize Basket with Bite

Teens, ages 13-18 are invited to visit any Cherokee County library during Teen Read Week to enter a drawing for a really cool prize basket.  Winner will be contacted.  

Monday, October 20

6:30 PM @ RT Jones Memorial Library

Persuasive Games

Teens, ages 13 and older, will explore the power of persuasion with games and props.   

Monday, November 3

6:30 PM @ RT Jones Memorial Library

Improv

For improv and book lovers alike.  Teens, ages 13 and older, will enjoy guest performances and a sneak peak into new and creative ways to express your stories.  Teens are encouraged to share their own interpretations with teen leader, Leanne Livingstone.  Prizes awarded for best effort. 

Sequoyah Regional Libraries will be closed Thursday, November 27 and Friday, November 28 for Thanksgiving. 

Save The Date: Decatur Book Festival Is Coming August 29-31!

 

The 2008 Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival Presented by DeKalb Medical | Home

 Many thanks to Dr. JoBeth Allen from the University of Georgia Department of Language and Literacy for the heads up on this WONDERFUL event!  I plan to be there…Billy Collins will be giving the keynote address!  Here is the latest info straight from the festival organizers via email:

It’s hard to believe, but here we are preparing to launch the THIRD annual Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival Presented by DeKalb Medical. The festival has not merely survived its first few years. We’ve built on partnerships with artistic, educational, business, and governmental organizations not only from all over metropolitan Atlanta but from all over the nation. Hosted in the literary haven of Decatur, this festival has quickly joined the ranks of the largest and most talked about book festivals nationwide.
 
 Perhaps we could just keep doing what we’ve been doing and call that good enough, but where’s the fun in that? We’ve added plenty of new and unique programs to this year’s festival:
 
 We’ve had a Children’s Parade since the first year, but this is the first time we’ll be launching a new book at the parade. Not just any book: It’s the first new “Madeline” story in 50 years–”Madeline and the Cats of Rome”–written by John Bemelmans Marciano, the grandson of Ludwig Bemelmans. We encourage everyone to join Marciano in the parade, maybe wear a big yellow hat, sing your favorite French (or, for that matter, Italian) song, or just make some noise.
 
 Though we’ve had programs directed at teenagers from the beginning, 2008 marks the first year we will set aside a space exclusively for teenagers, called Escape. Escape will host best-selling authors for interactive discussions, an open mic and a literary salon. For those under 18, there will also be a quiz show called How Well Do You Know Harry? judged by Cheryl Klein, continuity editor for the last four Harry Potter books.
 
 In a historic partnership, Poets & Writers and Agnes Scott College are working with us to present the best DBF Writers Conferenceyet, with top national editors, agents, critics, publicists, authors, and screenwriters sharing their collective wisdom in a conference tightly integrated with the rest of the book festival. In addition, beginning this year, DBF will host the prestigious Southern Independent Booksellers Association (SIBA) awards ceremony. Many of the nominees will give readings at the festival.
 
 In 2006, we hosted the launch event for the first Atlanta Reads. This year, we’ll launch Atlanta Reads as well as the Big Read, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts. Atlanta’s Big Read will encourage the entire community to read and talk about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.”
 
 Still not enough to fill your Labor Day weekend? Check out even more of the new programs that make this year’s festival truly unique:

 Brooks & Co. Dancewill perform a dance inspired by Shirley Jackson’s classic short story, “The Lottery,” set to the music of Stravinsky’s “Rites of Spring” and drawing on Ninjinsky’s seminal choreography to Stravinsky’s work.
 
 In a program called “Words from Iraq,” adult and young actors from PushPush Theater will present multiple perspectives on Iraq through readings of letters children have written to their parents in the military, blogs written by soldiers in Iraq, and a blog by a young Iraqi woman.
 
 In the spirit of the Java Monkey Local Authors Stage, we’re adding a stage for emerging authors just beginning to get their work out into the world, called the Emerging and Exhibiting Authors Stage.
 
 Author and former Olympian runner Jeff Galloway will lead a fun run Saturday morning of the festival, followed by a running clinic.
 
 Lee Smith, Marshall Chapman, Jill McCorkle, and Matraca Berg will all be onstage together to give a taste of their traveling musical–The Good ol’ Girls–about their friendship and the mutual influences of their books and music on one another.
  
 And that’s just the new stuff!
 

You know you can also count on us to bring you the nation’s top authors in our strongest, most diverse line-up yet. You know we’ve got you covered for good food and some of the best singer-songwriters in America. You know we’ll show the whole family a good time. So, come join us this Labor Day weekend for the best AJC Decatur Book Festival yet!    
   
   

 Be sure to check out our 2008 DBF web site,www.decaturbookfestival.com <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0010o9b8-G1lEKeg0HJ9PdUjGRNyOgyeblVgbcTsEt5PKylDahxzgliuFLJWKLt-zYIoc45cFGTjIsQlOObVGPCdF6Q_S1hyNoiVHSyZMw4GDtx6o-NqZyAj84pBZOFARsm> .

Your Help Is Needed: The Johnston Tornado Relief Fund

As many of our readers know, our community suffered incredible devastation  this past Tuesday when a tornado roared through the Johnston Elementary community off East Cherokee Drive.   This sister elementary school in the Cherokee County School District is only a few miles to our west.  Nearly one in 10 students at the school are victims of the violent storm.  While we are thankful no one was killed or seriously injured, many families suffered severe damage to their homes. 

How can you help?  Dr. Keith Ingram, principal of the school, has established the Johnston Tornado Relief Fund.  You can read more about the fund and the impact of the storm on the studnts at http://www.11alive.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=116323&catid=39 .  The school hopes to raise $5,000 in donations before the school year ends next Thursday, May 29.  The school is asking people and businesses to bring in gift cards, canned foods, boxes of food, clothing, books that they don’t need.  You can send monetary and gift cards donations to:

Johnston Elementary School
2031 East Cherokee Drive
Woodstock Ga 30188

Please indicate you read about this worthy cause on The Unquiet Library blog, the blog of the Creekview High School Media Center.  Thank you for any help you can provide!

Pulitzer Winning Author Rick Bragg To Appear at FoxTale Book Shoppe May 28

Rick Bragg, who in 1996 won the Pulitzer Prize for his feature writing at The New York Times, is scheduled to read from his new book at a book signing on May 28 at 7 p.m. at FoxTale Book Shoppe in downtown Woodstock.  Admission to the book signing is the purchase of Bragg’s new book, The Prince of Frogtown, for $24 plus tax.

To find out more, check out these links:

• http://www.foxtalebookshoppe.com/events-new.html
• http://www.ledgernews.com/cherokeeprofile.html
• http://www.ajc.com/news/content/living/stories/2008/05/25/bragg_0526.html

Severe Weather Awareness Week, Day 2: NOAA Radio

NOAA weather radio is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information direct from a nearby National Weather Service office. NOAA weather radio broadcasts National Weather Service watches, warnings, forecasts, and other hazard information 24 hours a day.

Some weather radios are equipped with a special tone feature, which can sound an alert and give you immediate information about a life threatening situation. During an emergency, the National Weather Service will interrupt routine weather radio programming and send out a special tone that activates weather radios in the warning area. Recently, a radio that can handle the Emergency Alert Signal was introduced. The Specific Area Message Encoder (SAME) tone alert can be set up to only sound for your county. This cuts down on the number of unwanted tones you receive, and alerts you only when a life threatening situation is in your county.

In Georgia, there are 23 transmitters broadcasting throughout the state. Seven frequencies are reserved for NOAA weather radio on the public service band. These frequencies range between 162.400 megahertz and 162.550 megahertz. Broadcast range is approximately 40 miles, but the effective range depends on terrain, quality of the receiver, and indoor/outdoor antennas. Before buying a receiver, make sure your area is covered by a transmitter.

Coming up tomorrow:  a timely topic….thunderstorm safety!