Colby Public Library Update

Link to April 4 Marshfield Daily Herald column, "Activities abound at library in April".

Library supporters in the area will want to attend this event. On April 22, the annual Lions Smelt Fry is being held from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Colby Lions Shelter. The Friends of the Colby Public Library has been chosen to serve at the dinner, with the Lions group graciously offering a monetary compensation to the library for each person dining in the shelter that evening. We are looking for people to help bus tables and serve patrons that night in two-hour shifts -- call or stop in the library to sign up.

The 50-page rule?

Link to April 3 Wall Street Journal post, "When to Put a Book Down".

What a coincidence. We were just talking about this topic in my SLIS class yesterday.

In my 20s and 30s, once I started a book -- always after careful consideration as I'm a big fan of reading lists -- I had to finish it. Now that I'm approaching 60, that rule has gone out the window. I've been known to toss aside a book before the end of page 1.

Drop Everything and Read

Link to April 3 Fond du Lac Reporter article, "High school community drops everything and reads".

Excerpt: According to a recent scholastic inventory, 87 out of the 525 ninth graders at Fondy High tested below a basic reading comprehension level. The findings led to a 14-month investigation by a literacy team into student reading patterns.

“It’s a big concern at any public school and we are trying to address it,” Wiltzius said. “Students who can read with comprehension and understanding achieve in all areas of their lives.”

Senior Tori Fanetori said when she heard about D.E.A.R. she told her principal it was a lame idea.

“Now I can’t put the book down, I even take it home with me,” she said of the novel “Please Stop Laughing at me” by Jodee Blanco.