Welcome Back to the 2011-12 School Year

September is almost over already. Bookclubs for all grades have begun, and students are busy with classes and sports. High school homecoming is next weekend. All the library Nooks are checked out, as well as lots of new books that came in over the summer. If you haven't visited the library yet, come see us to take a look at what's new.

Yesterday, I came across Hank Green's Read It 1st pledge, which is something he started to get people motivated to read the book before seeing the movie. In 2010, half of the top selling movies were based on books. Take a look at his YouTube video (it's funny!):




If you want more information, take a look at readit1st.com.

For a list of new titles so far this fall, you can take a look at our list.

Congratulations Class of 2011, and Happy Summer!

This past Friday, June 10, the Class of 2011 graduated from Hopkinton High School. Congratulations to all the graduates, and we wish you all the best in the future. For the rest of our students, school ends on June 23rd.

This has been a fast year, with many changes to our library. We started the year with new computers and netbooks, added Nook ereaders, and continued with very active book clubs for all grades. Our book clubs read a total of over ten books!

Finally, for those of you who haven't heard, the winners of our 2011 NH Flume and Isinglass Awards were as follows:

2011 Flume Award Winner:


Paper Towns, by John Green





2011 Isinglass Award Winner:

The Maze Runner, by James Dashner



For next year's list of Award nominees, stop by the library to pick up a brochure, or visit Barrington Public Library's Teen Zone to download your own Isinglass brochure, and Nashua Public Library's Flume Page to download your own Flume brochure. Happy summer reading!

Nook Update

An update on the Nook ereaders: The Hopkinton PTA delivered not two, but THREE Nook ereaders to our library on March 25, 2011. We have been cataloging them, purchasing Nook ebook titles, and getting ready to loan them out to our high school students. We are almost ready, with an anticipated date for circulation set for April 11, 2011. Come ask us about them!

Nooks Are Coming!

Thanks to the generosity of our Hopkinton PTA, we will be able to purchase two Barnes & Noble Nook ereaders. We chose the Nook over Amazon's Kindle because the Nook is compatible with the NH State Library's subscription to Overdrive, accessed through the Hopkinton Town Library. This extends the amount of titles that we can offer. We are really excited to offer this opportunity to our students and staff. The Nooks will check out just like a book - for a period of three weeks. We will provide more information on our library website, with tutorial information for students. Once again, a HUGE thank you to our PTA!

Award Winners

Yesterday, the American Library Association announced this year's award winners for Youth Media. In the Young Adult category, the Printz Award for Excellence in YA Literature went to the novel Shipbreaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi. The award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults went to Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing, by Ann Angel. Come to the library to get these books and to see if you agree!

Have a Great December Vacation

Next week is a shorter week because of holiday break. Get your books for vacation now! While you're at it, think about which books might be good choices for next year's Flume List or Isinglass list. You can nominate books for the Flume list by using the online form at the Nashua Public Library, or by filling out a form in the library. You can nominate books for the Isinglass Award by downloading a form at the Barrington Public Library, and turning it in to Mrs. Zecha or Ms. Moore. Nominations for next year are due by January 14, 2011.

Podcasts for the Isinglass Awards are ongoing. How many of the nominated titles have you read so far?

If you need suggestions for what to read next, remember that Mrs. Zecha and Ms. Moore are happy to help. Have a great vacation!

Happy Teen Read Week

Hello everybody! I have been maintaining two blogs, and have not updated this one in far too long. This week is Teen Read Week, so grab a book for the fun of it. If you check out a book from the library, you'll be entered in our drawing for Borders Gift Cards. Also, stop by and get a READ poster form, and you could be featured on the next READ poster!

We will have school-wide reading on the following days/times:
Tuesday, October 19: beginning of Z block
Wednesday, Oct. 20: beginning of block 4
Thursday, Oct. 21: beginning of block 2
Friday, October 22: beginning of block 2

Pageturners meet during lunch on Friday, both lunches.

Happy Summer Vacation

This school year is drawing to a close, and we hope you have a fun, sunny summer vacation. Congratulations to our seniors who graduated on June 18th. If you are looking for something fun to read, why not try something from the Isinglass or Flume lists?
See you in August, 2010, and keep reading!

Welcome back

Welcome back from vacation, everybody. Come to the library to see all the new titles we've just put out on display. There are lots! Also, thanks in part to our wonderful PTA, the library has just upgraded our quiz buzzer system to a wireless system. We now have 16 wireless buzzers for our students to use.

Finally, check out this fun video, featuring middle school students from Ocoee Middle School in FL, in conjunction with Full Sail University. It's called, "Gotta Keep Reading." As of right now, the embed code is not working. If I fix it, I'll embed the video here instead. For now, just click on the link to get to the video. Enjoy!

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=159726&title=Gotta_Keep_Reading

Second Skype Session with Susan Campbell Bartoletti

In December, our 8th grade book club had the opportunity to Skype with author Conor Kostick. Mr. Kostick has written two books for young adults: Epic and Saga. Our book club read Epic, and we had lots of questions for Mr. Kostick. It was an excellent conversation, and a wonderful opportunity for our students.

Yesterday, we completed our second Skype session with author Susan Campbell Bartoletti. Ms. Bartoletti has written several books. Our book club read The Boy Who Dared, a historical fiction novel about a German teen during Hitler's regime.

Using Skype has given us the opportunity to have conversations with these authors, asking questions and gaining insight into the stories we have read. We look forward to more sessions with our favorite authors!

December - Time to nominate next year's Flume titles!

Wow! It's time to update the library news. We have lots of new titles that have just arrived - come by and check them out!

From now until January 15th, we will be taking nominations for the 2011 NH Flume Teen Choice Award list. Please consider any great books you have read that were published from 2007-2009. If the book is part of a series, it must be able to stand on its own (meaning you don't have to read the previous books in the series to understand the story). Paper nomination forms are in the library, or you can nominate a title online.

Page Turners book club meets today, in the library, during both high school lunches.

Celebrate Teen Read Week

Teen Read Week is here. The theme is, "Read Beyond Reality." We will be reading as a school for the first 15 minutes of block 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the first 15 minutes of block 2 on Thursday and Friday. Thanks for your participation! Also, if you would like to vote for next year's theme, please visit the online voting site at the Young Adult Library Services Association.

Remember, if you check out a book at the library this week, you are entered in our drawing for Borders Gift Cards. Enjoy!

Welcome Back!

It's hard to believe that this is our 4th week of school. The library is in full swing now, with special displays for the Isinglass and Flume 2009-2010 titles. We also have a display of staff favorites - come in and take a look at what your teachers' favorites are!

The Page Turners had their first meeting last Thursday. If you missed that meeting, please come join us for the next one. Look for the yellow signs in the hallways advertising the next meeting date.

Finally, when it's time for you to do an Internet search, try using Goodsearch. This search engine is powered by Yahoo, and after you select Hopkinton School District as your charity of choice, every search you complete gives the School District 1 cent. It's free money!

Enjoy this beautiful weather.

Summer is here...

This is the last day of finals, and school ends tomorrow. What is on your summer reading list? If you need some ideas, check out the 2009/2010 Isinglass Teen Read Award nominees for grades 7 & 8, or the 2010 NH Flume Award nominees for grades 9-12. Feel free to ask us if you want some suggestions!

By the way, the 2009 NH Flume Award winner was Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult. This title was also the winner for our school.

Have a great summer, happy reading, and we'll see you in September.

And the winner is...

The Isinglass Award winning title for 2009 is...Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick.


Here at Hopkinton Middle High School, we had a three-way tie between:

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

Elephant Run by Roland Smith

Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham

Thanks to everyone who voted.

The Flume results should be announced shortly, so stay tuned!