by Pam Everhart Bloom for Rowan Public Library
The library recently changed to a new and improved online card catalog. It’s a system I think patrons will come to love. I personally love the saved list feature found within your personal account and can imagine all sorts of uses for different ages. All you need to access this feature at home is your library card number and your PIN. (Note: PINs may be set up or changed at the library or over the phone.)
To start your first list, go to the Rowan Public Library Home Page, www.rowanpubliclibrary.org , and click on “Find Books.” Enter your search term and begin looking for items of interest.
For example, my inspiration for a saved list was a children’s book, “Dem Bones,” written and illustrated by Bob Barner. Like many excellent picture books, this book reads on two levels. Reading the author’s dedication, “To Dr. Robert Wilkerson who is frequently humerus and to my boney wife,” I expected this would be a book loved by both children and adults. There’s a simple story line song, “The ankle bone connected to da leg bone,” with enough scientific information added to each page to provide fun details for all ages.
After finding this clever book with cross-over appeal, I thought it might be fun to develop a list for a family read, with everyone in a household pursuing their own bone-connected book and discussing their favorite reads. Here’s how my list developed.
Once I brought up “Dem Bones” in the catalog, I clicked on the “Add to List” icon to the right of the book image. A box popped up asking for my card number and PIN. This information then opened up my personal library account within the catalog. I selected the “Create New List” option and named my new list, “Family Reads.” “Dem Bones” was automatically added to my list and I began to select my other books. It was as simple as placing the word “bones” in the search window and clicking on the icon to add books to my saved list, “Family Reads.” Once completed, I printed a hard copy of my list to use while searching the shelves.
My saved list was a fun way to look for connections on a reading level for all ages and also a different way to emphasize a lifetime of reading with children beyond the bedtime story. Books saved to my list were: “Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones” by Byron Barton; “Ask the Bones: Scary Stories from Around the World” by Arielle Olson; “Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons” by Sara Levine; “You Can’t See Your Bones with Binoculars: A Guide to your 206 Bones” by Harriet Ziefert; “Your Body Battles a Broken Bone” by Vicki Cobb; “Do Buildings Have Bones” by Time-Life for Children; “Talking Bones; Secrets of Indian Burial Mounds” by William O. Steele; “Human Bones: A Scientific and Pictorial Investigation” by R. McNeill Alexander; “Strong Women, Strong Bones: Everything You Need to Know to Prevent, Treat and Beat Osteoporosis” by Miriam E. Nelson; “It’s Not Just Growing Pains: A Guide to Childhood Muscle, Bone, and Joint Pain” by Thomas Lehman; “Blood, Bones, and Butter; the Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef” by Gabrielle Hamilton; “Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within” by Natalie Goldberg; “Bones of the Lost” by Kathy Reichs and “Land of the Buffalo Bones” by Marion Dane Bauer.
Explore our new catalog. Make a family list for vacation. Teach your kids to make lists of their favorite reads and keep your own list of all the books you’ve checked out to read. Create a list of all the resources that worked best with your last lesson plan. Keep track of the DVDs you don’t want to miss or want to recommend to friends. Whatever your fancy, there’s a saved list waiting for you by simply using your library card and your personal PIN. And if none of my selections brought a smile, check out “Animal Jokes to Tickle Your Funny Bone” by Michele C. Hollow.
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