John Green's Crash Course Series

Popular young adult author John Green and his brother Hank Green created an educational Crash Course series which offers several YouTube videos explaining topics in biology, world history, ecology, chemistry, U.S. history, and English literature.

Crash Course is a great series to follow! Some recent videos dissect the major plot lines of The Great Gatsby in a format that might be more appealing to a student struggling to understand the novel. Parts 1 and 2 are linked to below.

***SPOILER ALERT: The videos assume you've already read the book!

Banned Books Week is Here!

Banned Books Week has arrived! Celebrate at the HHS Library and check out our banned books display. In the meantime, here are some great videos, created by Bookmans, to watch in celebration of your freedom to read.

Exercise your right to enjoy some great books. Do you really want someone else telling you what you can or can't read? 

Celebrate Banned Books Week!

Banned Books Week is the national book community's annual celebration of the freedom to read. The 2013 celebration of Banned Books Week will be held from September 22 - 28, and it highlights the value of free and open access to information.  Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community - librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, and readers of all types - in shared support of the freedom to seek information and to express ideas (ala.org).

Celebrate this year's Banned Books Week at the HHS Library!  A list of the most frequently challenged books can be found here.  How many have you read?

Tales2Go

The HHS Library now has a free 30 day trial subscription to Tales2Go.  Tales2Go is a service that offers instant streaming of hundreds of audiobook titles to desktops and mobile devices.  Included in those titles are many young adult novels; see the complete list of offerings here.

Interested in learning more?  See Mrs. Fournier at the circulation desk for login information.

Biographile

Biographile, a website maintained by Random House, is a great place for keeping up-to-date with what's new in memoir and autobiography publishing.  We've had lots of students in the HHS library recently, browsing our Biography section.  For those of you in Mr. Frey's class, you may find this site to be of interest.

See any titles you like?  Tell Mrs. Fournier or Mrs. Belcher and we will help you obtain a copy!

Free Audio Books

LibriVox is a resource dedicated to making "all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the internet." A non-commercial, non-profit, and ad-free project, LibriVox is sustained by volunteers donating their time and voices to each recording.

Not a fan of the narrator's voice? With over 7,000 titles available, often times you have multiple narrators reading the same novel - try another one!

Also available as an app, LibriVox is a great one to add to your smartphone/tablet.

The Lizzie Bennett Diaries

Any Jane Austen fans? Check out The Lizzie Bennett Diaries, a modernized adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Offered as a web series comprised of short videos, it's a fun way to experience a more modern take on the classic novel.

First Meeting of the Library Breakfast Club this Thursday!

The first meeting of the HHS Library Breakfast Club is this Thursday morning for some bagels and informal book chat. If you are a student (or staff member) who likes to read, please consider joining us! In addition to chatting about what you've read recently, you'll have a chance to check out the library's newest materials. Some great stuff has come in! 7:00am until the first bell.

The Use of Social Media in the Classroom

Best Master's in Education recently posted a great infographic summarizing some interesting statistics related to the use of social media in the classroom. Check it out:
 
Image source: www.bestmastersineducation.com

YouTube Channels Worth Subscribing To

The most recent issue of Library Media Connection compiled a list of YouTube channels you might want to consider subscribing to...

American Library Association: For all things libraries, this channel is a wealth of information.

The American Poet Academy: Features videos of poets and poetry for those that have an appreciation of contemporary poetry.

BookTV: Find out about the latest in nonfiction books - history, biography, politics, current events, the media, and more. Author interviews, readings, parties, panels, and book festivals from across the country are included.

Discovery Network: Learn more about the world of science, natural history, anthropology, survival, geography, and engineering.

The FDR Library and Museum: Features a vast collection of historical videos, many featuring Franklin D. Roosevelt himself.

HarperTeen: Book trailers and author interviews of popular teen authors and books. Authors include Melissa Marr, Michael Grant, Veronica Roth, Lauren Oliver, and more.

The Library of Congress: Pretty much all you can imagine, divided into categories such as Music and Concerts, Journeys and Crossings, America at Work, America at Leisure, National Book Festival Highlights, and more.

Nurdrage's: Over 100 videos of science experiments with a description of scientific processes and safety hazards in each experiment.

Penguin Young Readers Books: Features book trailers and author interviews from many of the books published by Penguin including Incarceron, Sky is Everywhere, Ranger's Apprentice, Sarah Dessen, John Green, If I Stay, Alex Rider, Thirteen Reasons Why, Hold Still, Wintergirls, and more.

Poetry Out Loud: Features Poetry Out Loud information and excerpts from winners.

School Library Journal: Everything school library related!

Simon & Schuster: Book trailers and author interviews of Simon & Schuster's top authors including Stephen King, Jennifer Weiner, Paula Deen, Jodi Picoult, and more.

Smithsonian Libraries: Educational content produced by the Smithsonian Institution Libraries.

Voting for Teens' Top Ten Now Open!

Voting for Teens' Top Ten is now open!  Teens' Top Ten is a "teen choice" list, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books.  Voting is open now through Teen Read Week, which is taking place October 13th - 19th.  Winners will be announced on October 22nd.  We have several of these books in the HHS Library - come check them out!

Cast your vote here.

September Newsletter

The first issue of the HHS Library Newsletter is now available!

Welcome

Welcome to the Hopkinton High School Library! My name is Mrs. Fournier and I will be your new librarian this year. I come to HHS from Uxbridge High School, where I was the school librarian for the past three years. Although I do miss the staff and students at Uxbridge, I am very excited to be here at HHS and look forward to meeting all of you. I am an avid reader of young adult literature and have ordered some great new titles for the fall; I hope you will stop by and check them out. I would love to also post some student reviews here on the library blog, so if you are a person that loves to read and likes to write about what you've read, please see me. We'd all love to hear your thoughts!

Please don't hesitate to approach me with any library or research questions you may have. I am here to help and love answering reference questions. The library will be a tremendous resource to you during your years at HHS and I'd like it to be a place you feel comfortable. I would love to hear your suggestions for the library - if there are particular authors you like, certain genres you prefer, or specific research topics that are of interest to you, tell me about them. I'd like to continue developing the library's collection to meet those needs as this is YOUR library. Hope everyone had a great summer and welcome back to school!