National Library Week & Maine Student Book Awards

Did you know that it's National Library Week? Yup, April 13-19 has been set aside as a time to appreciate all that your local library has to offer. And that's a wonderful thing.

How to celebrate Library Week? Here are some ideas:

• Look for special events at your library (ours is having *cake* on Friday!)
• Thank your librarians for all that they do...bring cookies, flowers, send a note, or just walk in with a smile
• Donate books, music, or movies to your library (cash works, too!)
• Flop down in the Children's Corner and read a book you haven't read in years
• Check out a dizzying array of mystery novels
  
• Pick one thing you've always wanted to know (Are blue butterflies really going extinct? How do I get a coffee stain out of a teacup? Where exactly is Kazakhstan on a map?) and go find out...Guess what? Your reference librarian can help!
  
• Participate in Operation Teen Book Drop on the 17th

AND...one very exciting library-related announcement. Each year, the 4th-8th graders of Maine vote for their favorite book and this year's winner is our very own Cynthia Lord for her Newbery Honor Book, Rules! This is the first time that a Maine author has won the Maine Student Book Award! How should you celebrate this one? By reading the book of course! Here's my review of Rules. And here's the full Maine Student Book Awards list.

Here's a sweet message from Julie Andrews, the honorary chair of National Library Week: