While we are all staying at home, why not get into a routine of listening to part of an audio-book together each day? Here are some great family choices for listening that are available through the Indiana Digital Download Center.
These titles were all available for checkout when this post was written. If the book you want is not available now, please place a Hold on it. I’m monitoring the Holds, to determine if we need to purchase additional copies.
Lisa Kleypas
After graduating from Wellesley College with a political science degree, Lisa published her first novel at age twenty-one. Her books are published in more than 20 languages and are bestsellers all over the world. Lisa (born 1964) was also named Miss Massachusetts in 1995 and competed in the Miss America Pageant the next year.
Her novel “Stranger In My Arms” was given the Waldenbooks Award for greatest sales growth. The following year, Lisa’s “Someone To Watch Over Me” was a Rita finalist at the Romance Writers of America convention.
In 2002 her novel “Suddenly You” was a Rita finalist and Lisa won the Rita award for her Christmas anthology novella featured in the “Wish List.” It was a banner year, and her novel “Lady Sophia’s Lover” was awarded Best Sensuous Historical Romance from Romantic Times magazine, and “Lady Sophia’s Lover” was given a starred review in Publishers Weekly, as was “When Strangers Marry.”
The historical series the Ravenels, debuted on the New York Times Bestsellers list and, much to her fans’ delight, characters from previous books made cameos. Each of the five Ravenels books has been a NY Times Bestseller. The newest book Chasing Cassandra has been given a starred review by Publisher’s Weekly and by me 😉
Lisa is one of those authors that I never miss and I am always excited when the next title is announced, if you are a fan of romance with lots of twists and turns but always a happy ending you can’t go wrong with one of her many titles.
The Ravenels series in reverse order includes:
This post will be updated as more great online resources become available during this time of social distancing. These are all free for anyone to visit and use.
New on 4/4:
New on 3/30:
New on 3/24: Teaching Books resources – free access through at least the middle of September.
NEW: Digital Escape Room for Harry Potter fans!
Scholastic.com is making great online resources available to families and teachers. Scholastic Learn at Home
The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden is doing a video visit with a zoo animal each weekday at 3 PM. Instructions for a related craft are also included. Watch these live on the Zoo’s facebook page or archived at: http://cincinnatizoo.org/home-safari-resources/
Mo Willems, beloved author and illustrator of children’s book is hosting a daily (weekdays) broadcast called Lunch Doodles. This is your chance to draw along with Mo!
Here’s another daily opportunity for the artists in your family: Draw Every Day with Jarrett J. Krosoczka.
Flannel Board Fun is a wonderful blog that offers lots of opportunities for kids to learn through play, and no, it’s not just about flannelboards!
National Geographic for Kids has great activities you can access without a subscription.
Don’t forget that limited screen time is still recommended for kids of all ages! Go outside to play together, get out a board game, play cards, or cook together.
Please keep checking back; more activities will be added!
Some, but not all, of these free resources require an Aurora Public Library Card and a PIN. If you have a library card, but get blocked because your card has expired or you have forgotten your PIN, send an email to contact@EAPLD.org. I will try to address your issue the next time I’m in the library building.
New on 4/1:
New on 3/24: Mid-America Books is giving free access to all their e-books and databases through June 2020.
New on 3/24: Teaching Books resources – free access through at least the middle of September.
NEW: TumbleBooks is making their database of ebooks available FREE to all Public Libraries through the end of August 2020. Just click on the link to read the book on a computer or other device. Library card and PIN are NOT required, so spread the word! A big thanks to the folks at TumbleBooks who made this available to community members who don’t currently have a library card!
Adult Romance books: Just so you know, Tumblebooks describe these as “Steamy Romance novels”
Indiana Digital Download Center: Free downloads of ebooks, audiobooks, movies, and magazines. Requires a valid Aurora Public Library District card and PIN. If you’ve used your library card recently, we’ve updated your expiration date to be good through the end of May 2020. If you have an expired card, send me a message at contact@eapld.org Let’s be kind to each other by remembering to return our digital items after we’ve read them! Remember the Magazines are simultaneous use, so never any waiting for one of the magazines!
Here’s a tutorial to get you started on digital downloads, if you’re new to this: Getting Started
Heritage Quest: This is a great way to begin looking at your family history and can be accessed remotely from a home computer or device. If you’re new to this, you may want to click on Research Aids at the top of the Heritage web page and then “Ancestry Anne’s Top 10 Search Tips” in the “Getting Started” box.
World Book Online and Britannica: Great resources for everyone, and you can select the resources appropriate to each age level.
Small Engine Repair: This is what you need when it’s grass-cutting season and you can’t get your lawn mower started! Also great for chain saws, motorcycles and other small power equipment.
A to Z USA: check this out for information on regional and ethnic foods, including recipes, agricultural products, and historical cookbooks.
Travel and Geographical information is available with these three resources:
A To Z in the USA
A to Z World Travel
Global Road Warriors
We have grouped reliable health resources together under the heading Health and Medical Resources. This group of resources was collated through the work of the American Library Association.
Much, much more is available so scroll through all the resources at: https://eapld.org/online-resources/
One of the best things you can do to encourage your child as a reader is to show them that language can be playful. Word play, including rhymes, made-up words, idioms and all kinds of silliness, builds awareness of the ways that words are composed of distinct sounds. Here are some great picture books that will help build skills, but just as importantly, will make you laugh!
Here are some great ideas from the American Library Association’s Every Child Ready to Read Program:
In addition to canceling our public programs in March, the Library District is following all Department of Health guidelines and is maintaining rigorous cleaning procedures at all our buildings. If you have Library items checked out and cannot return them, please call 812-926-0646 to renew the items. In addition, if you or a family member has been ill, please notify us when you return your items, so we can clean them.
Women’s History Month is a national, month-long observance of the often overlooked contributions of women in history and contemporary society. In the United States it is celebrated in March to coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8th. The first National Women’s History Month was celebrated in 1987, but it was celebrated by smaller communities long before then. The process took years of hard work and lobbying by women to gain the recognition they deserved.
In 1979, a fifteen-day conference co-sponsored by Sarah Lawrence, the Women’s Action Alliance, and the Smithsonian Institution was held at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. The conference was organized by one of the professors at the college, Gerda Lerner. Her goal was to introduce female leaders with diverse backgrounds to the possibilities of women’s history. Lerner, along with historians Alice Kessler-Harris and Amy Swerdlow, challenged the participants to create one large group project. Their chosen project was to make the celebration of Women’s History Week, an event already celebrated by some schools, communities, and women’s organizations, a national event.
At the end of the conference, the women returned to their homes all across the country and began the campaign for a National Women’s History Week. They planned and scheduled publicly sponsored women’s history programs at both the local and national level. The women successfully lobbied for national recognition, and in February of 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring the Week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week.
Subsequent presidents
continued to proclaim a National Women’s History Week in March for the next several years. The popularity grew, and schools across the United States started their own local celebrations of Women’s History Week, and even expanding into the entire month of March. By 1986, fourteen states declared March as Women’s History Month, and finally, in 1987, Congress passed Public Law 100-9, designating March as Women’s History Month nationally.
The National Women’s History Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to honoring and preserving women’s history, and a large contributor to the fight for a nationally recognized month, selects the yearly theme and honorees for Women’s History Month. The 2020 theme is “Valiant Women of the Vote” in honor of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. The theme honors women “from the original suffrage movement as well as 20th and 21st century women who have continued the struggle (fighting against poll taxes, literacy tests, voter roll purges, and other more contemporary forms of voter suppression) to ensure voting rights for all.” The 2020 honorees include Maria Teresa Kumar, Edith Mayo, Lucy Burns, Carrie Chapman Catt, and many other incredible women who have fought and continue to fight for voting rights for everyone. Click HERE for more information on this year’s theme and honorees.
You can learn more about women’s history, and celebrate Women’s History Month, by checking out our collection of books about women’s contributions to history and society! Click on any title to learn more!
With the recent release of Golden in Death and with some nudging from a friend (B.W.), I decided to read J.D. Robb A.K.A Nora Roberts for the first time. The main character in the In Death series is Eve Dallas, a no nonsense homicide cop in a mid-21st century (2058) New York, where beggars and prostitutes are legal as long as they have the proper licenses. Eve is emotionally closed-off, and lives and breathes her job. In the first book Naked in Death, Eve meets Roarke (just one name like Cher), a suspect in a gruesome murder, and the plot thickens. Roarke and Eve have nothing in common. She lives on a cop salary and prefers candy bars to stopping to eat a meal. He is extremely wealthy and his “auto-chef” (picture a sci-fi slot in the wall that can prepare meals for you) is stocked with only the best. Sparks fly.
I’m on book seven now. The murders are compelling, her few friends and co-workers provide some humor, her love life provides some spice, and her entire sense of self revolves around justice for the victims.
Roberts began writing the “In Death” series in 1995, and some familiar and complicated characters are woven into all the books, including “Golden in Death.” Her intricate character development and powerful storytelling give both longtime fans and newcomers the ability to drop into the series at any point and escape into Eve’s world where the street vendors sell soy dogs and Pepsi comes in recyclable tubes.
And the 50th book proves, this series truly is the gold standard. “Golden” was released on February 4, 2020 and is in the top 5 on the New York Times Bestseller list.
The building known today as the Aurora Recreational Community Center began its history as the Aurora High School. Construction began in 1934 and the first class to graduate was 1935. Through the years as a sc
hool this building had two new additions and two major fires.
*Have you ever wondered why the ball fields next to the school were called Taylor’s Fields?
*Who was the last person to graduate from the school?
*Why were there dead spots in the school’s gym?
These and many more answers will be revealed in the new season of the 2020 Talk About Aurora History when the history of the Aurora High School will be the topic of discussion.
Due to an expected larger than normal attendance, the Aurora High School program will be held at the Aurora High School Museum, 232 Main Street in Aurora.
Talk About Aurora History is a roundtable discussion held several times a year at the Local History Library @ The Depot located at 510 Second Street. This very successful program is free, begins at 6:00 and is open to the public. This program has become an interesting event for those who are local history buffs and is also helpful to those new to the community searching for details of Aurora. In addition, it provides humor as the attendees share their own folklore. New topic suggestions are always welcome.
Aurora High School
Tuesday March 24, 2020
6:00 PM
Please, come and join us for an educational and entertaining evening.
