Monthly Archives: July 2020

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Review

This entry was posted in Adult Services DPL Blog Teens on July 31, 2020 by admin

With everything going on in the world, the library’s copies of the latest Hunger Games novel by Suzanne Collins, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, arrived about two months late. Was it worth the wait?

The short answer, from a Hunger Games fan, is YES! The long answer is… maybe?

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes place about sixty years before the original trilogy. The first two parts of the book follow the tenth Hunger Games, the annual competition slash punishment that takes twenty four children from the twelve districts of Panem and puts them in a fight to the death. This year the Capitol is trying something new: mentors. The first class of mentors includes students from the Capitol in their final year of school. Eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is one of those students, and he is assigned the female tribute from District 12.

Weighing in at 528 pages, this book, full of surprises and insights, is not what I would call light reading. It raises a lot of questions about Panem and about future villain Snow. The book tackles war, reformation, poverty, hatred, ambition… It makes you think.

Personally, I like this book. It was a good read. As a Hunger Games fan, I would recommend this to other fans. But fair warning: if you haven’t read The Hunger Games, you’ll need to after reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Then, you’ll probably want to read all four of them again.

-Liz Strauss, Teen/Outreach Services Librarian

Back to School Book List

This entry was posted in DPL Blog Kids on July 24, 2020 by admin

Here are some fun books to get your kiddos ready for school!

We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan Higgins

Little Lola by Julie Saab

Dinosaur vs School by Bob Shea

The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes

Chu's first day at school by Neil Gaiman and Adam Rex picture book cover

Chu’s First Day of School by Neil Gaiman

Pout Pout Fish Goes to School by Deborah Deisen

Monsters Love School by Mike Austin

Biscuit Goes to School by Alyssa Capucilli

Froggy Goes to School by Jonathan London

-Compiled by Mallory Thompson, Librarian

The Baby-Sitters are Back

This entry was posted in DPL Blog Kids on July 17, 2020 by admin

If you were a pre- teen during the late 80’s or early 90’s you may remember a book series called The Baby-Sitters Club.

Ann M Martin The Baby-Sitters Club #1: Kristy's Great Idea 1986

Author Ann Martin put out a hit when she wrote this series. 176 million copies were sold during the period of 1986-2000. The original TV series came from those books and was on HBO in 1990. I did not personally watch or read since I was graduating in 1990 and was just too sophisticated for that – haha!! I am pretty sure my younger sister did have at least one of those books.

The books and TV series are making a comeback now with the hit show on Netflix. You can still follow your favorites Kristy, Claudia, Stacey and Mary Anne even though there have been adaptations to the current styles and technology in both the books and show.

Ann M Martin The Baby-Sitters Club The Summer Before, 2009

In 2009, Martin wrote a prequel called The Summer Before, and it was such a hit that the books are being reissued, and there are even graphic novels of the books. The books are slowly coming back out one or two a month through the beginning of the new year. You can count on those books being on our shelves. Well… at least being owned by the library. They will be off the shelves more often than they will be on them, I’m sure.

-Jen Gardner, Children’s Department Manager

Welcome Back!

This entry was posted in DPL Blog on July 3, 2020 by admin

A Message from the Director

For this week’s blog, I wanted to personally welcome you back to the Dover Public Library! We will officially be reopening on Monday, July 6 after nearly four months of having our building closed to the public. Please know how much we have missed you and how grateful we are for your support of the library. We all know the pandemic has changed our world. The Library is not immune to those changes so know that things will be different when you visit us. Each and every one of us will need to use the library in a different way. Your safety and the safety of our library staff is paramount. Our hours will be limited during the month of July: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 AM-4:00 PM and Tuesday and Thursday from 12:00-6:00 PM. We hope to be able to expand hours as the year unfolds.

First of all, our curbside pickup service has been very successful. If you are not comfortable coming into the library, know that curbside service will still be an option. Simply call the library when you arrive in our rear parking lot and a librarian will bring your materials out to your car. Also, our eLibrary will always be a safe and easy way to access your favorite book titles, movies, music, audiobooks and more. You can access our eLibrary here.

Here are some expectations we are asking our patrons to keep in mind when you visit us next week:

Patrons are asked not to come to the library if feeling ill or if someone you live with is ill.
Wearing masks is STRONGLY encouraged
Patrons are asked to sanitize their hands as they enter and exit the building
Six foot distancing is mandatory
All library returns must be placed in one of the exterior book drops
Patrons are asked to limit their visit to 1 hour
Use of the public computers is by appointment only and is limited to 1 hour
No unattended children

At this time, our meeting rooms are not open to the public for reservations. Also, we are holding no in-person programs until further notice. Please know that these measures are temporary as we walk this journey together. Someday we will all look back on the year 2020 and think not so much about the pandemic and the toil and trials we endured, but the ways we came together as a community to help each other out. And that, my library friends, is a story worth telling.

Stay safe and keep reading!

Jim Gill, Director, Dover Public Library