The Keene Public Library is improving our service to middle school students. Do you know about these 10 things that we are striving to do better?
- We’ve carved out a new area called Middle Grades and you’ll find it at the end of our Youth Nonfiction shelves. It’s targeted towards kids in the 5th through the 8th grades. The call number for these books begins with MG. We are relocating books from the Youth Fiction and YA areas. Keep this in mind as you search for books. Your favorite titles won’t be where they were the last week. But, please remember that while it might be seem harder to find what you are looking for in this transitional period, it will soon be easier to find good books because all the books for middle school readers will be in one place.
- We order the books middle schoolers want to read. We try to keep up on what’s being read and talked about but if we’ve missed the next new thing or something unique and wonderful, we let you suggest books.
- We make it easy to find good books by creating book lists to help middle schoolers find new authors and titles. We’ve just posted a list of the best graphic novels for middle school kids. We can even create a special list of recommended books just for you. All you have to do is fill out our reading preference survey and we’ll take it from there.
- We collect books in various formats. Audio books let you listen to
your favorite books while you ride the bus, keep fit, or give your eyes a break. You can listen to a book pre-recorded on a CD or Playaway. You can download an audiobook to your computer to transfer to a Mp3 player or CD. And you can stream a book to listen to while you are online. We even have e-books for download. - We’ve made it easier to find books at your reading level by adding Lexile® measures to the book information in our catalog. If you use the word “lexile” as a subject term, you will get a list of Lexile measures. Choose the one closest to yours. Click on it and this take you to a list of books in your Lexile range. This isn’t a complete list yet. We are adding levels all the time. Please ask a librarian for help, if you can’t find a book at your level. We are always happy to help.
- We can help with homework and study skills. Just visit the library’s website at www.keenepubliclibrary.org to get help from an expert any day of the week from 3 p.m. until 10 p.m. through online homework help. The SkillsCenter™ Resource Library is open 24/7 with thousands of lessons, worksheets, study guides and videos to help you. Pleas you can always ask the librarian how to use databases for research. We can even match you up with a free in-person tutor whom you can meet with at the library.
- If you want to learn on your own, you can take a variety of practice tests and mini-courses suited for middle school students with Learning Express. Practice tests and courses include: math skills, reading comprehension, social studies skills, writing skills,and high school entrance exams preparation.
- The library offers regular programs after school. We’ve just
finished a great harmonica class for middle school students. Other regular programs include movies on Fridays, Open Play Gaming with Friends on Thursdays. Once a month on Mondays there’s a Lego Club. Check our online calendar to see what’s offered. You can stay informed about our programs by signing up for our regular email updates. And if you don’t see a program that interests you, suggest a program.We are always looking for new ideas. - If you don’t want to join in a program, we have lots of games
available for playing in the library. You and your friends can play a board game like Risk or Apples to Apples. Or you can check out a Nintendo DS Handheld and a game and test your skills. (Games and systems are checkout for use in the library only). Some of our DS games for middle school students include Brain Age and Professor Layton and the Curious Village. - Get involved. Suggest new books and new programs. Join our Advisory Group for Teens or ‘Tweens.
