All Iowa Reads Titles Announced

Adult, Teen, and Children's Titles for 2023

In case you didn’t catch this announcement last week, this news bears repeating!  Last week, the All Iowa Reads titles for 2023 were announced on Iowa Public Radio’s Talk of Iowa program. 

Program host Charity Nebbe was joined by Bethany Nelson with Waverly Public Library who announced the title for adults.  Janeé Jackson-Doering, Youth Services Consultant with the State Library, announced the titles for kids and teens.  Here are the books chosen for the All Iowa Reads program in the new year:

Adult Title: How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

“In 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue the work of his recently deceased daughter at the Batagaika Crater, where researchers are studying long-buried secrets now revealed in melting permafrost, including the perfectly preserved remains of a girl who appears to have died of an ancient virus. Once unleashed, the Arctic plague will reshape life on Earth for generations to come, quickly traversing the globe, forcing humanity to devise a myriad of moving and inventive ways to embrace possibility in the face of tragedy…”

Teen Title: Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley  

“Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.

Children’s Title: The Golden Hour by Niki Smith

 “Struggling with anxiety after witnessing a harrowing instance of gun violence, Manuel Soto copes through photography, using his cell-phone camera to find anchors that keep him grounded. His days are a lonely, latchkey monotony until he's teamed with his classmates, Sebastian and Caysha, for a group project.  Sebastian lives on a grass-fed cattle farm outside of town, and Manuel finds solace in the open fields and in the antics of the newborn calf Sebastian is hand-raising. As Manuel aides his new friends in their preparations for the local county fair, he learns to open up, confronts his deepest fears, and even finds first love.”

About All Iowa Reads

All Iowa Reads has fostered a sense of unity through reading since 2003. Iowans are encouraged to come together in their communities to read and talk about a single book in the same year. In 2017, kids and teen titles were added to include younger Iowans in the program.  More information and resources for the 2023 All Iowa Reads program, including book discussion questions and more, will be available on the program website soon.

All Iowa Reads 2023

 iREAD Summer Library Program Guide

Ready to Download

This news comes from the State Library’s new Youth Services Consultant Janee Jackson-Doering.  It concerns how to access the 2023 Summer Reading Resource Guide from the iREAD consortium.

Janee writes “The State Library has purchased one Resource Guide download PER library, so please forward these instructions to the person who will be responsible for downloading the resource guide. Once the guide is downloaded, it can be distributed and shared amongst the staff.  Each library can download one copy, then share it internally however works best for your library: placing it on a shared drive, saving it to USB drives, or even printing it out if you'd like.

Download Instructions 

Click the link below to create / login into your iREAD account. If you have not ordered from iREAD before, you will be prompted to create an account.  Note: on the iREAD website, ILA refers to the Illinois Library Association

Log in to iREAD

Copy and paste the following promo code into the box provided and select redeem (Note: this code is to be used by Iowa libraries only)

2023iREADRGIOWA 

Once the code is redeemed you will be able to download the Resource Guide directly from the confirmation screen or from the confirmation sent to your email. These are large files and they may take some time to download. If you have issues with your download speeds, make sure that nothing else is running while you're downloading. If you have trouble downloading, return to the confirmation sent to your email and try downloading from the link in the email. Do not attempt to re-download using the code redemption process.  Note: There are two parts to the Resource Guide that need to be downloaded: 

Part 1 contains the content of the Resource Guide

Part 2 contains the graphics

Questions or problems with downloading the Resource Guide? Contact iREAD Customer Service at [email protected].  Other questions about iREAD or the summer learning program, please contact Janee Jackson-Doering at [email protected].

ILOC Call For Proposals

Submit a Session Idea for "Productive Partnerships"

A new year is right around the corner, which means a new ILOC Conference is, too.  The acronym stands for Iowa Libraries Online Conference and it’s  scheduled for January 26, 2023—Save the Date!  The 2023 theme is “Productive Partnerships;” in fact, that will be the theme that carries us through the new year of education and training from the State Library.  ILOC is a day-long event with something for everyone, including an evening program for trustees.

ILOC 2023 marks the 16th annual online conference and as in years past, we need your help to make it another successful day of learning.  Here’s where you come in.  We’re asking library staff from towns large and small to consider submitting an ILOC session proposal. Samantha Bouwers writes “While we focused on saying “yes” to opportunities last year, we realize that libraries cannot do all things. Being purposeful in determining what ideas to pursue, and with whom to undertake those pursuits, will make partnerships more productive in the long run.” The ILOC Conference will encourage attendees to implement partnerships that extend the library’s reach, build relationships with other groups and organizations, and make a difference in the lives of community members.  Your proposals could include these angles:

·       Unusual partners like unique businesses or non-profits

·       Partnerships that enable the library to reach underserved populations

• Library collaborations within a county or region
• Partnerships with other city departments
• Partnerships that enhance programming
• School / Library collaborations that have produced positive results

To be considered as a presenter, please complete the application form at the button below.  Proposals will be accepted until December 1, presenters will be notified by December 5.  So if you have successful partnership stories to tell, we’d love to hear from you.  As you consider an idea for a presentation, but would like some help fleshing it out, just contact a member of the ILOC Planning Team: Samantha Bouwers, Emily Bainter, Brenda Hall, Becky Heil, Bonnie McKewon, and Maryann Mori.  Join the ILOC Presentation Team!

Call For Proposals ILOC 2023

This Week ...

Pop YS Live: Storytime Showcase Early Literacy. 
November 15, from 1:00-2:00PM

Feeling stuck in a rut with storytime? Join us for a special edition of Pop YS Live where a panel of Youth Services Librarians from around the state will give you their quick takes on how to include early literacy elements in your storytimes to keep things fun and fresh. We'll cover the basics of Talk, Sing, Read, Write, and Play with Janeé Jackson-Doering (State Library) Cassi Elton (Antelope Lending Library) Phyllis Peter (Newton Public Library) Rebekah Hosford (Cedar Falls Public Library, and Keri Weston-Stoll (Waukee Public Library)

Legal Resources for You and Your Patrons:
Introducing the People's Law Library of Iowa. 
Thursday November 17. 10:00-11:00AM

Join this webinar for an introduction to a new resource from the State Library and the University of Iowa Law School: The People's Law Library of Iowa. This website makes it a snap to answer patrons' questions in three major categories: landlord-tenant law, consumer law, and family law.  This program will also cover the structure of federal, state and municipal laws and how they interact, as well as explaining other sources of online legal information for Iowans.

Big Ideas Books Discussion: Stage, Not Age  
Friday November 18.  9:30-11:00AM

The fourth and last title in Big Ideas Book Discussion for this year is Stage (Not Age) How to Understand and Serve People Over 60: the Fastest Growing, Most Dynamic Market in the World (c2022)  Author Susan Wilner Golden is an expert on innovation and entrepreneurial opportunities created by the new longevity.  She teaches this subject at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and advises companies on their longevity strategies.

From Amazon: “In the time it takes you to read this, another twenty Americans will turn sixty-five. Ten thousand people a day are crossing that threshold, and that number will continue to grow. In fifteen years, Americans aged sixty-five and over will outnumber those under age eighteen. The key is to stop thinking of older adults as one market. Stage (Not Age) is the concise guide to understanding that people over sixty are a deeply diverse population…”

The Iowa Dept on Aging Current projects that Iowa’s population of adults aged 65+ will make up nearly 20% of the state’s population by 2050.  What do these demographics look like in your town?  Sure to have programming implications, Stage (Not Age) will reshape your understanding of what it means to be an older person.  And how one-size-service does not fit all people in the boomer+ generation. 

We encourage participants to purchase books used throughout the Big Ideas series for your own collections. And join us for the next good read: Stage (Not Age)

Register For This Week’s Webinars