Let’s celebrate the history and stories of African Americans! Since 1976, Black History Month is the month we put aside to celebrate the role and contributions that African Americans have made to our country. Its origins go back to 1926, when Harvard Scholar Carter G. Woodson and Reverend Jesse E. Moreland started the Study of Negro American Life and History Organization and chose the second week in February for Negro History Week to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglas. Renamed Black History Month in 1976, we have celebrated it with a different theme every year. This years theme is The Black Family: Representation, Identity and Diversity If you want to learn more about how you can celebrate Black History Month visit The Association of the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) and take a look at the free virtual events and noted authors that are contributing to their month-long programming! And also, taking the time to learn more about the struggle for civil rights by stopping in the library. This month’s display features biographies, narrative nonfiction, literature featuring African Americans and books written by some outstanding African American authors. And as always, READ ON!
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You'll Tear Through Them Like WRAPPING PAPER!Cold winter days and nights are a great time to curl up with a good story. Just look at countries like Iceland and Norway for the proof. In Iceland, Jólabókaflóð (yo-la-bok-a-flot) is a holiday tradition that literally translates to Book Flood. (Iceland is the 3rd most literate country in the world). The holiday season kicks off with Bokatidindi, a catalog of all the books that have been recently published in the country. People go crazy for it. Using the catalog, everyone buys books as gifts and the holiday season is spent reading. Readers stay up all night on Christmas Eve reading their picks for the new year. Everyone reads! Or maybe you are more into Hygge (Ho0-ga), a Danish word for “the cozy feeling of being indoors, feeling happiness and enjoying the simple things – like a good book”. The winter months are a great time to have a cup of hot cocoa, curl up with a warm blanket and pair of fuzzy socks and read. Maybe even with a family member or friend. Maybe over winter break you should consider taking some downtime and feel the hygge. In the spirit of both these cultural traditions, the SHJH Library has picked out some new and older titles that might make those cold winter nights a little more hygge! Feel free to tune into the book talk below and maybe put a few of these on your list for your next trip to the library or look for them in the SHJH Library catalog in eBooks. Hope you enjoy some great books over break! Can’t wait to hear what you have been reading. As always, READ ON! Pretty much NO ONE!It was a dark and stormy night. Shadows play across your window as the lightning flashes. Branches knock and the wind howls along the outside walls of your house. Between the distant rumble of thunder, the only other sound is the ticking of your clock. What makes good horror stories? And why do they appeal to us so much? What is the attraction in being scared? There have been studies on why we love a good scary story and some of the reasons may surprise you. It can actually be attributed to brain chemistry. Your hypothalamus, the part of your brain that reacts to being threatened or scared activates when it sees or feels something that it perceives as a threat. This releases a WHOLE bunch of hormones, but most importantly, adrenaline, that prepares you for a fight or to flight (run). You may be thinking... This makes me like scary stories? It doesn’t sound too fun. But this is what makes us look forward to that next jump scare... As soon as your mind realizes that the danger is not real, it also releases endorphins! Those make you feel a happy, safe and warm! So that sounds a little more like it. What we love is that build up of fear and adrenaline and then that warm and fuzzy feeling of endorphins! This is what makes people “fall in love” with... Scary movies. Yep. Horror stories. Yep Haunted Houses. Absolutely! So, next time you are looking to get a “rush” take a look at some of the great horror that is offered in the Summit Hill Junior High Library! Go to “Spartan Reads” page to find a Horror Story book talk that will point you in the right direction. And to get everyone in the mood for this spooky time of year, here is a Haunted House Breakout Room! Just click the link below and follow the clues to escape the Haunted House. Enjoy! Learn more here: “Fight or Flight: The Science of Fear...and Why We Like Scary Movies”. Penn Medicine, Philadelphia. 2017. https://www.pennmedicine.org/updates/blogs/health-and-wellness/2017/october/fear Cybrary Time!This may not be the way any of us wanted to start the school year, but at least it will be memorable! My name is Mrs. Scuderi and I am your new School Library Media Specialist. I am going to take this first post to introduce myself and to help you navigate the online library. Few facts about me:
This website will have a lot of information about what is happening in the library, new books, great new stories that are streaming and (later) some hands on stuff to try out in the library. Oh - and stuff on research. I am looking forward to getting to know you, so if you feel like commenting with a greeting, that would be so cool. I'm gonna sign off with a Read on! Mrs. Scuderi |
Mrs. ScuderiI have been a school librarian for 8 years. This is my third year at Summit Hill Junior High. Archives
September 2022
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