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We are pleased to announce the second of two RBMS 2016 exclusive catalogs. We made an extremely small print edition to distribute at RBMS [inquire!!!] There will be a pdf. available on the Lux Mentis website, but are excited to debut it as a flip catalog [N.B. there is a FullScreen button in the navbar and a .pdf download option].

Contact us with questions or find us at RBMS at the Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables. #rbms16

We are pleased to announce the first of two RBMS 2016 exclusive catalogs. We made an extremely small print edition to distribute at RBMS [inquire!!!] There will be a pdf. available on the Lux Mentis website, but are excited to debut it as a flip catalog [N.B. there is a FullScreen button in the navbar and a .pdf download option].

Contact us with questions or find us at RBMS at the Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables. #rbms16

I have officially taken over the role of Head Librarian for the middle school library!  The Reinberger Middle School Library was established in 2004, pulling grades 5 and 6 from the lower school library and grades 7 and 8 from the upper school library.  Since its inception, the middle school library has grown and flourished under the same head librarian, who was not me.  So, taking over has been a bit daunting.  I feel like I'm treading on pretty hallowed ground.  I want to bring my own ideas and conceptions into the library, but I also want to honor the woman who came before me.  It's a bit like walking a tightrope at the moment. I've rearranged some furniture with trepidation.

I have been charged with bringing the library into the 21st century.  One of the reasons I was given this position was because of my commitment to learning and teaching about educational technology.  Luckily, I don't have to do it all on my own.  We have amazing tech people at our school. 

One thing that I'm working on now is improving the library website.  Right now, the entire "site" is on Moodle, which the students reach through the school intranet.  The page consists of little more than links to local library catalogs and our library databases, a school calendar, links to resources for some classroom projects, and a decent picture of kids working in the library.  It's not much.  So, I've started to do a bit of research on great library websites and wikis and how to build one.  Here's what I've gleaned so far:

In order to build a good website or wiki, you have to know your audience and your purpose.  What do you want students (and faculty, hopefully)to get out of the site.  Brainstorm a list of your top priorities. I love me my Stickies, so I used one for my list:

Now, time to look out on the web at some library sites that are both informative and attractive for students.  Where do you find these? I've found listservs to be invaluable for this.  People who post to listservs want to share; that's what listservs are for.  So, post a request: What does your website/wiki look like?  Send me links!  You'll hear back from plenty of people if your listserv is well populated.  Don't belong to a listserv?  Google the term, and voila!

A few library sites that I like:

Naomi Bates's site for Northwest High School in Texas

S.C. Lee Jr. High School, also in Texas

Scarsdale Middle School Library, in New York

Westmont WIki, a wiki for Westmont School in Chicago.

I would like to share with you a little 5" x 5" catalog I picked up while I was in France. Its for the company Djeco and it manufactures some amazing toys. It is the most well designed catalog I've seen in a long time!

It combines beautiful illustrations by Gwen Keraval with photos of their products. Imagine all the work involved! Here are some spreads:

And last but not least- A cluck cluck to Edrian Thomidis- who were in NYC and we got to meet and chat about illustration and design. Thank you for the lovely conversation! It was a pleasure to meet you and your husband!

Our new catalog is here! The marketing team finished working on it just two weeks ago, so it was a great surprise when finished copies showed up on our desks on Thursday afternoon.

This season, our catalog is full of tons of new books we’re really proud of. Our new series, Graphic Spin, does for fairy tales what Graphic Revolve did for classic stories—in each Graphic Spin book, a fairy tale is lavishly told in graphic-novel format. You’ve never seen fairy tales like this before!

In Graphic Sparks, we have new books in our Eek and Ack, School Zombies, Time Blasters, and Buzz Beaker series. We also have the first two books in a brand-new series, Zinc Alloy, written by our own Donald Lemke. Kids will love the escapades of Zack Allen, the world’s newest superhero.

Our Graphic Flash set has grown by four new books—all stories of war that will fit in wonderfully to American history classes. And Graphic Revolve contains four new classic stories.

Jake Maddox is back with twelve new books—four boy stories, four girl stories, and four new extreme outdoor adventure books. Our bestselling and well-reviewed Claudia Cristina Cortez set is back, too—with four more stories from Claudia’s point of view. We also have four new Vortex mysteries (including Curtains!: A High School Musical Mystery by our own Michael Dahl) and six new Shade Books, perfect for the kid who’s looking for a little bit of creepy suspense (that’s still safe!)

And we’ve mentioned the We Are Heroes series before on this blog. This new series contains six high-low books about ordinary kids making extraordinary changes in their communities. Whether it’s planting trees at school or painting a room in a house built by Habitat for Humanity, these books show real ways kids can make differences. (And, of course, proceeds from the book Kids Against Hunger will go to the nonprofit organization Kids Against Hunger™.)

These books aren’t available yet, but they will be on July 15. Keep your eye on this blog for more information about all of our new products over the next couple of months! Take a look at all of our books, or request a catalog of your own, at www.stonearchbooks.com.

Our new Spring 2008 catalog is now in mailboxes and on desks all over the country. Receiving the newest catalog is always a moment of pride for the staff. We always comment that there’s no one moment to stop and look back on a recently completed season—once we’ve finished one season, we’re already well into our next one. Receiving the new catalog is a great way for us to take a minute and look back on a season of hard work on great books. Additionally, the catalog is a group effort. Though there’s one designer and one project manager, everyone ends up being involved in some way, whether it’s providing copy, proofing the order forms, or photographing interior spreads.

We’re really proud of our Spring ‘08 list. We’ve got old favorites, like new sports books from Jake Maddox, new David Mortimore Baxter, a fresh set of Graphic Revolve retellings, and a new book in the Eek and Ack series. There’s plenty of new stuff, too: some Jake Maddox books featuring girl athletes; a cool new series, The Adventures of Sam X, in our Pathway set; and in our Keystone set, six hi-low novels for girls. You can browse all of our books or request a catalog of your own at www.stonearchbooks.com.

I’ve been walking around with my blood splattered copy of Hearsick for the last couple of days. It’s elicited some interesting looks and comments from my coworkers. “Why does you book have a bloody hand print on it?” being the least of the questions.

The dark red blood spots and prints on the stark white cover are startling in appearance. Beautiful from a design standpoint, but not a common look for most books (it’s no wonder my coworkers notice and comment on it), but it got me thinking.

What is the first thing you notice when you see someone reading a book?

The first thing I notice is, hey, a book. Not an iPod or a Blackberry or a cell. A thing with words and pages, egad!

It doesn’t matter what the book is text/genre/manual, my interest is immediately captured. I try to guess what it is or catch a glimpse of the cover. I study the reader’s face, and watch how they react to the words they are reading. Is it funny or sad? Does the reader look bored?

Next I move on to the size and condition of the book. Hardback, trade or mass market? Does it look well-read and used or new? Is there a sticker that indicates where it came from?

When I was a bookseller this information was important, and I would use it to generate an order list or figure out how many people bought their books from my store. My MAX rides were lessons in observation and detection (not to mention filled with amusing sights from Portland life) and this book attentiveness (if you will) boiled over into my everyday life. Now it doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing, if I see someone reading I want to know what it is, I want to know why they’re reading it, and I want to know if they’re enjoying the moment.

That enjoyment is what keeps me from walking up and just asking, of course. Also why I try not to blatantly stare as it tends to freak people out and then they would get up and move, keeping me from figuring out what they are reading.

Anyway, my little book games aside, what is the first thing you notice about the book when you see someone reading?