Combine a library with the internet, and you know you’ve got me hooked right there! Those are two of my favorite things! I just love each new thing that we can do on the internet to enrich our lives. And Questia is definitely a cool one! And with Over 5,000 FREE Books in their public domain index, I’d say that rocks! And they also are running free trial subscriptions for sets of books in one of four selected topics: Psychology, Ethics, Leadership, or Early American History.

There are so many great features to this site, that I’m not even sure where to start. I’m sure I will miss something that I want to tell you and then I’ll just come back and post about them again.

Let’s start with the cost, shall we? It’s very reasonable for the amazing service provided, in my opinion. There are four ways to pay – you can get one month for $19.95, one quarter for $44.95, one year for $99.95, or a lifetime membership for $399.95. I like the way they’ve given a lot of options for payment, that offers quite a bit of flexibility for all of us.

And with the service they offer – those are great prices! So let’s get into some of that now! Questia offers complete books, cover to cover, along with journals, magazines, newspapers, and an encyclopedia! They also provide a listing of over 6,000 research topics!

I have not explored all the forms of media within Questia, yet, but, I have explored the books. And I am totally psyched on this software/program/website! Let me tell you a little bit about what happens when you open a book.

The book opens in a program similar to a PDF and it has a toolbar on the top of it, and a menu to the left, with all of the chapters listed. Just like a PDF, you can hide the chapter menu. The toolbar on the top is so cool, though!

I’ve chosen a book called Stepping Out of the Shadows, Alabama Women 1819-1990, edited by Mary Martha Thomas. The first thing that I did was to highlight some text. This is a great feature – you just highlight the text you want, as you normally would on a computer – then select ‘highlight’ in the tool bar and I can select from six different highlighter colors. And then highlight, as if it’s a real book sitting in front of me!

Oh my, this is getting long – I think I’m going to have to break this up into several posts, to make sure you stay with me!

There are two more features that I want to go ahead and talk about, though. One of them is the ‘bibliography’ button in the toolbar. This is really handy. If I’m working on a research paper, and I want to add a page I’m reading to my bibliography, I just click this tab on the toolbar, and then I’m given a couple options. I can add it to my bibliography within my Questia account, or I can download it and save the file to my computer, and it is already properly formatted. And they even give you tips about formatting, if you need them. My only issue with this feature is that I know that I worked hard, as a kid, to learn the proper formatting of a bibliography. And I learned it by doing it, over and over again. So I’m afraid, if it’s done for kids, they won’t ever learn it. This could be the finickiness of a grammar nerd talking and you might argue, ‘What job besides an editor really needs to know that?’ Well, this grammar nerd thinks that, for reasons she can’t quite explain, kids just need to learn that. I just do. So while it’s handy, it could also become a handicap.

The other thing I wanted to talk about was the fact that there are links to all of the social bookmarking sites within the books. I don’t understand that, because, if it is a paid membership to see the content, how would my bookmarking it for others – who couldn’t see it – help them? So I’m a little confused about that feature. I’ll dig around and see what I can find out about it.

And I’ll continue my review of all the amazing features of Questia in another post soon.

I thorougly enjoy reading church signs, most of the time – especially when the church has a cute sense of humor – or a really current way of getting their inspirational point across.

But the sign at my public library right now TOTALLY ROCKS!!

I love this sign! Isn’t that awesome? I didn’t even have my camera with me when I first saw it, but, because I wanted to share it with you – I ran home and got my camera!

When I first saw it, I thought it was so funny and so awesome, you’d have thought I needed my portable oxygen concentrator!! I was carrying on like a book-loving freakazoid! The kids were totally making fun of me! HA!

But all I have to say is that, yep – librarians are just cool!

GO READ A BOOK!

That’s right, Mrs. Lisa’s bookworms are out of school for the summer! Uh-oh, now I better hurry up and get that library fine paid, or they are going to be so upset with me! Well, I’ve got a couple of weeks of leeway time, because we are supposed to go to Texas for a couple of weeks first! When we get back, though, oh my! I can ‘hear’ them yelling at me already! So if any of you want to add to my Library Fine Fund, feel free to do so by hitting that pretty little paypal button at the top left.

I just don’t know if I’m ready for constant bookworm presence, though. Keeping those guys entertained, rather – making sure they keep themselves entertained, can be quite the task sometimes! And keeping them from fighting. I have already gotten the “I’m bored” complaint once, though! I can’t believe it – well, the girls tried to say it to me, but, I cut them off before they got it out of their mouths! I told them not to even dare saying that already!

I might need to double up on my meditation/relaxation sessions just to survive the summer with these lovely bookworm monsters! It would be really cool to have one of those sound machines to help me out with that process – they come with all kinds of sounds in them. I love the nature sounds! I could just get all cozy and relaxed, and then I will have no trouble threatening any bored bookworms with a laundry list of chores, with a pretty smile on my face!

GO READ A BOOK!

I told you it was bad! The bookworms in this house are really upset with me! One of them, in particular, let me have it the other day after school! You see, he visits the library at school almost every day. And they were informed that all books must be turned in this week and that there will be no more checking out! So he came to me, very upset, knowing that we also cannot go to the public library right now! He said, “MOM! We have to check in all of our books this week!” And he said it with such desperation in his voice, it was as if he’d been informed they’d be depriving him of oxygen this week! Besides the fact that I am in deep trouble with this kid, and that he is very upset with me, that reaction makes me SO HAPPY!!! I mean, really – what a cool kid! He just absolutely loves to read! And he loves to cook, too! At his age, I wasn’t reading very much, and I definitely wasn’t cooking! I think this kid would just love it if I would buy him some books and some cookware! But dagnabbit, those bills! Just keep getting in the way of fun stuff like books, cookware, and paying off library fines. I think I’ll put a paypal donate button on this blog, and if anyone would like to help build up my library fine fund, I just know my bookworm chef would be so happy!

GO READ A BOOK!

Yep! That’s me! I am the Queen of Library Fines! It is truly terrible. I just cannot seem to go to the library and bring stuff home and not accrue some fines. It seems to be an impossible task. I do occasionally manage it, and let me tell you – when it happens, I feel at least 10 feet tall! It is a grand day indeed, when I get my library check-outs turned in on time!

I talk to quite a few people, a lot of moms, who suffer from this malady, so I know that I am not alone in this. (Hand in hand with this, of course, go the video store fines.) My family, however, seems to think that I am a lone wolf, of sorts – in my ‘turn-in day neglect’. They think I am this strange, alien creature who just can’t get things straight.

Well, you know what? Being a mom is hectic! Heck – life is hectic! (How’s that for some interesting wordplay?) I strive to do better, and sometimes I do, but, more often than not – the same old thing happens. Right now the kids are mad at me because we can’t go to the library because we have these fines, and there are these other silly things called bills that need to be paid first.

On the one hand, I love libraries – I think we’ve all gathered that. So giving money to them only feels good to me. On the other hand, I am so extremely grateful that I have three teens/almost teens that still so desperately want to go to the library. You know when all that goofy teenage stuff starts happening and books become the last things on these hormone-driven creatures’ minds? Well, that hasn’t happened for us yet! Thank God! And you know what – maybe a little ‘literary alcove deprivation’ will help our library passion linger a bit longer! HA!

Do you get your books back to the library on time?

GO READ A BOOK!

Here is the bookmark for National Library Week:

Isn’t it cute? I know our principal said that our kids will be getting bookmarks, but, I don’t know if it will look like that one or not – I sure hope so!

GO READ A BOOK!

The library has just got to be one of my most favorite places on earth, that and the woods. Oooh, a library in the woods… That sounds nice, but, getting back on topic, in order to celebrate libraries, librarians, and all of our wonderful library workers – we are going to have a weeklong library celebration! It’s called ‘National Library Week’ and it runs from April 15-21! A celebration of libraries – sounds perfect to me! This is a great time to emphasize reading and to promote library use!

The principal’s newsletter from our elementary school had some great ideas to help our kids become skilled readers:

Read to them. Reading to your children is the most important think you can do to help children develop a love of books and reading.

Have plenty of material. Books are not the only items children can read. Posters, maps, magazines, recipes, and newspapers are great reading materials.

Listen to them read. From the day your children begin sounding out letters, concentrate on how they are doing. Try to also include some “read aloud” time.

Model good reading habits and limit TV. Your children need to see that reading is a lifelong skill and a form of entertainment. When you take them to the library to choose books, select some for yourself, too.

Let them choose. Within reason, allow your children to choose their own reading material. If they choose what to read, they will be more likely to actually spend time reading.

Ask the teacher. Your child’s teacher may suggest areas in which he or she may need some extra help. Also, make sure you let the teacher know if you hve noticed any reading problems at home.

Any time is a great time for a visit to the library, but, next week will be a very special time for all of us to help celebrate our libraries and appreciate our librarians and library workers!
You can read more about National Library Week at the American Library Association website.

GO READ A BOOK!

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I found this meme about books and reading – very cool! Every week, the site owner poses a few questions, and we all answer them! Totally groovy!

You can click on the graphic to go to the site and read everyone’s responses in the comments section.

Ok, now for the questions…

1. Do you lend your books to other people? If so, any restrictions?

I do, sometimes, lend my books to other people, but, I definitely feel the tug of letting them go.

2. Do you borrow books from other people? (Friends or family—I’m not talking about the public library)

I do, but, I am very nervous about it, and try so hard to be careful with them. And although I might be thoroughly enjoying the book, I am eager to finish it so that I can return it and stop worrying.

3. And, most importantly—do the books you lend/borrow get returned to their rightful owners??

Eeks! This is a tough one, as I must admit I still have some books that I never returned. Oh my – I have two of the Jean Ayers Caveman books that I never returned – those are fabulous books! I feel even more guilty when they are really good books, you know?

On getting my own back, that sometimes happens and sometimes does not. I forgot I loaned one of the kids’ teachers the first Harry Potter book, and we’ve since lost contact with her and I think the kids will never let me forget that. Last summer, however, when I loaned out a Marilu Henner book, I repeatedly asked for it back, because I didn’t want to lose it. I didn’t want to lose the H.P. book, I just completely forgot about I had lent it to her.

Part of me believes that books are wonderful, joyous things and books are our friends – and they should be shared, with love in our hearts.

And the other half of me believes that my books are so precious to my heart, that I really don’t want to trust your grubby hands on them!

GO READ A BOOK!

My daughter brought home an invitation from the local public library for a gathering in the children’s department.

How cute is this?

I just think that is too cute – and that little Booky Chef guy is adorable!

I was so excited about it when I saw it! My 13 year old son peers over my shoulder to see what I’m carrying on about, and says, “Aw, MOM! You’re NOT gonna make us go to that, are you?!”

Well, let me tell you something – Momma didn’t skip a BEAT!

I turned up to him, and said, “Yes! Of course we’re going!” …with the most serious face I could muster!

And if he doesn’t watch his cookies – I just might make him go, too! He may never have to know I was bluffing! HA!

He did ask me then, “Well, do we get food?”

HAHAHA! I said, “That’s what it says!”

And he sulked off silently.

I’m sure my daughter and I will probably go – whether the creatures, ah, I mean – her brothers – will join us, I don’t know!

Now, ya’ll go….

READ A BOOK!