End the Summer Slide

We need your help!  Have you heard of something called the summer slide?  Unfortunately this not a fun slide found at the playground, it is what happens when "young minds sit idle for three months".  Here is what RIF: Reading is Fundamental says about it:  

Experts agree that children who read during the summer gain reading skills, while those who do not often slide backward. According to the authors of a report from the National Summer Learning Association: "A conservative estimate of lost instructional time is approximately two months or roughly 22 percent of the school year.... It's common for teachers to spend at least a month re-teaching material that students have forgotten over the summer. That month of re-teaching eliminates a month that could have been spent on teaching new information and skills." 

We have Summer Reading Programs for kids of all ages, as do most Public Libraries, that can help stop the slide.  This is where you can help--if you have kids bring them in to sign up, tell your neighbors, friends and acquaintances with kids to go to their Public Library and sign up.  These are free programs available to anyone with a card!  The programs are easy and fun! Sign-up begins this Monday--we hope to see you all here in droves.

Dover Public Library Book Group

Calling all readers!  Spread the news the Library is starting a new book group.  The group will meet the 3rd Monday evening of each month starting in September.  If you are interested in joining the book group pencil in Monday, September 16th in your calendar and feel free to help us with the details.  What should the first book selection be?  Is 6:30 or 7:00 a better time to meet?  Comments and suggestions are welcome.  Looking forward to meeting new friends in the fall.

Journey Into a Book

July 1st is coming soon and that is the day kids can sign-up for our Summer Reading Programs. The Teen Program is "Journey Into a Book", and has some really great prizes up for grabs. Teens will get a booklet to keep track of how many hours they have read and for every 2 hours they will receive a ticket to submit to one of the following raffles:

**5 Day Passes to the Works (includes the pool) & a $15 Gift Certificate to La Festa Pizzeria
**5 Free Games of Mini-Golf & a $15 Gift Certificate to Strafford Farms
**5 Free Passes to Watercountry
**2 Free Introductory Lessons at Indoor Ascent Climbing Gym & $20 Gift Certificate to Dos Amigos
**$25 Gift Certificate to Regal Cinemas
**$25 Gift Certificate to Target

As an added bonus the first 50 kids to enter will get to pick a free book--so be sure to sign up!

The new list of nominees for the Cochecho Readers' Award is ready-- just in time for summer reading!

The Cochecho Readers' Award is sponsored by the Children's Librarians of Dover, New Hampshire. This award, named after the Cochecho River which runs through the heart of Dover, is given each year in the spring to an author whose book receives the most votes from Dover's third and fourth graders.

Click here for the new 2013-14 nominees list and start reading!

Changing Your Due Dates on NH Downloadable Books

You may have noticed that it is possible to customize the default eBook and audiobook loan periods on NH Downloadable Books.

This leads you to your account settings where you can select the default loan period for audiobooks and eBooks. By default, we've kept the eBook loan period at 14 days and the audiobooks at 7 days. It is possible to set the default of either format to another time period. 

Please keep in mind that the faster the items are returned to the collection, the less money the public libraries will spend on expensive duplicate copies and the faster other patrons will get the books they are waiting for! 

This post is courtesy of  Bobbi and the NH Downloadable Books Blog.

Great Books for Your Beach Bag

I have had a string of great books to read lately. Many of them would be perfect for a day at the beach.

First up is The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro.
The letter turns Grace Munroe’s life upside down: ‘Our firm is handling the estate of the Mrs Eva D’Orsey and it is our duty to inform you that you are named as the chief beneficiary in her will. There is only one problem. Grace has never heard of her. The mystery leads Grace to an abandoned perfume shop on the Left Bank that helps her unravel the heartbreaking story of her mysterious benefactor, an extraordinary woman who bewitched high society in 1920s New York and Paris.

Ten Trees and a Truffle Dog by Jamie Ivey will delight fans of Peter Mayle's A Year In Provence.
 This is the true story of an English couple who move to Provence and build a house on land that also has a truffle grove. Add a baby and a puppy and chaos ensues. All the funny goings on kept me up much too late.

A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn

The daughter of a scandalous mother, Delilah Drummond is already notorious, even among Paris society. But her latest scandal is big enough to make even her oft-married mother blanch. Delilah is exiled to Kenya and her favorite stepfather's savanna manor house until gossip subsides.

Fairlight is the crumbling, sun-bleached skeleton of a faded African dream, a world where dissolute expats are bolstered by gin and jazz records, cigarettes and safaris. As mistress of this wasted estate, Delilah falls into the decadent pleasures of society.

Against the frivolity of her peers, Ryder White stands in sharp contrast. As foreign to Delilah as Africa, Ryder becomes her guide to the complex beauty of this unknown world. Giraffes, buffalo, lions and elephants roam the shores of Lake Wanyama amid swirls of red dust. Here, life is lush and teeming—yet fleeting and often cheap.

Amidst the wonders—and dangers—of Africa, Delilah awakes to a land out of all proportion: extremes of heat, darkness, beauty and joy that cut to her very heart. Only when this sacred place is profaned by bloodshed does Delilah discover what is truly worth fighting for—and what she can no longer live without.

Now if we could only get some sunny days worthy of a trip to the beach...

Author Marian Sleeman Gerrish Craig, Kittery historian, visits the library June 11

      The Friends of the Library are delighted to host Kittery resident Marian Sleeman Gerrish Craig on Tuesday, June 11 at 7pm in the Library’s Lecture Hall. Ms. Craig is the author of “Two If By Sea—The Prodigy of the Piscataqua River—The Folletts of Kittery Point” which was published in 2011 when she was 93 years old. The introduction to Marian’s book starts out, “This is an account of a family named Follett who lived by the sea on the Piscataqua River in Kittery Point, Maine. Someone in that family has lived in the same location on Follett Lane for over 200 continuous years.”

  Indeed, Marian is a descendant of Capt. John Follett who, along with 42 other local men, signed the Dover Combination in 1640. By 1703, the Folletts, shipbuilders and traders, had settled at Kittery Point and her current home on the northerly side of the mouth of the harbor was purchased by Capt. Robert Follett Sr. in 1767. She has lived there since the age of 12, fondly recalling times with her beloved grandfather, Follett Gerrish, and knows many stories about the surrounding area.

 Craig’s book covers much local and maritime history including her family’s opposition to the Embargo Act of 1807 and their shipping struggles during the War of 1812. She also inherited the journals of Hannah Gerrish, recorded in the late 19^th century and did much genealogical research on her own. After a 50-year career in music and raising three sons with her husband Bob Craig (a Portsmouth boy she married 73 years ago), Marian is thrilled to share her knowledge of the Piscataqua region with audiences.

This program is free and open to the public.  For more information, please contact the Dover Public Library at 603-516-6050.  

The Friends of the Library Cookbook Sale Starts Today!

Are you tired of cooking the same old things? Come on in and take a look at the Friends of the Library Cookbook sale. We have 2 tables jam packed with beautiful cookbooks, and a cart of large, "like new" cookbooks. There are some very tempting selections! The books are located by the Adult Circulation Desk.