Beecher Feature

• Library materials: due dates, end of year info
• Summer Reading Challenges
• Book & Bake updates
• Something new!
• SORA feature - Read to me!

• DCHS library books are due May 10
• Extensions are gladly given when students/teachers let us know they are using a DC book as a class resource.
• Items borrowed from any of our IndyPL branches do not have to be returned May 10; keep the item until its original due date (that will vary depending upon when it was borrowed)
• Books owned by any branch may be returned to DCHS up to the last day of school.
• After May 24, DCHS materials not returned on time may be returned to any IndyPL branch or may be dropped by the DCHS front office. I sporadically pop in during the summer and will check in items when I do.
• There are no late fees
• Patrons are charged for lost or damaged items only.

Items placed on hold through the IndyPL system to be sent to DCHS for pick up will be cancelled the day after our last school day. Starting May 12, 2024, schools in the IndyPL Shared System will be removed from the delivery list for the summer. Schools will be re-added to the pick up location list on July 24, 2024.

If you wish to pick up your library holds over the summer, ask a member of the library team to transfer your hold to another pick up location for you. You may pause or cancel your own hold requests in your library card account but you are not able to change your pick up location.

There are a couple of ways to get involved in a summer reading challenge and we hope everyone takes advantage of the opportunities to earn some prizes and/or a sweet treat! The BEANSTACK app (linked in the image left of this text) is the go-to for tracking your reading. Keep reading!

Decatur Central Library Media Center Summer Reading Challenge is a fun way to earn a sweet treat from the library team. The challenge begins May 25, 2024 and ends July 31, 2024. Readers who earn all FIVE badges will be awarded a sweet treat in August. This includes adults!

For the DCHS Summer Reading Challenge, the following badges should be earned:

1. REGISTRATION badge - simply register for the challenge - easy!
2. Badge 1: Read and log one book
3. Badge 2: Read and log one book
4. Badge 3: Read and log one book
5. COMPLETION badge: Earned when all three books have been logged

Do you want to earn prizes through the Summer Reading Program with our partners at the Indianapolis Public Library? GO FOR IT! Click here and head over to the IndyPL Summer Reading Program (SRP) website! The IndyPL SRP model will have you track your reading MINUTES in BEANSTACK. You will find something for all ages - yes, even adults!

Check out the video below to learn more about the Summer Reading Program with our IndyPL friends!

The DC Library Media Center spent two sessions on The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Wow! It was so powerful. Our discussion was deep and enlightening and reminded me of how impactful a book can be to all ages. During the first session of The Help, Mr. Bodine shared his aunt's chocolate pie recipe without any terrible/awful ingredients! (You know what I'm talking about! 😉)

The second session (after more discussion) included the makings of a proper southern tea and boy was it tasty!

To celebrate National Poetry Month in April (and to lighten things up a bit), the Book & Bake Club decided to read Where the Sidewalk Ends together. For some of the adults in the group, this was a great (and funny) trip down memory lane. What was especially fun was to witness the students who had never heard of the book experience Shel Silverstein poetry (ahem....and his interesting illustrations!) for the very first time. What a hoot! Students book marked several pages to read aloud (I lost count of the post-it notes!) and we all had a giggle or two. We were having so much fun with the poetry that we ran short on baking time - but - we squeezed in two recipes that were inspired by Mr. Silverstein's book. One involved peanut butter and a king who loved it SO much his mouth stuck together, and the other was scratch made pancakes. Deeee-lish!

Our last book of the 2023-24 academic year is The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune.

What's it about?

"A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret. Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages. When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they're likely to bring about the end of days. But the children aren't the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn. An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place-and realizing that family is yours"

-IndyPL Biblocommons

The library is now ready to offer classes more flexibility in our space. We have added a mobile monitor with Apple TV to be used in our larger space. Now, classes have technology in our Project Room (which is also available for meetings, presentations, group study sessions, etc.) and in the large media center space. The equipment is convenient for class station work, presentations, and demonstrations in our larger space. We are excited to offer this opportunity to our teachers/classes in our main space!👇

There were 25 books nominated for the Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award, and we now know the winner for the 2023-24 school year. Check out the winner and honor book!

Read to Me allows students to select a word, phrase, sentence, or paragraph in an ebook and have the text read aloud. Customization tools like reading speed and volume controls let students tailor their experience to meet their unique reading needs.

Additionally, students can now hear pronunciations of words they define. Wherever a definition appears in Sora, students can select the speaker icon to hear the word pronounced.