
Shelf Notes
December 2023 Issue #7
Michelle Howard Explains How and Why Living Books Matter
Last summer, the Plumfield Moms interviewed the beloved Michelle Howard about her journey into becoming a living books lending librarian almost 30 years ago. In that conversation, Michelle mentioned that she gives every new patron the same orientation talk comparing living and modern books. Listeners begged to know more. They wanted to hear what that talk was. They wanted to see the examples. Michelle came back on the podcast to explain it further this fall. But, it was obvious that we needed to capture that talk with video so that we could really see what she was saying about those books.
Michelle generously sat down again with Plumfield to give that talk. Together, we have created a video that can be shared and used by librarians anywhere in the endeavor to help patrons understand the differences in living vs. non-living books. Please feel free to use this! Please share this! And, if you have the opportunity to do so, please thank Michelle for all that she does and for her great caretaking of private lending librarians everywhere.
And, a special thank you to Biblioguides for hosting this video and hosting the Private Lending Library Directory on their website.
As you are watching... look at all of the books towards the end. Instead of showcasing the beautiful original covers, we chose to feature living books which are actively being reprinted by small presses who are trying to help us preserve and protect those gems! Look for Living Book Press, Purple House Press, Smidgen Press, Bethlehem Books, Hillside Education, Yesterday's Classics, and Beautiful Feet Books! We are so grateful that they are keeping these books alive and making them available to us!
The 1924 Project
What were children reading 100 years ago? What were the best books published for children in 1924? Were the 1925 Newbery Award book and Honor books really the best of 1924? Or are there others that have been or could be revived and reprinted and added to our libraries for a new century of readers to enjoy?
These are some of the questions we had as we began what we are calling the 1924 Project. We have a team of readers diligently poring through all of the acclaimed or reviewed books for children that were published in the U.S. in 1924, trying to find the best of those to bring to the attention of librarians, publishers, parents, and most of all, children. You can find a list of the books from 1924 that we are looking at here in a post at the blog, Semicolon. If you have read or reviewed any of these and want to tell us what you think about them, leave a comment or email us at thecardcataloglibrarians@gmail.com. We would love to know your thoughts on these books as we pursue our treasure hunt to find the best.
We will have more to say about this project this winter when we hope to announce the results of our search for good books from long ago that stand the test of time. Right now, however, you can listen to the December episode of Our Librarian Life on the Plumfield Moms podcast to hear more of the behind. the scenes details.
Our Librarian Life - December 2023 Episode
Listen in as we chat about mold, our words of the year, and the 1924 Project. You can find the show notes here:
- Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early
- Biblioguides
- Biblioguides Online Community
- The Card Catalog
- The League of Lending Librarians
- Valerie’s Living Library
- Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies
- Semicolon, Sherry’s book review blog
- The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis
- Gary D. Schmidt “Beloved Author” page
- Plumfield Living Books Library Tour
- Living Books Video
- Living Books Lady – Michelle Howard
Private Lending Library News
- First Baptist Church Library (Decatur, Texas) and Cornerstone Living Library (Lilburn, GA) hosted Christmas storytime in the library with stories and crafts and more. Christmas is such a great time to invite children and families into the library.
- Librarians Liz Cottrill and Emily Kiser of Living Books Library (Bristol, TN) will be hosting the 2024 A Delectable Education at Home {Virtual} Conference in February. Registration is open now, and the event happens live February 2-3, 2024, but the content will be available for a full three months afterwards, until May 3, 2024. Living Books Lady Michelle Howard will be one of the speakers at this Charlotte Mason/LIving Books conference.
- Bethany Burnett of Bethany's Book Nook in Erlanger, KY is excited to be opening officially on January 1, 2024. Bethany writes, "I have had around 20 families express interest although only one member as of yet. I ran a soft launch with a local homeschool co-op this fall and had three families borrow books, and many more families chatted and expressed the need for this service in our area! My plan in January is to meet families every couple of weeks at local coffee shops and give them their selected books to borrow until the next meetup! I am excited to visit with families at a couple of IN and OH homeschool events in 2024 and share info about the library and let them browse the catalog."
- Tracy Born and her Living Books Rescue Preservation Library in Pittsburgh, PA is our featured librarian/library this month at The Card Catalog. After sharing the ups and downs of her library's history, Tracy writes, "I am in the process of cataloging books, using the Library Thing app, and preparing to share them with my Charlotte Mason homeschool friends very soon. I have begun a Charlotte Mason mom’s encouragement group in my home that meets once monthly, and my prayer is that my little library will be a blessing to these wonderful mamas, and to my grandchildren and church friends."
- Carrie Naglak of Naglak Family Bibliotheca just moved her home and library to Maryland Heights, MO a couple of months ago. Carrie says, "I'm excited to say the whole library is unpacked and looks marvelous." She plans to have a soft opening in January loaning books to a few local friends, and then a more public opening later in the spring of 2024.
- We now have 81 libraries in our Private Lending Libraries Directory at Biblioguides. If you have not yet added your library to the directory, please join the other librarians who have chosen to take advantage of this free resource to make their libraries available and accessible to those who are searching for wholesome, living books for their children. If you have news from your private lending library this month, please email us at thecardcataloglibrarians@gmail.com and share so that we can celebrate your news together.