I Have a Dream!

Exactly fifty years ago today, Martin Luther King Jr. stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Somewhere between two hundred and three hundred thousand people gathered on Wednesday August 28th 1963, at what was to become one of the largest political rallies for human rights in United States History.

The March on Washington - image courtesy of Wikipedia.

King's speech, which has been ranked by scholars as the top American speech of the 20th century, inspired millions and his words are still relevant in the twenty first century.

Here at Handley Library you can find a range of great resources about this great man and his inspiring words - books, DVDs and audio recordings.

You can find more titles on our online kids catalogue or come in and see us. We'd be happy to help you find out more about this important moment in our country's history, and if you click here you can listen to the words of one of America's greatest speakers - "I have a dream!"

Happy Birthday Handley Regional Library!

This weekend our library celebrated a wonderful milestone - one hundred years of providing library services to the citizens of Winchester, Frederick County and Clarke County.

The reading and literature needs of the area's youth was always an important part of the services offered by our library but in the early days there wasn't a dedicated space for children, or staff members on hand to run children's programs and "lead the children to good literature".

"Happy Birthday!" say the gnomes on the roam!

On June 20th, 1961 the children's room was opened. It was looked after by part time employees and summer story times were led by the Winchester Civic Club and the American Association of University Women.

In one hundred years there have been many changes at our library. One thing has not changed however - the joy and pride that comes with getting your own library card.

On the library's first day of operations, August 22nd 1913, Miss Kate McVicar was waiting patiently in line, hoping to be the first patron to receive a library card. Unfortunately for Kate it was Seddon Lacy who claimed the honor of being first to receive a card - he elbowed his way ahead of Miss McVicar and was first through the front door!

First library card and book - yay!

No need for any elbowing to get your hand on a library card!

You can read more about the history of library services for youth, and so much more about Handley Library, in the wonderful book Handley Regional Library - The First One Hundred Years. 

We hope you were able to share in the celebrations for our wonderful service. 

Happy Birthday Handley Regional! Here's to the next one hundred years!

Back to school!

It's very hard to believe but we are down to the last few days of summer vacation. Over the next couple of weeks children will be loading up their backpacks, maybe hopping onto a school bus and heading back to school. For many other children it will be the first day of preschool or kindergarten.

It's a time of year that can be both exciting and a little bit nerve wracking!

Here at Handley Regional Library we have many wonderful books that can entertain, inform and reassure all those back to schoolers out there - both experienced and new.

These are just some of our great titles focussed on starting or returning to school. Come and see us at your local library or explore the catalogue online - we'd love to help your children at this important time of the year.

And just a quick reminder to all of you who have been Digging Into Reading over the summer vacation - you still have until August 31st to keep logging your reading minutes and maybe even come and claim your prize from our book trunks.

We wish all our young readers a safe and happy start to the new school year.

Free book!

It was with great excitement last week that I took the two youngest readers in my house down to the library to choose a free book from the overflowing book trunk.

All those daily reading sessions, plus visits to pajama story time and reading to the Paws reading dogs, soon added up and my two readers had earned their precious certificates.

Congratulations - you have earned one free book!

Choosing which book to take home from the trunk was way more difficult than completing those six hours of reading time! But finally, after much discussion and poring over the range of great titles on offer, we emerged with our precious gifts in hand.

One of the books that came home with us.

I hope many of you have also had the chance to select a free book from the book trunks. It's not too late to claim your prize - our summer reading program runs right through until August 31st - still a few more weeks to log those precious reading minutes!

Happy reading everyone :)

A few more titles from the Elementary reading list.

It's all about mines, caves and tunnels today as we explore three more titles from our Elementary reading list.

Chris Mould's The Smuggler's Mine is book 5 in the Something Wickedly Weird series.

Stanley Buggles holds the key to a smuggler's map but does he dare to uncover its ancient secrets? This fast-paced story will keep you guessing right till the end.

In Penny Warner's Mystery of the Haunted Caves, join thirteen year old Becca and her scout friends as they attempt to win a gold medal for their troop at the Gold Rush Jamboree.

When a mysterious clue reveals treasure buried in the camp caves, Becca and her friends are determined to get their hands on it. This book has won several mystery writing awards...fun, exciting and full of adventure.

Roderick Gordon's New York Times bestseller,  Tunnels,  is the first installment in the Tunnels series.

When 14 year old Will Borrows' father mysteriously vanishes, Will must uncover the truth about his disappearance. His search leads him to a secret underground society, The Colony, which has existed for  one hundred years. But before Will can find his father he is taken prisoner. Multiple chases, captures, separations and escapes keep the pace moving in this page turning thriller.

We're taking a break here at YouthScope next week - time for a beach vacation - which of course means lots of time for reading :)

We look forward to seeing you back here soon for more from our summer reading programme and our readers.

Take care and keep reading! We're off to start packing and the first things going into our suitcase are...you guessed it...books!

Some more great titles from our Primary reading list.

Good morning summer readers. I hope you took advantage of National Ice Cream Day yesterday and relaxed with a cone in one hand and a book in the other!

Poor Gerald needs some help figuring out what to do with his ice cream!

Let's take a look at three more titles from our Dig Into Reading Primary list.
Heather Miller's Subway Ride is a fantastical journey that introduces young readers to subway travel.

Join a group of children as they pay their fare, pass through the gates and zip around ten subway stations from around the globe. You can find extra information on each of the stations at the end of this colorful travel tale.

Our next book is a wonderful read aloud. Denise Fleming's Underground takes us deep into the backyard world below our feet.

Explore detailed cross section pictures of a wide rage of creatures who burrow, dig and tunnel their way underneath the earth's surface.

Now for some interesting characters who live on top of the ground. In Lawn to Lawn by Dan Yaccarino, we meet four lawn ornaments who are left behind when their owners move house.

Join a lawn jockey, deer, pink flamingo and garden gnome on their hilarious journey to find the little girl that they love.

Speaking of garden gnomes, have you been keeping up with all the adventures of our own library gnomes on the roam? Make sure you like Handley Regional Library on Facebook to keep up with all their adventures this summer.

Happy reading everyone...now for more ice cream!

More titles Beneath the Surface.

Good morning summer readers. Let's head back beneath the surface and take a look at three more titles from our Middle and High school reading list.

The Land of the Silver Apples is the second book in Nancy Farmer's Sea of Trolls series.

When Jack's little sister Lucy is kidnapped, he must journey to Elfland and face creatures and dangers he's never dreamed of in order to save his family. Click here to read more about this best-selling fantasy trilogy.

David MacAulay's Underground gives us a fascinating description of the labyrinth that lies beneath the feet of so many city dwellers.

Explore the network of walls, columns, cables, pipes and tunnels needed to meet the basic needs of a city's inhabitants. A real treat for those interested in architecture and engineering. Click here to find out more about this award winning author, including a video showing how he creates his incredible books.

Haunted Ground by Erin Hart opens with a grisly discovery. Farmers cutting turf in an Irish peat bog uncover the perfectly preserved head of a young woman with long red hair.

Irish archaeologist Cormac Maguire must work with American pathologist Nora Gavin to solve the puzzle...who is she and how long has she been buried? If you enjoy this book there are three more featuring Cormac and Nora to choose from. Read more about them here.

Don't forget to log all your reading minutes -  it's not too late to sign up for our summer reading programme. You can sign up by clicking here or by visiting your local library.

Until tomorrow - keep on reading!