Pamela Martinez

A.K. Smiley Public Library has a plethora of databases available for library patrons. Allow me to introduce you to the selection we have for children and teens. With your library card, you can access each of these databases from our webpage: https://akspl.org. Once you have opened up the webpage, hover over the “eLibrary” tab on the top black bar and you can choose which type of database you would like to peruse. The choices are: eBooks, eAudiobooks, and eMagazines; Streaming Services; eDatabases; Workforce Development.  If you choose to click on the ‘eLibrary” tab, it will direct you to the entire page of selections.

https://www.akspl.org/elibrary/

Some of the databases and e-book sites will require your library card number and your PIN. The PIN number is the last four digits of the phone number you registered when you applied for you library card.

One of the children and teen pages you may be interested in is National Geographic for Kids. This site offers magazines, books, videos, and pictures for your young explorer to discover. This site will keep your youngsters busy for a long time as they learn facts about places, animals, and people. You may be developing a nature photographer after they’ve explored this site!

The next database for you to discover is the AR Bookfinder. Accelerated Reader Bookfinder is a quick resource for kids and parents to locate a book on the list to see if their student can read it to earn points at school. Many of the schools in our district use the AR system to test children on their understanding of the books they’re reading, as well as their level of comprehension. The reader then takes a quiz at the school and earns points during the school year. This database is also available at the library on our OPACs (online public access catalog).

Another fabulous site to explore is the Teaching Books database. This database brings you over 361,215 resources about children’s and young adult books. I can imagine you will fall prey to the wide variety of information available on this site and spend quite a bit of time exploring. This site is great not only for kids and teens, but also parents, teachers, educators, and anyone interested in children’s literature.

An educational, fun site for you to share with your kids is Lote4Kids. A digital selection of picture books (eBooks and audiobooks) in a diverse range of world languages. I am astounded at the variety of languages that are available. This e-book database will certainly keep you and your kids busy as you discover new languages to listen to, and maybe even learn!

One final suggestion is geared towards teens. Rosen Teen Health and Wellness offers ‘real life, real answers’ for our teen community. Full of a variety of timely subjects pertaining to teen topics, this database presents material in an updated fresh, new look and feel. This “critically acclaimed, award-winning resource provides middle and high school students with non-judgmental, straightforward, curricular and self-help support, aligned to state, national, and provincial standards.”

There are quite a few more resources for you to peruse, and I could go on and on about all of these fantastic offerings, but space is limited here for this article! Please log-on and find your new favorite site to explore and let us know what you’ve discovered!

~ Pamela Martinez, Senior Librarian, Youth Services

What’s New at Smiley you ask? I’m so glad you asked! The Youth Services Department is excited to announce nine newly acquired book kits for our Library of Things, consisting of six Mental Wellness (two in Spanish, four in English) and three STEAM Kits (English) available for check-out! The Mental Wellness backpacks are provided to you through a grant from California State Library. The STEAM kits were purchased from Penworthy Books.

These are the subjects for the Mental Awareness kits:

• Grief
• Bravery
• Anger
• Kindness
• Spanish – Kit de Sentimientos
• Spanish – Kit de Ansiedad

and the STEAM-to-Go:

• Paw Patrol Phonics
• Sensory Explorer
• Trucks and Tools

You will find these kits in the Young Readers’ Room, hanging on hooks near the Computer Table Station.

With a valid library card, a borrower is able to check out one backpack or kit for two weeks with no renewal ability (one per family).

Each kit comes with a label attached to the backpack listing all contents inside.

Each kit comes with an explanatory, laminated sheet to help you maximize the use of the kit with your child.

We’ll be excited to see which kit you decide to check out first!

~ Pamela Martinez, Senior Librarian, Youth Services

The dawn of a New Year is just a few sleeps away, so some questions may loom for you… ‘what books will I read next year? There were such great ones in 2024…what will strike my fancy for 2025?’ Great questions! I’m glad you asked. As of this writing, all of these books are available, on the New Book shelf in the Young Readers’ Room. Let me shed some light on some of these titles that have come in.

Series: Spy School by Stuart Gibbs. The newest book in the series (volume 12) is “Spy School Goes Wild.” The book is on the shelf, ready for the next patron. You may ask, “What could possibly go wrong for Ben when he is cast into an extremely dangerous wilderness?” Well, if you know Ben and the shenanigans he gets himself into, then you’re in for an exciting, if not, exhilarating, read.

Some of you may recall reading the chapter book series Whatever After by Sarah Mlynowski. The first book was published back in 2012 and the last one, volume 17, will be published next summer. For those of you who enjoy reading graphic novels, I have great news: the first title of the series “Fairest of All” has been written as a graphic novel. The artwork was created by Anu Chouhan. Please let the Youth Services Crew know if you liked the original version – print only – or the graphic novel version.

If you’re a fan of Rachel Renee Russell’s series Dork Diaries series, you’re in for a treat with the sixteenth volume entitled “Tales from a NOT-SO-Bratty Little Sister.” What could a NOT-SO-Bratty little sister actually do to upset Nikki so much? Have you ever kept a diary…that little, secret book hidden away so absolutely no one could ever find it, let alone, read it? Well, Brianna may have found this delightful literature and wouldn’t give it back. Check out the latest Dork Diaries book and read about the tomfooleries these two get into.

The Bad Guys are back at it in the nineteenth volume, “The Serpent and the Beast,” written by Aaron Blabey. Will Cedric and Wolfie find themselves in such a predicament that this could be the last installment in the series? Goodness, No! The twentieth volume will be released in early January, so quickly come to check out volume 19 from the New Book shelf and be ready for the next volume, “One Last Thing.”

 

One more graphic novel series has been added to the collection: “Dog Man Big Jim Begins” was added to our New Book shelf in early December. This thirteenth installment in the Dog Man series will bring some knowledge of the characters from the previous books to light. Big Jim is so caring…and oh, those space Cuties! Check out the newest Dog Man book today.

Back to school week has arrived! Some students are beginning a new era of their school experiences. Perhaps a new school, a new teacher, and new friends are on the horizon. To help navigate these new experiences, here are just a few of the school-themed books we have on hand to help your student adjust to new surroundings. The Youth Services Crew is always happy to offer more titles for you as well!

Here are a few picture books for the younger readers you may like to check out. Llama Llama Back to School written by Reed Duncan will have youngsters eager to head back to school tomorrow!  Kids have had a nice summer break, so how do parents gear up the excitement for the kids to get prepared for school? Llama Llama’s mama is reminding him that school is starting up soon…what’s a llama to do? Check this one out to find out if Llama Llama is school ready.

Libby Loves Science States of Matter by Kimberly Derting will have students excited about science class! Libby and her friends are learning about matter and experiments when a new student enters the class. Will Libby and her friends be able to survive the melting ice cream incident? Check this out quickly and enjoy a cool scoop of ice cream as a treat!

Diary of a Minecraft Zombie Back to Scare School is written by Zack Zombie. Seventh grade was a breeze for Zombie. But how will eighth grade be for a successful seventh grade graduate? Filled with humor and perhaps a couple of scary zombie moments, check this book out and have a good old-fashioned scare!

Isabel and her Colores Go to School written by Alexandra Alessandri will have kids excited to get to school as quickly as possible! Isabel is nervous about starting a new school. But as many new kids find out, friendships are easy to make. And with Isabel’s keen sense of drawing pictures, the language barrier can’t stop instant friendships. Check out Isabel’s story today.

Poor David has got his work cut out for him with the dastardly twins, who happen to be his neighbors. David is excited to start school to get a break from the Romero twins, but lo and behold, new triplets who are quite menacing are now students in his school. What is David going to do? Check out Twins vs. Triplets Back-to-School Blitz by Jennifer Torres right away and find out if David is able to fend off all of these obnoxious siblings.