Library Word of the Week!

As readers may know, Ms. D has a fondness of "phobia" words. They're so neat! They are almost German in creation, since the German language has a tendency of combining words to create new meanings; for example, adding "strasse" to a word to describe a street, like "hauptstrasse" means "main road." 415 State Street could become 415 Staatsstrasse. 

Therefore, today's work of the week is another "phobia" word:

Kakorrhaphiophobia

kak·or·rhaph·io·pho·bia

  noun \ˌkak-ə-ˌraf-ē-ə-ˈfō-bē-ə\

• : abnormal fear of failure

So when you are taking a test , like the MCAS Bio retest on Monday and Tuesday, don't experience any kakorrhaphiophobia! Just do your best and you can succeed! 

City Library fun!

Pizza and Karaoke for Teens

Escape the winter doldrums at a Pizza-Karaoke

party just for teens. Express yourself through music

-- individual or group performances welcome!

Saturday January 25, 12:00-1:30 at Sixteen Acres Branch (call 263-6858)

Wednesday January 29, 4:00-5:30 at the Central Library (call 263-6828 ext. 425)

Tuesday February 5, 3:30-5:00 at the Brightwood Branch (call 283-6805)

 

Anime and Manga Club for Teens

We’ll discuss the latest anime and manga, work on

manga drawing, and more. Meetings in Teen Central

will be informal drop-in opportunities for discussion

and sharing of favorite books and DVDs.

Mondays 4:00-5:00 at the Central Library

 

Meet Basketball Players from the Springfield

Armor

Meet some players from Springfield

NBA D-League team, the Springfield

Armor! Have a chance to play a video

game against one of the players.

Participating youth will receive a

free ticket for an upcoming game.

Thursday January 30, 4:30-5:30 at the Mason Square Branch

Preregister - tickets are limited! Contact Jeff Lambert

at the Mason Square Branch at 413-263-6853.

Also Feb.18, 4:30-5:30 at the Sixteen Acres Branch – Preregister at 263-6858.

 

Anime and Manga Club at Indian Orchard

Chat about your favorite manga and anime! Crafts,

snacks and conversation. Drop in at any time. Open

to tweens and teens; suggested ages 10 to 14. Call

Meg Aust-Anastasi at 413-263-6946.

Thursdays 4:00-5:00 at the Indian Orchard Branch Library(263-6846)

 

Game On! Video Gaming at Forest Park

Drop in to play your favorite games for teens and tweens!

Thursday Feb. 6, 3:00-5:00 and monthly at the Forest Park Branch.

           

Make a Valentine’s Treat

Make Oreo Truffles for your Valentine (or yourself) and bring your treats home in an origami box! For tweens and teens.

Tuesday Feb. 11, 3:30-4:30 at the Forest Park Branch.

 

Our Voices:Teen Poetry Workshop with

Brenda’s Child

Local writer, teacher and performer

Brenda’s Child will help you find your voice in poetry

in this workshop for ages 12-18. You will have

the opportunity to have your work included in an

anthology of poetry by teens.

Wednesday Feb.19, 2 pm at Forest Park Branch (263-6843)

Thursday Feb.20, 2 pm at the Central Library(263-6828 ext. 425)

Sign up at www.springfieldlibrary.org or call the branch.

 

Tasty Tuesday

Make a delicious seasonal treat with other teens and tweens!

Tuesday Feb. 18, 3:30 at Brightwood and East Springfield Branch Libraries

 

Knit-n-More at Forest Park                         

Do you want to learn to knit or crochet, or need help with a yarn project

you have started? Bring a pair of #8 or #9 needles and a ball of worsted

weight yarn, or a #4.5 or #5 crochet hook and a ball of worsted weight yarn

to the Forest Park Branch Library and our talented volunteer, Lynn, will help you.

Teens, adults and families are encouraged to stop in and give it a try!

Thursdays 5 -6:30 p.m., Forest Park Branch

 

For more programs at the Springfield City Library check our Online Calendar atwww.springfieldlibrary.org.

Zombie Display!

Outside the library there is now a zombie and plague display. The CDC states that if you are ready for a zombie infestation, you are ready for any disaster.

Zombies are fun and scary to watch, but colds and flu spread during the winter, so please be aware!

Check out one of our zombie or plauge books and get prepared!

Library Word of the Week and Scorch Trials

Good morning and happy Friday! 

The Library Word of the Week is: 

Ampersand

noun

a character or symbol (& or ) for and  : Smith & Jones, Inc.

Origin: 
1820–30;  contraction of and per se and  literally, (the symbol) & by itself (stands for) and; see per se

Did you know that the ampersand used to be part of the alphabet? 

"The shape of the character (&) predates the word ampersand by more than 1,500 years. In the first century, Roman scribes wrote in cursive, so when they wrote the Latin word et which means “and” they linked the e and t. Over time the combined letters came to signify the word “and” in English as well."

(Information from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ampersand & http://blog.dictionary.com/ampersand/) 

----

In other news, I've finished reading Scorch Trials, which is the second in the Maze Runner series. Maze Runner is coming out as a movie on Sept 19, 2014.  Scorch Trials is the story of Thomas and his friends AFTER the Maze. I  don't want to give anything away for those who've never read Maze Runner, but I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes action and the occasional death. If you like Hunger Games, give Maze Runner a read! 

Commerce Reads

Ms. D is reading...

Iron King by Julie Kagwa

• fun book so far. It brings in a lot of Midsummer's Night Dream references. I'm about halfway through and finally getting to see what the title means. 

For the Win by Cory Doctorow

• I'm a huge fan of Cory Doctorow. This book is a little slower than some of his other novels that I've read, but still covers a hard topic: unions in a dystopian world. There is a lot of gamer talk, like grinding for gold, that is interesting as someone who plays video games. 

Scorch Trials by James Dashner

• This is the sequel to Maze Runner (which will be a movie later this year). I didn't think I would enjoy it, but I just started it on Friday and I'm about halfway through already. It is a great followup to Maze Runner. 

That's it for now. Check back for more updates! Ask your other teachers what they are reading! 

Library Word of the Week

Kafkaesque

Definition:  marked by surreal distortion and often a sense of impending danger; a nightmarish complex, bizarre, or illogical quality.

Pronunciation:  kaf-ku-esk

Synonyms: Phantasmagoric, chimerical

Origin:

Anonymously coined in 1946, Kafkaesque came about to portray and describe characters or happenings such as were apparent with the Czech writer Franz Kafka, whose novels often describe convoluted scenarios.

Why this word?

Frederick R. Karl, the author of an exhaustive critical biography of Franz Kafka explained the word Kafkaesque as entering “a surreal world in which all your control patterns, all your plans, the whole way in which you have configured your own behavior, begins to fall to pieces, when you find yourself against a force that does not lend itself to the way you perceive the world.”You don’t give up; you don’t lie down and die. What you do is struggle against this with all of your equipment, with whatever you have. But of course you don’t stand a chance. That’s Kafkaesque.”

The word “Kafkaesque” has recently been making a brilliant career in (surprise, surprise) law jargon. The first utterance of this eponym was in an American courtroom in the early 1970s and, according to the New York Times, every next decade has brought over 100 other instances.

How to use the word kafkaesque in a sentence?

“My attempt to get a new password turned into a Kafkaesque nightmare”.

“All I wanted was a nice evening, not a Kafkaesque experience of pondering existence!”

- See more at: http://unusedwords.com/2014/01/08/kafkaesque/#sthash.7TixSCjQ.dpuf

Welcome Back! and Commerce Reads!

Welcome back! I hope that everyone had a nice break and got plenty of reading done. We even had a surprise two extra days with the snowstorm.

Starting soon, the High School of Commerce Library will be launching Commerce Reads, a school-wide initiative to get students and teachers talking about what books we all read for fun. For example, I read four books over break and started two more. I read:
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Ettiquite and Espionage by Gail Carriger

I am now reading:
For the Win by Cory Doctorow, and
The Iron King by Julie Kagwa

Feel free to ask me (Ms. D) any questions about the books she read over break (or any book! If I haven't read it, I might have read a review) and keep an eye out for more information about Commerce Reads.