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/) 

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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!