We recently started a teen book group here at the library. Guess who's in charge? You guessed it -- me! So when it comes time for the monthly meeting, I'm anxious to get some more info on our current selection. This month's pick is Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (not to be confused with the other gray book). So, in preparation for the meeting, I went ahead and searched ProQuest for any articles/reviews I could find on the book. I found plenty of great reviews and other information about the book. (By the way, I highly recommend this AMAZING story of a young Lithuanian girl's deportation in 1941 during Stalin's reign of terror.)

Now that I know what my audience is in the book group, I'll be able to utilize ProQuest more extensively. I looked at numerous book reviews in other publications -- such as Horn Book and School Library Journal -- to get some ideas of what to pick in upcoming months.

Now, check in with some of our other great South Dakota Library Challenge bloggers for comments!

My daughter is nuts for red pandas. When browsing on SIRS Discoverer on the South Dakota State Library database recently, I found fascinating info on the fluffy creature. First of all, the red panda and the panda are not related. However, they share many characteristics, including subsisting on a diet of bamboo. A map showed the red panda's living range to be near the Himalayas. I found several articles, graphics, and a website devoted to information. Articles varied in reading levels. I even found an article suitable for my 4-year-old son, which included a fun learning activity comparing the red panda with a panda.

I recently read the book Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. I was able to peruse several maps of India. I was able to link up to an article describing the monsoon season in India, which is talked about in the book.

One of the categories in the "Database Features" is the Winter Olympics. Clicking on the link brought up various articles on all aspects of the the Olympics in Sochi. Most interesting to me were the articles on the unseasonably warm weather -- which is causing problems for some of the events -- and Shaun White's failure to score a medal. All the articles are rated by reading levels and show a Lexile score. Another great feature is the ability to translate articles into several different languages. I flipped back to the maps feature, and was able to take a look at Russia and find where Sochi is located on the Black Sea.

There is no end to the amount of information I found on the SIRS Issues Researcher. I clicked on the hot topic of bullying. At the top of the page were links for "Pro/Con Issues and Essential Questions"; a definition of bullying; and a link to stopbullying.gov. Other features include a wealth of articles on the subject. Also available are "Research Tools", which include -- among other things -- Topic Overview, a Note Organizer, and Statistics link. Common Core information is also available. And the list goes on ... Wow! If only I could have had some of these resources available to me when I was writing college papers back in the Dark Ages!

Finally, I explored the Curriculum Pathfinders. I chose Language Arts, and then clicked on Creative Writing. I discovered links to numerous websites devoted to the writing life. Of particular interest to me were the links to the Edgar Allan Poe Museum (that would have been helpful when I did that independent study on Poe in college) and Judy Blume's website (which features lots of helpful hints for anyone interested in writing).

I'm not going to lie. I was a little bit nervous about taking some of the practice tests in the Learning Express Library featured on the South Dakota State Library's database list. It's been a long time since I took a college test (I'm not telling how long, either). And I always get a little bit flustered about test taking. Fortunately, since I was just "trying out" the database for the South Dakota Library Challenge, I felt a little less anxious. Still I was a bit curious to see how I would do. Naturally, I chose the reading comprehension section. My practice test was in literary reading. I was relieved to see when I scored my partially-taken test that I answered all my questions right. Whew! On to the next step.

My next investigation was into the career center, where I discovered a plethora of helpful topics if I was interested in changing careers (I'm not!). I also checked out the course on writing cover letters. While attending college, I was fortunate enough to work for a resume business. My boss was an excellent resume and cover letter writer, and to this day, I still keep her advice in mind when going about my writing. The tips provided on the Learning Express Library looked to be spot-on.

Finally, I took a look at various resources available. I focused on writing skills -- which I must need. When I took a practice test on essay writing, my score wasn't so hot. Admittedly, I wrote only a few sentences, but my score sort of stung my pride. How does a computer judge a creative essay, anyway? Just sayin' ...

A car person, I am not. That's why the ChiltonLibrary database on the South Dakota State Library's website is a wonderful thing. Here's what I discovered about the maintenance schedule on my car:
At 50,000 miles, I should service/inspect my cooling system hoses and clamps; service/inspect the exhaust system and heat shields; and inspect the fuel system. What? In my world, that's practically a foreign language. But I'll be sure to relay that pertinent information on to the proper individual (my husband). In addition, I need to replace my air cleaner filter. Got it.

In April 2013, a recall was issued for my car: Water Pump Shaft Seal Leaks. Hmmmm. I wonder if this is related to that yellow recall card I re-discovered the other day. Guess I need to call the dealership -- that recall is almost a year old!

I checked out the information on brakes in the repair section. An amazing amount of information was presented on brakes. None of which, of course, I understood. I guess I'll have the dealership check my brakes when I schedule my recall appointment. Come to think of it, those brakes have been a little bit noisy lately ...


Now, onto Mango Languages -- although foreign, perhaps more comprehensible to me than car-speak?

I chose to try out the language Spanish (Latin America), which is spoken by about 329 million people as their first language. It is spoken from Costa Rica to Chile to Buenos Aires (and everything in-between). While I have visited Machu Picchu in books, I'd love to actually see these mysterious ruins in person. The one thing holding me back (besides money!), is the language. I do not know Spanish. (I'm thinking it would have been more helpful to take Spanish in college instead of German!) Besides traveling, though, speaking the Spanish language right here -- where I live -- would be very beneficial. I attend a church that shares a building with a Spanish-speaking congregation. Some patrons at the library, where I work, speak Spanish as their first language. My sister-in-law is originally from Mexico. Really, the benefits of speaking Spanish are too numerous to mention.

So I was brave, and tried out the first lesson. While I was a bit confused about genders of certain words, I was amazed at what I learned about just a few basic phrases in the first lesson. Not only does Mango teach you how to speak the language, but it also teaches you informal/formal uses, genders, and so on. It was easy to understand, and I could listen and repeat each phrase as many times as I needed.

Next, I took a look at Little Pim, which is aimed at teaching languages to children ages 0-6. While I'm finding out that sometimes it's hard to teach an old dog (me) new tricks, I think I'll start my 4-year-old watching Little Pim. He's going to be able to learn much faster than me. And he'll remember it!