Did you know Cecil County Public Library has had a book discussion for teens for over 20 years? Called Book Hook, our teen book discussions are unique groups that give middle and high schoolers opportunities to discuss Young Adult literature and interact with peers. CCPL is proud to announce this vibrant group has been awarded a great opportunity to take their love of lit to the next level.

YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, organizes a yearly “Teens’ Top Ten” award. All teens can vote to create 10 favorites from a list of 25 YA books each year. How do they create that list of the top 25 Young Adult books in the nation? Teen book groups across the U.S. are chosen to serve on the nomination committee and CCPL’s Book Hook group has been chosen! For the next 2 years, members of our Book Hook group will receive Advanced Readers’ Copies (ARCs) of Young Adult books they can read, review and keep! CCPL teens will read extensively throughout the year and is 1 of only 16 groups that nominate the 25 books that make up the Teens’ Top Ten list.

Even if you are not participating in our Book Hook group, you can still make your voice heard! All teens can vote to narrow down the list of 25 to the top 10 in the nation. The top 25 will be announced on April 18th, “Celebrate Teen Lit Day.” Voting for the top 10 is open August 15 through September 15 and the winners are announced during Teen Read Week (October 13-19, 2013).

Thanks to the dedication of the library, our Friends organization, and Cecil County teens, we will be a part of this national effort to choose the best YA books of the year!

For more info and to vote on your favorites in August and September, check out the YALSA page and CCPL’s teen page.

What’s your favorite YA book or author?

Just when you thought the library couldn’t get any cooler, we’re now on Pinterest!

What is Pinterest, you say? Simply, Pinterest is an online scrapbook of your favorite things. As you click-click-click your way around the internet, you find stuff you want to remember: books you want to read, DIY projects you want to try, places you want to travel to, quotes that inspire you, images that make you laugh, recipes you want to cook, fashions you wish you could pull off…   Pinterest makes remembering websites a visually exciting experience, using only images and small bits of text that link back to their original source.

Now you can see your library’s favorite things! (Note: You do not have to be a Pinterest user to benefit from the library’s account.)

We’re just revving our engines now, so please give us your feedback. If you check us out today, you’ll find themed book lists for adults and kids, some homeschooling ideas, and staff book recommendations. See a book you like? Click its picture to place a hold (you’ll be routed to our website). How easy is that? And for our patrons who love to pin, you can pin great books, audiobooks, DVDs and other materials straight from our site!

You’ll also see an exciting board highlighting our upcoming program, Tackling Paper Clutter. You’ll find ideas on purging, organizing, and systematizing. You’ll see organization books available at the library, compelling infographics, and instructions on how to find FREE magazine articles about managing paper clutter.

Stay tuned for more exciting stuff on our Pinterest page! We’ll be adding more homeschooling resources, as well as information on jobs and small businesses, and more.

What would you like to see on our Pinterest page? How do you use Pinterest?