The library has a huge collection of resources available for those looking for information or entertainment. You can find two listings for these. One is the Alphabetical Resource List, where the resources are listed alphabetically by their name, and the other is the Topical Resource List, where the various resources are broken down into categories so you can find all of the resources we have in one area.

Need a suggestion for something to read or watch from the library this weekend? Maybe you'd like to check out an ebook or audiobook? Try some of our Staff Picks, to find what some of the other people in our parish are enjoying.

We know that not every staff pick will appeal to every patron, but not to worry! If you need help selecting something, we have online tools like Book Browse and our Online Catalog, or you can ask one of our friendly staff members to help search for you.

The following two staff picks are fairytales reinterpreted by the same author.

A Dance of Silver and Shadow and A Tale of Beauty and Beast by Melanie Cellier

In A Dance of Silver and Shadow: A Retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, Princess Lilly and her twin sister set sail to make alliances with other kingdoms and are drafted into Princess games. They face many challenges-some physical and some mental. And the grand prize is a prince for a husband known throughout the land as a monster who may have killed his whole family.

I like this book because it is no damsel-in-distress novel. These princesses work together to help save themselves. And I like that there is a touch of romance.

A Tale of Beauty and Beast: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast involves Princess Lilly’s twin sister, Princess Sophia, who has to overcome her own flaws in order to save herself and her Beast.

I like that this re-told tale like the first book, has a lot of twists and turns to make the story new and fresh yet still holds true to the original story. And I also love the beautiful golden gown Princess Sophia wears on the front cover.

I think if you like fairy tales re-told or romances you will like these books.

If these books interest you, feel free to request or check them out. We'll be back next Thursday with a different Staff Pick.

School's out on May 24th, and the library wants to celebrate with you! Join us at the DeRidder branch in the media room on Thursday, May 24th, at 5:00 PM. We will be watching Disney's Moana and enjoying root beer floats! This is an all-ages, family-friendly event.

Many of our patrons enjoy watching television series produced by the BBC, or British Broadcasting Corporation. The library has quite a few of these on DVD to choose from and this week we received a couple of new ones.

Check out:

Broken. This is a six part series starring Sean Bean as Father Michael Kerrigan, a Roman Catholic priest in a city in northern England. Father Kerrigan is well-liked and does his best to help his parishioners as they struggle with the challenges of modern life. He has his own issues stemming from a traumatic childhood and a difficult relationship with his family. His congregation counts on him to guide them as they try to reconcile their beliefs with the stark realities of their very difficult life situations.

Death in Paradise: Season Six. This is the latest season in this detective/mystery series set in the fictional Caribbean Island of Saint Marie. British Detective Inspector Humphrey Goodman eagerly anticipates the return of an old friend from England. But soon after she arrives, their new romance is tested with an untimely murder. More murders follow, including a seemingly unsolvable one that takes them back to England.

These series are not rated but are intended for mature audiences and may contain material not suitable for all viewers.

The 2018 Summer Reading Program (Libraries Rock!) will be starting soon. The sign-up links will be showing up on the home page in the next couple of days. We have all kinds of books available to read, but you don't have to come in to the library to find things to read.

As a matter of fact, anything you read from Tumblebooks is eligible for your score in the Summer Reading Program! And if you're on the go, you can even get an App for it from the Apple AppStore or Google Play.

In fact, any of the books you can get to through our Electronic Library Page are eligible! Enjoy your summer and enjoy your reading!

Need a suggestion for something to read or watch from the library this weekend? Maybe you'd like to check out an ebook or audiobook? Try some of our Staff Picks, to find what some of the other people in our parish are enjoying.

We know that not every staff pick will appeal to every patron, but not to worry! If you need help selecting something, we have online tools like Book Browse and our Online Catalog, or you can ask one of our friendly staff members to help search for you.

The Take [DVD]

The 2016 action film Bastille Day was renamed to The Take in North America and was directed by James Watkins and stars Idris Elba and Kelly Reilly and Richard Madden. The film is described as "Michael Mason is an American pickpocket living in Paris who finds himself hunted by the CIA when he steals a bag that contains more than just a wallet. Sean Briar, the field agent on the case, soon realizes that Michael is just a pawn in a much bigger game and is also his best asset to uncover a large-scale conspiracy."

Last year my brother and I watched this film on a rainy day one day after work, and we had fun watching it and we had some laughs. This film is a fun little action film, it is not the greatest movie or anything, but we enjoyed watching it more than we had expected. This film made us laugh at times while still having some action, and it was good to see a film that takes place in France again.

This film was probably not known or seen by many people because of several factors such as the 2016 Nice Attack, which caused this film to be delayed in some places and not shown in others. I think that this is a simple fun and sometimes funny action movie that people can watch together at least once on a rainy day or something.

If The Take interests you, feel free to request or check it out. We'll be back next Thursday with a different Staff Pick.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and to honor it, the Young Adult room in the DeRidder branch is featuring a "Cure Stigma" display all month.

Browse the display and check out some staff-picked books that feature a variety of mental illnesses. Learn how the characters heal, recover, and ultimately grow from their experiences. Some of the featured titles and their respective themes include:

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven: Bipolar Disorder, Grief, Survivor's Remorse

Schizo by Nic Scheff: Schizophrenia, Guilt, Recovery

History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera: OCD, Grief, LGBTQ+ Struggles

Mosquitoland by David Arnold: Down Syndrome, Psychosis, Depression

Stop in and check out the collection today!

This week the library received a new book that should interest all of the sports fans out there - Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs in Sports History by Mike Pesca.

The author is a reporter who has covered all sorts of sporting events including Super Bowls, the World Series, the Olympics, and even the Westminster Dog Show. He has won awards and hosts a podcast. Now he has written a book with a unique concept. He asks the question “What if...?” about many of the most historic sporting events. He shows what might have happened if something had occurred differently than it did. For example, he wonders how the world of sports might have changed if the U.S. had boycotted Hitler’s Olympics in 1936. Or if tennis player Bobby Riggs had beaten Billie Jean King. There are stories for every sport imaginable. Some are a little more far-fetched than others, but all will make sports fans think about how one action that might seem insignificant really might change the whole outcome of an event or even the future of the sport.

This book can be found in Dewey number 796, which is where sports enthusiasts will find all sorts of interesting books about their favorite pastime.

Our teen programming department is running a Girls Who Code project this summer, which leads to a reminder that the library proudly supports programming for everyone!

We have installed on every patron computer a wide variety of programming tools, including Bluefish for editing, the Eclipse IDE (Integrated Development Environment), and Virtaal for working on translation files for various projects. We also have pre-installed a large variety of languages, including Python, Ruby, Perl, and Java.

We also support learning HTML, Javascript, CSS, PHP, and other web technologies by providing each account holder with their own space to host a small website.

Need a suggestion for something to read or watch from the library this weekend? Maybe you'd like to check out an ebook or audiobook? Try some of our Staff Picks, to find what some of the other people in our parish are enjoying.

We know that not every staff pick will appeal to every patron, but not to worry! If you need help selecting something, we have online tools like Book Browse and our Online Catalog, or you can ask one of our friendly staff members to help search for you.

Rose and Thorn [ebook] by Sarah Prineas

This e-book found on Overdrive is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty where a wicked Godmother likes to trap unsuspecting people into her web of a story. Once in the story, the people become the characters and loose their own will. In this book there are some colorful and fun as well as complex people. And of course there is a “Beauty” and a “Prince”. There is interesting world building and lots of plot twists. And there is a beautiful and subtle romance that is slow to build. If you like fairy tales retold or a nice, gentle romance you will like this book.

If Rose and Thorn interests you, feel free to request or check it out. We'll be back next Thursday with a different Staff Pick.

Calling All Girls 6th - 12th Grade!

Girls Who Code is a free non-profit program that lets girls use computer science to impact their community and join a sisterhood of supportive peers and role models. In the club, girls will learn foundational coding skills, but they will also learn how to work in a team, problem solve, and communicate. We will work on computer science projects, such as building a website, or creating a computer game or mobile app to solve a problem in our community. No previous computer science skills are necessary - we have activities for girls with zero computer science experience.

Meetings will be held in the DeRidder branch by Miss Stephanie every Tuesday afternoon from 2:00 - 3:00 beginning May 29th - August 7th. Registration is required. There will be ten sessions over the summer, and girls are encouraged to attend every session so they can learn how to code and complete an impact project. It will be fun and snacks will be provided! We will end the class with a short graduation ceremony and cake.

For more information, or to register, please contact Miss Stephanie at 463-6217 ext. 30, or email her at niesens@beau.org. All girls in 6th - 12th grade are welcome. Join the club today!

Check out one of the latest additions to the library collection: The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50 by Jonathan Rauch.

In this new book, the author shares the interesting concept that happiness follows a U-shaped curve. He says that we start out with the optimism of youth and our happiness level declines as we enter middle age. But then he shows that our happiness level climbs back up as we enter our fifties. He says that this curve is a very natural process and explains why this occurs.

By the time we reach our forties, many of us have achieved successful lives, both professional and personal. But we often feel a sort of slump and find it difficult to be happy. The author, a successful journalist, was feeling this slump. He decided to investigate and discovered that others, from all walks of life, experienced the same thing. But he also discovered that those who were a bit older and had gotten through this midlife malaise, found themselves becoming happier people.

In the book, the author gives us ways to endure the low, midlife years and not fall victim to its dangers and traps. He shows how we can help others get through the darkness, and by doing so, help ourselves come out with a renewed sense of happiness.

This book can be found in the non-fiction section of the library in Dewey number 155. If it interests, you, check it out.

One thing everyone has become aware of: the Internet has greatly sped up the rate of change in things. This can be a problem for some things, but it also means that things can improve a lot very quickly.

The various vendors we get many of our services from are constantly trying to be on the "improve things" side. This means, from time to time, that they update their website, or roll out new version of their mobile apps. Recently, we've had several that have all done this within the last couple of months, or are in the process of doing it now:

• Access Video on Demand - great movies and documentaries for free!
• Tutor.com - the subject of last week's Find It Friday
• Overdrive has added a new app for mobile devices called Libby. Many of the library staff members have tried it and agree it is quite a bit nicer than the old app for using Overdrive.
• TumbleBooks is adding a section of romance books this summer just in time for the Summer Reading Program (Libraries ROCK!)
• Zinio has made a major upgrade to their app, as well as the servers that feed both the app and their website. If you're looking for great magazines, Zinio is the place!

Enjoy the upgrades, and keep an eye out for announcements of even more to come!

Need a suggestion for something to read or watch from the library this weekend? Maybe you'd like to check out an ebook or audiobook? Try some of our Staff Picks, to find what some of the other people in our parish are enjoying.

We know that not every staff pick will appeal to every patron, but not to worry! If you need help selecting something, we have online tools like Book Browse and our Online Catalog, or you can ask one of our friendly staff members to help search for you.

Stranded: A Story of Frontier Survival by Matthew P. Mayo

Following the death of her mother Janette, her two brothers and their father headed out westward for a better life. Jenette was left at camp one morning while her father and brothers went to hunt buffalo. They never returned.

In diary format this fourteen year old girl writes of her challenges and fears. She faces death each dark night and day of the oncoming long winter by grizzly, mountain lion and wolves attacks, not to mention the blizzards and frigid cold and hunger.

Memories of family and a strong determination give this tough young girl a will to survive when chances were slim.

This book is based on actual events. This is why I enjoyed it and just couldn't put it down! If you like reading about wilderness survival, you should check out this book.

If Stranded interests you, feel free to request or check it out. We'll be back next Thursday with a different Staff Pick.

The Library Board's of Control will meet in regular session at the DeRidder branch (205 S. Washington Ave.) on Wednesday, May 2, 2018 at 4:30 pm. Pursuant to the “Sunshine Laws” (La R.S. 42:14), all regular meetings of this board are open to the public, except as noted as Executive Session.

Agenda

I. Call to Order & Attendance

II. Review and accept Minutes from last regular meeting

III. Public participation

IV. Provide update on capital projects

V. Discuss and approve revision of Collection Development Policy

VI. Provide E-rate update

VII. Provide Summer Reading Program overview

VIII. Disburse Director's Evaluation form

IX. Review reports

• YTD Financial
• Statistical & Circulation
• Activity Report

X. Reminders : Financial Disclosure due May 15; ALA Conference coming up in June.

Adjournment

2018 Teens' Top Ten Nominees Are Announced!

The Teens' Top Ten is a "teen choice" list of recommended reading, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year. Nominations are posted in April, voting is in August, and the top ten winner announcements are in October during Teen Read Week.

Teens across the country are encouraged to read as many nominees as they can during the summer. In August, you vote for your favorites! Come to the DeRidder branch and check out the display in the YA room today!