All Hallow's Read is a tradition created by Neil Gaiman in 2010.  The idea behind it is simple: to give away a scary book for Halloween.  You can find out more information at their site (http://www.allhallowsread.com/) or by watching the video below:

You can find many places with recommendations for scary books to give away, like Harper Collins Children's,YA author Robin Wasserman, and even Neil Gaiman himself.  In addition to all of the scary books we have available to check out in the LRC, we will also have sheets that you can fold into your own mini scary poetry books to keep.  Stop by the LRC to grab one, or print one out and make it yourself.  Download the files below and print them out.  You can  find instructions on how to make the sheets into books here.

Who: Margarita Engle
Where:  Mrs. Dalloway's Literary & Garden Arts
2904 College Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94705
When: November 1st, 2013 7:30PM
What: (from the site's description)
"When Tony's mother is sent to jail, he is sent to stay with a great uncle he has never met in Sierra Nevada. It is a daunting move-Tony's new world bears no semblance to his previous one. But slowly, against a remote and remarkable backdrop, the scars from Tony's troubled past begin to heal. 
With his Tió and a search-and-rescue dog named Gabe by his side, he learns how to track wild animals, is welcomed to the Cowboy Church, and makes new friends at the Mountain School. Most importantly though, it is through Gabe that Tony discovers unconditional love for the first time.
 
Margarita Engle's books include The Surrender Tree, a Newbery Honor book and winner of the Jane Addams Children's Book Award, the Pura Belpré Award, the Américas Award, and the Claudia Lewis Poetry Award;
The Poet Slave of Cuba, winner of the Pura Belpré Award and the Américas Award; and Hurricane Dancers,
winner of the Pura Belpré Award."
More: http://www.mrsdalloways.com/events/kids-8-12-margarita-engle

Who: Pamela Turner
Where:  Mrs. Dalloway's Literary & Garden Arts
2904 College Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94705
When: November 10th, 2013 4:00pm
What: (from the site's description)
"Kids 10 up! Pamela Turner reads from The Dolphins of Shark Bay (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $18.99), the most recent installment in the publisher's highly-regarded Scientists in the Field series."
More: http://www.mrsdalloways.com/events/kids-pamela-turner

Who: Jeff Kinney
Where: Book Passage
51 Tamal Vista Blvd
Corte Madera, CA 94925
When: November 13th, 2013 5:00pm
What: (from the site's description)
"Please join us for a celebration of Jeff Kinney's new book — Diary of a Wimpy Kid book 8, Hard Luck ($13.95)! It releases on November 5, 2013, and we are thrilled to announce that Jeff Kinney will be at Book Passage to sign books on November 13, 2013. Please join us to meet Jeff and for special Hard Luck activities which will start at 1 hour before the book signing and run throughout it.
Check out the new installment in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series! In Hard Luck, Greg Heffley's on a losing streak. His best friend, Rowley Jefferson, has ditched him, and finding new friends in middle school is proving to be a tough task. To change his fortunes, Greg decides to take a leap of faith and turn his decisions over to chance. Will a roll of the dice turn things around, or is Greg's life destined to be just another hard-luck story? "
More:  http://bookpassage.com/event/jeff-kinney-diary-wimpy-kid-hard-luck

Who: Gennifer Choldenko
Where: Book Passage
51 Tamal Vista Blvd
Corte Madera, CA 94925
When: November 15th, 2013 6:30pm
What: (from the site's description)
"Alcatraz Island in the 1930s isn't the most normal place to grow up, but it's home for Moose Flanagan, his autistic sister, Natalie, and all the families of the guards. When Moose's dad gets promoted to Associate Warden, despite being an unlikely candidate, it's a big deal. But the cons have a point system for targeting prison employees, and his dad is now in serious danger. After a fire starts in the Flanagan's apartment, Natalie is blamed, and Moose bands with the other kids to track down the possible arsonist. Then Moose gets a cryptic note from the notorious Al Capone himself. Is Capone trying to protect Moose's dad too? If Moose can't figure out what Capone's note means, it may be too late. Al Capone Does My Homework ($17.99) is the last heart-pounding installment in the New York Times bestselling, Newbery Honor-winning Alcatraz trilogy is not to be missed!"
More: http://bookpassage.com/event/gennifer-choldenko-al-capone-does-my-homework

Who: McSweeny's McMullens
Where: Book Passage
51 Tamal Vista Blvd
Corte Madera, CA 94925
When: November 17th, 2013 1:00pm
What: (from the site's description)
"Join Book Passage and McSweeney's McMullens for afternoon filled with awesome books for kids! 
First up is Recipe ($17.95), by Angela and Michaelanne Petrella. Are they sisters, you ask? They are! Step aside, Mother—it's Kristen's turn to pick the recipe and make the dinner! There's just one teensy problem: Kristen's imagination is far more developed than her cooking skills. With ingredients ranging from 400 hot dogs and 20 bags of marshmallows to a sweatshirt and a water pistol, Recipe is the laugh-out-loud chronicle of just about everything that can go wrong in a kitchen. 
Second up is Crabtree ($17.95), by Jon and Tucker Nichols. Are they brothers? They are! You seem skeptical, but I assure you it is true. Alfred Crabtree has lost his false teeth. But don’t worry, he’ll find them if he can just get his things organized! Alfred’s world is cluttered with surprising objects. Some are very uncommon, and some are probably not where they ought to be. Join Alfred on a romp through his far too many possessions and you’ll end up learning more about him than he knows about himself. And maybe he’ll find his teeth in all that stuff!"
More: http://bookpassage.com/event/mcsweeneys-mcmullens-afternoon-mcsweeneys-mcmullens

We celebrated Banned Books Week last month, and once again I was impressed by the passion MCDS students have for reading.  They are always shocked to hear that favorite books such as And Tango Makes Three or the Harry Potter series have been banned and are eager to defend them.  We had some great discussions about censorship and organizations like the American Library Association that fight against it.  This great blog post by an adult looking back on how Banned Books Week affected her as a teenager is a great encapsulation of why it is so important to celebrate this week in schools.  For more information about Banned Books Week, head on over to their official website, google plus page,  or YouTube page.

This year we invited 5th graders to share a book they like that has been banned or challenged.  You can view the results below.

It's great to be back at school again!  We hit the ground running in the LRC with 2,723 items checked out by the library and 328 tech help tickets resolved by the technology department in the month of September.  Check out the infographic below to see what books and search terms were the most popular, which homerooms had the most check-outs, and more.