Not Your Mother’s Large Print

By Mary Kelly

Back in olden times, large print was hardly full of current best sellers. When I was growing up, large print materials were relegated to one of the dustier corners of the library complete and with the occasional old person looking for something. It was a small collection and to be honest, kind of crappy looking. There was no real cover art and the selection seemed to be only romance. This is what I remember as a youngster. Well now I am one of the “old people” and we aren’t going to do that anymore. I can only imagine that many people my age remember this as well.

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Fun, New Ways to Celebrate Book Lover’s Day

By Tara Blair

Readers rejoice—Book Lovers Day (August 9th) is here, encouraging you to kick back and relax with a great book. From shaded spots under arching trees to being tucked in a warm bed, there is no better way to celebrate the holiday than reading. To keep you from growing tired of the norm, we thought of a few ‘out-of-the-box’ ways to honor the occasion.

Read some new ways to observe the classic holiday!

Find a Literary Haunt Near You
Did you knowF. Scott Fitzgeraldfrequented Oak Bar in New York City’s Plaza Hotel? Or thatVictor Hugofound inspiration to writeLes Miserableswhile strolling Paris’ Luxembourg Gardens? No matter where in the world you reside, you can find a great place to get closer to your favorite author while reading.

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Try Something Different this Summer

By Mary Kelly

One of the more tired phrases in publishing and library world is the use of the phrase “beach reads”. Evidently summer reading is about the light and easy book choices. Usually, this pops up when we talk about romances, women’s fiction (or domestic fiction) and books that are somehow not “serious”. Summer reading or a beach reads often implies a lesser type of read.

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Broaden Your Appeal: Titles for Masculine Tastes

Posted June 27, 2016

When evaluating reach, most public libraries find they have no problem drawing women. But men? That can be more challenging. According to aJanuary 2011 Harris Interactive Poll: Sixty-five percent of those polled said they had visited the library in the past year; 72% of women had visited, while just over half (58%) of men had.

As libraries try to find new ways to attract men to the library, many librarians have asked for help identifying titles that appeal to masculine tastes – beyond just westerns and nonfiction titles.

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It Tastes So Good: Books and Food

By Mary Kelly

Think about your favorite movie, book or television show. Chances are eating and drinking is essential to the plot, character, or setting. Everything from the eating cheesecake with theGolden GirlstoGame of Thrones(both the book and the television show) food is almost another character. Food and drink are symbolic in every culture: making a toast with a drink, the new bride and groom eating wedding cake, bringing a casserole to someone in mourning. Sharing food and drink is our way of connecting to each other, our ancestors, and our culture. It is essentially, unspoken communication and is less about the actual food and more about what it is trying to communicate.

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Good Week To Be Large Print: 60% of NYT Fiction Hardcover Bestsellers, 2 Pulitzer Prize Winners

Posted on May 3rd, 2016

We’re having a good week at Thorndike, and this news is also good for libraries – and all readers who appreciate the ease of access that large print provides. Here’s what we’re excited about:

  • Of the seven books debuting on theNew York TimesPrint Hardcover Best Sellers Fiction list the week of April 24, five are titles available from Thorndike in large print.
  • Overall, of the 20 published/extended titles on the Print Hardcover Best Sellers Fiction list, we offer 12 (that’s 60%!) in large print.
  • In addition, Thorndike offers two newly announced Pulitzer Prize-winning books in large print.

我们的编辑人员是兴奋,因为我们继续our quest to put the BEST titles in the best (most accessible to all) format in readers’ hands as quickly as possible. (BEST titles in the best format?? TOP titles? Don’t want to use Best twice.

Read moreGood Week To Be Large Print: 60% of NYT Fiction Hardcover Bestsellers, 2 Pulitzer Prize Winners

The Biggest Large Print Myths Busted!

Thorndike Large Print Books Same Size!

年代poiler Alert: The large print format offers benefits for people under the age of 60 with perfectly good eyesight.

Have you ever been so good at something you’ve found yourself pigeonholed? Being typecast can feel like a mixed blessing—your claim to fame shines bright, creating the shadow in which your other great qualities hide. If large print books were people, they would feel this acutely.

No doubt, large print books are a well-known solution for visually impaired readers, and those readers are typically seniors. Unfortunately for large print, being so good at solving this one problem for this one audience has led to a narrow, and sometimes inaccurate view of the usefulness of the format overall.

We’d love to enlist the expert MythBusters Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman to explore the issue in detail, but if you’ve ever seen the Discovery Channel show, you know their mythbusting process tends to involve blowing things up, and we’d hate to see our beloved books so abused.

年代o, without the pyrotechnics, here are the biggest large print myths: BUSTED!

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Introducing…Nancy’s Pearls!

Posted on February 22, 2016

Nancy Pearl’s Large Print Picks!

The World of Collection Development Is Your Oyster with Nancy’s Pearls

The large print section is one of the most popular areas of any public library – serving readers of all ages and reading abilities. But when budgets are limited, choosing the right titles can be difficult. How can you know which new titles will be the most sought after and beloved? Sigh…if only you could tap into the expertise of the nation’s most recognized librarian known for her particular insight into reader tastes and interests….

Oh, wait. You totally can.

Read moreIntroducing…Nancy’s Pearls!

New Apps for Download Make it Even Easier to Access Gale Resources

Posted on February 1, 2016

Many of your favorite Gale products can now be accessed via apps available for free download through theChrome Web Store. These product apps provide an additional access point to Gale content making it even easier for students, instructors, schools, and public library patrons to easily access resources from their tablets and mobile devices.

Apps you’ll find available include:

·Artemis Literary Sources ·Infotracincluding PowerSearch
·Book Review Index Plus ·Kids InfoBits
·Contemporary Authors Online ·Literature Criticism Online
·Dictionary of Literary Biography Online ·Literature Resource Center
· GaleIn Context年代uite ·LitFinder
· Gale eBooks (GVRL) ·MLA International Bibliography
·Gale Researcher ·年代omething About the Author Online

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Cold Enough For You?

By Mary Kelly and Holly Hibner
Posted on January 11, 2016

Winter is one of my favorite seasons to do reader advisory. Yes, you read that correctly. Bad weather, especially snow and ice, are good for reader advisory. I can sell any book or video when the weather is bad. Weather is my go-to subject for ice breakers. This, at least, gets the conversation started and can lead a librarian right toward the patron’s information need. For those of us in the northern parts of the Midwest, we share with our patrons the long suffering experience of long, grey winters, and all the problems that can bring. Even if you love winter, by February things are looking pretty sad. Winter, where I live, can sometimes stretch right into May. It’s not the cold temperatures; it is the seemingly endless days of dark and grey. By late January, most of my customers coming into the library look like they are on a casting call forTheWalking Dead, and misery loves company.

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