Ford K. Brown Library

In the Ford K. Brown Library

• Introducing Sleuth!

  Key’s new online catalog, http://sleuth.keyschool.org is a web-based system that provides patrons access to the collections of the Manse, Ford K. Brown and Upper School libraries from School AND home.

  Read More

• Wish List Table Donations Greatly Appreciated

  The Middle School's Ford K. Brown Library thanks the community for the generous donation of the following books purchased at the Barnes & Noble Book Fair:
  
  1001 Ways to Save Our Planet: Small Changes to Create a Greener, Eco-Friendly World by Esme Floyd
  America Dreaming: How Youth Changed America in the '60s by Laban Carrick Hill
  ASPCA Complete Guide to Dogs: Everything You Need to Know About Choosing and Caring for Your Pet by Sheldon Gerstenfeld
  Cool Stuff 2.0 and How It Works by Chris Woodford
  Curse of the Bane by Joseph Delaney
  The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
  Living World by Theresa Greenaway
  Maya Angelou: Poetry for Young People by Maya Angelou
  Myths & Legends Explained by Neil Philip
  The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
  The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
  William Blake: Poetry for Young People by William Blake
  Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! The Beatles, Beatlemania, and the Music That Changed the World by Bob Spitz
  

• Black-Eyed Susan Award Program

  The Black-Eyed Susan Book Award program, a feature of the Lower School library curriculum for many years, has expanded to Key's Middle School as a part of our 6th grade information literacy curriculum. Created by the Maryland Association of School Librarians to promote literacy and a lifelong love of reading, this reading program gives students an opportunity to vote on their favorite books chosen from a selection of good-quality, contemporary titles.
  
  In order to participate, students are required to read a minimum of three titles from a list of ten (our sixth graders are reading books from the list created for 6th to 9th graders). A wide range of genres, including contemporary and historic fiction, mystery, fantasy, and horror, are represented. All students who choose to participate in the program will get a chance to discuss and vote for their favorite book at a pizza party held in the spring.
  
  The books have been flying off the shelf ever since we introduced the program in October-so it looks as if we are going to be ordering a lot of pizza! Many sixth graders have read more than the required minimum of three books already and are still going strong. Additionally, the books have provided a springboard for classroom discussions about what makes us think a book will be interesting (in particular, how we usually judge a book by its cover) and an introduction to using databases to record the number of books read by each class as well as numerical ratings of various elements.
  
  Grades 6-9 List:
  Elaine Broach -- Shakespeare's Secret
  Dorri Hillestad Butler -- Do You Know the Monkey Man?
  Joseph Delaney -- Revenge of the Witch: The Last Apprentice
  Natasha Friend -- Perfect
  Will Hobbs -- Crossing the Wire
  Lois Lowry -- Gossamer
  Mike Lupica -- Heat
  Linda Sue Park -- Archer's Quest
  Shelley Pearsall -- Crooked River
  Jordan Sonnenblick -- Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie
  
  For more information about the Black-Eyed Susan award, visit the MASL website: http://www.mdedmedia.org/besall.html

• Suggestions for Good Middle School Literature

  The Library and Technology Department hosted a Parent Education Workshop on November 2, 2007. Click here for a PDF of the handout, "Books Too Good To Miss!"

• Media Wise: Decoding the Message

  Four members of Key’s Library and Technology Department took their expertise on the road to the 2005 AIMS Fall Conference, where they jointly presented Media Wise: Decoding the Message, a program detailing the introduction of a media literacy curriculum for Middle and Upper School students.

  Read More