Free--That's Right, FREE Downloadable Audiobooks!

Audiobooks are one of my all time favorite things. Audiobook narrators do an amazing job of bringing the story to life and create a different way to view a story. For instance, I love reading the Harry Potter books but listening to Jim Dale read them is an entirely different experience. Audiobooks are great for a long car trip or just listening to as your getting ready for bed. Knowing my enthusiasm for audiobooks, you can understand why this is my favorite time of year. The SYNC free downloadable audiobooks are about to begin!

For the past two summers AudioFile magazine, which lets you in on the best audiobooks, and audiobook publishers have been bringing listeners SYNC! For twelve weeks you have access to download a free YA modern title and a classic which is a fitting companion. That's 24 free titles! The only catch: you only have the week they are available to download them, but once you do, it's yours to keep.

Here are all the titles available this summer and when. Now some of these titles might be more suitable for older teens. So make sure you tell your high school teen, or download it anyways for when your child is older. Or for you to listen to! This is a fantastic deal that only happens in the summer. Make sure you download them all!

May 30-June 5
Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

The Tempest by William Shakespeare

June 6-June 12
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, #1 by Maryrose Wood
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

June 13-June 19

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

June 20-June 26

Once by Morris Gleitzman

Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.

June 27-July 3
Rotters by Daniel Kraus
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

July 4-July 10

Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford

She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith

July 11-July 17

The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

July 18-July 24

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Hamlet by Charles Dickens

July 25-July 31

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

August 1-August 7

Death Cloud by Andrew Lane

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

August 8-August 14
Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

August 15-August 21
Sold by Patricia McCormick
Let Me Stand Alone by Rachel Corrie

All you need to do to download the books is click on the link below and follow the directions. In summers past, all you've needed to get the books was your name and email address. Then you'll need OverDrive Media Console to play them (which, if you already download e-audiobooks from our library you'll have already). The whole process is quick and easy!

When your teen is looking for some good books for their summer reading have them check out the SYNC titles! It's a great way for them to get their summer reading in. Post us a comment and let us know which book your teen liked best. I've read Death Cloud, which imagines a young Sherlock Holmes just starting to solve mysteries, and it was fantastically eerie. The top titles I can't wait for? The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, The Raven Boys, The Peculiar, Grave Mercy, and The False Prince. I'm going to have a busy summer!

Visit www.audiobooksync.com to start downloading your books on May 30th.

SYNC's Back for the Summer!

I have looked forward to this part of the summer every summer for the past two years. The SYNC free downloadable audiobooks have begun!

For the past two summers AudioFile magazine, which lets you in on the best audiobooks, and audiobook publishers have been bringing listeners SYNC! For ten weeks you have access to download a free YA modern title and a classic which is a fitting companion. That's 20 free titles! The only catch: you only have the week they are available to download them, but once you do, it's yours.

Here are all the titles available this summer and when. Now some of these titles might be more suitable for older teens. So make sure you tell your high school teen, or download it anyways for when your child is older. Or for you to listen to! This is a fantastic deal that only happens in the summer. Make sure you download them all!

June 14-June 20
The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

June 21-June 27
Irises by Francisco X. Stork
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

June 28-July 4

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

Tales from the Arabian Nights by Andrew Lang

July 5-July 11

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

July 12-July 18
Guys Read: Funny Business by Jon Scieszka [Ed.]
The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Stories by Mark Twain

July 19-July 25

Cleopatra's Moon by Vicky Alvear Shecter

Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare

July 26-August 1

Pinned by Alfred C. Martino

TBA

August 2-August 8

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

August 9-August 15

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Dead Men Kill by L. Ron Hubbard

August 16-August 22

The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

All you need to do to download the books is click on the link below and enter your name and email address. Then you'll need OverDrive Media Console to play them (which, if you already download eaudiobooks from our library you'll have already). I just downloaded the first two titles and it was quick and easy!

When your teen is looking for some good books for their summer reading have them check out the SYNC titles! It's also perfect for them to listen to in the car during those long family car trips. Post us a comment and let us know which book your teen liked best. Personally, I can't wait to download Skulduggery Pleasant--it's one of my favorite books and I LOVE the audio version. I'm excited to own it so I can listen to it anytime I want!

Visit www.audiobooksync.com to start downloading your books today.

That's a WRAP!

2011 was a year of great gifts for the Des Plaines Public Library Youth Services Department. We were able to do some moving, some rearranging, some purchasing of new furniture; all to help make your visits to the Youth Services Department more accessible and enjoyable. Many of our collections have been consolidated, expanded, or moved to new locations to better serve you and we have some exciting new things we hope you will enjoy.

Some of these new developments you can see for yourself. The first thing you may notice when you next visit the 2nd floor is the new wall of magazines on display. Where this wall used to hold only the most current issue of your favorite kids magazines, now all the issues are right there, ready to go home with you. Each magazine has its own container so they are easy to locate. Magazines are great for trips to the grocery store, rides in the car, or any time.

Make sure you check out the new and improved Holiday collection. What does it mean if there is no shadow on Groundhog Day? Want to make a great Hanukkah potato latke? Need a good story to share with your child's class at the Chinese New Year? It's so easy to find the answers with newly arranged shelves that are clearly labeled and books identified with holiday stickers.

We got some new chairs! They are bright, sturdy, attractive, and mobile. Both adults and children who have had an opportunity to sit in them comment on how nice and comfortable they are.

When asked if they liked the new chairs, this group of boys answered, "Yeah."

Another addition is our beautiful new LEGO table

outfitted with duplo blocks, perfect for little hands and big imaginations. Imaginative play is an essential part of building early literacy skills. Come play at the table with your young children and create buildings or animals or anything you wish. This memorial table was made possible in part by a generous gift from the family of former library staff and Youth Services team member Judy Reiss, who passed away in 2010.

There is a new section just for Graphic Novels, new shelving for movies and music in the Foreign Language collection, the audio books on CD have moved and expanded, and there's so much more!

We give many thanks to the pages of the Circulation Department who planned and plotted and dusted and measured and moved so many items. We also give many thanks to the Technical Services Department staff who re-moved, re-cataloged, and re-stickered so much of our collection. And I want to thank the staff of the Youth Services Department who worked hard, organized projects, communicated with other departments, waited (mostly) patiently, and celebrated the gifts we were given this year.

Please come and visit us at the library soon to see the many additions and changes that have come to the department in 2011. Have a happy New Year, and we will look forward to seeing you and dreaming up more new projects for the library in 2012.

What Do You Do at Work, Anyway, Mom?

As I was leaving for work today, my son asked me what I do at work. Truthfully, I was a little insulted because he seemed skeptical that I had a challenging job. (He is a teenager.) I immediately began listing the 14 duties in my job description. He was not impressed. Then I reminded him that I also write for the Kidding Around blog (other duties as assigned), and that if he wasn't careful, he would become the subject of a very fascinating (and potentially embarrassing) post. That got his attention.

From his perspective, when I go to work I'm gone for a few hours at a time, but he doesn't know what I do while I'm gone. You know the saying, out of sight out of mind. He didn't want to take me up on my kind offer to come to the library to watch his mother in action, so I'm bringing the library to him.

I checked out Here Lies the Librarian, a book by Richard Peck, one of my favorite writers. It is a hilarious historical fiction story about the changes in a small town when four enthusiastic young librarians arrive to reopen the library after a tornado.

Since my son doesn't really appreciate my professional expertise, I fully expect that he won't be willing to read this wonderful book himself. Don't worry. I have a plan. I am also checking out the audiobook version, which I intend to play when he is trapped in the car with me.

My son doesn't realize what a great job being a librarian is. One of my favorites of the 14 aforementioned duties in my job description is to answer reference and readers' advisory questions. If your child is interested in learning more about your job, or you have any other questions for me, be sure to ask. I would love to help.

Free YA Downloadable Audiobooks!

Is your young adult looking for something great to listen to this summer? Have them check out Sync. The online group Audiobook Community is all about connecting people with audiobooks. Sync is the YA section of the group and they are offering free downloads of two different audiobooks each week. They're pairing up a modern story with a traditional tale that compliments it. For example, in week 1 they offered The Angel Experiment by James Patterson and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Downloading the titles is super easy- they just need your name and email address. And best of all they're free!

Here are the titles for this week and for the rest of the weeks in the program:

July 8 - July 14
Over the End Line by Alfred C. Martino
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

July 15 - July 21
Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

July 22 - July 28
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

July 29 - August 4
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

August 5 - August 11
Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

August 12 - August 18
Beastly by Alex Flinn
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

August 19 - August 25
Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

August 26 - September 1
Handbook for Boys by Walter Dean Myers
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

I know I'm excited for Bloody Jack and The Looking Glass Wars. And remember-they're not just for YAs! Parents, enjoy listening to these stories as well and then talking to your child about them and hear what they have to say. It's a great way to talk with your teen about books-and books they'll love listening to!

Click here to go to Sync. Make sure you scroll down to where it says: Download audiobooks here. Make sure you follow all instructions. Overdrive Media Console is needed to play the audiobooks and there is a link on Sync to download it free if you don't already have it. (Overdrive Media Console is what's need to play our library's digital audiobooks, so if you check materials out from My Media Mall you might have it downloaded already.)