Library Idea of the Week
November 29, 2004
Cathy Belben, Librarian, Burlington-Edison High School

Now is a great time to experiment with a craft project in the library. With the holiday season upon us and the relentless pressure to buy, buy, buy, it’s a perfect opportunity to model the pleasure and provide the opportunity for students to create cards and small gifts for their loved ones. In the past, I’ve simply set up a table in the library with scissors, glue sticks, lots of card stock and decorative scrapbook paper (Jo Ann and Michaels sell the same “Stack” of holiday paper –about 120 sheets for $20/ 40% off with coupon—that’s perfect for this). Students can follow sample cards I have on display, browse through a few card-making books, and make quick cards in a few minutes at lunch and before/after school.

If you want ideas for simple holiday cards, check out a few of my favorite online galleries. Sometimes the ideas make it look like you have to buy or use their products, but creative minds can use these as beginning points and go from there:

Impress Rubber Stamps:  http://www.impressrubberstamps.com/ideas/ideas.html
Two Peas in a Bucket: http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?cmd=cat_display&gallery=1&category_id=69
Hero Arts: http://www.heroarts.com/cardmaking/

Book of the Week

Here’s another one for the Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover file:  one of my favorite reads so far this year has been An Unfinished Life by Mark Spragg, which I finished this last long holiday weekend and highly recommend. Although the set-up sounds a little depressing (abused woman flees abuser, seeks shelter with her dead husband’s father who hates her), the book is actually very sweet.

Jean Gilkyson and her ten-year-old daughter, Griff, run from the latest in a series of violent boyfriends. This time, the only place left to hide is in Jean’s hometown, at the home of Einar Gilkyson, Jean’s father-in-law, who still blames Jean for the death of his son nearly a decade early. Einar’s fighting other demons as well; he is the sole caretaker of his badly injured best friend, Mitch, with whom he served in the Korean War. But his grudge against Jean begins to soften when he finds a new role as grandfather and as protector.

This carefully crafted, finely written novel will appeal to readers who liked Plainsong by Kent Haruf and Cormac McCarthy’s books (although the writing style is much easier in this one).  I also thought it felt a bit like Lonesome Dove, with the western setting (but without all the pages). Although the main characters are adults, this might have some appeal with older high school students.