Teen Read Week begins!

Teens across Flathead County are invited celebrate reading for the fun of it this week. Stop by your local library and pick up a good book! You can also register yourself to win a $10 gift card to Borders, just by telling us your favorite recent read. Teen Read Week is a national event and is sponsored by the American Library Association. Read more about it at ALA's site.

Readers to the Rescue

Today was a special day for all of us as we presented our Readers to the Rescue donation to Human Therapy on Horseback. Remember all of that extra reading the kids and teens did this past summer? By reading an extra 16,000 hours, our children and teens were able to donate $2000 to this very worthy and helpful organization. We would like to thank our Friends of the Flathead County Library System for pledging the money for this project. Many thanks to all of you awesome readers out there!!!

Big Read Film: Prom Night in Mississippi

In 1997, Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman offered to pay for the senior prom at Charleston High School in Mississippi under one condition: the prom had to be racially integrated. His offer was ignored. In 2008, Freeman offered again. This time the school board accepted, and history was made. For more information, visit the film’s website.

Join us for an exclusive free screening of this award winning film tomorrow evening, October 8, at 7pm. The screening will take place in the Community Room of the Arts & Technology Building at FVCC.

Banned Books Week Begins

This week, Flathead County Library System joins libraries across the country in celebrating intellectual freedom and our freedom to read. Stop in to any of our libraries this week and check out a banned or challenged book. Many thanks to the volunteers pictured above (Carly, Sara, Andrea, Cambrianna, and Amanda) who created the display at the Main Library. For more information about banned and challenged books, visit the American Library Association's website.

Harper Lee Biographer to visit FCLS on Thursday

We are excited to welcome author Charles Shields to the Flathead as part of the Library's Big Read celebration.

While writing the New York Times bestselling Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee, Charles J. Shields spent four years interviewing the reclusive Harper Lee’s neighbors, friends, and classmates. As a result of Shields’ research, information never before known came to light about the Pulitzer prize-winning author. In this presentation, Charles Shields will tell why he chose to write a biography of the enigmatic author, the surprises he encountered along the way (including her efforts to discourage friends from speaking with him), the parallels between To Kill a Mockingbird and Ms. Lee's life, and the reasons why she never published a second book.

Mr. Shields' presentation will be this Thursday, September 24 at 7pm, in the meeting room of the Main Library in Kalispell. The event is free and all are invited.

For a more information on this and other Big Read events, see here.

The BIG READ: To Kill A Mockingbird

The Big Read is upon us and we invite you all to read (or re-read) Harper Lee's 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning, To Kill A Mockingbird. Told from the point of view of eight-year-old Scout, this coming of age novel addresses race, class and gender issues with warmth and humor. Atticus Finch, father to Scout and Jem, has become a moral hero and model of integrity to readers worldwide.

We'll also be screening the Gregory Peck-as-Atticus film in Whitefish, Columbia Falls, and Kalispell; as well as other films and lectures over the next two months. Please see the complete calendar of events on the library webpage.

Another summer reading program behind us!

The summer reading program for 2009 came to an end on August 22. Children and teens at all of our libraries had a lot of fun "being creative" and "expressing themselves" with clay, paint, paper, yoga, and even food. The Children's Department staff would like to share this video with you that shows some of the projects and activities that our kids did. Those creative juices were really flowing!

We are almost finished counting up the hours spent reading. It sure looks like some records may set..It is great to see so many kids excited about books of all kinds! Well done, everyone!