Linden is a town of about 200 people, and Bagley is not much bigger with a population of just around 300 in west-central Iowa. The last two weeks, however, have been like Christmas in August for both small town libraries.
J. Courtney Sullivan is a New York Times best-selling author, and after meeting a volunteer who spends time at both libraries, she learned that neither had been able to purchase new books in years. Hoping to help the communities, Sullivan sent a few emails to some publisher friends and sent out a tweet hoping that a few donations would be sent to both towns. What she did not expect was for Hollywood celebrities Alec Baldwin and Tom Arnold to get involved and for thousands of people to start sending money, books and snack donations to the libraries.
During this hour of Talk of Iowa, we hear the story of a tweet gone viral, and the benefits seen in two small town community libraries. Linden and Bagley library directors Amber Rowley and Jeannie Solorzano and library volunteer Tammy Deal join host Charity Nebbe to talk about the hundreds of new books they are currenlty working to catalog thanks to Sullivan's efforts.
We also get back to school reading recommendations to get kids excited about returning to school from Barb Stein of Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City.
Books Recommended by Barb:
Preschool -
1) Hello School by Priscilla Burris
2) Llama Llama Loves to Read by Anna Dewdney and Duncan Reed
Poetry -
1) A New School Year in 6 Voices by Sally Derby
2) Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems by Kristin O'Connell George
3) I'm Just No Good At Rhyming and Other Nonsense For Micheivous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups by Chris Harris
4) Did You Hear What I Heard? Poems About School by Kay Winters
Picture Books -
1) Mae's First Day of School by Kate Berube
2) Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall
3) Click, Clack, Quack to School by Doreen Cornin and Betsy Lewin
4) We Do Not Eat Our Classmates! by Ryan Higgins
5) School's First Day of School by Adam Rex
6) Ming Goes to School by Deidre Sullivan
7) The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
Older Readers -
1) The Truth About My Unbelievable School by Davide Cali
2) The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Hankes
3) Babymouse: Tales From the Locker - Lights, Camera, Middle School! by Jennifer L. Holm
