VOTE FOR FAVORITE BOOK

Children's Book Week this year will run from May 11 to 17. Children and teens can participate by casting a vote for their favorite recent books. However, all votes for the Children's Choice Book Awards must be cast by May 3. Awards are given in six categories:

* Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year
* Third to Fourth Grade Book of the Year
* Fifth to Sixth Grade Book of the Year
* Teen Choice Book of the Year
* Author of the Year
* Illustrator of the Year

Children in grades k-6 can vote online here. Teens can vote online
here. The winners will be announced on May 12.

2009 PULITZER PRIZE WINNERS

The 2009 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced this week.

For LETTERS, DRAMA and MUSIC, the winners were:

Fiction - Olive Kitteridge (FIC STROUT,E.) by Elizabeth Strout

Drama - Ruined by Lynn Nottage

History - The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (NEW 973.46 GOR) by Annette Gordon-Reed

Biography - American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House (NEW 973.56092 MEA) by Jon Meacham

Poetry - The Shadow of Sirius by W.S. Merwin

General Nonfiction - Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II (305.896 BLA) by Douglas A. Blackmon

Music - Double Sextet by Steve Reich

EARTH DAY 2009

The theme this year--the 39th!--is THE GREEN GENERATION. Related events will continue during the week. Kaboose has some activities to do with children for this day. Links to related sites for children can also be found at Earthday.gov. PBSKIDS has some special programs today, too. More activities can be found at DLTK and EcoKids.

Many books on the environment, recycling, alternate energy, and being "Green" can be found at the Library in the 333.72s and 363s. Displays on the environment and on Going Green are also set up there.

100 YEARS OF ASTRONOMY

International Year of Astronomy is celebrating 100 Years of Astronomy from April 2 through April 5. Some of the events include:

April 2:
Science Centres Webcast starting at 2 p.m. CDT

Science centres around the world will discuss the importance of space observation throughout history

April 3

Around the World in 80 Telescopes...a unique live 24-hour webcast, following night and day around the globe to some of the most advanced observatories both on and off the planet.

April 4
24-hour Global Star Party, in which

Amateur astronomers, astronomy clubs and other groups should all set up telescopes in public places to allow as many people as possible to look through a telescope

April 5

Let the last day of 100 Hours be the Sun day, not just a Sunday... Let´s enjoy the Sunday, when everyone has free time and kids and adults can all enjoy the near but forgotten Sun and its wonders. Either get up early to start with a nice sunrise, go for a walk on the afternoon or enjoy a wonderful sunset.

REDOUBT ERUPTION

Just last week, Redoubt Volcano in Alaska finally erupted after several months of false starts. It had erupted most recently in 1989-1990. Once some of the ash and cloudy conditions cleared, photographers were able to obtain some spectacular pictures of the currently still-erupting volcano. A daily archive can be found on the Alaska Volcano Observatory website.

Books on volcanoes can be found in the non-fiction section under the call numbers 551.21. Books about Alaska can be found under 917.98.