“maybe the curtains are blue because the author just liked the color blue” set human critical thinking skills decades back

Dermatologists HATE him!!!

It’s National Library Card Sign-Up Month!

Here in Osceola County, we’re celebrating by getting our cardholders great deals at local businesses. When you Show Your Card at any business in our list, you’ll get a discount or special offer! I’m gonna go get so many bagels, post paused, hold on

Okay anyway! If you (somehow) don’t have a library card, don’t fret! Just stop in at your local branch and we’ll get you set up for free. With that card, you get access to all of our physical AND digital collections (including books, graphic novels, movies, magazines, archives, newspapers, genealogy data...) plus a whole world of programs, crafts, and activities for all ages. Check out our website for all the information you’ll need!

Not in Osceola County? We’re sure your local library will be glad to have you. Drop in and say hi! 

…when you’re pulling holds in the morning and/or compiling picks for readers advisory…

Image by Deborah Lee for NPR

YOU GUYS! It's finally here!! The thing that's been melting my brain into a fine pink slurry all summer -- the annual NPR Books Summer Reader Poll! Earlier in the summer, we asked you to vote for your favorite sci-fi and fantasy books of the past ten years. We took your votes and sent them to a panel of expert judges: Ann Leckie, Fonda Lee, Amal El-Mohtar and Tochi Onyebuchi!

A not-so-secret secret of these summer polls is that I pick judges who are, yes, outstanding in their fields (and holy bananas, you could not get better than this murderers' row of multiple award-winners) but also, ermmm ... people who I have nerd-crushes on and would really love to spend a lot of time on a conference call with yelling excitedly about books!

It's always a tough process, getting all the votes down to a final list -- and in this case we only had 50 slots to work with, so if your favorite isn't there, we apologize! (Lovers of Raybearer, Children of Blood and Bone and the Grishaverse, fear not -- YA is coming next year.) But we're incredibly proud of this year's list; it reflects the amazing changes that have happened over the past decade in science fiction and fantasy, and the deep love all of us have for these books and these stories. We hope you have as much fun looking through the list as we did putting it together!

Read on!

-- Petra

Silvia Moreno-Garcia follows up the stylish '50s horror of last year's hit Mexican Gothic with a gritty noir set in 1970s Mexico City -- Velvet Was the Night follows two small-time sad-sacks, Maite and Elvis, who get caught up in some bad stuff that's far bigger than they are. Our critic Gabino Iglesias says "Moreno-Garcia's work is like a wild pendulum that swings from horror to fantasy to noir, and she does them all equally well." Check out his full review here!

-- Petra

“I have never found a book that did not have at least a little magic in it.”

— William Ritter, The Dire King (via listentothestories)

Bob’s Burgers, Dream a Little Bob of Bob (S11E01)

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR SPOT THE BOOK PRIZE WINNERS! Agent Elliot and Agent Kira have proven themselves to be outstanding spies indeed. Enjoy your Spy Kit and Mini Drone, Agents! Remember to report back your findings at 1400 hours. 😎 #olsSpotTheBook #osceolalibrary #westosceolalibrary #prizewinners #spykit #minidrone #kidsprograms #winners #readingchallenge https://www.instagram.com/p/CQLt9HPhzRW/?utm_medium=tumblr

kids these days

On this Nonfiction Friends Tuesday our #nffriendscast discuss working from home and some #lifehacks to help you make the best of it! Use these tips to help improve your work environment and keep you focused. Catch the episode anywhere podcasts are heard! Have some more tips our hosts didn't mention? Let them know on Twitter @ NFFriendscast! This week's book was WORK FROM HOME HACKS by Aja Frost found under 331.256 of our Nonfiction shelves. #osceolalibrary #librarypodcast #podcast #workfromhome https://www.instagram.com/p/CNngIxNB9Jr/?igshid=1itz1kvpaszch

Happy #DayintheLife Monday! This week, let's take a look behind the scenes in A Day in the Life of the Collections Department as they add new materials to the collection! #ADayInTheLifeAtOLS Our Libraries order books through a vendor contract and eagerly wait for unboxing days. As they unpack the boxes, our #collectionstaff organizes them onto carts to see everything that is part of that shipment (which sometimes spans over several boxes). Then they verify everything they see against their packing lists to ensure no titles are missing. (And if we see something especially exciting, we share a sneak peek in our social stories. 😉) Once everything is accounted for, the scanning process begins! Through our contract, the books come pre-programmed with their records, but we double check them as we scan to ensure no adjustments are needed. And then it's off into our red courier boxes to fill the shelves at your local branch! #osceolalibrary #librarystaff #librariesofinstagram #collectiondept #newbooks https://www.instagram.com/p/CNkjtoIhLs7/?igshid=2zmjs95g0g46

(SWIPE) Our thanks to everyone who have shared their #librarylove with us this week, it has meant the world to us! As the weekend approaches and #NationalLibraryWeek comes to a close, we leave you with these gems that made us smile. We look forward to many more years to come! #osceolalibrary #librariesofinstagram #libraries #stcloudlibrary #centralflorida https://www.instagram.com/p/CNc6_7SBU0m/?igshid=1f6lhagyla9yw

(SWIPE) We're keeping the #librarylove going with a few more of our favorite quotes from our patrons! We are honored to serve such a great community. Happy #NationalLibraryWeek! #osceolalibrary #librariesofinstagram #kenansvillelibrary #bvllibrary #buenaventuralakeslibrary #centralflorida https://www.instagram.com/p/CNaTfOQsNDw/?igshid=eyi73lqo3k25