August 31 - September 4, 2020: Our state was threatened by not one but two hurricanes last week. In the future Mrs. Anding will never forget the date that Hurricane Laura landed on the Louisiana coast since it happened on her birthday, August 27th. Hurricane Laura was the strongest hurricane to hit Louisiana in recorded history. It will take our state a long time to recover from last week, but, in true Louisiana fashion, Louisiana will slowly but surely get back on its feet. While the Louisiana people continue to navigate life after Hurricane Laura, you can learn more about hurricanes, famous hurricanes throughout history, and more on the library's latest digital book display.

September 7 - 11, 2020: Happy Labor Day Weekend! Since this school week starts with a three day weekend, Mrs. Anding is releasing not one but TWO digital book displays for your reading enjoyment! The first display is in honor of the Labor Day holiday, which was created to honor American laborers. GOMHS is home to several career-oriented magnet and vocational programs. In this digital book display, you'll be traveling to a hospital room so that you can read and see resources related to medical and health careers. It is Mrs. Anding's hope that this display will not only get our students excited about health careers, but that it is will also honor the many, many essential workers (in all fields!) who have shown so much courage and strength during 2020. The second display is a Diary of a Wimpy Kid Reading Room! Enjoy reading the journals (not diaries!) of your favorite middle school student with the school's eBooks and audiobook versions!

September 14 - 19, 2020: Many of today's books are actually based on older stories, which the authors take and twist into new stories. In today's journey we're "going through the looking glass" to see books that are based upon Alice in Wonderland. Have fun "going down the rabbit hole" with all of the links related to the story (and movies)! Remember to have MackinVIA open prior to opening the eBooks.

September 21-25: Mrs. Anding is releasing not one but two Digital Book Displays this week due to current events. This week Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away at the age of 87, leaving a spot open on the Supreme Court of the United States in the final months leading up to the 2020 Presidential Election. Learn more about this turn of events, and the woman who many consider to the be "architect of the legal fight for women's rights," by exploring the Supreme Court Digital Book Display below.

Also consider coming to Mrs. Anding's VERY socially distanced tailgating party in this week's Football Digital Book Display. Football season is officially here, and, while it might look different this year, we will take it all in stride. Our MackinVIA Library Collection has over 200 fiction and nonfiction eBooks related to football!

Remember to ponder these quotes from Ruther Bader Ginsburg:

"Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you."

"Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams, and more reading helped me make my dreams come true."

"Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time."

November 30 - December 4, 2020: Welcome back from your Thanksgiving Break! Mrs. Anding hopes that you had a restful and safe holiday, and that you are ready to get back to the last few weeks of school prior to Winter Break. As we enter the holiday season Mrs. Anding thought it might be fun to show off one of her favorite holiday stories, which is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens! In the "Bah Humbug" spirit, this display does not show off the book covers because Scrooge is not the type of guy to indulge in decorations, pleasure reading, etc. so this time you will have to look for the eBooks just like you look for the hidden links! In this "British Classics" Digital Book Display you will find links that will help you learn more about A Christmas Carol, as well as eBook links to 19th Century British classics and their adaptations! (Btw, somewhere you will find a like to Jane Eyre, which Mrs. Anding ranks in her top 10 favorite books of all time!) Remember to have your MackinVIA account open for the links to work.

December 7 - 11, 2020: It's LEAP 2025 testing week, which is soon to be followed by finals. Mrs. Anding knows that everyone (including herself!) is stressed right now. While everybody needs to buckle down and get their work done, they should also remember to take some time for themselves. This week's Digital Book Display centers around calming hobbies that you can do when you are stressed. Remember to have your MackinVIA account open and enjoy the eBooks and hidden links!

January 11th - 16th: Welcome back students! Mrs. Anding hopes that you had a wonderful and restful Winter Holiday Break and that you are settling into your classes. We are coming back to school during some VERY cold days, so Mrs. Anding thought it would be appropriate to celebrate that weather. No matter what, it makes for great reading weather! Remember to have your MackinVIA account open ahead of time.

January 18th - 22nd: This week is a big week for our country. We celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life on Monday, and throughout the week we will welcome a new presidential administration to the White House. Mrs. Anding seriously thought about how to best represent this week in a digital book display, while also fulfilling the library's theme of travel. In the end she released that she wanted to take you to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN. For years Mrs. Anding lived off and on in Memphis, and if you ever ask her for recommendations on what to see while visiting the city, the National Civil Rights Museum is always at the top of her list. It is an extremely moving experience, and while it might be closed right now due to the pandemic, she is very grateful that the museum created a virtual tour. Click on the photograph to take the tour, and click on the eBook covers to discover the many digital resources that the GOMHS Library owns in relationship to the Civil Rights Movement. Remember to have your MackinVIA account open!

February 14th - 19th: Happy Valentine's Day! Mrs. Anding is back making Digital Book Displays. She took several weeks off due to illness and because the library has been implementing its NEW library book check-out policy! That's right. You can now request a hardcopy book from the library, which will be delivered to you on Tuesdays and Fridays. Talk to Mrs. Anding if you are not currently part of the new Library Google Classrooms!

GOMHS students have three days off this week for Mardi Gras, which will certainly look different this year between COVID restrictions and the winter storm warnings in our area! It's the perfect time to curl up with a great book! This digital book display is set in a coffee shop, since so many people in pre-COVID days seemed to have their first dates in coffee shops! Enjoy reading the romance novels and learning the history behind items that you commonly see on Valentine's Day! Have a great week! Remember to have your MackinVIA account open.

February 22nd - 26th: This week is the last full week of Black History Month so this week's digital book display is dedicated to African American biographies. The ones on the left are collections of biographies, while the book covers on the top are individual biographies of people who Mrs. Anding in particular have looked up to. (For example, Mrs. Anding used to teach at the local observatory. Can you figure out who is a famous astronomer???)

March 1st - 5th: March is National Reading Month, and March 2nd is "Read Across America" Day! Many elementary students spend the day dressing up as Dr. Seuss characters since March 2nd was Dr. Seuss' birthday. Mrs. Anding is aware that one of our seniors might get the book, Oh The Places You'll Go, as a graduation gift this year! Thousands of copies are bought and given to graduates each year as they embark on the next phase of life. Enjoy this digital book display as you explore "all the places that you could go" in the future!

March 8th - 12th: Spring is almost here, and that means people will be hitting the road to go camping! While enjoying the great outdoors, there might come the moment where a ghost story or two will get told around the campfire! Be ready for the moment by enjoying all of these ghostly tales! (Make sure that you have your flashlight ready...)

March 15th - 19th: March is Women's History Month, and it is a fantastic time to learn more about the great accomplishments that women have achieved throughout history. Use all of these resources to find out about women around the world who have stepped up when the moment called for it!

March 22nd - 26th: Spring Break is right around the corner, and it is a great time to relax before the final push at the end of the school year. A spring vacation may or may not be in your plans, but you can certainly escape with one of these great fantasy books!

March 29th - April 2nd: Spring is here! It's time to garden! Last year millions of people rediscovered gardening while they were at home during the lockdown. Remember to have MacinVIA open and enjoy the links and eBooks related to this wonderful pastime.

April 12th - 16th: April is the month for libraries! Our Spring Break Week was also National Library Week, and this year School Librarian Day was Easter Sunday (April 4th). The entire month is also School Library Month. In honor of all of these events this week's digital book display shows you the many different libraries in the Baton Rouge area that could help you with your research and personal information needs. The GOMHS Library has working relationships with several of these institutions. Explore these libraries both virtually and by visiting them in person!

April 19th - 23rd: Besides being a month devoted to libraries, April is also National Poetry Month! The GOMHS Library has a great collection of poetry and novels in verse and encourages everyone to check the books out. Until then, enjoy these hyperlinks and eBooks at our virtual poetry slam!

April 26th - 30th: This will be the final digital book display for the 2020-2021 school year since Mrs. Anding will be very busy during the month of May with property control, inventory, and end-of-the-year grading. She hopes that you have enjoyed the digital book displays as much as she has enjoyed making them for you. For the final digital book display she's taking you back to the backyard/living room that you probably spent so much time in last summer when the pandemic was at its height. Many of you will probably continue to spend much of this summer there as the world continues to make its way out of the pandemic. That does not have to be a bad thing. Activities like reading can make those familiar places exciting, relaxing, dramatic, or any other emotion you wish to experience. In the hopes that you have a safe and relaxing summer Mrs. Anding created this digital book display with graphic novels, which is a favorite genre for many of you. Have a happy summer and make sure that you stay safe and happy until you return to school!