By Jan Pease
I learned a new skill using our library online catalog
today. I wondered if I could narrow the
search to juvenile books published in 2017 that can be found in
Litchfield. You can look at a list of
the newest books on the first page of the library catalog website, but you can’t
limit the search by town or copyright date. If you ever want to do this, go to
the library catalog, http://iii.pioneerland.lib.mn.us
and choose advanced search. Enter keyword:
juvenile, material: book, language: English. Easy enough, right? Now comes the tricky part. I had to limit the
date, so I entered after 2016 and before 2018. That is the way to tell the
computer I want all of the books published in 2017 in the Litchfield
collection. (Of course it would be simple to just type in 2017, but the
computer doesn’t think that way.) Anyway,
the result was 302 titles. And we’re only just finishing the month of April.
Look for some great nonfiction in these 302 new
books. We have added a series of tiny biographies of famous people from the
series, “My Itty-bitty Bio.” Maya
Angelou, Mother Teresa, Benjamin Franklin and others are included in this
introduction to reading about real people.
Watch for additional titles, because I think we will add them all to the
Litchfield collection.
We added a series called “Dark Waters” by Julie
Gilbert. These mermaid stories aren’t
for the faint of heart. Titles include “Fire
and Ice,” “Into the Storm,” “Neptune’s Trident,” and “The Sighting.” Mermaid titles are really popular right now,
so we’ll 
If you like to eat (and who doesn’t?) look for the “Dessert
Diaries” books by Laura Dower. We added
titles such as “Maggie’s Magic Chocolate Moon,” “For Emme, Baked with Love,”
and “Gabi and the Great Big Bakeover.” 
We added a number of books about Minecraft, and they are
almost flying off the shelf. The three
newest Minecraft titles are “Minecraft: Guide to Building,” “Minecraft: Guide
to Animals," and Minecraft: Guide to Combat." 
If you’re interested in books about a career idea from
the point of view of a young person, look for “Choose Your Own Career Adventure
Hollywood,” “Choose Your Own Career Adventure Cruise Ship,” or “Choose Your Own
Career Adventure Military.” These interactive
books introduce young people to the ins and outs of unusual careers.
One of my favorite new books is “Babies Come From
Airports,” by Erin Dealy. This is an adoption story with a twist, and I
just love it. This sweet story is told from the point of view of a boy who had
his own “Gotcha Day.”
Try my search trick and explore other wonderful new books
waiting for you at Litchfield Library.
