Welcome, or welcome back, to SJPL's Rec News, an occasional publication featuring recreational and recommended reading from our SJPL Librarians. Last month, we had several lists of award winning Graphic Novels in honor of Will Eisner Week. Last year in April we passed on lists celebrating Arab American Heritage Month as well as Green Reads to celebrate Earth Day, both of which are celebrated in April. Indeed, April is in a whole other class when it comes to national months. And believe you me, some of them get pretty specific. Soft Pretzel Month? Why not. Straw Hat Month? You bet! Fresh Celery Month? If you insist. There are also plenty of other world holidays and celebrations happening, too. This little Aussie will commemorate Anzac Day (with Anzac Biscuits, of course; try this Australian Women's Weekly recipe for maximum authenticity) this April. And I simply can't NOT mention that National Library Workers' Week is in April, too. You can take a look at this expansive list of monthly themes and celebrations, but for this issue of the Rec News we will be celebrating National Poetry Month with lists of Novels-in-Verse and poetry collections.
The library will be celebrating National Poetry Month with our 4th annual Spring Into Poetry competition. Community members of all ages are invited to participate in this contest, and prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each age group, encompassing poets ages 0-120 (and of course, any supercentenarians over the age of 120 are invited to participate as well). Entries can take any poetic form and be on any subject, but must not exceed 8000 characters long, including spaces. For full guidelines, a detailed judging rubric, entry forms, and a link to the submission portal, visit the Spring Into Poetry competition page by following this link! Submissions are due on or before April 30, 2024, and winners will be announced by June 1.
Now, for our featured lists.
Staff Picks for National Poetry Month
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Novels in Verse for Kids
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Novels in Verse for Teens/Young Adults
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Poetry Collections and Anthologies for Adults
National Poetry Month is an initiative started by the Academy of American Poets in order to promote, appreciate, and celebrate poetry. A relatively new national month, the first National Poetry Month was celebrated in 1996. One recommendation to celebrate the month is to try and write a poem a day for the month of April! If you're interested in trying your hand at some poetry but aren't sure where to begin, try out one of our nonfiction staff lists with resources for writing poetry for kids and teens to adults. The library is also offering several poetry-centered events this month.
SJPL Picks: Quick Links
If this month's featured reads aren't quite what you're in the mood for, or you're looking to expand your browsing further, try checking out any and all of the lists from our librarians on our SJPL Picks team. All our lists will be labeled "SJPL Picks" or "SJPL Recommends".
SJPL 5forU
If you're looking for further recommendations and aren't in the mood to browse, let us do the browsing for you! San José Public Library's 5forU team offers personalized recommendations via email. You can also fill in the profile on someone else's behalf and we can find just the right titles - perfect for caregivers looking to recommend books to their children, for book clubs stumped on what to discuss next meeting, or if you're hoping to give the gift of literature. Just fill in the profile and we'll do the rest - and remember, the more information you give us in the profile, the better and more tailored your recommendations will be! Hearing exactly why you love or hate a book gives us more clues to find your new favorite - it just so happens to be what we love to talk about, too, so don't hold back. Ready to begin your 5forU journey?
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