On Monday, January 23, we will be celebrating award-winning books all day with special programs. The American Library Association announces the 2012 Youth Media award winners at around 8 am that morning. Join us at 10 am for a special storytime where we will feature picture books from years past that have won a Caldecott Award for their illustrations.

Last year's winner, A Sick Day for Amos McGee, is especially popular this time of year when sniffles and sneezes run rampant. Amos is a zookeeper who consistently cares for his friends at the zoo, always making time to play chess with the elephant and run races with the tortoise. When he is too sick to take the bus to the zoo one morning, his friends decide to travel to him! They cheer him up with some quiet, sitting-in-bed activities. Amos feels better by the end of the day, and the visit turns into a sleepover. Since the story concludes with everyone saying goodnight to each other and looking forward to the next day, this soothing picturebook serves as a gentle bedtime story, too, with appeal to ages 3-8.

All ages are invited to attend our "Gold-Medal Books Reception" Monday afternoon. Just stop by any time between 3:30 and 5 pm. We'll have snacks to share while we recall old favorites and learn about the recent winners. We'll also have our new iPads out to show you how you can search for e-book editions of juvenile fiction in our collection. (You can also take a turn spinning the Newbery Award Books spinner, an app that reveals the Newbery Winner and Honor books for each year.)

If you have time to linger into the evening, from 6:30-8:30 pm we'll be showing the movie Holes, based on the 1999 Newbery award-winning book by Louis Sachar. The book is recommended for children ages 10 and older. The movie is rated PG.