President’s Day Reading Lists

Today I have the middle school boy with me for President’s Day. The high school cancelled the day off after the snow day back at the beginning of the month, so the girl is at school.

This means it’s a partial day off here on RA for All. But I know many libraries are open today and the people coming in may have Presidents on the mind, so I will not abandon you completely. Here are a few links to help you suggest a good read today or to use to throw up a quick display. Remember, you can keep this display up past today too. People will still have President’s Day in the back of their mind after the actual day passes. In fact, often patrons are appreciative when our suggestions go past the actual date they are meant to play off of because they are busy and miss the “day” but are still interested in a read associated with it.

Might I also suggest when you put up that display that you ask people to tell you their favorite “Presidential” book, or better yet, ask them to add those titles to your display; and yes, put it in quotes to get a wider range of titles in your responses. As important as it is to make all of our displays interactive in order to make coming to the library as participatory an experience as possible, it is equally as vital to make sure we listen to what our patrons tell us in those responses.

Okay, enough, I have to get the boy off to get his TSA pre-check status [nothing says you’re turning 13 soon like a trip to have your fingerprints put on file with the government so mommy doesn’t have to wait in line zt he airport] and  the dentist. Yup, we party hard here on days off of school. Here are the links you need for displays and suggestions for this week:

• Here is my review of Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. It was the best Audio book I listened to last year.
• Here are my previous President’s Day posts and a few others that mention “Presidents”
• Book Riot had this list of 44 Presidential Biographies to add to your reading lists.
• The NYT Book Review had this list of 17 books to read for the holiday.
• I like this 2014 list from Barnes and Noble because ti contains the classic-- Duck for President.
• And finally, my all time favorite “Presidential” book, a book I own and have read more than once, What it Takes by Richard Ben Cramer.