The 2010 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards shortlists were announced in Australia last week. The list contains the title of many authors whose works can be found here at the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System. Check our catalog to find the authors or titles that interest you.

Fiction shortlist:

- Summertime, J.M. Coetzee
- The Book of Emmett, Deborah Forster
- The Lakewoman, Alan Gould
- Dog Boy, Eva Hornung
- Ransom, David Malouf
- Lovesong, Alex Miller
- As the Earth Turns Silver, Alison Wong

Non-Fiction shortlist:

- The Water Dreamers: The Remarkable History of Our Dry Continent, Michael Cathcart
- Strange Places: A Memoir of Mental Illness, Will Elliott
- The Colony: A History of Early Sydney, Grace Karskens
- The Life and Death of Democracy, John Keane
- The Blue Plateau: A Landscape Memoir, Mark Tredinnick
- The Ghost at the Wedding, Shirley Walker

Young Adult Fiction shortlist:

- Stolen, Lucy Christopher
- The Winds of Heaven, Judith Clarke
- Confessions of a Liar, Thief and Failed Sex God, Bill Condon
- The Museum of Mary Child, Cassandra Golds
- Swerve, Phillip Gwynne
- Jarvis 24, David Metzenthen
- Beatle Meets Destiny, Gabrielle Williams

Children’s Fiction shortlist:

- Cicada Summer, Kate Constable
- The Terrible Plop, Ursula Dubosarsky (illustrated by Andrew Joyner)
- Just Macbeth, Andy Griffiths (illustrated by Terry Denton)
- Mr Chicken Goes to Paris, Leigh Hobbs
- Running with the Horses, Alison Lester
- Star Jumps, Lorraine Marwood
- Mannie and the Long Brave Day, Martine Murray (illustrated by Sally Rippin)
- Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children, Jen Storer
- Harry and Hopper, Margaret Wild (illustrated by Freya Blackwood)

The Atlanta Fulton Public Library System is now offering a new service for northern Fulton County.

GED testing is now offered at the Roswell Branch Library.

For general information, call the GED Information Line at 404.730.1837.

Many parents make use of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System’s free library books and movies during the summer to occupy and, hopefully, to educate their young children.

But what to do about the teens who have hit the post-4th-of-July summer doldrums? AFPLS branches across Fulton County are offering a wide range of free summer activities geared specifically for teens.

Here is a sample:

The Teen Book Club: Teens Talking Literature
Monday, 7/19/2010 6:00 PM-7:30 PM
Fairburn Branch Library, 60 Valley View Drive, Fairburn, GA
The teen book club will discuss, “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. This program is sponsored by the Youth Services Librarian. For more information call 770-306-3138.

Teen Gaming @ The Library
Tuesday, 7/20/2010 4:00 PM-5:30 PM
West End Branch Library, 525 Peeples Street, S.W., Atlanta, GA - Free and open to the public. Enjoy an afternoon of playing popular games on the Nintendo Wii. For more information call 404-752-8740.

Watercolor Masters
Thursday, 7/22/2010 4:00 PM-5:00 PM
Roswell Branch Library, Meeting Room, 115 Norcross Street, Roswell, GA
Watercolor Masters. Learn about watercolors and create a painting based on a famous masterpiece. Ages 13-17. Registration is required. For more information call 770-640-3075.
Sponsored by: Art Out of the Box

Arise, Write, Release: The Main Character
Saturday, 7/24/2010 10:00 AM-11:30 AM
East Point Branch Library, 2757 Main St., Atlanta, GA - Free
Workshop will take the basic writing principles of character, story, plot and scene development and place them in real life situations. For more information call 404-762-4842.

D.I.Y. Glass Etching
Saturday, 7/24/2010 1:00 PM-3:00 PM
Alpharetta Branch Library, Meeting Room,238 Canton Street, Alpharetta,GA
Customize by creating simple to delicate designs on your own glassware with this easy technique. For more information call 770-740-2425.

For these and other activities for teens, go to the Events Calendar tab on the library homepage, scroll to the bottom and select the middle- or high school age range.

All programs are free and open to the public.

The new NoveList is almost ready for release! To make sure you’re comfortable using the new version before losing access to the current one, you can begin testing the new features in the Beta version, accessible from the link in the center of the NoveList homepage.

In the Beta version, you can see how easy it is to find title, series, and author recommendations using the new interface, and you can practice using appeal factors in your readers’ advisory work. While you won’t be able to personalize your settings, save items to your folder, or access your catalog link in the Beta version, you can do so in the current version until NoveList is updated with full functionality.

If you have questions on the new interface, you can contact NoveList at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or fill out a short survey to make suggestions.

Visit the NoveList Support Center for information and updates on the new release.

The Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System is getting a new provider for ebooks e-audiobooks. Overdrive will feature downloadable popular titles in e-book and e-audiobook format for iPods, iPads, and other mobile devices. Overdrive will now launch some time in August instead of late July. Launching dates are strictly set by the vendor, unfortunately.

If you celebrate the French holiday Bastille Day on July 14th, then stop by a branch of the Atlanta Fulton Public Library System and pick up something to read on one of your favorite topics. Here is a mixed bag of fiction and non-fiction by contemporary and classic authors:

-France by Susan Mckay
-The Fourteenth of July by Christopher. Prendergast
-Peaceful Resistance: Advancing Human Rights and Democratic Freedoms by Robert M Press
-Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas
-Robespierre and the French Revolution in World History by Tom McGowan
-A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
-Ange Pitou, or, Taking the Bastile by Alexandre Dumas.
-The Fall of the Bastille by Nathaniel Harris

Check the library catalog for more titles.

Just a friendly reminder that all branches of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System will be closed on Sunday, July 4th and Monday, July 5th to celebrate Independence Day. Branches should reopen at their regularly scheduled times on Tuesday, July 6th.

If you’re looking for some local events to celebrate the long weekend, check here for some suggestions from the Atlanta Journal Constitution and Access Atlanta.

Enjoy your fireworks and cookouts! We wish everyone a fun and safe holiday!

Before we celebrate the 4th of July, our northern neighbor Canada will celebrate its independence on July 1st. If you are interested in reading up on all things Canadian, the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System has an eclectic variety of topics available:

Books
-A Kingdom of the Mind: How the Scots Helped Make Canada by Peter E. Rider
-Canadian Working-Class History: Selected Readings 3rd ed. by Laurel Sefton MacDowell
-Done with slavery: the Black fact in Montreal, 1760-1840 by Mackey, Frank.
-Hockey: A People’s History by Michael McKinley
-Nova Scotia & Atlantic Canada 11th ed. by Fodor’s, 2010.
-Operation Husky: The Canadian Invasion of Sicily, July 10-August 7,1943 by
Mark Zuehlke
-Why We Write: Conversations With African Canadian Poets and Novelists: Interviews by H. Nigel Thomas

DVD

-Angie Stone: Live in Vancouver Island

Children

-Canada Day by Patricia J. Murphy

Check the library catalog to find these and other treasures on Canada.

That’s right, pizza lovers, beginning June 21st and ending June 24th, you have a chance to support the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library simply by going out for a delicious pizza! The California Pizza Kitchen at the Lennox Square location is donating 20% of sales to the Library Foundation during these days. All you need to do is click this link, print out the flyer, and show it to your server. Then CPK will donate 20% of the cost of your meal directly to the library!

Whether you view this as a perfect opportunity to donate to a good cause or simply as a good excuse to go chow down on some quality pizza, it’s a great partnership either way. So enjoy this offer and help support your local library!

Father’s Day is June 20th. If you have no ideas on how to show your appreciation to Dad this year, how about signing him up for a computer class or two at Central Library? The classes are free; and for the less-than-tech-savvy parent, there is a variety of entry-level classes such as:

-Google and More
-Internet Basics
-Introduction to Computers
-Word Basics

If Dad already has some computer experience, he might like one of these:

-African-American Genealogy
-Buying Your First Computer
-Creating Business Card in Publisher
-Excel Basics
-PowerPoint Basics

Check the schedule of computer classes for the Learning and Career Center and call 404.730.1915 to register.