October 25-30 is U.S. Media Literacy Week, sponsored by the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE). According to NAMLE, media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using all forms of communication.
In its simplest terms, media literacy builds upon the foundation of traditional literacy and offers new forms of reading and writing. Media literacy empowers people to be critical thinkers and makers, effective communicators and active citizens.
This week, the Delaware County District Library celebrates Media Literacy Week with a Media Literacy Workshop for teens and adults, taking place at the Delaware Main Library Tuesday, Oct. 26, at 6 p.m. Attendees will learn about the different types of information and misinformation as well as ways to evaluate and fact check what can be found in the media.
The Delaware County District Library is the owner of several news-related subscription websites, free with a library card. NewsBank and Acceda Noticias, a web-based collection of Spanish-language news, provide a comprehensive collection of reliable news sources covering a wide array of topics and issues. The library also provides free, full access to the Columbus Dispatch and New York Times online content. Visit www.delawarelibrary.org/research for more information.
Of course, we always have copies and archives of local newspapers on hand in all of our branches, like your very own Delaware Gazette.
For more resources on Media Literacy Week, visit www.medialiteracyweek.us and take a look through some of the available resources for your own use, your children to explore or your classroom.
Halloween is quickly approaching. Are you reading anything scary for the holiday? In case you need some help finding a spooky title, here’s the latest in horror reads. If you like a bit more merry and less scary, stop by any DCDL location this week to get a librarian’s recommendation for your reading tastes.
• “Revelator” by Daryl Gregory. In 1930s Cades Cove, TN, young Stella Birch Wallace communes with Ghostdaddy, the mountain god her family worships. Upon learning the mysterious entity’s sinister plans, she flees. Returning home after the death of her grandmother in 1948, Stella must reckon with her family’s past and put a stop to their destructive religious practices. For fans of Southern Gothic stories starring strong female characters.
• “When the Reckoning Comes” by LaTanya McQueen. Returning to her small North Carolina hometown for the plantation wedding of a childhood friend, Black high school teacher Mira reluctantly steps foot on the same grounds where she once encountered the ghost of an enslaved person. With the antebellum-themed nuptials underway, the spirits of the enslaved begin seeking revenge on the descendants of their tormentors, and it’s up to Mira to confront the plantation’s haunted history and her own connection to it if she wants to survive.
• “Getaway” by Zoje Stage. “Getaway” presents a menacing blend of horror and psychological suspense starring three women on an ill-fated hiking trip in the Grand Canyon. What begins as a tense endeavor to mend the trio’s friendship morphs into an outmatched fight for their lives against an unrelenting stalker in this slow-burn nightmare from “Baby Teeth” and “Wonderland” author Zoje Stage. For fans of girls’ trips gone wrong.
• “My Heart Is a Chainsaw” by Stephen Graham Jones. Misanthropic Blackfeet teen Jade Daniels lives her life like she’s in a slasher movie – and she’s long suspected that her rapidly gentrifying Idaho town is the perfect setting for one. When a series of strange deaths begin making the local news, Jade pins all her hopes on new-in-town Letha to be the “final girl” who will save their community from an impending massacre. This gory meta-horror novel from Stephen Graham Jones (“The Only Good Indians”) blends searing social commentary with a thought-provoking subversion of the genre’s well-worn tropes.
