The 2026 Illinois Reader's Choice Award Books are here! Stop by and pick up a new title - there are plenty to choose from. If you are in Grades K-8 and looking for a reading challenge, you can join one of our Award Book Reading Challenges on Beanstack and earn prizes for reading these books! Find more information on Beanstack.
Youth Services Librarian Claire
We have a new resource available in our databases - Scholastic Teachables! This website offers over 25,000 printable educational resources for grades K-8, including skill sheets, activity sheets, mini-books, and lesson plans. It's great for teachers to get supplementary material for the classroom, or for grownups to have at home!
Click this link to find Scholastic Teachables! Enter your library card number if you're at home or access from the computers at the library!
Youth Services Librarian Claire
Happy Winter Break! Some of our librarians worked to make a new virtual escape room to celebrate. Work together to solve puzzles, find clues, and virtually escape a blizzard!
The escape room is designed for grades 3-8, but adults and kids of all ages can enjoy it together!
Ready to start your adventure? Click here to access!
Youth Services Librarian Claire
It is officially fall! The perfect time to cozy up with a good book! Check out these cozy autumn reads.
Check out what Youth Services is doing in October and November to celebrate fall! Find our Program Guide here.
Youth Services Librarian Claire
Summer Reading is almost done, but there is still time to log your reading and complete your Summer Reading! Log onto balibrary.org/summer, sign in (or even sign up), and you can log all of the reading you have done this summer already.
You do not need to put in specific dates or even titles. If you have read at least 20 minutes every day since May 28, you have read 1,400 minutes! That is amazing and we feel like that should be celebrated!
Once you complete your 500 minutes, you get a free book, a button, and a free ice cream cone coupon to be used at any Bear Family Restaurants McDonald's location.
We also have tons of activities for Pre-Readers and Readers that you can do as well on Beanstack to earn even more buttons. Here are some pictures that fellow Readers have drawn to earn the Book of the Summer badge!
FAQ’s
Do I need a library card to join?
No you do not! Anyone can do the program!
My child is only 5 months and can’t read, can they join?
Yes! The program is for everyone, even babies and toddlers. All books that are read to the baby count!
I am already using Beanstack for another library, do I use the same account?
You will need to create another account for Barrington, but with the app, you can easily toggle between the different libraries. You need to log the books for each site separately.
Do I have to log every title?
No. You can bulk log all of your reading starting from May 28. You can log up to 600 minutes at once.
Happy Reading everyone!
Youth Services Librarian MaryJo
The 2025 Illinois Reader's Choice Books are here and available for checkout!
There are 60 titles across the three lists and we have plenty of copies of each. Check out the lists below:
Find Monarch Books in the Catalog.
Find Bluestem Books in the Catalog.
Find Caudill Books in the Catalog.
Also coming soon, is a year long Beanstack reading challenge for grades K-8! Depending on your grade, you can sign up for the Monarch, Bluestem, or Caudill challenge and read your way to some prizes! Check Beanstack on April 1st for more information!
Youth Services Librarian Claire
There is a new section in our collection! At the start of Juvenile Fiction, we now have an Early Chapter Book section! Early Chapter Books are books that have a low page count, shorter chapters, and lots of illustrations. They make perfect books for readers who have mastered Beginning Readers and are ready to move on to longer chapter books. You may recognize some popular books here - Mercy Watson, Princess in Black, and Heidi and Henry Heckelbeck. There are plenty of new titles to discover here, so take a look and find your new favorite book!
Looking for some personalized selections? Fill out a Browsing Bundle Request Form and get a bag full of books picked just for you!
Youth Services Librarian Claire
Happy New Year! We read a ton of great books in 2023 - most of these titles are on the Illinois Readers' Choice Award Lists (Monarchs, Bluestems, and Caudills). Here are the top titles that were read at the Barrington Area Library!
Picture Book:
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Chez Bob by Bob Shea |
Beginning Reader:
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Happy Pig Day! by Mo Willems |
Juvenile Fiction:
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Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway by Jeff Kinney |
Juvenile Graphic Novel:
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Katie the Catsitter by Colleen A. F. Venable |
Teen Fiction:
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Alone by Megan E. Freeman |
Teen Graphic Novel:
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City of Dragons. The Awakening Storm by Jaimal Yogis |
Nonfiction:
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Fallout: spies, superbombs, and the ultimate Cold War showdown by Steve Sheinkin |
eBook:
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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling |
What books are you going to read in 2024? You can sign up for Winter Reading here! Read 250 minutes and earn a free book!
Youth Services Librarian Claire
Welcome to our series, all about getting to know our very special Youth Services staff members at the Barrington Area Library! Each month, we'll publish an interview with one of our lovely staff members. Up next we have Youth Services Assistant Librarian, Larissa!
What is your favorite part of working at the Barrington Area Library?
My favorite part of working at the Barrington Area Library is the community! My Youth Services team are both kind and creative. I enjoy working with the library customers for both reader’s advisory and the programs, especially with story times and STEM-related activities. My own children are now school-aged, but when they were little we often spent time at the library to read, play, and partake in multiple programs. Now I delight in being able to give back to young children and their families!
What are some of your favorite books and/or genres?
My favorite series growing up was Harry Potter! I still remember waiting outside of the bookstore with my mom at midnight for the release of the new books and then staying up late into the night reading them! Some of my favorite adult authors as an adult include Matthew Kelly, Emily Giffin, and Taylor Jenkins Reid.
What do you like to do when you’re not working at the library?
When I am not working at the library, I like to spend time with my family and friends, read, travel, cook, volunteer as a Girl Scout Leader, partake in Yoga & Zumba classes, and recently I have learned to play pickle ball!
If you could be a character in any book in our collection, who would you be?
If I could be a character in any book then I would chose Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series. Hermione is kind, smart, and brave. She loves to read and learn new things. Hermione stands up for what is right and she always is there for her friends.
Is there a fun fact about yourself that you’d like to share?
My Favorites: (aka fun facts about me)
Color: Purple
Book: Harry Potter Series
Movie: The Wizard of Oz
Food: Spaghetti
Dessert: Anything with chocolate!
Sport: Ice Skating
Game: Sushi Go
Animal: Penguin
Youth Services Specialist Stefanie
Welcome to our series, all about getting to know our very special Youth Services staff members at the Barrington Area Library! Each month, we'll publish an interview with one of our lovely staff members. Up next we have Youth Services Librarian Chris!
What is your favorite part of working at the Barrington Area Library?
Encouraging and indulging a lifelong love of books in young people is a special thing, especially when I'm learning just as much about literature from the children as they are from me.
What are some of your favorite books and/or genres?
I have to be careful, because I could just fill this whole post with this answer. But some of my favorite children's series include A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, the Lewis Barnavelt series by John Bellairs, Abarat by Clive Barker, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, and the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix. Another well-loved series, but hard to find nowadays, is the Culpepper Adventures series by Gary Paulsen.
Individual favorites include Howl's Moving Castle, Coraline, and (more recently) Peter Pan and Inkheart.
Genre-wise, I tend to gravitate toward realistic fiction, fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery. I'm also a big comics and manga fan but that's for another post!
Do you have a hobby or knowledge of a certain topic that you like to incorporate into your work at the library?
Here’s a non-answer to this question: I started editing videos for our YouTube channel when we were mostly closed to the public during COVID, and I’ve kept up with it ever since. Nowadays I’m the editor for our channel, and I make videos myself. I especially love filming booktalks, of course!
I’ve learned a little bit about editing thanks to my work on the YouTube channel, but I want to know more! I’ve started wondering if I should work on creative, personal projects.
So in this case, my work at the Library has inspired me to pursue a new hobby!
What do you like to do when you’re not working at the library?
I read a lot, of course, and write when I can. Poetry, fiction, etc. If I'm not doing any of those things I'm probably playing video games or watching scary movies or anime.
If you could be a character in any book in our collection, who would you be?
I would be Candy Quackenbush from Abarat. Candy gets to leave her small Midwestern town, just like I did, and go on adventures with all sorts of amazing creatures, who seem scary at first but are just as human as she is, just as loving.
I’ve always loved monsters. I’ve drawn them and written about them since I was a little kid, and to this day I’m sympathetic to monsters. I’m pretty faithful to weird and scary things.
Is there a fun fact about yourself that you’d like to share?
I collect toys. My desk is absolutely covered with them. I’ve always wanted to make toys, especially puppets… maybe I should give it a try!
Youth Services Specialist Stefanie
Welcome back to a new school year! Since the school year is in full swing, we will be continuing our Literacy Blog to provide some fun tips and activities for beginning, independent, and emerging readers. We ended our series with identification of the story setting. This month, we will be focusing on another Story Element- Character Traits.
What is the purpose of identifying character traits? Character traits help readers understand the characters in a story. It helps the reader to understand why the characters do what they do.
A Character Trait is a description of a character in the story. These traits can be outer or external traits or inner or internal traits.
Outer traits or external traits are easier to introduce. These are traits that are physical. Ask yourself; what can I see?
Some examples of outer or external traits are eye color, height, hair color, etc.
Inner or Internal traits can be a little tougher to identify because these are traits you must infer (inferring is when you use clues the author gives you and your own knowledge to recognize traits) in order to determine something. Ask yourself; what clues is the author giving me? What do I know about that?
Some examples of internal traits are what a character says, actions they do and feelings, or thoughts they have. An example of an internal trait is “Jean went over to console a friend who was crying.” This may be an example of a character being sympathetic, because they are empathetic towards a friend who is unhappy.
You can apply this to any book (board books, picture books, and chapter books.)
Here are some books that showcase Character Traits
Activities
The following activities will provide practice in identifying external and internal traits of characters you encounter as you read.
Activity: What Are Your External and Internal Traits?
- You will need 2 body outline templates; these can be found online, or you can draw them yourself. Label one sheet, “External Traits,” and label the other, “Internal Traits.” (see the images below)
- Identify your External Traits: Begin by focusing on your External Traits. (External Traits are your appearance) Use adjectives to describe your appearance, or your External Traits. What color is your hair? What color are your eyes? Describe your height. Write these describing words on the “External Traits” sheet. Write the words on the outside of the body image.
- Once you have documented your External Traits, use the second image to describe your Internal Traits. Remember, these traits cannot be seen from the outside. (Internal Traits encompass your personality, emotions, skills, and interests)
Write these words on the inside of the body outline.
*Personality traits: friendly, confident * emotions (grumpy, sad),
*Skills (artist, athlete) * interests (reading, cooking).
By following these directions and using body outlines on paper to describe External and Internal Traits, you can create a visual representation of any individual or character.
Extend and Explore
In the story Nobody Hugs a Cactus by Carter Goodrich, Hank changed his feelings and attitude (internal traits) during the story. Draw a picture of Hank at the beginning of the story, and another picture of him at the end of the story. You can see how Hank’s unique traits contributed to his personality and played a role in how the story develops.
Activity: Which Wall
This fun activity helps to explore and understand different character traits and will help your reader understand the difference between External and Internal Traits.
1. Gather two index cards. Write EXTERNAL TRAITS on one card & INTERNAL TRAITS on the other card.
2.Tape the cards on opposite walls.
3. Have your reader stand in the middle of the room.
4. Say a character trait and your young reader will go to the wall it matches. For example, if you say “bossy”, they will go to the “Internal Traits” wall.
Need a wordlist to get you started? Here are a few suggestions:
| External Traits | tall | short | brown hair | fuzzy tail | freckled | well dressed | floppy ears | green eyes |
| Internal Traits | bossy | lazy | curious | alert | jealous | shy | outgoing | creative |
Extend and Explore
Using several index cards, write different character traits on each card. Place the cards, face down, and take 1 card from the pile. Without anyone else seeing the card, the reader will describe a scenario or situation that exemplifies the word on the card. For example, if the card says “honesty” the reader might describe a situation where someone finds a lost wallet and returns it to its owner.
Practice Makes Perfect!
Understanding character traits is important to help a reader understand the story. Identifying character traits can help the reader understand a character’s motives, feelings, and actions. You can practice identifying external and internal traits in any book. Your reader can even think about external and internal traits of themselves or family members.
Be sure to check out our Beginning Reader and Early Learning Kits, available in the YS Department.
Youth Services Assistant Librarian Erin
Youth Services Assistant Librarian Karen
Welcome to our series, all about getting to know our very special Youth Services staff members at the Barrington Area Library! Each month, we'll publish an interview with one of our lovely staff members. Up next we have Youth Services Assistant Erin!
What is your favorite part of working at the Barrington Area Library?
My favorite part of working at the library is the people. I am fortunate to work with such a kind, fun, and creative staff. It is also great to see both familiar faces and new faces enjoying the Youth Services space.
What are some of your favorite books and/or genres?
As an avid reader, this is a tough question! I try to read many different genres, but I tend to gravitate towards realistic and historical fiction. I enjoy anything written by Erin Entrada Kelly: Blackbird Fly, and Those Kids from Fawn Creek. For younger readers, Maybe, Maybe, Marisol Rainey is always a win in my book! I also love historical fiction and books by Jennifer Nielsen.
Do you have a hobby or knowledge of a certain topic that you like to incorporate into your work at the library?
As a former educator, I try to search for books and materials viewed from a parent/teacher lens. I have really enjoyed working on Literacy Blogs with my co-worker and enjoy sharing books that can highlight strategies and skills taught in the classroom using picture books.
What do you like to do when you’re not working at the library?
When I am not working at the library, I love spending time with my family, going on hikes, kayaking, practicing yoga, visiting different coffee shops, and of course reading.
If you could be a character in any book in our collection, who would you be?
A character I have always admired and tried to emulate in a book is Jo March from Little Women. This is a book I can read over and over again. I always admire Jo’s confidence, fun spirit, loving and giving nature, and her strength in times of challenge.
Youth Services Specialist Stefanie