Library History

You want girl power? Meet Annie Oakley! Born in 1860, she became one of the best-loved and most famous women of her generation. She amazed audiences all over the world with her sharpshooting, horse-riding, and action-packed performances. In an age when most women stayed home, she traveled the world and forged a new image for American women.

Before the Civil War, there was a crack team of abolitionists who used quilts and signal lanterns to guide enslaved people to freedom. RIGHT? WRONG! The truth is, the Underground Railroad wasn't very organized, and most freedom seekers were on their own.

Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian Era, a period of industrial, cultural, scientific, and political change that was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. But Victoria was raised under close supervision and near isolation until she became Queen of the United Kingdom at the young age of 18. She married her first cousin, Albert, and had nine children who married into families across Europe.

Born enslaved, Harriet Tubman rose up to become one of the most successful, determined, and well-known conductors of the Underground Railroad. With her family's love planted firmly in her heart, Harriet looked to the North Star for guidance - and its light helped guide her way out of slavery. Her courage made it possible for her to help others reach freedom, too.

It's December 16, 1773, and Boston is about to explode! King George has decided to tax the colonists' tea. The Patriots have had enough. Ethan, the printer's errand boy, is running through town to deliver a message about an important meeting. As he stops along his route - at the bakery, the schoolhouse, the tavern, and more - listeners learn about the occupations of colonial workers and their differing opinions about living under Britain's rule.

American schoolchildren have long been taught that their country was “discovered” by Christopher Columbus in 1492. But the history of Native Americans in the United States goes back tens of tens of thousands of years prior to Columbus’s and other colonizers’ arrivals. So, what’s the true history? Indigenous America introduces and amplifies the oral and written histories that have long been left out of American history books.

In the late nineteenth century, white lawmakers in the United States created a set of policies, collectively called “Jim Crow,” that created segregated facilities, like schools and parks, for African Americans in the South. But Jim Crow–type policies didn’t just affect the South. These policies have had far-reaching effects across America, impacting where Black people live, how they’re treated by the criminal justice system, and how they’re portrayed in TV and film.

In Voyagers, the distinguished anthropologist Nick Thomas charts the course of the seaborne migrations that populated the islands between the Americas and the western coast of Asia from late prehistory onwards: firstly the colonization by speakers of Austronesian languages of the western Pacific littoral, from around 3000 BC, of the Philippines, Indonesia, Micronesia and Melanesia; followed by the later settlement, by Polynesian peoples, of Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, the Marquesas, Easter Island and eventually New Zealand, up to AD 1250.

Beginning in Italy, the Renaissance was a cultural movement that spread throughout Europe and affected art, science, technology, politics, and thought. From the 1300s to the beginning of the 1600s, scholars started to question what they knew and looked to literature and historical texts to develop new ideas for why things were the way they were. In just a short amount of time, the foundations for European life were uprooted and examined, leading people, including Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, to explore new ways of thinking and being.

When Thomas Jefferson became president in 1801, America was deeply in debt and needed its economy to grow quickly, but its merchant ships were under attack. Pirates from North Africa routinely captured American sailors and held them as captives demanding ransom and tribute far beyond what the new country could afford.

Jephthah and his daughter lived during the period of judges in Israel. The New Testament acknowledges him as a hero of faith. Nevertheless, his hasty and ill-considered speech resulted in a tragic loss for him and his daughter. Walking through this experience inspires us to reconsider and improve how we speak.

Growing up in a Blue Ridge mountain town, little Roberta didn't have fancy clothes or expensive toys...but she did have music. And she dreamed of having her own piano. When her daddy spies a beat-up old upright piano in a junkyard, he knows he can make his daughter's dream come true. He brings it home, cleans and tunes it, and paints it a grassy green. And soon the little girl has an instrument to practice on, and a new dream to reach for—one that will make her become a legend in the music industry.

In the winter of 1846-47, a group of eighty-seven pioneers heading from the Midwest to California found themselves snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range with no way forward and no food or supplies. While forty-eight of the group members survived, the others perished due to extreme weather, starvation, and illness. To survive, the remaining people resorted to extreme measures...including cannibalism.

What do a guitar, a harp, and a piano have in common? They are all strings! This first introduction begins with a simple explanation of what defines a string instrument. Young listeners are then invited on a global exploration of a variety of different stringed instruments and are encouraged to find strings of their own in the world around them.

Having lost her mother at a young age, Ella Fitzgerald struggled as a child, especially during the Great Depression. But after winning over the audience with her singing at an Amateur Night at the Apollo, Ella's career began, and she eventually went on to become a world-renowned singer known as the First Lady of Song.

Perfect for Teacher Appreciation Week and graduation, here is an inspirational, rhyming picture book ode to the extra-special teachers we remember all those years later. Children will love seeing themselves and their favorite teachers in scenes bursting with positivity, highlighting not just academics but sports, drama, art, music, and community. And teachers will appreciate seeing their honored profession depicted with love and gratitude.

In 2008, John McCain ran for president against Barack Obama, becoming a well-known national figure. But his presidential campaign was only one of the many inspirational things John accomplished in his lifetime! John was a decorated member of the US Navy who survived being a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He served as an Arizona senator for thirty years, right up until his passing in 2018. Learn all about John McCain and his life as politician who always tried to work across the aisle and to treat people fairly in this book about the maverick patriot.

Growing up as a Black girl in the 1920s and 1930s, Dorothy Height was denied access to a local swimming pool as well as admission to Barnard College because of her race. But she persisted in pushing for change, and became a seminal figure in both the civil rights and women's rights movements. She went on to be awarded the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom.

This book spotlights John Lewis, known for his role in the Civil Rights Movement, having helped organize the March on Washington and the Selma Voting Rights March, and for his lifelong dedication to public service as a member of the House of Representatives. John Lewis was never afraid to get in good trouble.

Melody Ellison loves singing and gardening, and is inspired by friends and family and the Civil Rights Movement to make changes in her community. Melody's story of leadership and making one's voice heard is sure to engage today's readers as they learn what it was like to be a girl in 1964. This Step 3 Step into Reading leveled reader is great for American Girl fans ages 5 to 8. This exciting Step into Reading is based on an American Girl story by Denise Lewis Patrick.