He made news all over the country when he started his "No Cussing Club" at South Pasadena High School. He appeared on the Dr. Phil Show, The Early Show and Good Morning America. Now he's written and published a book about his experience. It's quite a story.

"When I told my dad I was thinking of starting a No Cussing Club, he stopped right in the middle of what he was doing and stared at me.
"Are you crazy?" he said." but McKay did not give up.

He spoke to the Ink Drinkers' Book Club (where he was a member) on March 6. McKay presented an autographed copy of his new book to the Ink Drinkers for the AV Library.

McKay also gave us a copy of his first CD video with his own original music. This video is about his "No Cussing Club" in action and how to start your own chapter. These will become part of the AV Library collection.

Spring Book Fair coming soon.

Come to AV Pajama Story Hour mid-April, 7 to 8:30 pm
Hundreds of pajama-clad persons, large and small, mobbed the AV Courtyard for AV's Annual Pajama Story Hour last year. Many were clutching Teddy Bears, pillows, snacks and blankets, for an enchanted evening of storytelling under the stars. Click here for more AV Pajama Story Hour Photos.

First Friday of every month, 1:15 to 2:30 pm.
Third, fourth, and fifth graders can join anytime. Bring a book you have read and can talk about. And the club will rate the book for the rest of the school. Go to Book Club page.

Each book gets from one to 4 ink drops, 4 being best.

Special End of Year Party
End of June--come as your favorite book character or author. Think of good hints to help club members guess who you are.

At Arroyo Vista, students and their families come to the Courtyard in their pajamas--or not--for a fun-filled Pajama Story Hour under the stars.

Stock up on good books for the week. Remember, it's good to read to friends, parents, and pets, too.

Students and Volunteers Get Community Service Hours

Everyone knows Bernie. She has become a pro at preparing books for the rough and tumble library life at Arroyo Vista. But Bernie is leaving us for a new job. We will miss her.

Middle and High School Students who like working in the library, call or come in and help us keep going. Over 1/4 of our books check out every month and then check back in. They have to be checked, shelved, and sometimes, repaired. It's fun, and you can get lots of community-service hours.

Parent Volunteers Needed, too
Every class needs a library helper to come in with his or her students' class and help check and shelve books--about 30 minutes. Call Arroyo Vista Elementary Library at (626) 441-5790, extension 4930. We can't do all this without you. Thank you to all who are currently volunteering.

AV Library has one of the largest elementary school collections in Southern California

Mrs. Maxwell, a veteran AV Library Volunteer, reshelves one of the 24,000 volumes available to our students in the Arroyo Vista Library.

Our library, thanks to a PTA that believes in reading, has carefully put together one of the finest collections of fiction, nonfiction and children's books available in an elementary school library.

Here students learn about reading for fun, for knowledge, and for researching classroom subjects and reports from our librarian, Mrs. Moore. AV students will also learn how libraries are organized and how the world's knowledge is available to them.

They will use a fully computerized catalog to locate their favorite subjects and authors. They will check out books every week. And, they will get a taste of the many kinds of stories, biographies, poetry, and songs thet authors have created in our literature.

Reading can be fun. And good readers do well in the world.

Here are several highly regarded reading lists you can consult. We have many of these books in our library:

The State of California Recommended Reading List provides grade-specific lists for California students from kindergarten to 12th grade--
www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/
readinglist.asp

The Caldecott Medal winners--
www.ala.org/alsc/caldecott.html

The Newbery Medal winners--
www.ala.org/alsc/newbery.html

The Coretta Scott King Award winners--
www.ala.org/ala/emiert/
corettascottkingbookawards

American Library Association Young Readers Book Lists---
www.ala.org/ala/alsc/
alscresources/booklists

Scholastic Books-www.scholastic.com/kids
--books (mainly from Scholastic, of course) for children 6 to 13. Activities, contests and games related to such page-turners as Goosebumps.

Check out our own Ink Drinkers' Book Club Recommended Book List for this year.