Dixon Elementary Library

09/23/2026

I wanted to share something fun we discovered and talked about in the library today with 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grades.
Katmai National Park hosts a yearly bracket style contest to determine which bear did the best job of getting chunky and ready for hibernation this summer. There are descriptions of the bears in the meet the bear section so you can learn more about the contestants. There are some fun live streams where you can see the bears fishing also because the quest for lbs continues. Voting takes place today- Friday with the finals next week. It opens each day at 11am so this could be a fun after school or dinner discussion/activity.

The contest was so popular today that they are moving to a new platform tomorrow and allowing today’s contests to stay open.

Check it out at www.explore.org

And may the biggest, fluffiest, fastest bear win….

BREAKING: THE BEARS HAVE BROKEN THE INTERNET.

Literally.

First round Fat Bear Week voting has been extended through tomorrow because apparently the internet was not prepared to handle this much fat bear.

This is an important reminder that bears are very large, they’ve been eating non-stop, and sometimes servers are less resilient than a bear preparing for winter.

If you haven’t voted yet, cast your vote tomorrow. Learn more at explore.org

09/21/2026

This week at the Dixon library we are reading the following:

4k - either It’s Fall or The Leaf Thief or some other fall book.
Kindergarten- Little Tree and listening to a sing along version by Emily Arrow.
1st- Those Darn Squirrels- always a favorite
2nd and 3rd - we will be learning and re-learning how to access and use SORA, our district digital library.
4th and 5th- they have earned their first fun day!

09/14/2026

It’s baseball week at the library because the Brewers will be in the playoffs again and I fell in love with this book and cannot wait to share it.
Here’s what we are reading-
4K - Take me out to the Ballgame- if I can find it. Otherwise- look for a late edit.
K - Randy Riley’s Really Big Hit- Love Chris
Van Dusan and he knocks it out of the park with this one- literally.
1st- I’m not sure yet- I need to look at some options that are locked in Dixon before I decide. I’ll edit when I know.
2nd- Brothers At Bat- true story of a family of brothers that play semi-professional baseball in the 30’s and 40’s. God bless their mother, she had 16 children- 12 boys,
3rd- The Kid from Diamond Street- true story of Edith Houston who became a professional baseball player at 10 years old and traveled to Japan to play in the 1920’s. I loved learning about her and hopefully the kids will also.
4th - The William Hoy Story- true story about a deaf professional baseball player who helped to introduce the hand signals umpires still use today.
5th- Baseball fro Breakfast- basically a true story (the protagonists are a combination of real people) about how the Milwaukee Brewers, when they were a minor leagues team during WWII, started playing early morning games for third shift factory workers and serving pancakes. Seriously my favorite new picture book we have gotten in recently.
I love that there are so many fun and true baseball stories to share. There are also so many great fiction ones- it was impossible yo choose this week but Go Brewers and it’s going to be so much fun in the library!

09/08/2026

We’re back with the fun part of library this week! But before we get to what we are reading- check out this amazing bulletin board Mrs Rothmeier made for me. She is amazingly talented! It was already going to be the Year of Dolly in the library before her passing but now we are going to really do it up!
This week we are focusing on school and library for the you get grades and recognizing the 25th anniversary of September 11th for the older grades. Here are the books we’ll be reading.
4k - Don’t eat your classmates, Penelope Rex- a classic with an important message for some of our more teethy 4k friends. 😜
K - Don’t bring your Dragon to the Library- Dudley is the only dragon allowed in our library.
1st- The Library Dragon- I promise not to turn into a dragon over the course of the year….hopefully.
2nd - If I Built a School by Chris Van Dusen- I love this book and even more I love hearing their ideas for what cool things we should have at Dixon. Slide in the Library…. Just saying.
3rd- The Man who Walked Between The Towers- this is the true story of Philippe Petit who strung a tightrope between the towers when they were being built and walked between them. I like it because while it acknowledges the events it lap shows what it was own who they were being built and standing which I’m not sure is a visual most kids have. I do tell the kids not to try this at home about a 100 times.
4th - Fireboat- this is the true story of an old, retired fireboat that came back I to service that day and helped put out the fire. I think it really brings home the feeling there was of everyone trying to help however they could.
5th - This Very Tree- this is the true story of the “survivor tree.” It was found still alive at Ground Zero after the attacks. People nursed it back to health and it now stands once again in the plaza it did on that day. A story of resilience demonstrated by a tree.
I will encourage the kids to ask their grownups what they remember because it was one do those events that everyone forever remembers but we will not have in depth discussion about all the facets of that day in library. We’re going to focus on the helping, kindness and resilience that showed up.

08/12/2026

EMERGENCY!!!!! The floors are being washed and waxed! I failed to coordinate with custodial staff about today’a library hours apparently. We’ll try to still have them but the only door open will be on the south side by Parkside middle doors. Sorry.

08/12/2026

I forgot to remind you yesterday that Wednesday, 8/12 is the last summer library day. Hope to see you from 12-2. Sorry for the short notice.

08/05/2026

The Library will be open on Wednesday 8/5 from 12-2. Self checkout will be up and available for your use! Always remember that things are subject to change- if you know what I mean….
The last summer library be next Wednesday, 8/12 from 12-2.

07/29/2026

The Dixon Library is OPEN tomorrow from 12-2. Stop by and return and check out books or just say hi!

07/13/2026

This Wednesday- 12 -2 - the library is open!!!! Bring back all those books you found. Come get new ones for that road trip you are going on. Get the book you are still waiting to come back in at the public library….,
See you there!

05/25/2026

We read an amazing children’s picture book about this in library. It is called A Day for Rememberin. Another great one about soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice is Twenty-One Steps about the tomb of the unknown soldier. We also read this one in library.