Capstone Connect

I Love to Read Month

In appreciation of “I Love To Read” month, we are providing FREE access to a limited version of myON reader. For the entire month of February, we want all students to get a taste of the magic behind myON reader and how access to the largest collection of enhanced digital books will encourage a new love of reading!

What is myON reader?

myON reader is a personalized literacy program that matches students’ interests and Lexile® level to the largest collection of enhanced digital books with reading supports. Click here for a video introduction!

Where can I access myON reader?

myON reader provides unlimited access, anytime, anywhere and can be used on laptops, tablets, and iPads,

What types of books are on myON reader?

Students can choose from thousands of digital books that include 70% nonfiction and over 10% Spanish titles.

How do I get FREE access?

Simply go to the website, and complete the form. Upon completion you will receive a login and password for your students! You can use it in your classrooms and students can use it at home or anywhere there is an internet connection.

We encourage you to share this special offer with your colleagues, friends, and family. And of course don’t forget to share your stories with us. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, You Tube and www.TheFutureinReading.com.

The Fate of the Public Library

In the last few weeks, I've come across a couple of interesting articles concerning public libraries. For years now, many of us have been concerned that our beloved public libraries, much like the old card catologs, were going the way of the dinosaurs. Lack of funding combined with ever changing technology seemed a legitimate threat to the viability of the public library system. Luckily, while these institutions are certainly evolving with the times, Americans have made it clear that they still value the bricks and mortar building. And while we definitely love our e-readers and laptops, we also treasure the smell and feel of well-worn pages. Check out (pun intended) these two articles for an interesting Monday-morning read on the fate of public libraries.

First all-digital library in the U.S. will look like an Apple Store

Not dead yet: Libraries still vital, Pew report finds

Mandy Robbins
Senior Editor
Capstone Nonfiction 

 

Related articles

Libraries Unbound

Pew - Teens and Libraries

First bookless public library to open in the U.S.

New Capstone Office

As I promised you last week, I have some photos to share of our new office. It's a colorful new space with more room for us to grow, and we're all on the same level which is a really nice change. There's also some added perks like a free soda machine in our kitchen and a cafeteria in the basement of the building. Here's a few photos...

The lovely lobby upon entering the building.

Our reception area with a large conference room behind it.

The kitchen, which offers one dangerous new perk - free soda!

Sitting area in the kitchen with bookshelves waiting to be filled.

Another break room nook.

Some cubicles.

While some of us are still unpacking, organizing and decorating, others quickly finished their spaces completely. Photos of Kay and Bob's (Art Directors) cubicles.

The Office Move

Our Minneapolis office move is finally here! (You may remember reading about the move from Amber and Ali in previous posts). Everything has to be packed up by the end of today with the “big” move (only a few miles up the road) starting tomorrow.

Needless to say, our office is in a state of chaos: towers of boxes everywhere, the cacophony of shrieking packing tape, overflowing recycling bins, and a freebie area with random gems (lime green feathered boa anyone? I'm afraid the colossal toilet paper ball is already taken.). 

I’m happy to report that we’ll be adding to our book donation from December with a few more books for the Minnesota Reading Corps before we move.

(December’s donation)

Wish us luck on the move! I’ll send photos of our new space once we’re all settled in.

(My cubicle all boxed up)

Spring Catalogs Are Here!

They’re here! Our Spring catalogs are now available, highlighting our latest and greatest new titles available for the season. I guarantee you’ll find many new favorites to add to your wish list.

Our Library Catalog features adorable artwork from our new book Let’s Rock!: Science Adventures with Rudie the Origami Dinosaur by Eric Braun, illustrated by Jamey Christoph. A special Thanks to all of our Facebook fans who voted for this artwork to be chosen for the cover.

Our Retail and Trade catalog showcases gorgeous artwork from the forthcoming book Wish by Beth Bracken and Kay Fraser, illustrated by Odessa Sawyer. The book will be available April 1, but you can get a sneak peek on NetGalley now.

If you’d like a copy of one of our catalogs, please contact our Customer Service at 800-747-4992 (toll free) or at customerservice@capstonepub.com. And of course you can always explore our new titles on our websites Capstone and Capstone Young Readers.

Capstone Acquires Maupin House Publishing

 
We have exciting news to share with you today – Capstone has acquired the professional development publisher Maupin House! Maupin House is an award-winning publisher with more than 200 professional development resources for preK-12 educators, administrators, and parents. Among their bestselling titles include:

• Caught’ya! Grammar with a Giggle series by Jane Bell Kiester 

• That’s a GREAT Answer! by Nancy Boyles

• Razzle Dazzle Writing by Melissa Forney

• The CraftPlus®  K-8 Writing Program by Marcia Freeman

This acquisition launches Capstone Professional, which will provide professional development services for educators through onsite and online training, webinars, books, and ebooks. Stay tuned for more on that!

You can read more about our announcement in our Media Newsroom.

Coughlan Companies (parent company of Capstone) receives Keystone Award

On December 12th, Coughlan Companies was honored to receive the Keystone Award by the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce. Originally known as the 5% Club, the Minnesota Keystone Program recognizes companies that give at least 2% of their pre-tax earnings back to the community.

There are a lot of photos of the event that you can see on the Chamber’s facebook page.

You'll find this photo on their facebook page. It shows three of our corporate execs receiving the award: Bob Coughlan (Principal) on the far right, Tom Ahern (CEO Coughlan Companies)  in the middle and Scott Sustacek (CEO of Jordan Sands, LLC) on the left next to WCCO anchor Angela Davis.


If you look closely at this photo, that’s me on the big screen bragging about our employees who take time to volunteer for their communities. The company encourages all of us to give back and this award shows that the employees do just that! I'm happy to be part of this company!

The Awards Keep Coming!

We have more exciting award news to share with you! Our Invent It and You Choose: Survival series have both been chosen by Learning magazine as winners of its Teachers’ Choice Awards for the Family!

The award recognizes the best children’s products that encourage at-home learning, keeping kids engaged once they leave the classroom. Teacher teams from across the United States judge entries based on educational value, originality and creativity, ease of use, safety and durability, and a high interest and motivation level for children. Winning products will be featured in Spring 2013 issue of Learning magazine.

Congratulations to all of our authors who worked on these amazing books!

Invent It series by Tammy Enz

You Choose: Survival series by authors Rachael Hanel, Matt Doeden, Elizabeth Raum, and Allison Lassieur

   

The Kids at Banfield Elementary Rock!

A couple weeks ago, the 4th grade teachers at Banfield Elementary in Austin, Minnesota, invited me to come and visit their classes. They are gearing up to start writing research reports, and I got to kick them off, talking about all the research we do here at Capstone. It was a blast! They were all great listeners and asked great questions. And they all now know they can't use Wikipedia as a source.

But what was most fun for me was actually seeing how much kids and teachers love Capstone books. Banfield even has a special place in the library dedicated to just Capstone titles! Every day we work so hard to make engaging, interesting, accurate books for kids, and I just can't put into words how awesome it is to see teachers and students using those books.  Thanks, Banfield!

Mr. Button's class with Capstone's Graphic Library books (and me)

 

Oh - and I promised to say hi to Nick when I wrote about this on the blog.  Hi, Nick!

Happy Researching!

Jen Besel
Senior Editor 

 

Maryellen's 15 Minutes of Fame

Maryellen and I had a busy morning today! First, we had the opportunity to meet with representatives from Room to Read, an organization who shares Capstone's passion for literacy and education. We loved learning about their work with communities in Asia and Africa, and how they use literacy to improve childhood health and development, as well as the local economies. We're excited about all the possibilities for partnership between Capstone and Room to Read…so stay tuned for those! 

After this meeting, Maryellen and I were off to the WCCO studios in downtown Minneapolis to film a video for the 2012 Minnesota Keystone Awards. Coughlan Companies, Capstone's holding company, is a proud recipient of this award sponsored by the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, and it was a wonderful opportunity to share the Coughlan family's 125+ years of charitable giving (and Maryellen enjoyed pretending she was Amelia Santaniello for the morning). We can't wait to share the video with you all after the awards luncheon next week!

--Claire Berge, New Initiatives Assistant