Read What You Know

Are you going? Let me know!

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:43:14 -0500

Are you going? Let me know!

Summer Reading Weeks 2 & 3

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:52:00 -0500

I cannot believe it’s been two weeks since I last updated about summer reading!

Our numbers have increased from 149 (two weeks ago) to 309 as of this morning. Last year’s numbers totaled 470 — I think that we’re going to pass numbers…but I’m still not sure.

Volunteer training was two weeks ago, and my volunteers are finally settled into their job. We have a table set up that is always staffed with two teen volunteers. Kids and teens go to the volunteer table where they either spin a spinner (kids) or pick a card (teens) to determine what question they’ll have to answer about their books. Questions are super simple like, “What was your favorite part?” or “Who would you cast in the movie version?” I think that this gives the kids/teens a certain amount of accountability to remember what they read, and maybe cuts down on cheaters.

Last week was just sign-ups and the kids were in school until Thursday morning. This past week has been the first full week of SRP including programming and prizes.

My schedule of programming this week?

Tuesday - Passport to Reading (1st-6th)

Tuesday - Afternoon Storytime (Ages 3-7)

Wednesday - Life-Sized Monopoly (5th-10th)

Thursday - Storytime (Ages 0-5)

Thursday - Mural Painting (1st-6th)

Friday - Daycare Storytime (Ages 0-5)

Friday - Chalk Day (All Ages)

Next week is much lighter! (Thank goodness!) We haven’t been doing a ton of “One World, Many Stories” themed programs this year — mostly loosely themed stuff. Storytimes this week were summer/vacation and transportation. The mural involved farm and jungle animals and race cars. “Passport” is my only reoccurring themed program — each week we’ll be visiting a different continent. This week was Europe. Next week is Antarctica! (Think penguin craft and snowball fights…using cotton balls!)

The kids took their passport pictures last week and this week whoever comes back will get to put a stamp in their passport for last week and a stamp for this week!

I don’t have any programming pictures up yet, so I will leave you with a picture of our giant display in the lobby:

A taste of my Life-Sized Monopoly program this afternoon. A...

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:13:43 -0500

A taste of my Life-Sized Monopoly program this afternoon. A regular Monopoly house, board, and box next to the Life-Sized Monopoly house.

Summer Reading -- Week One!

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:04:25 -0500

Hello, friends! Summer reading have officially been open for a week at my library, and it has been off to a great start! My dear, dear friend Abby from Abby (the) Librarian has been posting a weekly review of her summer reading program, and I am SO on board!

My very messy Youth Services desk.

In Abby’s first post, she talked about registration and what each child gets. So here’s my run-down:

1. Registration Card. You actually can’t see the registration card in this picture. You can see their Level Cards which are under the desk and right by the silver “To Be Updated” box. Registration cards have personal info on it, so I swap out a card with just their name for the teens to use to track their progress.

2. Reading Log. Kids in grades K-5th get the green reading log; teens in grades 6 and up get the blue log. Both track by hours read (two hours per level; five levels total) and look remarkably similar! Our pre-k readers get the yellow time logs (under the desk), and we also allow struggling readers the option of still using the “Read to Me” program instead of reading on their own.

3. Die-cut Shape. Everyone gets to pick a shape and a color. Then, they decorate those shapes and we put them up on the glass wall behind us. After every level, librarians put a sticker on their shape. After the whole summer, they can collect their die-cuts!

4. Bookmark. Everyone has a choice of which one they want.

5. Bags. Well, this is the first year where my teens aren’t getting bags. I really hate giving away plastic bags, especially since our library now sells reusable bags, but I see kids every year using their bags until they fall apart. So, for now, it’s worth it.

6. Stamp. If they want a stamp, they can get a stamp. Over the years, we’ve stamped their hands, their (give-away) books, their arms, their mom’s arms, their reading logs…I once had a kid (with permission) ask me to stamp the toe of his sneakers. Our kids really love stamps for whatever reason!

As of today, we have 149 kids and teens signed up in a week. I hate to say it, because I worry about jinxing myself, but our numbers are higher than compared with last year! Hooray! And, our kids are STILL IN SCHOOL. Four more days left for them!

Next week I’ll be back to talk about progress, volunteer training (which is today!), and I promise to post a picture of my own reading log.

Legos!!The kids made a rocket ship, hospital, castle, jail, and...

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:01:00 -0500

Legos!!The kids made a rocket ship, hospital, castle, jail, and a pizzeria. This was one of the best programs ever. Anyone else got Lego library creations to share?

Weekly Link Round-Up (5/22-5/27)

Sat, 28 May 2011 10:00:06 -0500

Sunday, 5/22 — “Series Spotlight: Morganville Vampires” @ Book Blather

Started off the week with a spotlight on one of my favorite book series — the Morganville Vampires. I think this is one of the more interesting vampire series out there, and I fully think that everyone should know about it, especially if you’re a teen librarian.

Monday, 5/23 — “Purple” @ Storytime Katie

Finally finished posting up my color themes from my daycare storytime. Purple was, by far, the hardest storytime to find materials for.

Tuesday, 5/24 — “Teen Book Club Activity” @ Book Blather

It wound up being a kind of vampire theme week for my posts on Book Blather. I posted the most recent bookmark that my Teen Book Club created to put in the teen section to promote TBC books.

Wednesday, 5/25 — “Spring Animals!” @ Storytime Katie

A last minute storytime theme can spell disaster sometimes — fortunately, that wasn’t the case with this storytime! I changed my theme last minute and had one of the best storytimes of my career.

Took Thursday off of posting.

Friday, 5/27 — “Flannel Friday: Pretty Ladybugs” @ Storytime Katie

Made a super simple flannelboard, and played with cutting out letters using our Ellison die-cut machine!

Our summer reading program has started, so I don’t know if my amount of posting will increase…or decrease. Time will tell.

Photo

Sat, 21 May 2011 15:09:04 -0500

Weekly Link Round-Up

Sat, 21 May 2011 12:42:08 -0500

Sunday, 5/15 — “Goal: Printz Books” @ Book Blather

Started off the week with talking about my goal to read all the Printz winners and honor books. I don’t think that I’ll be done with this goal for a very, very long time.

Monday, 5/16 — “Bugs” @ Storytime Katie

Posted my afternoon storytime from two weeks ago. My 3-7 year olds loved this theme, and so did I. And it has the cutest firefly craft to boot.

Tuesday, 5/17 — “Please Ignore Vera Dietz” @ Book Blather

Tuesday, 5/17 — “Elephant and Piggie Pics” here on Tumblr

Double-post day! Posted my review of Printz Honor book, “Please Ignore Vera Dietz” on Book Blather and posted some Elephant and Piggie program pictures here on Tumblr.

Wednesday, 5/18 — “Blue” @ Storytime Katie

Got up my second-to-last colors storytime from my daycare session a couple of weeks ago. Next up, I plan on doing opposite pairs, inspired by Mel of Mel’s Desk.

Thursday, 5/17 — “(Amazing, Awesome) Day In the Life of a Librarian” here on Tumblr

On Thursday, I did storytime, a gaming program, and a school visit. On top of that, I managed to write a post detailing my day when I got home from work.

Friday, 5/20 — “Broadway Baby!” @ Book Blather

Friday, 5/20 — “Flannel Friday: Harold and the Purple Crayon” @ Storytime Katie

Friday, 5/20 — “Flannel Friday Round-Up” @ Storytime Katie

And my biggest posting day of the week — it was my turn to post on Book Blather for a “get to know your blogger” feature. I wrote about my incredible love of Broadway musicals. Then, on Storytime Katie, it was my week to host “Flannel Friday,” so I have not only my own contribution but links to everyone else’s posts.

Am getting ready for another stellar week of blog postings, and I’ll be back here (for sure) next week with another round-up!

(Amazing, Awesome) Day in the Life of a Librarian

Thu, 19 May 2011 20:01:08 -0500

I was originally going to do one of these posts yesterday and ran out of time, and I wasn’t going to do one today — but today was one of those days where everything was *worth it,* and I kind of want to preserve it.

9:05 a.m. - Arrive at library. I am always late, roughly by five minutes. Turn on computers, and lights. Go through notes from staff regarding yesterday’s night shift. Check email. Answer a few emails regarding YALSA committees.

9:20-9:40 a.m. - Set-up storytime room; rehearse fingerplays, songs, and action rhymes. Make sure each place at the craft table has all the supplies. (My teens set up the craft tables for me at the end of yesterday’s “Gardening” program.)

9:40 a.m. - Greet storytime participants as they arrive. Put out puzzles, coloring pages, and set kids up on the literacy computer while we wait until five after the hour to go into the programming room.

10:05-10:45 a.m. - Storytime! Theme today was “clothes” and it was a really good storytime. Our last book was “Polly’s Pink Pajamas” and one of my little girls squealed, “That’s my FAVORITE book!”

10:45-11:00 a.m. - Clean up after storytime; talk with some parents about our next storytime break and reminding them about the summer reading program.

11:00 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. - Write up storytime summary, cut out fleece countries (for a display), sign up kids for programs, and file papers from inbox. Talk to assistant director about volunteers; have minor freak-out that I won’t be allowed to have teen volunteers. Tweet with other librarians about this; receive alternate plan from @crplteens on what I can do if this happens!

12:20-12:40 p.m. - Alternate between reading “School Library Journal,” newest “Publisher’s Weekly” and the special Royal Wedding “People” issue while on “break.” Take note that my break did not include food and did not include leaving the desk. I have so much to do for summer reading, I don’t think I’ve had a break in two weeks! [Not that I couldn’t take lunch/dinner, but I would rather work through the break than stress at home about stuff that isn’t done. My choice!]

12:40-12:50 p.m - Go downstairs to set up for “Games for Kids” and file away old magazines. Also bring up popsicle sticks to attach to butterfly puppets for tomorrow’s daycare storytime.

12:50 p.m. - Help patron find ladybug crafts for her preschool/daycare. Another patron eavesdrops and also requests the materials I recommend.

1:00-1:50 p.m. - Discuss with co-workers a myriad of things concerning summer reading: letters home to schools, bookmarks to cut and pass out, new spine labels for display books (so our pages can put them immediately back on the displays and my staff won’t have to go hunting for returned books), our giant summer reading display, and registration. Resolve almost all issues (except our giant display) before heading out for a school visit.

1:50 p.m. - Arrive for school visit. Sign in, and wait in the cafeteria for second graders to arrive.

2:00-2:35 p.m. - Talk to second graders about summer reading. Am very pleased to say that I did this without a script, without notes or anything, and did not say “um” once. I never thought sophomore English public speaking would pay off.

2:40-3:15 p.m. - Arrive back at the library. Begin pulling books, printing out my extension activities, and making up a take-home sheet for tomorrow’s daycare storytime. Our theme is “Up and Down” storytime. I’m going to do a small series of opposites storytimes until Summer Reading officially kicks off.

3:15-3:55 p.m. - Go downstairs with co-worker to work on the giant display. We are making a giant 3D world out of fleece, poster board, and stuffing. I am responsible for cutting out the countries while my co-worker assembles the water. Afterwards, she agrees to stay downstairs while I do my program to finish hot gluing the countries to the world.

3:55-4:45 p.m. - Collect kids for our “Games for Kids” program (K-3rd graders). Only start with 5 kids; end with 11 kids in attendance. (Small numbers, but it was a gorgeous day out.) The kids request Legos as their game choice, so we settle on the storytime rug for Lego building. And yes, I lay down on my stomach and build right alongside them.

4:45-5:00 p.m. - My co-worker brings down the library’s camera to take pictures of the kids’ creations. They have built a castle, a pizzeria, a rocketship, a jail, and a hospital. There have been elaborate robberies, injuries, pizza deliveries, and a lot of wonderful moments. I convince the kids to chase my co-worker around the room after she steals a “pile of money” (read: stack of green Legos) and to put her and her Lego character in jail. Best program ever!

5:00-5:36 p.m. - Clean up Legos (with the help of the kids!), tape popsicle sticks to butterfly puppets and set-up books and flannelboards for tomorrow’s storytime. Go home, happily exhausted.

Finally getting up some pictures from my “Elephant and...

Tue, 17 May 2011 18:26:11 -0500

Finally getting up some pictures from my “Elephant and Piggie” program. After reading three fabulous Elephant and Piggie books and playing some awesome games, the kids made Elephant and Piggie puppets. These are some of their amazing creations!

Weekly Link Round-Up

Sun, 15 May 2011 10:06:06 -0500

Sunday, 5/8 — “Royal Reads” @ Book Blather

A post containing mini-reviews of the princess books I read prior to the royal wedding, as well as a mini-booklist of other royal reads.

Monday, 5/9 — “Green Storytime” @ Storytime Katie

The fourth in my color series for my weekly daycare storytime.

Tuesday, 5/10 — “On Building a Teen Non-Fiction Collection” @ Book Blather

I wrote a post all about my efforts to try and revamp my library’s teen non-fiction collection over the past few years.

Wednesday, 5/11 — “Play and Pretend!” @ Storytime Katie

Regular weekly storytime, this time with books on play and pretend. Includes some of my very faves: “Knuffle Bunny” and “Not a Stick!” among others.

I took Thursday off. Heh.

Friday, 5/13 — “Olivia Storytime” @ ALSC Blog

Friday, 5/13 — “Flannel Friday: Olivia” @ Storytime Katie

Since it was time for my monthly ALSC post and it was also Flannel Friday, I tied the two posts together and focused both on my recent Olivia storytime.

I’ll be back next week with another round-up of my posts. And hopefully I’ll squeeze in a post on the Tumblr other than that, haha.

Teen Volunteers: Why I Want to Volunteer

Fri, 06 May 2011 12:13:34 -0500

I make my teens write why they want to volunteer on their apps. Here’s some gems:

“I would like to volunteer because I have a lot of free time. I would also like to volunteer because I like to help out and I like to be here. :D” - Evelyn

“I want to volunteer because I love to help people and I love to help the community every way I can.” - Brenda

“I have a lot of free time and I am willing to help out this whole summer vacation.” - Alejandra

“I love being at the library, mainly because there is nothing to do at home and my mom kicks me out of the house every now and then to send me to the library.” - Dulce

“I would like to be a volunteer because I like books and helping little kids or even teenagers see how awesome books are and reading is and how you get rewarded as time goes by. Now prizes, later in life, more money and better jobs. :D” - AnaMaria

“Because I like volunteering and helping kids.” - Alondra

“Because last year I enjoyed volunteering. It was fun.” - Juan

Awww, teens, I love you.

We did Life-Sized Candyland this past week for the K-3rd...

Mon, 02 May 2011 16:06:09 -0500

We did Life-Sized Candyland this past week for the K-3rd graders. (Although, I had a lot of older siblings and some younger ones that couldn’t resist playing as a “team.”)

Basic Stats: 26 kids, 5 adults, cost of program — $12.(I bought the styrofoam discs and wooden dowels to make the lollipops. Everything else was on hand at the library or borrowed from staff members’ Christmas decorations.)

This was a HUGE success.

My fairy tale display that I did this past month up in the YA...

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:42:39 -0500

My fairy tale display that I did this past month up in the YA section. I am in love with this display and so are all my teens!

It’s been a quiet few weeks on my Tumblr, but a BUSY few...

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:19:20 -0500

It’s been a quiet few weeks on my Tumblr, but a BUSY few weeks at the library. In the past few weeks, I’ve done EIGHT programs. (I am tired, but SO very happy.)

But today is Operation Teen Book Drop!! I made three drop points in and around the library. (My third drop points has my Teen Craft participants in it, fighting over the books, so I can’t post pictures of it.) Find out more information here.

This our library’s display for Snapshot Day! The adult...

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:29:00 -0500

This our library’s display for Snapshot Day! The adult department handled the signs (except for the “Bunny Stories” one which I insisted on doing myself), and the youth department made the AWESOME AWE-INSPIRING 3D camera on top. I am so proud of my department.

[And for those who don’t know — Snapshot Day is an Illinois library initiative for libraries to record their days by taking pictures and hosting programs, basically advocating for library services. You can find out more information about it, if you want to, here.]

We love Kelly Day! So, our dear friend Kelly of Stacked has...

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:49:16 -0500

We love Kelly Day!

So, our dear friend Kelly of Stacked has been going through SUCH a rough time because of Wisconsin politics, we desperately wanted to do something to cheer her up.

I first got to know Kelly when we followed each other on Twitter. This fall, she had to take over storytime and sent out a call for help. I emailed her some files about storytime and we bonded over our mutual love of my friend Sarah’s storytime blog.

We met at ALA Annual this year, and Kelly is just as amazing in person as she is online. She is so passionate about teens and books, and she is such an inspiration. I know how valued she is in her community by her patrons (especially her sweet storytime kids and her amazing teen volunteers and book club members). So, help us in sending Kelly some love this week!

How my kids and teens show me love at work is by giving coloring pages to me. I had to do the same for Kelly!

Love,

Abby of Abby the Librarian

Angie of Fat Girl, Reading

Drea of Book Blather

Jen and Kim (who co-blog with Kelly at Stacked)

Sarah of GreenBeanTeenQueen

Sarah of YA Librarian Tales

and me!

(Also, if you want the Kelly coloring page, I would be happy to email it to you!)

My amazing Teen Book Club decided during our discussion of E....

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:25:12 -0500

My amazing Teen Book Club decided during our discussion of E. Lockhart’s amazing book, “The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks,” that they wanted to describe her in one way (or…almost one word) and make a bookmark to advertise the book. These are their words. (And the bookmark I made and put in the library’s copy of Frankie — just returned tonight.

Reference Questions: What Did They Mean?

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 13:52:38 -0500

Because it’s a relatively slow Saturday at the library — here is exactly what happened in terms of reference questions.

1. “Do you have books about dead teachers?” [After a pretty long reference interview, I established some more facts: teacher might have been hidden under the desk, book is definitely for kids. Patron cannot remember title, author, color of book cover, any character names…I am stumped. I offer “My Weird School” and “Wayside Stories” thinking that there might be something akin to this in those books.]

2. “I need help finding books about the sun.” [And that’s exactly what he needed. Checked out four books.]

3. “Do you have books on World War II?” [Patron didn’t have anything specific in his request, so I asked if he had a topic. He didn’t; just wanted the section. Showed him the section, told him if he had a more specific request to come back and ask because I could find it for him. Ten minutes later, he wanted books about World War II weaponry. Checked out three books. (Win!)]

4. “I need help with my homework.” [Patron needed a before, during, and after picture of the Great Chicago Fire. After I finished that, she asked to see where the books were. Another two books checked.]

5. “Do you have the book Short Life of Bree?” [Immediately knew she meant “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner” by Stephenie Meyer. And I had hoped that the Twilight trend was over. Boo.]

6. “Where are the books on Venezuela?” [Simple, direct, the best kind of reference question.]

7. “Do you have books about the heart?” [Patron actually needed books about the heart and the circulatory system, specifically about heart rate and monitoring it. We checked the indexes of several books before finding a few that were perfect.

8. “Do you have any Halloween books?” [Young patron, so started off with asking if it was a true book or a story book. Story book. Showed her our holiday section, as well as the holiday sticker (the only genre-ing we do!) to help her find it. Then, she asks for a book about two monsters. She couldn’t remember anything about the monsters, so I wound up showing her Ed Emberley’s books. Then, she told me that it was for school because her teacher lost her copy and needs it for the class on Monday. After a long story about the first time the teacher read it, it is revealed that one of the monsters is “the green guy with the things on his head.” After showing her all the Frankenstein books, she tells me that a vampire was there too. I wind up searching “Frankenstein, vampire, picture book” in Google and I got “Dracula and Frankenstein Are Friends.” It’s her book, and we have it. She immediately checks it out, as well as the Emberley books! Five books total.]

Characters Asked for: Barney, Dora, Disney Princess, Disney Fairies, Spongebob, Babymouse, Bad Kitty, Justin Bieber (what? he counts as a character!), Elephant and Piggie.

Movies requested: “The Princess Diaries,” “The Princess Diaries 2,” “Iron Man 2,” “Charlotte’s Web.”

In short, a pretty slow day for my department, but I’m pretty proud of the Dracula and Frankenstein victory. Still don’t know what the patron with the dead teacher requested wanted…

ALA Elections

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:06:24 -0500

Since elections started yesterday, and I’ve already heard of some ballots being received today, I figured I better go ahead and tell you about my friends who are running for positions!

Printz Committee

Sarah Bean Thompson

(@greenbeanblog // GreenBeanTeenQueen)

I’ve known Sarah for years now. We first starting talking online back in 2009, and finally met up at ALA’s Annual Conference in 2010. Sarah is incredibly dedicated to YA teens and books, and I have absolutely no doubt in mind that she would refresh and revitalize the Printz Committee with her passion and dedication. And if you’re still not convinced, Sarah also wrote up a little introduction if you don’t already know her!

-Who are you? I’m Sarah and I blog at GreenBeanTeenQueen. In addition to blogging I work as a young adult librarian. I get to create and run programs, talk to teens, share great books, make booklists and displays-it’s pretty awesome!

-Why should you be on the Printz Commitee?

I really believe in the power of books. I love books! In fact my first word was ‘book’ - (not kidding!) I think books can change lives, they can take you to new places, they can help you explore things you might not otherwise, and they can be a way to help you deal with life or can be a way to relax. I think award books can and need to be all of these things. As a committee member, it’s your job to seek out the best books for young adults. This is not only to promote YA to adults, but to promote YA to teens themselves. I want to find the best example of YA that says “this is why YA is written.” I want to find a book that reflects the power of books and reflects why it is I am proud to work as a young adult librarian. I want to find a book that not only has librarians reading and talking about it but has teens reading and talking about it. The Printz committee is a way to share the best books for young adults and choose what books will be a representation of the young adult genre as well as young adult librarianship. And I want to pick books that we can all be proud of.

Excellence in Non-Fiction

Angie Manfredi

(@misskubelik // Fat Girl, Reading)

Jen Rothschild

(@kidsilkhaze // Biblio File & Library Noise)

Another case of knowing both these fabulous women online (though…I mostly just stalked their blogs), and finally meeting them at ALA Midwinter in San Diego this year. I adore both of their blogs and they both have INCREDIBLE experience in judging books for committee work. (Angie just finished the Morris Committee this past year among a myriad of other accomplishments, and Jen judged three years of the CYBILS in the non-fiction category.)

Jen wrote an excellent post about her candidacy, which I am stealing a paragraph from:

“This is an exciting time to be a fan of nonfiction for young adults. In the last few years we’ve seen an explosion of titles coming out— both original work and young reader editions of adult titles. As with any publishing boom, there exists considerable variation in the quality of titles coming out. I am excited about the opportunity to serve YALSA and help honor the best titles for teens in this field. Long time readers of this blog know that I am a voracious reader, not only in terms of quantity but also genre and age-range. I love reading broadly in a field to help pick out the best titles. I love discussing and debating titles with other people just as passionate about this as I am. I feel my professional, educational, and life experience will make me a valuable asset to this committee.”

And I am assured that Angie is working on her post — which I will also link up to once it goes live.

So, now you know who I’m voting for. Keep an eye out for election ballots to appear in your email!