It was a Success, It was a Failure

So, it’s not Friday. But, I missed posting on Friday because I had our Poetry Slam event last night, and I wanted to post after the event so I could tell you about it.

The event was a success and the event was a failure. The event was simple and the event was complex. The event taught me things and the event told me things I already knew. I’m starting to sound kind of poetic…maybe?

Anyways, there were things that we did well, and some things that didn’t work so well. Things that went well was the fact that young adults got a chance to share their poetry when they normally can’t, I decorated the room to give it a fun feel instead of just leaving bare walls, and we had some lemonade, chips, and candy to top it all off. But, the best thing was that young adults had a positive experience with their library.

At Teens and Technology 2011, I got the chance to speak with librarians who also work with young adults. It was really encouraging to see that I wasn’t the only one trying to get teen programs off of the ground. I found that they had similar struggles and successes. One of the things that we all found was that it’s hard to get the number of young adults that you want. A program with only 2 participants seems kind of sad (which is what happened at our Poetry Slam).

But, that is when we have to remind ourselves and others that young adult programming is an entirely different beast than serving other populations, and that if 1 young adult has a positive experience with their library, they might become library patrons and supporters for their entire lives. That means they will have more chances to be enlightened, supported, and aware of the information that is available to them. Even though higher participation is something to strive for, we can’t ignore the fact that our program was successful to the young adults that did come.

Although that is true, that doesn’t mean that we won’t try to do better. If a program is successful for 2 people, let’s try to get 10, and then 15, and then have some big events where we might get 45 or 50, or maybe even 100 people. The saying goes that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Even though small events are very often successful (and I will strive to make every library experience a positive one), I will also be looking for ways to have even more young adults experience and enjoy our events. If you have any ideas that would help, I am a listening ear, and if you want more babbling from my experience, I’m glad to share.

Hope you have a great Easter Weekend, and thanks for reading.

Its a Brother Thing...

Hows it going everybody?

So once again, this week has been crazy busy with work, school, and still trying to have some R&R, but I was able to read The Things a Brother Knows by Dana Reinhardt. This book is on YALSA’s 2011 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults, and I can see why. I got a chance to read it thanks to the Idaho Commission for Libraries. They awarded participants of Teens and Technology 2011 with the Top Ten Books, or with a digital photo frame. I had the photo frame from a previous workshop, so I got the books!

Anyways, Levi is a seventeen year old who has always lived under his brother’s shadow. Boaz (the older brother) was popular, athletic, and a brainiac. He could have chosen any college in the country. But, instead of going to college, Boaz went to war as a marine, and Levi still can’t understand that decision. Now, several years later, Boaz is returning from his tour of duty. Levi is excited about his return, but he can’t help but realize that not everything is fine and dandy. Boaz spends all of his time in his room, away from his family, and is constantly pouring over different routes toward Washington, D.C. So, when Boaz tells his parents that he’s going to hike the Appalachian Trail, Levi knows there’s something else really going on, and he’s going to be there for his brother whether Boaz wants him or not.

Although the plot sounds simple, this is a very powerful story. As Levi and Boaz begin to trust each other and built a relationship again, we are reminded that a man who has seen war will never be the same again. The characters talk about the pieces that have to be put back together after a soldier returns home. This book takes an honest look at one way a soldier and his family start to pick the pieces back up.

p.s. There are a few cuss words peppered throughout the story, including the f-word, and there is a half-page explanation of an encounter that goes a little beyond kissing. Even though that didn’t wreck the book for me, I thought you might want to know. I figure its best to be honest when it comes to what content is in a book.

Have a great week!

Whats in a Year?

How’s it going?

Apart from Ka-Boom on Monday, this week has basically been planning for future events. I had a weather theme for Ka-Boom this month, which meant we talked about rain, clouds, and made it snow in the library using Steve Spangler’s Insta-snow (the stuff it really cool by the way!).

But, the rest of the week was spent figuring out what my summer programs are going to look like. We’re going to be having a monthly teen program, and two weekly programs for Tweens. One will be Ka-Boom, and the other will be Tween summer reading where we will do games and crafts each week. We’ll get more into summer reading as we get closer.

As I think about our upcoming programs, I can’t help but think about the things I’ve been doing over the last year. About this time last April, I was just starting my YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Blogger pages. Since then, a lot of things have happened.

On YouTube, I’ve posted 13 videos ranging from a booktrailer on Rash to a Teen Read Week PSA, and 945 people have looked at my uploads! I was super excited when I looked at that number.

On Twitter, I’m following 215 profiles, ranging from libraries to marketing gurus, have tweeted 270 times, and have 103 people following my tweets.

On Facebook, I have 24 people who have liked my Next-Gen Adults of the Community Library Network page, and I have 173 people who have friended my work FB account.

Finally on Blogger, I have 70 posts, which are made up of Book Blurts and Weekly Updates, and 1,163 people have looked at my blog! And not only in this country either. I’ve had people from Russia, Germany, Brazil, Netherlands, Burundi, France, Canada, Malta, and Argentina take a look at what this young adult librarian from Hayden, Idaho babbles about.

If you are reading this, you are one of the numbers above who has been supporting my efforts as I build Next-Gen programming at the Community Library Network at Hayden, and I want to thank you over and over again for taking an interest in what I’m doing.

Well, I’ll be back again next week for more fun, and thank you again for connecting with me!

Three 7th Graders from the 7th Floor

Well, back in February, I was trying to find books that dealt with Valentine’s Day. There was a new book that had just gone by my desk called Sweet Treats & Secret Crushes by Lisa Greenwald, and it was exactly what I was looking for!

But, someone checked it out just as I wanted to get it. So, I waited for the book to come back and checked it out, but for the last two weeks, I’ve been busy with my senior research project for school. I’ve been tabulating the data I collected and figuring out how I’m going to present it to the Northwest Communication Association conference tomorrow, and needless to say, I haven’t had time to sit down and read it. But, over the last few nights, I’ve set aside some time to finish it up, and so here is my Book Blurt on it.

Olivia, Georgia, and Kate have been best friends for years. They are all thirteen-year old seventh graders who live on the seventh floor of the same New York apartment building. They all have plans for Valentine’s Day, until a freak snow storm puts the breaks on any and all plans. Now, most people would think a snow day would be awesome! But, these three girls had plans for how they would connect with their crushes on the most romantic day of the year, and now their plans are crushed. But, the three girls decide to use their snow day to friendly up their apartment building by passing out Chen’s famous fortune cookies to people in their building. The people they meet and the things they experience make for an interesting look at what love and friendship really looks like.

Through their day, Olivia, Georgia, and Kate deal with what it means to have a crush, what it means to be in love, and what the true power of a fortune can be. They also wrestle with what it means to be friends, and why you should keep the friends you have. The chapters rotate between each of the three girl’s telling the story from their own perspective, which keeps the storytelling fresh and interesting as we get different takes on similar events. The writing style can be pretty simple, but the story is very sweet, and I would think a perfect read for next Valentine’s Day.

In My Boss's Absence...

Happy Friday everyone! This week is one of the reasons I like to live in North Idaho. We had snow yesterday and a fifty-degree-sunny-day today. It’s kind of ridiculous, but it keeps things interesting. 

So Miss Karen is in Arizona at a Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) meeting, so I got to do some storytimes that I don’t normally get to do this week.

On Tuesday, I went down to Kootenai HeadStart, and read rain and wind stories to the kids. There are four classrooms that Karen visits, two in the morning and two in the afternoon, so I went to school in-between and did some stories on the ends.

Today was also the monthly visit from Noah’s Ark Learning Center, so I got to read some rain and wind stories again. But, this time, Miss Cassie shared some of her favorite weather books with me, and I read some awesome books based on her suggestions. My coworkers are amazing!

Also today, I sat in on the monthly Branch Managers meeting. Karen (her absence seems to be a theme this week hehe) is obviously the coordinator of Youth Services, and so she normally attends the meeting. But, when she’s away and there is still stuff to present from Youth Services, Miss Cassie and I have stepped up to the plate. I went this time because I also had a video idea to pitch to the managers. Be looking for a video similar to “Librarians on Vacation” coming out as we get closer to summer.

As far as upcoming programs go, we are having our Next-Gen Poetry Slam on April 22 at 6pm. If you aren’t familiar with Slam poetry, check out these two videos: The Most Amazing Slam Poet and Push. We are going to have three local judges, two categories (middle school, 6-8 grade, and high school, 9-12 grade), and cash prizes! Even if you don’t enjoy normal poetry, slam poetry is its own beast and shouldn’t be missed. Instead of just reading poetry, its about how you present it and getting the audience involved in your story. If you don’t want to perform a poem, at least join us for the evening. It will be a good time.

That’s about all I’ve got this week, so have a great weekend, and I’ll see you on Wednesday. 

P.S. There was a lack of Book Blurt because I’m getting toward the end of my senior research project, and tabulated a bunch of data takes a while. Sorry about not getting it out.

Airplanes killed the Web Log Post

Hello everyone!

So, it’s been a while since I’ve posted a weekly update. My Facebook page has been busy with links to blog posts and articles, but I haven’t actually written down what I’ve been doing because it’s been so busy. So, here we go.

The last two weeks began with a meeting with the Secondary School Librarians. It’s always great to find out what they are doing, and to inform them about our upcoming programs. School librarians are awesome!

In addition to meeting with the School Librarians, I also went into the schools to finish up the Atlas After School Academy. After creating slideshows on their partners, I had the guys split into two groups and create commercials. One group decided to do it on Beyblades (dueling tops basically) and the other group decided to do a comical commercial on Toxic Water and Toxic Band-Aids. I had a great time with the guys, and they seemed to have a great time as well. Getting the chance to be creative is always fun!

The end of that week caught me flying to Boise for the culmination of Teens and Technology 2011. It was my first time in an airplane, and it was my first time traveling for business. I thought that flying to Boise was a great way to break myself into traveling because it’s a short and easy flight. I find that I really enjoy flying (feels like a roller coaster), and the hotel was plenty nice.

The Idaho Commission for Libraries held regional workshops in February, and after we submitted our booktrailers and held our Teen Tech Week programs, we wanted to get together and discuss what worked and what didn’t work. In addition to brainstorming and discussing, there were also presentations from librarians. I presented on our Teen Film Festival and how we promoted it, another librarian spoke on adding videos to a card catalog, and another spoke on using a digital photo frame for promotion. The workshop was a lot of fun, and I find that I like business trips!

One of the reasons I didn’t put up a weekly update last week was because I had written a blog post for the Special Project Library Action Team. You can access it here. This was exciting because anyone can start their own blog, but it’s pretty cool to write for a collaboration blog read by people across the state.

After all my work with the ICfL, they wanted to feature me in their Youth Services newsletter, “The Scoop.” They had me fill out a profile and send in some pictures, and they wrote a cool article about me. You can read it here.

Sorry this is a little long, but it takes a while to write about two weeks. Hehe

Have a great week!