2013 Book Blurt Review

Most Read Book Blurt of 2013


First Book Blurt of 2013

 
Last Book Blurt of 2013

 
My Favorite Book of 2013

3D Printing: Guess What We Just Got!?!?

At the beginning of last year, I put up a post about 3D Printing. Now, I'm so excited to say that the Community Library Network actually has a 3D Printer!!

As I mentioned in our Cardboard Robots post, the Community Library Network has been a part of a Makerspace pilot project with the Idaho Commission for Libraries. The final piece of this pilot was each library (or network) taking home a 3D Printer to call their own.

Now, there are a lot of different 3D Printer models, and there are also a ton of 3D Printer vendors. For our printers, the Commission decided to contract with an open-source building community called RepRap, and more specifically a Boise shop called the Reuseum.

RepRap is based on the idea of self-replicating manufacturing machines. So, each of our printers was hand-made, and many of the elements were actually printed on another 3D printer. Pretty cool, right?

Obviously there are multiple ways of manufacturing things using 3D Printers, and some of the industrial grade operate slightly different than ours. But, ours basically melts a plastic filament and then uses a nozzle to lay it back down layer after layer until a physical object is created.

Feel free to check out the video, or join us for our 3D Printer Demos we'll be doing to start off the new year =D

Our Hunger Games: Catching Fire Party

With the success of our Hunger Games Party last year, we couldn't resist doing a follow-up event when Catching Fire came out =D We featured some different activities, had a ton of people come down, and had a grand-old time. For those keeping score, many of my ideas came from the pins on my Pinterest Board, Hunger Games Party!!

Find Your Hunger Games Name

We wouldn't be able to start our event without knowing who we were, so we figured out what our "Hunger Games" names would be. We used one of those templates where you take pieces of your own name, throw in some funny sounding words, and wind up with a unique nomenclature. I'm Senpetra M. Standoak if you're wondering, and we used this picture from CatchMyParty as our template.

District Emblems

After we had our names we chose our district emblems. Bouncing by Michael's I found some small wooden discs we used as a back, printed out these district emblems, and then mod podged them together. Our finishing touch was self-adhesive clasps (that I also found at Michael's). This activity was inspired by g*rated.

Sustenance

Our tributes wouldn't have lasted long without some sustenance, so we had a crackers, cheese, and fruit spread,  served Arizona Iced Tea (because its delicious and seemed like a modern way to survive when you need energy lol), and also decorated Camouflage Cookies (granted, Peeta does more camouflaging in the first book, but the Morphlings do it in the second book, so I figured we were still legit).

DIY Bow and Arrows 

Once our introductions were out of the way, it was time for weapons training. One of our teen
members does some Live-Action Roll Playing (LARPing) in Spokane, WA, and he wanted to demonstrate the safety bow and arrows they use during combat. After his demonstration, we gave tributes a chance to make their own.

Inspired by this blog post from Sophie's World, we wound up using CPVC pipe I purchased at Lowe's for the bows themselves, and used bamboo stakes as the arrows. I was planning on using the bamboo for the bows, but they were too brittle. If you're going to do this activity, I would suggest using some of the elements from this Instructables (like cutting notches in the pipe to hold the string better).

The Arena

Finally, we actually had our tributes turn their skill and wiles against each other. Now don't panic too much. We didn't actually fight each other. We modified a game of Assassin to give it a more Hunger Games feel. We had everyone write a number on a piece of paper, and then they wore that number on a name tag. Every tribute drew a number that someone else wrote down, and that was the target they were tying to eliminate. As soon as they eliminated their target, they moved onto the tribute their target was targeting.

Instead of using Nerf weapons, we had everyone wear a construction paper bracelet secured with a single piece of tape. You eliminated your target by removing their bracelet (without touching any part of your target besides their bracelet, which leveled the playing field nicely). In keeping with the Hunger Games, after several eliminations we changed the rules so you could target anyone, not just the number you were assigned.

Mockingjay

I'm wondering what kind of fun we can have for the Mockingjay Pt. 1 debut...hhmmmm...

Blaze: Reputation Up In Flames

Blaze (or Love in the Time of Supervillains) by Laurie Boyle Crompton

Why did I read it?

I knew it was going to be chick lit (which I try to read every once in a while because its not what I normally read), but I figured I'd read this particular chick lit novel because it featured some geeky comic book stuff as well =D

What happened?

Blaze has been sacrificing her normal teenage life of going to the mall and having boyfriends since her Dad left her Mom, and she's ready for a change. Especially if that change came in the form of the nearly perfect, beautiful, and popular Mark (her younger brother's soccer coach), taking an interest in her. She might even consider changing her Super Virgin status...

And to Blaze's own turd-brown van driving, comic-book drawing self's amazement, Mark actually does go out with her. But, it isn't the happily-ever-after she imagined it would be. When  circumstances in and out of her control go completely sideways, Blaze finds her life turned completely upside-down, out of control, and her reputation smashed to smithereens.

Maybe what Blaze needs is a hero...or maybe she needs a chance to rise like a phoenix from the ashes...or maybe she just needs a chance to settle things with her Dad once and for all...or maybe she could just erase everything that happened (if only life was more like a comic book)...

What did I like or not like?

I was expecting chick lit, but I wasn't expecting to like the characters as much as I wound up liking them. Things do keep going from bad to worse, but Blaze is able to mostly keep her wits about her, and learns some interesting things along the way.

I also appreciated all the geeky, nerdy comic-book and fan-fiction references and conversations. Blaze has to deal with some intense stuff, but her juxtaposition of comic characters' problems and issues makes the novel lighter and easier to relate to.

P.S. This one has some cussing and sexual content.

OneTimeBox: Share Files with No Account

Sometimes I think that I am a terrible Web 2.0 user. In a feigned attempt to protect my privacy, I don't let my browsers remember my passwords, and I don't have a dedicated device to call my own. For those reasons, if I want to send something on Dropbox, I have to remember my login. Now, that really isn't that big of a deal. But it is that one step that makes me wonder, could I just email this instead?

Now, Dropbox is legit, amazing, and works really, really well. But, sometimes you'd rather not sign-in, sign-up, or sync to get your file where you want it. Say hello to OneTimeBox. It's the concept of Dropbox or any other cloud storage sharing application, minus the login and account.

Go onto OneTimeBox, put up to 1GB of information into the box, and a link is created that you can share with anyone. Anyone you send it to also has the option to put more stuff into the box (which doesn't change the link), and the box will stay active for 1 week. Now, should you use this to backup your photo collection? Probably not. But, if you want to share something in a hurry, with no worry, this might be the answer.

Another cool thing about OneTimeBox is that it is open source, and operating under the MIT license. Just in case the concept of dropping your files into a random box scared you =D

Monster Bash: A Frightfully Good Time

What does a proximity to Halloween get you?? A fantastic Teen event called a Monster Bash lol.
Here are a couple of the things that we did to celebrate:

Decorations
Turns out that our dollar store had some fantastic things to terror-fill our library. Saw posters, bloody handprints, eyeballs floating in lemonade, and some disembodied ears worked nicely for us.

Costume Competition 
Ask your Teens to dress up and hand out prizes to all that participate, and then something special to the Teen voted best-dressed. If you don't think they will dress up, maybe have a station set up with t-shirts they can tear up, some creepy makeup, and some spray-on hair dye.

Creepy Photo Booth
Our dollar store was another treasure trove for this activity. Debilitated hands, a couple blades, masks, stuffed animals, some skeletons, and a boa rounded this one out. 

Zombie Tag
We've done this game at other events recently, but it just never gets old =D Have one or two people start as Zombies, complete with slow-moving feet, reaching hands, and the occasional growl, and when they tag a victim, that person is infected. Keep playing until only one human is left, and then that person is the Zombie for the next round.

YouTube Dance Fest
Finally, it wouldn't be a Monster Bash without the bash part, so we turned to the ever helpful YouTube. We got a sign-up sheet going around, and looked up the songs on YouTube (making sure that we looked for the clean versions on some of them lol). But a word of advice, nothing got the Teens dancing like looking up the Just Dance version. Luckily, many players have screen captured their records on YouTube (AverageAsianDude being one of them). This way, anybody that wants to can dance all at the same time instead of waiting for the controller. Good times!!
 

The Prey: Refuge or Prison

The Prey by Andrew Fukuda

Why did I read it?

Because I really, really liked The Hunt, and I was on a library trip to Boise so I had some time to fill.

What happened?

SPOILER ALERT

The heper hunt did not go as Gene had anticipated. Now he is on the run, surrounded by the uncivilized 'hepers' he was supposed to be hunting, with hunters thirsting for his blood on the shores of the rivers, and no idea how he is going to survive in The Vast.

But, things start to take a turn for the better when they find a secluded heper sanctuary in the mountains surrounding The Vast. Initially surprised by an entire village of others like them, Gene and Sissy, one of the hepers he helped escape, start to feel better about their chances of survival. Until they start to realize that things aren't as they should be. Rigid community rules, harsh punishments, a feeling of uneasiness, and a complete lack of anybody but young girls and controlling elders has Gene and Sissy worried.

Not comfortable with this 'haven' they have found, Gene and Sissy start to long for the land 'flowing with milk and honey' that they had both been told about by Gene's father. But, leaving the 'haven' might not be as easy as they think, and the supposed safety from the hunters may be merely an illusion...

What did I like or not like?

This book picks up just where The Hunt left off and does an amazing job continuing the story. We are offered some revelations of how the world got to this place, but still have many questions that need to be answered in The Trap, which is coming out soon. While I surmised what was going on, Fukuda keeps the story interesting with complex characters, interesting circumstances, and difficult challenges that keep you turning the pages.
 

Scratch: Build your Own Game, Story, or Animation

Similarly to last week's post, I got this idea from that Makerspace project I've been doing with the Idaho Commission for Libraries. One of my fellow Makerspace buddies mentioned a website called Scratch, and I had to check it out.

Basically, its another opportunity to teach kids to code in a sneaky way. Scratch is an online platform that allows kids, teens, and adults to create their own games, stories, or animations. Rather than using an HTML text editor, Scratch uses a visual system to let people code. Think of it like puzzle pieces that you add and attach together to make characters and backgrounds move and interact.

I made two projects a little while ago. Dance Party has some characters that move around, and When a Bird Flies lets you fly a bird toward a destination. Now, these seem super simple, but I don't have very much coding experience, so getting an avatar to do anything was an accomplishment for me lol. But, the cool thing is that Scratch can be used for the super simple, or the ridiculously complex. I even found a 2D version of Minecraft on Scratch!!

Another cool aspect of Scratch is that it lets you view how other people made their projects work, and then start to remix them. So not only does Scratch give you first-hand experience dealing with critical thinking and problem solving, it also lets you learn from what others have done. Scratch won't teach you C+ or anything, but its a simple, fun way to get some coding experience or to make your own game.
 

Cardboard Robots: A Fantastic MakerSpace Idea

So I've been involved with a pilot project with the Idaho Commission for Libraries dealing with the concept of a Makerspace. In its simplest form, a Makerspace is an area (either temporary or stable) where human beings (anybody and everybody) are encouraged to build whatever they want (with stuff provided for them, or stuff that they bring).

Many of our programs have a Makerspace feel to them (we're building stuff without too many instructions lol), but our most recent program, Cardboard Robots, was birthed out of the Makerspace idea. Take a look at this video about Caine's Arcade, and you'll see why we got so excited to participate in the Global Cardboard Challenge.

So, those are the ideas behind our little event, but how do you do it? We gathered up the supplies below, laid it all out on two tables, and let the kids go crazy with it :) It was a great event, and a ton of fun!!

Recycled Boxes (Cereal, pudding, crackers, noodles, etc.)
Tissue Paper Rolls
Robot Clipart
Buttons
Bottle Caps
Aluminum Foil
Packing Tape
Stapler
Gluesticks
Hot Glue (for those really annoying things that refuse to stick)

The Hunt: Hiding Among Hunters

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda 

Why did I read it?

In the past, my boss has mentioned that she doesn't like violent books, but her current love of young adult dystopian novels, which he really wants me to read, would suggest otherwise hehe.

What happened?

Gene is your typical teenage kid; he'd rather not be in the spotlight, and he'd rather not stick out. But, for Gene, it is a matter of survival. See, he is not like everyone around him. Everyone else has sharp fangs, heightened senses, and an insatiable thirst for 'heper' blood. Even though Gene looks just like them, even wearing a set of fake fangs, he would be ripped to shreds within a minute if 'people' knew the truth.

So, when Gene is selected for The Heper Hunt, a rare opportunity to hunt down and feast on the flesh of the last remaining hepers on earth, he is less than ecstatic. How is he supposed to stay on the down-low if every eye at The Institution is thirsting and craving for fresh heper flesh? Especially since most 'people' weren't chosen for the honor of participating in the hunt, and have an even higher lust for a fresh heper...

And then there are the 'hepers' about to be hunted. While Gene would like to think he is somehow separate from them, having lived with civilized 'people,' things might not be at all what they seem.

What did I like or not like?

Have you ever noticed that many dystopian books read the same? Now, don't get me wrong! I absolutely love this genre. Young people trapped in an unfair world are forced to accomplish some goal for the betterment of society; no matter the cost!

This one has all those great, essential elements, but a human is surrounded by vampires ready to devour him at the slightest slip-up, and consequently, this is just a fantastic, chilling, suspenseful read.

P.S. Just like The Testing, I'm definitely going to finish this series. In fact, what is this book in my bag that I brought to the Idaho Library Association Annual Conference? Oh yeah, its The Prey, the second one in the series lol.

Zinio: Best Magazines, Digital Format

Typically speaking, I don't read a ton of magazines. Typically speaking again, the times that I do are when I'm waiting for an appointment to start, or when I have some time to kill at the library and my book is at home or something.

But, if those magazines that I browse through at the dentist's randomly showed up in my email's inbox, I might start to read them a little more lol. Basically, that is what Zinio has been doing for about 10 years apparently, and now the Community Library Network has got a subscription to their library service.

If you bounce over to our network's Zinio browsing page, you can see all the magazines that are free through our library's subscription. If you don't see one you're after, just let us know and we'll see if adding it might be an option.

When you find one you'd like, you can register with Zinio (with an email address, username, and password), and they'll notify you by email when a new issue comes out. Like the cool service that it is, your issues don't expire, and you can view them as often as you like. Another nice piece of this service is that you can either read it online or offline on your computer, iDevice, or Android. That means you can read it whenever you want to, wherever you want to, on whatever you want to.

So the next time you need Car and Driver, Billboard, or US Weekly, sign up with Zinio and get it for free!

Life-Sized Angry Birds: A Video Game Comes to Life!!

Has anyone ever played Angry Birds? Rhetorical question, right? lol. But, have you ever tried Life-Sized Angry Birds?? Its a ton of fun, just like the digital counterpart, and I'd like to thank Morgan and Lucy at the Community Library Network at Post Falls for suggesting it =D

What you'll need:

• Slinghot 
• Plush Angry Birds
• Cardboard Boxes, Oatmeal Containers, etc.
• Optional: Green balloons with painted pig faces

The slingshot that we used was a three-person water balloon launcher. The larger slingshot was perfect for the plush angry birds that we had found.

The library goes through a lot of cardboard boxes as we send and receive books and such, so we just grabbed a few that we had and set them back up. We also found random things like oatmeal containers, and my boss's husband used to work at a Styrofoam plant, and he gave us some of the leftover pieces.

I divided our participants into two teams. One team would build a structure, the other team would knock it down, and then we would switch. Words of the wise; give the team building the structure a set time limit, and possibly have a minute to two-minute game that the other team can play while they wait (or maybe have some questions like, "what have you been reading this summer?").

A big part of the Angry Birds game is obviously the points, but I couldn't figure out a legit way to make that happen in real life. But, if you do, let me know. While we didn't have points, the kids had a great time building things up and knocking them down.

The Testing: What If the Tests are Deadly?

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau 

Why did I read it?

Because Miss Karen compared it to a combination of The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and Divergent...nuf said. 

What happened?

Cia Vale has always wanted to attend The University. To be counted among the chosen few destined to rebuild the war-scarred world left after the Seven Stages War. She loves her family, and she has been successful helping her father and brothers revitalize the land surrounding her small colony. But, she has always hoped against hope that she would be chosen for The Testing upon graduation.

The Testing is the first step toward attending The University. Officials from Tosu City evaluate the merits of each school graduate, and invite the elite to participate in a series of tests. These tests determine who has true leadership potential and should therefore move onto The University. While no one has been chosen from her colony in many years, Cia is elated when she and three other graduates are chosen from her colony.

But, Cia's happiness quickly turns to concern when her father shares some of his worries. All Testing candidates do have their memories erased at the conclusion of the tests. But, Cia's father warns her that his fragmented memories and nightmares of The Testing contain unspeakable horror, death, and Testing candidates pitted against each other. With her expectations set on edge, Cia leaves all that she knows behind and heads toward whatever horror or honor The Testing contains...

What did I like or not like?

This book is really, really readable. You are immediately drawn into the characters and the world that Charbonneau has created. Just like Miss Karen promised, this book does contain similar elements to The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and Divergent. But, it is definitely its own story, complete with great characters, chilling action and consequences, and mystery.

Like most Young Adult novels published at this time, this one is the beginning of a series, and I'm definitely going to need to keep reading this story.

SleepCycle and Sleep as Android: Bio-Alarm Clocks on your Device

So does anyone else out there not have enough time to sleep? Well, that probably isn't the right question. Does anyone else out there not allow themselves enough time to sleep?

How much sleep you decide to deprive yourself of is your prerogative, but there are two apps that seem like they might help people like you and me. SleepCycle is the version for iPhone, and Sleep as Android is the one for the Android. Basically, these apps use your devices' accelerometer to track and measure your sleep cycles.

Not a big deal, right? Except that it knows when you are in your lightest sleep phase, and slowly wakes you up with soothing sounds or tunes during that time so it is easier to wake up. You might ask, "If it is going off of sleep cycles, won't it wake me up too late?" Not so much. You tell the app the absolute latest that you can get up, and it will wake you in your lightest phase as close to that time as possible.

Now, I haven't tried this app myself (as I only have a dumb phone and a Walkman), but I mentioned it to a friend who said it totally worked (and who really enjoys the wake-up sounds). I figure that I'll give it a go once I have a smart device because I wouldn't mind softly drifting into the land of the living instead of being forcefully extracted from my beauty sleep.

Gelatin Printing: Making Some Legit Posters

So I originally found this idea on Pinterest, but it comes from the blog of Cassie Stephens. Long story short, you make a batch of unflavored gelatin, you put ink on the gelatin, put some leaves on top of the ink, and when you put paper on top of that, you get a cool silhouette poster because the leaves don't let the ink get to some parts of the paper.

Originally I was going to do that exact idea, but then I started thinking that the participants might want to create their own silhouettes. So, I gave them some paper, stencils and scissors, and let them create the shapes we applied to the gelatin.

Cassie suggested a printmaking brayer to spread the ink, but we found we could also spread the ink using a ruler. You can obviously buy printing ink at a craft store, but we had library stamp replacement ink available, and that seemed to work.

P.S. When you are planning your shapes, be aware of their orientation. It'll wind up as an inverted image when it is applied to the paper, as our LIZARD poster attests to. The top image is what the poster looked like, and the bottom image is the shape we applied to the gelatin.

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong: Teen Sitcom Motifs

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong 
by Prudence Shen & Faith Erin Hicks

Why did I read it?

Because the synopsis was interesting, and graphic novels are quick reads when you need to read, but don't necessarily have a ton of time. 

What happened?

Charlie may be the captain of the basketball team, but he wasn't planning on running for class president or anything. But his ex-girlfriend has other plans. Charlie's best friend, Nathan, is running for class president to secure funds for his robotics team. But, Holly (Charlie's ex) would rather the money went to the cheerleader's new uniforms.

So, enter the cheerleaders running Charlie's presidential campaign (that he would rather not do), and enter Nathan starting a mud-slinging battle to end all mud-slinging battles. 

All things aside though, Charlie can't decide whether dealing with Nathan and Holly, or his workaholic father and absentee mother is worse. And things will probably get worse before they get better...

What did I like or not like?

This book has the run time and the plot line of an episode of your favorite teen sitcom. There isn't anything too intense going on, it doesn't take too long to read, and the characters don't go through any life-altering revelations or ah-ha moments. But, it was enjoyable to read, and the art was put together nicely and told the story well :)

You've got your classic jock versus geek, class president mud-slinging campaigns, and ditching the parents to boot. But who doesn't need a nice-looking graphic novel version of these motifs every once in a while?

Honest Trailers: (Not) The Only Website Keeping Movies Honest

So you know those blog posts about HISHE (How It Should Have Ended) and The Editing Room?? Those sites that makes fun of movies in such a way that we admit that our favorite movies have problems but we still don't get mad at the people making fun of them?? Well, I have another one for you:

Its called Honest Trailers, its put together by a YouTube team called Screen Junkies and its tagline is "Watch as your favorite horrible movies get reviewed, spoofed, and made fun of right before your very eyes."

The two that I watched were Star Trek and Independence Day (and now The Amazing Spider-Man as witnessed by my including it above), and all three were pretty hilarious. Now, we all know whats wrong with our favorite movies (which is why all three spoof sites have the same movies on them) but its still funny to admit it as you watch these trailers =D

Check em out!!

P.S. The only reason I chose Star Trek, Independence Day, and The Amazing Spider-Man to include in this post is because I really, really enjoy the movies, not because I actually dislike them. Just so we're clear.  

3 Ways to Make Paracord Survival Bracelets

So over the last couple years of doing programs, I've done Paracord Survival Bracelets a few times. Interestingly, each time I've used a different set of instructions. Now each one has their pros and cons, but I'm a huge fan of the most recent one I used. Check em out!!

1. Slide Release Buckle 

This was the first style that I used, but as it turns out, those slide buckles can be somewhat expensive. Noticing that, I just created a loop for the female end of the bracelet, and a big knot for the male end of the bracelet. This worked pretty well, but if the paracord stretches, the knot doesn't hold the bracelet together anymore. (I think this Instrutable has the best instructions for how to actually tie the cobra knots that make up your bracelet). 

2. Stretchable

When another Paracord program came up, I got really excited about this stretchable bracelet version. The basic idea is that you stretch it to get it on your hand instead of having a buckle or a knot. But, therein is also where we found the problem. The overall process of making the bracelet is the same, but to complete the bracelet you have to burn two ends of paracord together, and it isn't the easiest thing to do without burning yourself!! But, if you could keep your fingers from getting singed, this design could be really cool.

3. Loop and Knot: MY FAVE!!

Finally, at my most recent program I found this version, and it is my favorite by far. You still secure the bracelet with a loop and knot, but you have a length of cord that folds over and tightens the bracelet around your wrist. This makes it fit just the way you want it, without needing to buy any kind of fastener.

Zom-B: Whose the Bigger Monster??

Zom-B by Darren Shan

Why did I read it?

Shan has written a lot of books in this series, and one of the newest ones bounced across my desk this week. That and the short size of the book made me pick it up.

What happened?

Apparently, in a small town in Ireland, zombies attacked, condemning some to walk as the undead, and devouring the brains of others while they still lived.

But, B isn't necessarily convinced. Scared? Probably. In denial? Most likely. But, things at school will be the same (not worth much time), and things at home will be the same (a good thrashing for the smallest "supposed" infraction). 

So B keeps going on with life; terrorizing the younger classmates, joining Dad for some political meetings, and sleeping through lectures. But, B can't help but realize that there might be more truth than lies about the zombie thing, and that Dad's rantings might be more dangerous than B thought.

What did I like or not like?

As the title suggests, this book has some good, old-fashioned, bloody, gut-flying, scream-inducing zombie action. But, the build up to that point actually gets the majority of this first Zom-B installment.

Instead of focusing on the zombies, Shan focuses on what B realizes about hate, racism, bullying, and the monstrous side that has to be kept in check in all of us.

If blood and guts aren't your thing, than this probably isn't the book for you. But, Shan does a nice job of giving a fast-paced and exciting story that still has something to say.

Freegal: Free, Legal Music from Your Library

Have you ever tried to find "free" music online? Typically, you have to sign up for something you don't want, pirate the music from somebody, or get a bunch of free viruses instead of free music. But, I have a solution for you, as long as you have a library card =D

The solution is called Freegal, and its short for free, legal music, and that is exactly what it is.

First of all, Freegal, gives you access to the music of over 10,000 labels, most prominently Sony Music. Now, that doesn't mean it will have every song you could possibly want, but it does have a lot of them. In fact, I'm typically impressed with the amount of songs they actually do have.

Second of all, the music is completely free of cost (unless you are the library entity paying for the service which we already have) and DRM (digital rights management or that annoying thing that won't let you put YOUR music on multiple computers). Each song comes in MP3 format, and is super easy to download.

The only catch included is that each library card only gets 3 downloads a week. But, 3 free songs a week with no DRM, no cost, and no worry about spam or viruses?? Sign me up!! And actually that is the other nice thing. The only login is your library card number, and nothing else. So if you don't have a library card, get one, and if you do have one, start getting your free music.

P.S. Freegal will only work for those patrons that have a CIN (Cooperative Information Network) card, which pretty much covers the majority of Northern Idaho. There are a lot of other library systems that have Freegal, so if you aren't in North Idaho, check out your library and see if they offer the service as well.

Basketball Fun and Games

So I was originally going to do this post during the NCAA Final Four, and when that didn't happen I was going to do it during The NBA Finals, and when that didn't happen, I've decided to do it for Hoopfest.

Ball Toss

A basketball event wouldn't be a basketball event without a ball toss, and given the fun we had at our Football event, we definitely included it. This time, instead of knocking stuff off of a table, we were trying to land the balls inside of buckets. This wasn't as easy as it looked as the balls kept bouncing out.

Bouncing Polymer Balls

So I stole this Bouncing Polymer Balls recipe from About.com, and if we would have had more time to complete it, it probably would have worked. But, I wasn't as familiar with the recipe, so some of our bouncy balls came out more like sticky slime...but it was totally worth it. Basically you add borax dissolved in water to a glue and cornstarch mixture and knead it like crazy.

Bracket of Awesomeness

So I also borrowed this idea, this time from Air 1's Brant Hansen. Basically you create a bracket like most basketball tournaments, but instead of two basketball teams, you are pitting two awesome things against each other. Have your participants randomly populate your bracket with things that they think are awesome, and then vote as to which one moves onto the next round. Keep going until you have the awesomeness champion.

Death Cloud: A Thuthful and Exciting Young Sherlock

Death Cloud: Young Sherlock Holmes by Andrew Lane

Why did I read it?

Because Sherlock Holmes is awesome!! Whether its Robert Downey Jr., Benedict Cumberbatch, Arthur Conan Doyle's classics or Andrew Lane's clever prequels, the character is too awesome to pass up :)

What happened?

Fourteen year old Sherlock wasn't looking for trouble. He wasn't looking to put himself in danger's way. In fact, he was expecting a loathsome summer vacation living with his estranged relatives. But, that wasn't what he found. Near the Holmes Manor, two men die of mysterious symptoms reminiscent of the plague.

Assisted by a local street urchin named Matty, Sherlock begins investigating their strange deaths and realizes that they were not natural demises. But each time he gets closer to finding the truth, a strange man, referred to as the Baron, tries to stop him at any cost.

In order to survive, Sherlock will have to depend on the advice of his older brother, Mycroft, his resourceful American tutor Amyus Crowe, and his growing powers of deduction and logic.

What did I like or not like?

Because it felt like a feasible beginning to the Sherlock Holmes mythos. As Lane mentions in some interviews, Doyle didn't flesh out the childhood of his protagonist, but he did leave some clues. Lane uses these to write a compelling story of a Sherlock Holmes that is still discovering who he is and what he can do.

Apart from the clever and truthful adaptation, the story itself is solid, interesting, well-written, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys Sherlock Holmes, or just a good action-filled mystery.

Fotor: Awesome Full-Feature Photo Editing for Free

As I might have mentioned before, Netted by the Webbys is pretty cool. I get a daily email from them with cool websites and things to try. Sometimes the stuff doesn't apply to me, and sometimes you can only get the cool stuff on devices I don't have. But sometimes, they mention something that I really want to try, and Fotor is one of them =D

As the name might imply, this is another photo editing system. But, the cool thing is that it is available for Windows, Windows 8, Mac, Android, iPhone, and is also absolutely free. Typically the free systems want you to sign up for an account, but I just loaded it for Windows and it didn't require any login. You can share your creations via social media, but Fotor says that it doesn't store your account information.

The other part that was cool about it is the comprehensive nature of the program. Some freebies want you to purchase the upgrade to get all the features, but Fotor seems to have everything you need absolutely free. I've just played with one photo (original on the left, Fotor version on the top), but I was impressed with the amount of things you could do.

In addition to the normal stuff like filters, frames, crop, straighten, and tilt, you can also do photo cards and collages. One other cool thing is the HDR (High Dynamic Range) feature. Basically, you take photos at different exposures and Fotor combines them into a photo that has the perfect exposure for those nasty shadows or over-exposed areas.

But don't take my word for it. Try it yourself...for free!!

Bake Chocolate-Chip Cookies =D

Even though our cooking programs are some of our best attended programs, they kinda sorta freak
me out sometimes. I'm always stressing about what things kids will enjoy cooking, what they will be able to cook, and ultimately where I'm going to get the recipes.

But, making chocolate-chip cookies just made sense and the kids had a really good time with it. I used a family recipe for Chocolate-Chip/Butterscotch Cookies (message me if you'd like it), and I'm sure each of you have your favorite chocolate-chip recipe that you could use.

The nice thing about this program is that it gets kids excited about making the goodies, and also gets them excited about the program in general because they get to eat cookies.

Finally, another benefit is if you have any leftovers (you'll probably have to fight the kids off with a stick) you can create some nice thank-yous for other staff members or departments.

If you decide to do this program I have two suggestions: (1) Bring a stand mixer (as the dough might be too thick for the kids to stir) and (2) break up each of the ingredients into smaller increments so all the participants can actually participate.

Have fun!!

National Poetry Month Website Fun!!

In addition to poetry games and activities, there are plenty of poetry things to do online as well. Two of them already have a blog post of their own (Wordle and Tagxedo), so I'm going to focus on two other sites that I found. 

Online Magnetic Poetry

Have you ever tried magnetic poetry? You have a bunch of words on tiny magnets and you string them together to make an artistic masterpiece? Well, this website lets you try that same concept without having to buy anything (except they mention a physical poetry could be yours if the price is right). You have the option of dragging countless words onto a digital magnet board and then emailing the creation to yourself or friends. Its cool!!

Poetry Mad Libs

Ever tried Mad Libs before? You have a story that is mostly written, just devoid of a few words. All you have to do is plug in some random words and read the story. The only catch is that you haven't read the story before you plug in the words, so it makes for some fantastically hilarious sentences. This website has a poetry mad lib section, along with some popular songs that can be sssooo funny!

National Poetry Month Games and Activities

It turns out that every April is National Poetry Month. Who knew right? (Except all of those librarians, educators, and poets who probably initiated the idea hehe). Well, we just did a Teen Poetry Fun Night on Saturday, and I wanted to share some of the ideas =D

Book Spine Poems
While this idea is super easy, it is also super cool! Find some interesting book titles, and line up the book spines on top of each other to make poems. The possibilities are endless ;)

Similes
Does anyone remember the Similes game that was played in Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol? Basically, the gamemaster begins a simile (As tough as...) and a participant has to finish the simile with the tried and true (...nails), or something completely original (...the Borg). I found a huge list of common similes on this website.

Redacted Poems

Instead of creating something brand new by writing a poem, how about recycling something by creating a redacted poem? Find an old book, magazine article, or print something off of the internet, and then erase all the words you don't want in your poem.

We were also thinking of playing a rhyme game where one person says a word and you go around the circle trying to rhyme with it. Another thing to try is giving everyone two minutes to write the funniest poem, or the most serious poem, or the most random poem. Have fun with it!

Meanwhile: A Novel That Lets You Decide

Meanwhile by Jason Shiga

Why did I read it?

It was suggested to me at a reader's advisory workshop last year, and I happened to see it on the shelf yesterday. 

What happened?

Jimmy walks into an ice cream shop and has the choice of vanilla or chocolate ice cream. Sounds like the beginning of a normal book, right? Wrong! Have you ever read a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure novel? Well, this one is just like that...just on steroids and in graphic novel form.

Shiga pretty much gives you complete control of what happens in this novel. If you choose chocolate, then you follow the pipes to another page, where you will be faced with another choice. Each choice you make will decide whether or not Jimmy will wind up at home, with a stomach ache, attacked by a crazy ice cream shop owner,  traveling ten minutes into the past, or destroying the entire human race!

What did I like or not like?

Needless to say, this book is super cool. The design of the novel itself is ingenuitive as the pictures run vertical, horizontal, backwards, forwards, and up and down, and you jump from a page in the back to a page in the front to a page in the middle and back again as you continue to make choices.

Apparently, there are 3, 856 story possibilities, and as I've only figured out two of them so far, I'm going to hang onto the book for a little while (that is, if I can pry it out of the hands of my little brother hehe).

Code.org: Why Don't We Learn To Code?

Code.org is an initiative to get more people aware of the importance of computer programming. The basic idea is that the ability to make a computer do what you want it to do, instead of just using what other people have got it to do, is very powerful.

In fact, there are more computer science jobs than there are students training for them. Because of that, computer science is a huge opportunity for our future. But, there aren't that many students, teachers, or schools that are aware of that fact. So, throw the creators of Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, Dropbox, Valve, Zappos, and a couple celebrities in front of a camera, and you have the makings of a cool video and a cool initiative.

In addition to stats about computer jobs and the lack of people heading toward them, Code.org links to other sites that will start to teach you how to code. These links include Scratch, Codeacademy, Khan Academy, and CodeHS. Code.org also assembles some teacher resources for us.

If you'd like a better idea of what it is all about, you can check out the video =D

Promotion and Programming: What they Didn't Teach in Library School

On a listserv I'm a part of, a young adult librarian named Rebecca Denham asked other librarians to guest blog posts for her, and she posted mine =D


Now, I was kind of under the gun to finish it (as I was already at the library a half hour longer than I was supposed to be, and because I had spaced that I was supposed to write a blog post because of how many program I had that week), so she thankfully edited what I said into a nice post.

So, this is what I sent over to her, and you can click Lunanshee's Lunacy, to see how she adapted it to her blog :)

Promotion & Programming: How do we keep this crazy ball rolling?

For those that have been paying attention to these guest posts, you might have noticed that mine came out a little bit late. Ironically, I got caught in the tidal wave of programs this week, and completely spaced that I was the guest blogger. My bad!

Now before I start giving my ideas, please know that I have absolutely no answers for you. I click on pretty much anything that has promotion and programming ideas in the title or tags. But, even though I get some ideas from these posts, it still doesn’t solve the quintessential problem; how do I ensure that my programs are vibrant, engaging, and growing? 

Short answer: I believe that each library, each program librarian, and each individual program will have a very different answer to that quintessential problem, so just keep working on that perfect combination, and then keep mixing so it stays awesome. 

Program Ideas

Narrow it down

Sometimes I’m overwhelmed with the sheer amount of programs that I have to plan. How am I going to fill a weekly hour-long program?!?! Try a rotating schedule of program types.

For older elementary and middle schoolers my rotation has looked like video/board games, science experiments, cooking, and crafts. 

For high school, it’s bounced from Next-Gen Advisory Team (our Teen Advisory Board) to TeenBookWorms (our book group) to movie nights to literacy special events like a Zombie Prom and Hunger Games Party. 

Try something new or steal it from someone else

What did you like as a kid? See if it would work for your group. Notice that Angry Birds is huge right now? Do Life-Size Angry Birds. Notice that you have absolutely no ideas? Go steal some from a Pinterest board or a Google search and adapt them for your students.

Ask your peeps

It’s completely true that most people don’t know what they want until they see it. But, asking for input and letting your participants choose from a couple different options has worked for me. If they’re excited about it, they’re more than likely to come, right?

Program Promotion 

Don’t be discouraged 

Why is it that when you have enough time to do really good promotion (if you have the time) sometimes they show up and sometimes they don’t. What’s the trick here? I think its doing your job to the utmost and not being so concerned with the outcomes. There are bosses and boards that want amazing programs, high program attendance, and consistency. But, ultimately it’s up to your participants to come to a program.

Blast it all over

Everyone tells us that about 10% of the people you tell about a program will actually show up. If that’s the case, get your promotion onto social media, school newsletters, school newspapers, school video announcements, homeschool newsletters, email lists, text alerts, Foursquare, local business windows and bulletin boards, and obviously all over your library. 

Connect through outreach

But, while you’re doing all of that, don’t forget about connecting with people one on one. I can’t count the times that a program is saved from obscurity because one teacher got excited about it.

So, if you’re a school librarian talk to your public librarian, and if you’re a public librarian talk to your school librarian. Visit the PTAs at the schools. Say yes when a school asks you to read The Lorax at their next assembly. Visit that classroom with your science experiments, and keep following up with the After School group that likes you. Talk to that friend that has a son or daughter that could be coming to your fabulous program. See if a Youth Group will let you mention your programs during their game night.

You are the brand!

I’ve heard that libraries do absolutely nothing; librarians do. This blog post has been a little long-winded and babbly, but if it all boils down to something, your programs are awesome because you’re awesome. You are the brand that makes these programs work! So keep working, keep trying, and keep connecting.

About Nick Madsen

Nick Madsen is the Young Adult Librarian at the Community Library Network at Hayden. When he isn’t filling-in for a storytime, blowing things up, working on his MLIS (hopefully finishing this Fall) or chatting about everything or nothing after a program, you will most likely find him hanging out with family and friends, playing ultimate frisbee or basketball, ballroom dancing, or helping at his church. You can find him on Facebook as Nick Madsen or at Next-Gen Adults of the Community Library Network, on Twitter as @CLN4NextGen, or his library blog at cln4nextgen.blogspot.com.