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!

Books with Beat!

Well hello again everybody. Another week has come and gone, and here we are on Friday again.

The life of a programming librarian can include many meetings, and this week started with one. I had a chance to sit down with the secondary education librarians from the Coeur d’ Alene school district. We chatted about the Hayden library’s upcoming October programs and ways to support each other and stay in contact. I love meetings when everybody is on the same page and want to move toward the same goal.

Wednesday brought the Inland Northwest Blood Center bus to the library. The bus has been coming to the library for the past two years, and staff members and patrons have consistently donated blood. This blood drive was the third time I’ve donated on the bus, and the first time I’ve had any problems. The donating went fine, the standing up afterward went fine, the walking to the back of the bus to eat some treats and drink some juice went fine. What didn’t go fine was a couple minutes later when all color literally ran from my face and a snowstorm was playing in front of my eyes. Turns out that donating blood on an empty stomach isn’t a good idea. This is something that I know, but didn’t practice this time. But, the blood center has a few units of my blood, and I have my color back.

Last week, I mentioned a few programs that were coming up in October, and I wanted to expound on them a little bit. Alysun Sanders, a graduate from Lake City High School, has published a book called “Talli’s Tale.” She is going to be at the library on October 15 from 6:30-7:30pm. Although she only has one book published, Alysun has enjoyed writing and telling stories for her entire life. She is going to be discussing being an author, getting published, and writing.

The next Friday, October 22, we are having Airband Awesomeness from 7:00-9:00pm. October 17-23 is Teen Read Week, a national event put on by the young adult arm (YALSA) of the American Library Association every year, and the theme this year is, “Books with Beat.” We were scratching our heads looking for a fun program, and Karen remembered something hilarious that she did when she was in high school. She told me about airband competitions that were held at her school, and I thought that we had to try it. So, pick a song, divide up the parts (vocals, drums, guitar, etc.), and come rock out with nothing but air. My thought is the more you put into it, the more fun it is going to be. So go all out with costumes, hair, makeup, and the style that the band plays in. If you can’t tell, I’m pretty excited about it.

Something else to do with Teen Read Week is the WrestleMania Reading Challenge. This is an event put on by YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association), Mattel, and WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). It involves students from grades 5-12 pledging to read five books between Teen Read Week and April 2011. It also involves students submitting a creative project about literary characters and WWE superstars. The grand prize is ring side seats to WrestleMania 27 in Atlanta! If you are interested come by the library to get the pledge and project sheets, and return them by October 25, 2010.

Don’t want to take up too much more of your time, so I’ll see you on Wednesday.

Technical Irony

Ever feel like there is too much to do, and not nearly enough time in which to do it? That is kind of what my week was like, and it isn’t over yet.

It started with a couple webinars that I decided to attend. The first one was on 24/7 book advisory. The webinar highlighted what other libraries did to get book suggestions into the hands of their patrons. It was really interesting. The next webinar was technically an online symposium, and it was about mobile devices. The presentation was supposed to be three hours long, and it consisted of different tech masters talking about the future of mobile devices. There was a panel of judges that asked questions on how these changes in the mobile universe will affect libraries. Turns out that even though we were talking about staying connected with mobile devices, the audio wasn’t reaching my computer. There is a little bit of irony for you. Luckily because I signed up for the symposium, they are going to send me a recording of it later. I like technology.

Another thing that took up a bunch of my time this week was submitting a video to the “Win $10,000 to your Idaho Nonprofit” contest. Consumer Financial Solutions was an Idaho Nonprofit that helped people with too much consumer debt. There have been several shifts and changes in the last decade, and the board of directors decided to dissolve the organization, and divide the assets among other Idaho nonprofit groups. Even though the Hayden Library isn’t a nonprofit, the Friends of the Kootenai Shoshone Area Libraries are a nonprofit group, so I submitted a video for them. The video was only allowed to be 30 seconds, but if you want to view it, it’s on my Youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/KSL4NextGen.

The video doesn’t have very much time, but the gist is that the Hayden Library wants to become the first Family Place Library in Idaho. The registration fee for that status is $10,000, so we figured it was perfect. “Family Place Libraries™ is a network of children's librarians nationwide who believe that literacy begins at birth, and that libraries can help build healthy communities by nourishing healthy families. The Family Place Libraries network currently includes more than 250 sites in 25 states and continues to grow,” according to http://www.familyplacelibraries.org/index.html. Our youth services staff already has this focus in mind, and wants to continue to expand that direction by becoming a Family Place Library.

So apart from videos and webinars, there is always more planning for summer reading, details coming soon, and don’t forget about the Teen Film Festival Award Night at the CDA library tomorrow night.

Make a Splash

So our Youth Services Director, Karen Yother, is wearing a baby blue shirt with a crazy design which reads, “Make a Splash, Read!” We must be getting close to summer. Karen is a part of the CSLP, the Collaborative Summer Library Program, which is a national consortium of libraries and educators in 49 of the 50 states who come up with a theme, program ideas, and giveaways every summer. This year the theme is water related. For the younger kids, the theme is “Make a Splash.” For Next-Gen adults, the theme is “Make Waves.” For the adults, the theme is “Water your Mind; Read.” We’ve had a very successful summer reading program for our younger patrons for the past six or seven years. This is our first year of creating events and programs that are designed for our Next-Gen and adult audiences. So stop by the library this summer, and check out our awesome events!

Summer reading is a huge push for the Hayden Library and libraries in general. During the school year, school age patrons have more than enough things to read and write. But during the summer, we all just want to take a break from that kind of work. It turns out that if you don’t work out the brain for three months, it tends to lose some of the things that were learned. For that reason, summer reading has been designed to keep patrons reading through the summer months, and to also provide fun ways to learn. That way, our brains aren’t getting quite as squishy, but we also aren’t busting out a Calculus book or something.

Once again, the life of a Young Adult Librarian has included a few meetings this week. My week started with a three month review of my work as a Young Adult Librarian. Our Youth Services Director, Karen Yother, and the Director of the Kootenai Shoshone Area Libraries, John Hartung, sat down with me for an hour and we discussed what I’ve been doing for the last three months, and what I plan to do over the summer, and in the next year. They were both really excited about the direction that I’m taking, and I’m really appreciative of the support that they’ve both given me. Yesterday, just before I ran away to take my sister to the airport, I met with Kent Nelson, the director of the CDA Rock School, which runs out of the Guitar Stop on Government Way. Kent is going to talk to a few of his student bands about doing a concert for the library in July. We’re thinking of calling it, “Rock the Stacks!”

The last thing I wanted to mention is coming up next Saturday, the 22nd. As some of you might know, the branches of the Kootenai Shoshone Area Libraries (KSAL), the Coeur d’ Alene Library, and the Post Falls Library all teamed up to put a Teen Film Festival together. We have had six entries, and our award night is happening at the Coeur d’ Alene Library on the 22nd at 7pm. You can check out my video on the event at http://www.youtube.com/user/KSL4NextGen or you could check out the Facebook event at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=121336761224498.

Hope you all have a great week, and I’ll be checking in next Friday.

Wait...that's strange!

Happy Friday and happy last day of April! Wait…that’s strange. Does anyone else think this year has gone by really fast? It seems like just the other day I was starting my classes, and now I’m drawing near the close of the semester. It seems like just the other day I was hired as the Young Adult Librarian, and now I’m already approaching three months in the position. Strange!

I thought I’d talk a little about some exciting things that have happened this week.

First of all, our summer plans are starting to materialize. We are going to have music events, game nights, sand art, science experiments, jewelry making, movie nights, and waves of other fun activities. It’s pretty cool how things start coming together. I came up with the idea to do a jam session for the older teens during our “Rock the Boat” program. I just thought that some musicians and rockers would like to get together and rock it up at the library. Turns out that there is an event this Saturday, starting at 5pm at the Guitar Shop on Government Way, where local high school bands will be performing. I thought, what a great opportunity to invite them to perform at the library! It’s also amusing that I titled the program “Rock the Boat,” and several of the programs have to do with music. Strangely awesome!

Secondly, Karen and I got to meet with Rosie Astorquia, the director of Secondary Education for the Coeur d’ Alene School District. We were excited to explain some of our program, ideas, resources, and she seemed excited to have another partner. Rosie was very willing to get the word out about our programs, and we are excited to offer new programs, and to support the programs that already exist at our schools.

Lastly, one of my videos is on an author’s blog! A few weeks back, I made a video about Rash called “The Safer States of America.” Rash was written by Pete Hautman, and my video on his book is on his blog. Just the day after I posted the video on my Youtube channel, Hautman re-posted it, and it has gotten over a hundred views in a couple weeks. Needless to say, I was really excited when I found that, and thank you again Pete Hautman!

Anyways, I hope that all of your weeks have gone well, and I hope that this new week will find you energized to do work, school, or anything else on your plate.