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!

Smoke Signals meets A Christmas Carol and Quantum Leap

How is this Wednesday finding everyone? It’s a little rainy out in my direction, but I’m thinking spring might have finally arrived.

For the past two and a half years, I’ve been driving to Lewiston for my orthodontia work (it worked best with insurance). So every six weeks or so, I drive two and a half hours down and back for the sake of straight teeth and a correct bite (which I have found is totally worth it). This trip, I decided to try out a Book on CD, and I enjoyed it. Having a story play out while you drive definitely helps the time pass. It was also refreshing to enjoy the benefits of reading a novel without actually having to read a novel. You still get to enjoy the symbolism, plot twists, and imagery, without having to exert the effort to read words. I don’t think I’d take this as my only mode of reading, but it is nice for car rides!

So I listened to a Book on CD called Flight by Sherman Alexie, which was performed by Adam Beach. Alexie is a Native American who grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, and attended Gonzaga University as well as Washington State University, where he graduated with a BA in American Studies. He has won several awards for his poetry, short stories, novels, and performance. Flight is one of his novels for young adults. Adam Beach is a Golden Globe nominated actor, who is also of Native American descent.

Flight tells the tale of Zits, who is a fifteen year old Native American who has some problems. His father abandoned his mother and him when he was born, his mother died of breast cancer, and his aunt and uncle abused him. After crashing through twenty-some half-way houses and foster homes, Zits just doesn’t care anymore. He is consumed by loneliness and anger, bounces in and out of jail, and drunkenness, and doesn’t have any reason to change. That is until Justice, a pretty white boy, teaches him how to use a gun on other people. Zits walks into a bank with a loaded pistol, but then finds himself being launched through time and space and lands in someone else’s body (think Quantum Leap meets The Christmas Carol meets Smoke Signals).

Zits bounces between several bodies reaching across many years and places, and experiences things that change his entire outlook on life and violence. He learns about the effects of war, violence, anger, loneliness, betrayal, and love.

Like so many other award-winning authors, Alexie’s work definitely has some content. F-bombs fly like crazy, there is plenty of innuendo and frank discussions of human anatomy, and the book also deals with some very violent scenarios. But, Alexie is writing from the perspective of a down-in-the-gutter teenager, and this is how he and those around him would talk. Even though it’s hard to get through all of these experiences, Alexie has written an interesting piece of literature that explores how a teenager who has never been loved finds hope and belonging.

Dangerous Pie

Happy almost noon everybody! How has your week been?

Mine’s going to be and has been crazy busy with all of the stuff going on. But I’ve had a chance the last few nights to read After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick, and I’m really glad I did.

Even though I didn’t know this when I started reading the book, this novel is a sequel/companion novel to another novel by Jordan called Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie. Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie concerned Steven Alper, an eighth grader whose younger brother, Jeffrey, is struggling through cancer. This book deals with Jeffrey Alper when he gets to eighth grade. I probably wouldn’t have gotten the connection other then Jeffrey’s email address involving dangerous pie, and the title of the first book involving dangerous pie. I’m going to have to add that book to my reading list because this one was amazing, and it would be cool to see how the story began.

After surviving cancer, and it not returning for five years, Jeffrey is pretty much in the clear for the whole cancer thing. But, that doesn’t mean things are easy. People still treat him differently because he had cancer, his brother decides to go off the deep end and beat some drums in Africa to “find himself,” and there is this really hot girl that Jeffrey has a huge crush on. That isn’t to mention the statewide math test that Jeffrey has to pass in order to graduate. That wouldn’t be a big deal if Jeffrey was normal. But, chemotherapy does funky things to cancer survivors sometimes, and Jeffrey is no exception. His brain has a very difficult time with math, so Jeffrey is pretty well convinced that he won’t graduate with the rest of his class. That is until Tad, his best friend who is also a cancer survivor, comes up with a plan to make sure he gets to walk across the stage.

Although this book deals with the heart-wrenching topic of cancer, it is heart-warming and hilarious. The very down-to-earth, realistic friendship of Jeffrey and Tad is very funny, and Jeffrey has a great outlook on some tough situations. Just like Jeffrey learns, the book reminds us to never take a day for granted and to move on even through hard times.

It Ebbs and Flows

Morning everybody! How are you doing?

Library programs ebb and flow. Last week, I didn’t even have a chance to sit at my computer. This week, I had one program, one meeting, and a chance to organize some things for the upcoming month.

The program this week was a continuation of Atlas After-School Academy. Last week, we started making movies using Animoto. I put the guys in groups of two, and had each of the guys interview their partner. What is your favorite color? What is your favorite video game? What is a cool place you’ve been to? They were then tasked with finding a picture that corresponded with their question and organize the pictures into a slideshow movie on Animoto. The guys had a great time doing this. They were in control of making a movie about their partner, and they were also thrilled when their partner made a cool movie about them. I thought it worked out pretty well. Still trying to see what our assignments are going to be the next two weeks. Hmm….

My meeting this week was with the Friends of the Community Library Network at Hayden. Our Friends group sells used books and actively fund-raises to collect funds for library programs. When we have a special program coming up, we submit a grant, and the Friends vote on whether or not to fund it. The Friends are a fantastic group, and they are very supportive of the programs that happen at the library. Our recent Teen Film Festival was made possible by this group, the Friends of the Community Library Network at Post Falls, and the Friends of the Coeur d’ Alene Public Library. These groups are awesome!

Anyways, my meeting was basically showing them the results of our Teen Film Festival. They were really impressed with the quality of film that came out of the festival.

I wanted to take a minute and list the winners in our competition:

Short Film Category:

1st Place: “Je Te Vois” by Daniel Troxell, David Brands, Amy Ellithorpe, Joshua Brands, and Gerry Koep.

2nd Place: “You Are Here” by Joshua Brands, David Brands, Allie Brands, and Catherine Brands.

3rd Place: “Clayman” by Shane Tyler

Public Service Announcement Category:

1st place: “You Are Here” by Stephen Byrum

2nd Place: “Be Yourself” by Danny Schramm, Kelsey Kraak, Morgan Jett, and Rylee Mindt

3rd Place: “The World is at Your Feet” by Arielle Johnson, Colby Acuff, and Jackson Miller

I also wanted to take a minute and thank our local filmmaking experts who donated their time to judge our entries. A huge thank you to Brian Loper and Ryan Anstett!

Congratulations again to all of our filmmakers and have a great week!

Choosing to Love

Hello everyone! How is your week going?

Today, I have a Book Blurt that deals with a very sad and well-written book; Annexed by Sharon Dogar. The front cover reads, “The powerful story of the boy who loved Anne Frank.” That is exactly what it is; powerful. There is so much literature about the holocaust, and yet, every time I read another book or another story of that time, I can’t help but feel it. How could we do that to each other?

Sharon wrote this book largely based on Anne Frank’s autobiography. But, instead of telling Anne’s story which has been told and read the world over, Sharon chose to write about Peter. What did he feel while he was in hiding? What did he struggle with? What did his love for Anne look like? What was it like living with Anne Frank? These are questions that Sharon speculates on and writes very believably and convincingly. This book is a well-crafted story based on Anne’s diary, and on documentation from the death camps.

Unlike Anne, who was just writing her thoughts, Sharon has written a complete novel. We hear the story from Peter’s point of view while the events happen. But, we also get short commentaries from the Peter at the death camps. His italicized words hurt as you read them. Peter will be talking about hope and liberation and what he is going to do when the war is over. But then, we read a quick page from the Peter in the death camps, which reminds us that Peter didn’t make it. As Anne’s diary is so human, Sharon has done an excellent job writing a very real and human character in Peter who has his own take on the story.

While reading Holocaust literature it is so difficult not to feel anger. Why couldn’t Peter have made it? Why did so many innocents have to die? How could human beings do those things to someone? I was reading the epilogue that describes how the families died, and I felt angry. But, then I remembered Corrie ten Boom, who lived through the same time period and was able to forgive her captors. I think that is the point. This book is important, and actual Holocaust accounts are important, because they will hopefully help us to never make those mistakes again. But, it is also important that we don’t take on the hate that is shown in these pages, but rather choose to love like Corrie ten Boom.

Have Books, Will Travel

Hello everyone!

Well here we are on a Monday morning, and I am three days late on my weekly update. I apologize.

As I alluded to last week, this week was crazy busy with programs! I work 19 and a half hours a week, and this week I was basically in programs for the full 19 and a half hours. hehe

The week started with the Men and Kids program at Mountain States Early Head Start. We had several dads and their kids join us and had fun frosting our own cookies. For the past few times, we have been trying to read a book with the kids, and this time they really enjoyed the story.

Tuesday involved my first week at Atlas After School Academy. Last year, I did science experiments for this program, and because the kids had such a great time, we decided to start Ka-Boom: Science Experiments at the library. This year, I am teaching the kids how to make movies using the free websites, animoto and jaycut. Got a talented and excited group of guys and we’ll be having fun for the next three weeks. Should be awesome!

Wednesday was Dr. Seuss’s birthday, so I read his stories at Miss Irma’s storytime (I filled in for her because her husband had a procedure being done) and then I bounced around the Kinder Center reading his stories wearing a ‘Cat in the Hat’ hat. Good stuff!

Speaking of the Kinder Center, my monthly outreach always happens on the first Friday, so I was there on Wednesday and Friday this past week. On Friday, we read frog stories (frogs are green, and we always wear green on St. Patrick’s day hehe), and had a great time singing a song that Miss Cassie suggested to me.

On Friday (and Thursday as I think about it) Karen and I went down to help with Skyway’s Geography Club again. We had to take a break because of the bad snow last week, but we again had fun learning about continents, states, and physical geography.

My last event this week was our Red Carpet Event for our Teen Film Festival, which happened on Saturday night. We had five entries in each category, and enjoyed watching the movies and awarding prizes. Our festival has grown since last year, and we’re hoping that it will continue to grow next year. If you want to check out the movies, they are all posted on our Library Film Fest YouTube Channel here. Enjoy!

Well, that was my crazy week and I hope yours was also fantastic!