tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56953635901169350102024-03-13T12:08:34.009-05:00Field AcquisitionsLibrary ideas gained outside the classroom.Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-72304098389757601222013-12-20T10:48:00.000-06:002013-12-20T10:48:07.543-06:002013 in review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnlSEgaK5f5YcL0T73QmQg43t93htoIJhOE19yP8lJwNOIr_HKKLbeNijTRmL94WUT2QDQ83EEwf_9tSGFm6KMeNOzvRDE-nT9lVLHLV98y0b34dcDSQqhj5v_GsP43dBYD2y1Fn8wG_0/s1600/RA+guides.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnlSEgaK5f5YcL0T73QmQg43t93htoIJhOE19yP8lJwNOIr_HKKLbeNijTRmL94WUT2QDQ83EEwf_9tSGFm6KMeNOzvRDE-nT9lVLHLV98y0b34dcDSQqhj5v_GsP43dBYD2y1Fn8wG_0/s400/RA+guides.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
This was a really interesting year in work for me. I'm part-time (by choice) and the bulk of my responsibility has been reference work, with a side of helping plan and run programs, as well as selecting teen fiction and non-fiction for the library.<br />
<br />
With a retirement and with a co-worker leaving the library, things changed a lot. I worked the same amount of hours (around 12 or 15 a week), but I had a lot more responsibility. I was in charge of planning and running all of the teen programming -- which I do get help with from another person with my hours per week or so -- and I was put in charge of all ordering and selecting of teen materials. In short, I took on a full-time job with my very not full-time hours. And all of my work is done on our very busy reference desk. I don't get regular "off desk" time. Maybe I've had 10 or 15 hours off-desk this year.<br />
<br />
It hasn't been an easy transition but I've tried to work with it. Now with the year wrapping up, I thought reflecting a bit on those changes was worthwhile.<br />
<br />
Over the course of this year, I:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Wrote and developed a series of reader's advisory guides, as pictured above. Previously, there was no RA material specifically for the teen collection. Now there is. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Increased our program offerings. Last year on my annual evaluation, the goal setting noted that I'd run one program a quarter for teens. Since May of this year, I've developed and ran at least three programs <i>per month</i>. </li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Developed and ran the most successful teen program of my career, with over 40 teens. I also started a monthly club based on what my teens were begging me for, and the attendance for that has been great, as has the enthusiasm from those teens and from colleagues (I'll blog about it next month -- getting to that).</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Wrote two mini-grants for teen collection development. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Weeded all of the teen fiction and non-fiction. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Reworked our audiobook shelving. Like most libraries, we shelved audiobooks separately from fiction and non-fiction, but because our audiobook collection isn't huge, I thought shelving them right along with the books would be beneficial. I haven't yet collected stats, since this change happened last month, but it's a change I'm really proud of and happy with. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Expressed my dislike for those 50- to 100- page, library bound "non-fiction" works that cost way too much per unit and never circulate but which remain a dinosaur in a lot of libraries because they're "useful for teen research." In expressing that, I was given the okay that I don't have to buy them if I don't want. Seems small, but it's a big deal because it means the teen non-fiction collection can be a true browsing collection. Of course there are good books there for research and education but I don't feel the need to continue buying things I hate buying and that I don't think are worth buying for our collection. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Created and displayed shelf talkers in the teen area to book talk titles passively to readers. I'm looking forward to swapping up which books are featured in the coming month. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Saw engagement on our teen Facebook page. Not much -- but every little bit helps. The kids are getting a kick out of seeing their pictures used as our profile picture and they're enjoying seeing photos of themselves from events. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Implemented passive programs and saw some of them actually be successful. </li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
Breaking it down and looking at it piece by piece makes me feel pretty good about 2014. It's less about adding more (because actually, I'm trying to shed some responsibilities) to increase numbers, but it's more about creating sustainable projects that go a little deeper/can be repeated and enjoyed. Some of my goals include:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Sustaining a teen book-to-film monthly program. We've already got the films picked out through the end of August. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Building our monthly yu-gi-oh and game club. This is the one that teens asked for and have been so enthusiastic about. They bring their own cards and go to town. I give them a drink and a snack. I hope it continues to be popular and well-attended because it's such an easy program and it's one they <i>love</i>. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Continuing to implement passive programming. I've been brainstorming monthly ideas and hope to do one or two a quarter, since monthly might be pushing it. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>See an increase in summer reading club participation. The programming was decently attended. But the program itself had such small numbers. I'm hoping because of more programming and more advertising and more getting-to-know the teens, we'll have more of them participating in the actual program. If I can hit 90 or 100 kids signed up with the club, I'd be over the moon. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Engaging teens in a new quarterly book club. I'm so excited about trying this, and I am hopeful we get some participation. Teens who sign up get a free copy of the book and the discussion is held over a pizza dinner, so it seems like it should be a hit. Plus, we're talking great YA books. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Weeding even more aggressively. I used a 2-to-3 year average to get started this year. I might go even harder and pull stuff that hasn't moved in a year and a half. We're tight on space. </li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Of course, my other goal is to be a better blogger over here. I'd love to try to write up two posts a month talking programming and other library-related topics. I'd like to roundup great programming links, too. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But part of me wonders if maybe what I want to say and share is better suited for tumblr, rather than a traditional blog. Or maybe crossposting is worthwhile. We shall see. </div>
Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-40440962700138233932013-12-20T09:31:00.000-06:002013-12-20T09:32:03.800-06:00December Teen Book DisplaysHere's what I did for teen displays in December. I did two for the bulk of the month, and then I swapped one out this week because it was too good an opportunity not to.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>When I Was a Teen...</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIw_Y6A50u8PhpYeEZwttK1jpC7WLP-EmVnwPktYXyFsdL5C1seyb-fVLqteLHwq2xq0XaeGqdQJvS1EgGjgWE8_mL7DCpkNF_Od1kCL16-eHC0GpiGBPiDPSCcv4mUg3BfWeIfxNhXvw/s1600/memoirs1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIw_Y6A50u8PhpYeEZwttK1jpC7WLP-EmVnwPktYXyFsdL5C1seyb-fVLqteLHwq2xq0XaeGqdQJvS1EgGjgWE8_mL7DCpkNF_Od1kCL16-eHC0GpiGBPiDPSCcv4mUg3BfWeIfxNhXvw/s400/memoirs1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I finished a huge weeding project in November, and after stumbling across so many memoirs for teens (often by those who were teens or just out of their teens themselves), I decided to pull them together into a display. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Take A Trip</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid_WGJCtx9f7pz6FLAuaU08fBjdkep9XKJ-Q9NHNvAHv_2OKEK5dqrRF7Xsb3ptkhD9ZrUHx2OE_RLtlb7EPSs6lOtnK3s1L9S4CGtvMA3e8vrIWAko1TPhnkMTT5Wt20j1qLX9BWeJx4/s1600/trip+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid_WGJCtx9f7pz6FLAuaU08fBjdkep9XKJ-Q9NHNvAHv_2OKEK5dqrRF7Xsb3ptkhD9ZrUHx2OE_RLtlb7EPSs6lOtnK3s1L9S4CGtvMA3e8vrIWAko1TPhnkMTT5Wt20j1qLX9BWeJx4/s400/trip+1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXG5fMM5cvxcWfYB8pDWArebn9rooujVs7U23owuZLgWGVOMovAs3cBBSFzZ5dnOoRdBxKPaeQSntIp7og6-p2xh9N_d4PrpanXzIHqCKobXreTl1nJnQKG0TFI_iTpsiYLO29_Iey1s/s1600/trip+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXG5fMM5cvxcWfYB8pDWArebn9rooujVs7U23owuZLgWGVOMovAs3cBBSFzZ5dnOoRdBxKPaeQSntIp7og6-p2xh9N_d4PrpanXzIHqCKobXreTl1nJnQKG0TFI_iTpsiYLO29_Iey1s/s400/trip+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
I think I mentioned that this winter has already been tough, and that inspired me to put together a display of books about road trips or set abroad. Wishful thinking, maybe. I was also inspired to pull it together since the weeding project reminded me of the SASS series, and I know it's one that would go out a lot more if it was more visible. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Under the Mistletoe</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3nHXA3JfYATvrH3SvfPcVxZkVe2Xr1sYSzu3TSUYtATh1eEqGnvA2LmSZBlzRLzZTcNB0hq04FZsv8AIqbHAIQ3wTmSXHW0GpqmmuHgW3Itt1et33Hz-z4qU8vVZ03qkF9cpRWZiWUA/s1600/mistletoe2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3nHXA3JfYATvrH3SvfPcVxZkVe2Xr1sYSzu3TSUYtATh1eEqGnvA2LmSZBlzRLzZTcNB0hq04FZsv8AIqbHAIQ3wTmSXHW0GpqmmuHgW3Itt1et33Hz-z4qU8vVZ03qkF9cpRWZiWUA/s400/mistletoe2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_KZoQmU1K9TnqromLZwKwVbJ28RKxgYFghOhAbZsSpvXiT3jBgW1LadBaRsYThmrtMP174gJ9gQvj2Dka0RHwjVq9ZWkeoV9q6HZppH6nY7z1Pia5znn8OXAJw08hbmJIFMUvxa2kU4/s1600/mistletoe1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_KZoQmU1K9TnqromLZwKwVbJ28RKxgYFghOhAbZsSpvXiT3jBgW1LadBaRsYThmrtMP174gJ9gQvj2Dka0RHwjVq9ZWkeoV9q6HZppH6nY7z1Pia5znn8OXAJw08hbmJIFMUvxa2kU4/s400/mistletoe1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I saw variations of this display popping up in my blog and tumblr reading, and I could not resist. I actually wish we had more kissing or near-kissing covers because I'd have really packed this display tight. </div>
Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-5661063024276909442013-12-20T08:58:00.000-06:002013-12-20T08:58:19.630-06:00December Passive Program for Teens: What's Your Favorite?I'm a big believer in passive programming. But it's not always successful -- there are passive programs I've tried to absolutely no response from the teens. <div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Then there are the passive programs which I've put together without much thought or planning and they've gone over very well. This is one of them.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I worked the weekend of Thanksgiving and it was quiet. I got thinking about how much I want to know what my teens like a little bit more, and I was thinking about how fun it would be if teens told each other what it is they like. Because it's been a rough winter here already, I thought encouraging thoughts of favorite and good things would be worthwhile. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Enter: tell me your favorite. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I grabbed a snowflake picture, pasted 4 to a sheet, and printed off a pile of them. I cut them into squares, then tossed them into a brochure holder, along with a bunch of small pencils. I did not write anything on the flakes at all. Instead, I made a sign that simply asked teens to write down their favorite things on a snowflake. It could be a movie, a television show, or a book, and it didn't need to be anything new. They didn't have to put their name or any identifying information. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I used one of our display cubes which faces the seating area in the teen section to put the flakes and sign up, along with our raffle box for completed flakes to be put into. I printed out duplicate signs about the program and hung them around the teen area and stepped away. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Every few days -- I only work 3 or so days a week -- I would check the box. The first week or so, there was nothing in there. I didn't get too worried though.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Then in the second week, my box of teen favorites exploded, and it hasn't stopped seeing flakes since. As I've gathered them up, I've cut them into circles and then taped them to the sides of the stacks. And I think by seeing those flakes on the stacks, teens not only feel like they're being heard and cared about, but they're encouraged to contribute, as well.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAh1P9T0qjFGKDLwLZxJ6DjZq48RWNRhOA-mDyJ8Wvxu9Cr0L8qXmpbaDIBZA88V33umub9ShGozG9KhEL7AlgS0DuFfzGkrDC_2OpET1ChqbsNK0XhkReBEaQiXf7AXbMcam4tZ9ntLg/s1600/flakes2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAh1P9T0qjFGKDLwLZxJ6DjZq48RWNRhOA-mDyJ8Wvxu9Cr0L8qXmpbaDIBZA88V33umub9ShGozG9KhEL7AlgS0DuFfzGkrDC_2OpET1ChqbsNK0XhkReBEaQiXf7AXbMcam4tZ9ntLg/s320/flakes2.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNvA9jetdViVmGhA6Yhg4A1t7Jve_DnJSOTHEt90nI0YVvVNoLLoyLbgcvJVK6Mbs_vHY5B17Q10uIYJAfw43lbJN3Dp5TKw9Tl9OoflkHMMk_0Opduw38QTgMRbukMOozoLwfk72Iu5A/s1600/%22s%22+flakes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNvA9jetdViVmGhA6Yhg4A1t7Jve_DnJSOTHEt90nI0YVvVNoLLoyLbgcvJVK6Mbs_vHY5B17Q10uIYJAfw43lbJN3Dp5TKw9Tl9OoflkHMMk_0Opduw38QTgMRbukMOozoLwfk72Iu5A/s320/%22s%22+flakes.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUAl6oWsE6wJa2f7DMWoZgy3HOaP3_U_0ehQuJk1F_ISnz1MRRYPL9tfzBn8wLC7L2s03EcBE_ptIS1-jR1tPaXmJ5jPM-uaTqNz_2-48hq40FzPZO_Ejaxrb79a7zPNSTV7VuE2tAPqI/s1600/flakes+close.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUAl6oWsE6wJa2f7DMWoZgy3HOaP3_U_0ehQuJk1F_ISnz1MRRYPL9tfzBn8wLC7L2s03EcBE_ptIS1-jR1tPaXmJ5jPM-uaTqNz_2-48hq40FzPZO_Ejaxrb79a7zPNSTV7VuE2tAPqI/s320/flakes+close.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0iHsl6q-oNI7YgGv1OE_j0D6oVz_ApHJkZJ3JpkFn9wzC35ZEgil6p1NugtI96bvz2OYLlMRAn0o_vVy_TNfu2EYA3rm5Ev8V6hJDo-IFL5alIjK_nXvgIBiRLCsTbINRPC0bHgXoqKY/s1600/flakey+flakes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0iHsl6q-oNI7YgGv1OE_j0D6oVz_ApHJkZJ3JpkFn9wzC35ZEgil6p1NugtI96bvz2OYLlMRAn0o_vVy_TNfu2EYA3rm5Ev8V6hJDo-IFL5alIjK_nXvgIBiRLCsTbINRPC0bHgXoqKY/s320/flakey+flakes.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There are flakes on the ends of four of our shelves. After I took the photos, I noticed that there were a few more in the box to be hung, too.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
One thing I worried about with the program is the thing you always have to worry about with a passive program and teenagers: would there be something inappropriate?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Of the 50 or so flakes I've had turned in, there was only one thing that couldn't be hung . . . and I almost hung it anyway to embarrass the teen who wrote "I like secks :)". Instead, I put it in my file folder at work to remember that teens will always make you laugh because of stuff like that. Since I'm the one collecting, reading, and hanging these guys up, it was no big deal at all. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The program took about 15 to 20 minutes to pull together, and because it's been so well-received, I think I'll leave it up through the winter, even as I swap out the actual passive programs next month. In the summer, perhaps I'll do the same thing. The cost was a couple minutes of Google image searching, copying and pasting, some white paper and black ink (I didn't even print them in color), and time to cut and hang them up periodically. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There are no incentives, no prizes, and no rewards for teens who do this. But the value is they see their voices being heard in the library and they get to see that this is really <i>their </i>space. </div>
Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-57568976373550884242013-10-17T09:14:00.002-05:002013-10-17T09:14:40.041-05:00Revisiting and Revising a Teen Program: The Chocolate Wars <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cocoabeanshoppe.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/chocolate-bar.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://cocoabeanshoppe.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/chocolate-bar.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
This week, I ran what was my most successful teen program event in my career. We had 40 teens show up on a Tuesday evening at the library. It was unbelievable. And awesome. And completely overwhelming and exhausting -- but in a good way.<br />
<br />
I didn't do anything new to me for this event. Instead, I decided to rework an old program I did at a prior job a few years ago. <a href="http://fieldacquisitions.blogspot.com/2011/07/chocolate-olympics-death-by-chocolate.html">You may remember my post about the chocolate olympics and death by chocolate</a>. This time, I renamed it as "Chocolate Wars," and from my prior experience, as well as necessity due to program turnout, I made some modifications.<br />
<br />
First, I should note that this is <b>not </b>an inexpensive program. We spent $100 on supplies. I had in my head that 25 kids would be a huge turn out, and I planned with that in mind. Fortunately, we did not lack for supplies at all. And in fact, when you break the cost down, it was quite an inexpensive program per attendee; I'd had in my mind that $4 a person for 25 teens would be a good average. Instead, the break down was just a little over $2 per attendee. Not too shabby.<br />
<br />
So what did we do this time and how did we do it? First, I'll share the events we had, and then I'll share how we ran it. I use we because my coworker helped with the event, as did an intern who got her first taste of teen programming at the library.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>What We Did</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b>Chocolate Pictionary</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Supplies:<br />
<br />
- Construction paper<br />
- A few packages of dark chocolate Hershey bars<br />
- A list of pictionary words<br />
<br />
This is pretty self-explanatory. The person in charge of drawing could only use the chocolate bar to do the drawing. The rest of the teens had to guess what they were drawing. The person who got it right was the next to draw.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Stack & Sort Races</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Supplies:<br />
<br />
- 3 large bags of regular M&Ms<br />
- 4 Oreo packages<br />
- Ziplock bags<br />
<br />
For the "sorting" part, each teen got a bag of 75 M&Ms and they had to sort them by color. First to do it and put their hands up won the event.<br />
<br />
For the "stacking" part, well. It was a bust. I had them work as partners to create Oreo towers, but they weren't interested in listening to directions (more to come on this). So essentially, it became four rounds of opening up an Oreo package and letting them grab and eat. Which was fine.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Chocolate Shuffleboard</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Supplies:<br />
<br />
- Masking tape<br />
- One package of mini chocolate bars<br />
<br />
I pushed two tables together and created a shuffle board out of the tables and masking tape. There was a starting line with the rules written on it -- the teens had 5 chances to earn 40 points. Some of the shuffleboard spaces were negative points. Some were 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 40. One was an automatic win.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Identify the Chocolate</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Supplies:<br />
<br />
- 10 to 15 different kinds of full-size chocolate bars<br />
- Ziplock bags<br />
- One half-sheet for teens to write their best guesses on<br />
<br />
This was an overflow table and unstaffed. The teens would look at the bars and try to guess what it was they were.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Whopper Races</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Supplies:<br />
<br />
- Masking tape<br />
- 2 boxes of Whoppers<br />
<br />
Teens were split into four teams and had to race from one end of the room to the other pushing the Whopper with just their noses. Some teens were not into this idea AT ALL and chose to implement other means of getting the Whopper across the floor, including blowing on it. That was fine with me -- the key was the fact they had to crawl across the floor.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Hershey Kiss Races</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Supplies:<br />
<br />
- 2 bags of Hershey Kisses<br />
- Masking tape<br />
- A few pairs of oven mitts<br />
- Plastic cups<br />
<br />
Teens were split into four teams and had to <i>walk </i>from one end of the room to the other with their two kisses, then they had to unwrap them with the mitts on and place the unwrapped chocolate into one cup and the wrapper into another one. First team to complete won.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Worm Digging</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Supplies:<br />
<br />
- Pie crusts (graham cracker -- though we did frozen in a pinch)<br />
- Chocolate pudding<br />
- Gummy worms<br />
- 2 plastic table cloths<br />
- Plastic cups<br />
- Napkins<br />
<br />
We put together 11 chocolate pudding pies, each with 5 worms in them. Teens had to use only their mouths to dig out the worms from the chocolate pudding. They then deposited the worms into the plastic cups. The table cloths were used to cover the table and the floor. Let me tell you how easy cleanup was for that.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Miscellaneous supply need: </b>Chocolate bars for prizes. We did the mini bars.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>How We Did It</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
So the very first thing we did was wait 10 minutes before starting the program. We scheduled it for 6, and we waited until 6:10. We made all of the kids sit on the floor -- at this point there were roughly 25 -- and we laid down hard and firm rules. You leave the room, you can't come back. You get too wild, we'll kick you out. Absolutely no chocolate leaves the room and enters the library, except at the very end when the teens could bring home their prizes.<br />
<br />
In the past, I made all of these into station activities. But I knew it was not going to work this time. I decided instead to make the Whopper races and Hershey kiss races the first things we did, and we did them as a big group. We got the kids split into two teams, and then we were joined by 15 other kids. My coworker decided to take them out in the hall and give them the same speech we'd given to the kids already there, and she split them into teams for the second set of races.<br />
<br />
This ended up working out okay. When the first round of teams were done doing the Kiss race (which we did first), they got a little antsy, but I kept them happy by giving them left over candy. We were then able to make the 40 kids get into 4 separate teams for the Whopper event.<br />
<br />
After those two big team events concluded, we made all of the kids sit in the middle again for more instructions. We told them the rest of the program was fluid -- they could go between the Sort and Stack station, the Chocolate Shuffleboard, the Chocolate Guessing, and the Chocolate Pictionary events. And they did a great job of doing that. They listened and followed through. The problem came for me when they didn't want to listen to the instructions at the station I covered (the Sort and Stack) but I let it slide. I had to. Forty kids in one room is chaotic, and the kids had done a great job of listening over and over to new and changing instructions. I could let it go and I think they were happy for it. And so was I.<br />
<br />
My coworker and I got worried about the Worm digging event since we only had 11 pies. We held off on figuring out a plan until the VERY end of the program, when our numbers dropped considerably. About 10 minutes before the end of the program -- which ran for an hour and a half -- we noticed we had roughly 20 kids left. So we told them they could do one last event, but only 11 could do it. We explained what it was and fortunately, ONLY 11 kids were interested (it's messy and kind of gross, so that made sense). We had them race in teams of 3 (and for the last one, 2). After they raced for the worms, we gave those kids spoons to eat the pudding if they wished to.<br />
<br />
In the mean time, the other kids who didn't race? They had a BLAST taking photos and rooting for their friends. No one was bored.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Local Media Attention</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Prior to the event, one of the newspapers got in touch with me to ask about the program. We got a really nice writeup about this event, as well as some of our forthcoming ones. I suspect that helped with some of the teens showing up.<br />
<br />
But even better than that, a photographer came out the night of the event and shot pictures, too. Two of my teens got a nice picture in the print edition of the paper on Wednesday morning -- aside from being a nice boost to us, I suspect that will make them feel really good, too.<br />
<br />
I took a lot of photos of the event, and I took a video of the Whopper race, and posted them on our teen Facebook page. The kids were talking about how they'd wanted to have some photos for their own Facebook pages, so I thought this would be a nice way for them to get them if they wanted.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Last Thoughts</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
I'd do this again, and I'd do it in a pretty similar fashion, but I would maybe have to do signups or limit the number of participants. I dislike doing that, but 40 kids, even with 3 adults, is a LOT of kids. It's a lot of hyper energy.<br />
<br />
They did an excellent job of listening though, and when we said that if they left the room they were done and finished, they listened. They did not make a mess outside the programming room, and we only had to kick 2 kids out. They weren't being "bad," but they were being disruptive enough to merit the kicking out. Both were kicked out near the end of the event.<br />
<br />
We had no leftover supplies, as the kids who stuck around were able to scoop up any remainders they wished to, including the chocolate guessing chocolates. We went over the answers to those in our final "sit on the floor and listen" session, prior to the worm digging event.<br />
<br />
"Winners" for the stations, in theory, won a small chocolate bar. But because we were so busy, we never gave them to the kids. And you know . . . they never asked. They had plenty to eat and enjoy. All remaining Kisses and Whoppers were doled out as events ended, and we threw out the mini bars to the kids as we read the chocolate guessing answers.<br />
<br />
Forty kids for me is amazing. We had a GREAT turnout at our zombie party this summer, but in no way did I expect this kind of turnout during the school year for an event. What a nice treat after feeling like I didn't know what I was doing with programming -- though it certainly has made me reconsider how to best approach programming again (in terms of numbers, cost, time budgeted to plan, and so forth -- I was lucky I'd done this before so the planning step wasn't too complicated).<br />
<br />
I already had teens asking about what we were doing next.<br />
<br />
<br />Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-63237044078591362582013-10-03T07:50:00.001-05:002013-10-03T07:50:27.884-05:00October DisplaysI've got two big programs for teens in October -- I consider "Teen Read Week" to be a month-long celebration for a variety of time and energy related reasons -- and I'll write about them when they're over. But in the mean time, I thought I'd share the displays I've got in the teen department for October.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdkohKHkB4aYJqqFwcLiI4vkLNVofAY0rIQfJE7num8fMGeUbIYf9qfll8yADs1Gt82NC7Dyk4a7R6AOLsCa3BJu9CZ_EriS-34YbCKIwQP4V4r0AQI1UYQqD2TsIE1xFMqihB3bWWPA/s1600/banned+books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdkohKHkB4aYJqqFwcLiI4vkLNVofAY0rIQfJE7num8fMGeUbIYf9qfll8yADs1Gt82NC7Dyk4a7R6AOLsCa3BJu9CZ_EriS-34YbCKIwQP4V4r0AQI1UYQqD2TsIE1xFMqihB3bWWPA/s320/banned+books.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
<br />
The last week of September, I put up my banned books week display. Except I don't like calling it banned books week, so I noted instead that reading these books was about celebrating the freedom to read them. Simon and Schuster sent me the poster I've got taped on the display cube, and they sent me an extra one, which I put on the teen department bulletin board.<br />
<br />
I've refilled this guy once already, and since banned books week is over, chances are when the other books disappear, I'll swap it out for another display. I'll likely go with horror or zombies since both are perennial favorites.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7OeoM3z9kdsrMGS5lSJRG1zO4ahmstppxNlrJE76D26T3zo-R9Nc_l39yQZxI5Xh4XJBVtigfTQ5PCa8WT4trGgThpBte91HE3930JUF3M1d-_nu6YsBWJvHCj9kfB7fI2XNcFV0BC6Q/s1600/Wisconsin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7OeoM3z9kdsrMGS5lSJRG1zO4ahmstppxNlrJE76D26T3zo-R9Nc_l39yQZxI5Xh4XJBVtigfTQ5PCa8WT4trGgThpBte91HE3930JUF3M1d-_nu6YsBWJvHCj9kfB7fI2XNcFV0BC6Q/s320/Wisconsin.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
This is one of the displays I've been eager to do for a while, and I finally got around to it -- these are all books by authors who have Wisconsin ties or they're books set in Wisconsin. Author Molly Backes is doing a program for our teens and adults later this month, and it tied in too perfectly. When I checked the display later, a large number of the books had disappeared. In fact, as soon as I'd gotten the display set up, people were looking at it.<br />
<br />
My middle cube is devoted to a raffle for the teens. I was lucky enough to meet Veronica Roth this summer, who signed a copy of <b>Insurgent </b>for me, and because the third book in the series releases this month, I thought a perfect giveaway for teen read month would be the entire set of books, including the super special signed copy.Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-73351357950688536022013-09-13T08:27:00.002-05:002013-09-13T08:27:28.848-05:00Unexpected Finds: Passive Reader's AdvisoryI love doing displays. I love passive reader's advisory. Any sort of passive programming I can implement into my teen department is a positive thing for me -- being part-time and juggling my responsibilities for teen stuff with being on the reference desk is a challenge. Through passive stuff, it's possible to do a little more with a little less.<br />
<br />
My former co-worker and I had an idea back last December to implement a little more passive reader's advisory into the teen department but with a lot of changes happening in the workplace, it was impossible to get it done right away. And then with summer reading club, it became even more challenging to implement.<br />
<br />
But finally, ten months after the fact, I got the project done and I am thrilled with the results:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1JzGAkxhA8Tkr33981LZ5z3oUszxTIDY1uJRbiGqnRXgH7bsxYRVq-F6gDxDDdd1pNBMpKvrTjGJdOfi668VkNyzt_zyF_8UsoM96XYVO_Vzdt1y-MexkHW1yv_oMYm4ZpECTB2xR2-I/s1600/talkers2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1JzGAkxhA8Tkr33981LZ5z3oUszxTIDY1uJRbiGqnRXgH7bsxYRVq-F6gDxDDdd1pNBMpKvrTjGJdOfi668VkNyzt_zyF_8UsoM96XYVO_Vzdt1y-MexkHW1yv_oMYm4ZpECTB2xR2-I/s320/talkers2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXVlhx2LTM2qCX4FzzquUu9lznBYedG6gy2KKS0AOM_b-MQu3z6Ux4_UeW0_plJ-z1tIA8Di8AJvGBaESyyJwIsVoLM9_nvi48wMo1j-_S9Ok77KDbk_l8tXrYHtOEwpi_PnX0_PWOPmU/s1600/talkers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXVlhx2LTM2qCX4FzzquUu9lznBYedG6gy2KKS0AOM_b-MQu3z6Ux4_UeW0_plJ-z1tIA8Di8AJvGBaESyyJwIsVoLM9_nvi48wMo1j-_S9Ok77KDbk_l8tXrYHtOEwpi_PnX0_PWOPmU/s320/talkers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm going to talk a little bit more about this over on STACKED later this month (we're doing an entire week of reader's advisory posts) but the project was to make shelf talkers for YA books. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We purchased <a href="http://www.gaylord.com/adblock.asp?abid=16951&search_by=desc&search_for=shelf%20talker&mpc=WW">these holders</a> from Gaylord, and there are ten in a package. I think that was the perfect number for our collection size and layout. My co-worker and I had written our book descriptions out, and I had the chance finally to format them and print them out. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I sent an email to the rest of the adult services department after I got the talkers up, and I didn't think a whole lot about the value those talkers would have <i>to the staff</i>. I'd mentioned that if they had read anything in the YA department and wanted to write a talker, to type up 3 or 4 sentences at most and shoot it my way so I could do the formatting, printing, and displaying. But I got a wealth of thank yous because it helps make their jobs a little easier too -- it's a starting point for those teens who want a good book to read but approach a staff member who might not be as familiar with the YA books. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The element of surprise for YA readers to discover these while browsing is what maybe excites me the most.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
My goal is to swap out the titles every other month or so. I'd like to do it monthly, but time and other projects might make it hard, unless I do get flooded with contributions from other staffers -- and I have a feeling I'll see some more contributions, too. </div>
<br />Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-26442523021141906472013-09-13T08:15:00.002-05:002013-09-13T08:15:28.168-05:00Recently Displayed in the Teen SectionI've done a number of displays in the teen department over the last few months and failed to post them over here! I've been taking pictures and popping them onto <a href="http://catagator.tumblr.com/">my tumblr</a>, but I figured for those of you who read this and don't want to head over there, I'd share here, too.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>September Displays:</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheYrdJZAZ9Rs0h_K7W9rTW8EcoadY7S8Mn72OwhXTFWBiYx29G97l7wB6C4UT4kWElblir5z5ISlqXA-QlRh7hqTPI8bdg-WfVwKUpK7kWYk3JCGp6h2zdnvuTNjlra-SJlx5WBphjxr8/s1600/new+books+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheYrdJZAZ9Rs0h_K7W9rTW8EcoadY7S8Mn72OwhXTFWBiYx29G97l7wB6C4UT4kWElblir5z5ISlqXA-QlRh7hqTPI8bdg-WfVwKUpK7kWYk3JCGp6h2zdnvuTNjlra-SJlx5WBphjxr8/s320/new+books+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Sometimes, you don't even have to be creative to make a successful display. This one is just a display of recent new books. Yes, we have an entire new books section, but I figured pulling some out to display would get them even more exposure, in a different area of the teen department. And I was right -- this has required refilling numerous times. I love "having" to keep refill my displays because it means books are moving. The sign for it just says "Try A New Book" and it's an image of an old ferris wheel because why not?</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqHNol4jSXAS5JFS1KcJuY8BInl3gIlZBr6mqjPQpj6VcVOSKGhYUW5cx93cItS22R_MnkDpdgHWqr5pGx23yIY0AWLVbsPOEijBJhv3Is4pk-Trsm_0vknLN8vpRDlozqIfHqzNnmCXw/s1600/boarding+school.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqHNol4jSXAS5JFS1KcJuY8BInl3gIlZBr6mqjPQpj6VcVOSKGhYUW5cx93cItS22R_MnkDpdgHWqr5pGx23yIY0AWLVbsPOEijBJhv3Is4pk-Trsm_0vknLN8vpRDlozqIfHqzNnmCXw/s320/boarding+school.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
On my other lower display cube, I put up boarding school books. It, too, has been wildly popular. I've had to refill it once and . . . at this point I'm kind of out of books to put on the display, so there are only 4 or 5 on it now.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt1fKBZUa7XdDIBbTvN3IRGVXmG5vc3m0bKSJi5aai1pIynT1m6pUvVvg_kS8DQ8979nwteGKAsHFf-u5inc8FGmanVs57_KgEe7oa2K__CI_PDDldFhL1gXX0tliVi-XgEjnFQyKo6VU/s1600/hispher1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt1fKBZUa7XdDIBbTvN3IRGVXmG5vc3m0bKSJi5aai1pIynT1m6pUvVvg_kS8DQ8979nwteGKAsHFf-u5inc8FGmanVs57_KgEe7oa2K__CI_PDDldFhL1gXX0tliVi-XgEjnFQyKo6VU/s320/hispher1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOdn2UTQixtKbkq1UpH5iRl7WO2KEfG11pw6mCVDEVuCCf18GqVmd4GuvrqGFJPMBEbSVwMuv3hpQPPeu0WkO8bdaXgZMjkqlwSvacALC6pzqytAj0IA0xJ5d_2EF5e4aQFCiNVP7M1D4/s1600/hispher2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOdn2UTQixtKbkq1UpH5iRl7WO2KEfG11pw6mCVDEVuCCf18GqVmd4GuvrqGFJPMBEbSVwMuv3hpQPPeu0WkO8bdaXgZMjkqlwSvacALC6pzqytAj0IA0xJ5d_2EF5e4aQFCiNVP7M1D4/s320/hispher2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
September is Hispanic Heritage Month, and I wanted to honor that with what our collection had in terms of stories and authors which showcase or who are of Hispanic heritage. This one hasn't moved quite the same way as the other two displays, but stuff has definitely been checked out. More importantly, though, I think even when your displays aren't as successful, showcasing what your collection has is really important -- especially when it comes to showcasing multicultural titles. We do serve a sizable Hispanic population, as well.<br />
<br />
Because banned books week is this month and our library is doing a series of "Big Read" events around it, I plan on switching one of the displays out to show off banned books (I think I'm going to frame it as intellectual freedom, as opposed to banned books, maybe).<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>August Displays:</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZcZjbIqxXRs9TFkU7rEuorWW3KJkZmdDolCXLJkAEMJNGtC5UJMi-v54HiZLOH7WWKsVCTndGOXVRwkqF3W_n2NdSaWPE_BamCXu5qvrAE4bGOe_Qnm1d5mIOdPfTyHrmB5GUwC-PA4/s1600/ellen+hopkins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZcZjbIqxXRs9TFkU7rEuorWW3KJkZmdDolCXLJkAEMJNGtC5UJMi-v54HiZLOH7WWKsVCTndGOXVRwkqF3W_n2NdSaWPE_BamCXu5qvrAE4bGOe_Qnm1d5mIOdPfTyHrmB5GUwC-PA4/s320/ellen+hopkins.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The most popular books teens read this summer (according to summer reading club entries) were written by Ellen Hopkins. So to sate the interests of those readers, I did a read alike display, which was wildly successful. I think I'm going to end up making a post of some sort to put in the teen area to give read alikes to some of the really popular authors.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiFzPXyyPhQJG_hVvmzUMoLGFzLU9qwwwUPykoQqV9L-NIJKjbhJ6-QNw0PlnVLIakZ5JulfIKhRKWLp_mZbCLW6oBE6bYTqhoaR-JSb4BeKVf_IScNUzIM02zsiaP4CEGXsB4dK5TFdU/s1600/short+stories.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiFzPXyyPhQJG_hVvmzUMoLGFzLU9qwwwUPykoQqV9L-NIJKjbhJ6-QNw0PlnVLIakZ5JulfIKhRKWLp_mZbCLW6oBE6bYTqhoaR-JSb4BeKVf_IScNUzIM02zsiaP4CEGXsB4dK5TFdU/s320/short+stories.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I did a display of short stories for August, as well. Though some of the books went out, it wasn't the most popular display I've done. I think that speaks to the popularity of short stories with teen readers, to be honest. Some love them, but most of our titles don't circulate very well.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyleji-dQ3053wDy2-2aPBPd49segllqDVTTdJKOFOT-l41l-xowX7vOqt2L-A5PExm0iMR-T58XxaSiwleglSXTUBPrGS3qnd8EvqFCZC3az4Snh9W9QWwco2aoX1GgeE4K5sAoy7Yfc/s1600/supernatural.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyleji-dQ3053wDy2-2aPBPd49segllqDVTTdJKOFOT-l41l-xowX7vOqt2L-A5PExm0iMR-T58XxaSiwleglSXTUBPrGS3qnd8EvqFCZC3az4Snh9W9QWwco2aoX1GgeE4K5sAoy7Yfc/s320/supernatural.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This idea I took from another tumblr user, who developed <a href="http://jessydoesthings.tumblr.com/post/55899423928/whats-on-the-supernatural-display-and-why">a reading list for fans of Supernatural</a>. I made it a display and it did very well. I think I might replicate this sort of display in October, but this time for fans waiting for The Walking Dead. Yep, it would be <i>yet another </i>zombie display (I think my third in a year?) but those books go like crazy, and I don't see why replicating popular displays is a bad thing, especially if you're changing up the how of your display -- in other words, not always simple "zombie books!" but in this case, it'd be a tie in to the show's return in mid-October. My kids are rabid about zombies, and I want to keep 'em happy. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
They are rabid enough that they even helped make a poster for our library card sign up month campaign, <a href="http://www.slj.com/2013/09/public-libraries/pictures-of-the-week-teen-zombies-sign-up-for-library-cards-at-beloit-wi-public-library/">dressed as zombies</a>. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>July Displays:</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkE5yUObdJFGznQOj7_akp5zyLwkZ3c_sYUGFJWzp0kEYrCCS65pUu53zDO75Ec7mBg0G1Ozf4v3tz5vtDoHpML866VHmER5kkWDQ0pL173zW1e9fJxezjkvAzvYHSsPErSh0pqOIHVH8/s1600/zombies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkE5yUObdJFGznQOj7_akp5zyLwkZ3c_sYUGFJWzp0kEYrCCS65pUu53zDO75Ec7mBg0G1Ozf4v3tz5vtDoHpML866VHmER5kkWDQ0pL173zW1e9fJxezjkvAzvYHSsPErSh0pqOIHVH8/s320/zombies.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />
Like I said. I think in July I refilled this display almost every time I came to work -- and sometimes, there weren't any books to add to it.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQhpgmAzwuUaIdlEITIWXpyp40tZvPX5NQvlyJ_Z2StLWAIR-yS5R00_BzhyQZhheUo4Sx17UBx-vu6arGAuazQ-UsCXqT9nxjl6-NeNgdsBOqeXrwrzPtVuFJ4GynUryboZ5RgFhMnU/s1600/parallelworlds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQhpgmAzwuUaIdlEITIWXpyp40tZvPX5NQvlyJ_Z2StLWAIR-yS5R00_BzhyQZhheUo4Sx17UBx-vu6arGAuazQ-UsCXqT9nxjl6-NeNgdsBOqeXrwrzPtVuFJ4GynUryboZ5RgFhMnU/s320/parallelworlds.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I also did a display of books with either time travel or which took place in parallel worlds in July. This was a fun and a tough one -- but it got some books circulating that hadn't gone out in a long time.<br />
<br />Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-48901027177531667212013-09-13T07:43:00.002-05:002013-09-13T07:43:33.747-05:00Caramel Apples: A Teen Programming Success<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrewxJoV8pRz4bb9BMxckUOVDEx706TFir6hjtXVydGHlg1hCMVrNVwwSUTa3nDs2c0nH6ocINNMlR2Q_6ZWdvdI_g0U19-1Lu_ZM7KFC2Q6eS6chvaMhKDFDqz86hVhVALhygBWTqSQ/s1600/amysdecadentchocolates.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrewxJoV8pRz4bb9BMxckUOVDEx706TFir6hjtXVydGHlg1hCMVrNVwwSUTa3nDs2c0nH6ocINNMlR2Q_6ZWdvdI_g0U19-1Lu_ZM7KFC2Q6eS6chvaMhKDFDqz86hVhVALhygBWTqSQ/s1600/amysdecadentchocolates.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">image via amysdecadentchocolates.com</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
My first fall program -- caramel apple making -- was a mega hit this week, despite a few hiccups on the planning side of things. This program was very easy, inexpensive, and more than worthwhile. I had 25 teens show up for the one hour evening event. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I picked up supplies the day before the event, except for the apples, which I picked up the morning of the event. They are as follows:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
-- 2 bags of apples. I picked up red and green varieties, and there were roughly 20 in each of the bags. I bought smaller apples, as opposed to bigger ones. Because we don't do signups, I didn't know how many kids would show up. I figured in the worst case, the kids would each be able to have two or three. And even with 25 teens, there were enough for many of them to have two apples. The cost for the two bags was about $12. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
-- 3 or 4 tubs of caramel dip. They make pre-made dips in the fruit section, and I picked up four tubs. For 25 kids, I only needed three because I also decided to pick up one tub of chocolate dip and one tub of vanilla cream cheese dip. My thought was some kids will want to come and they don't like caramel. So, for all six tubs of dip, it was roughly $4 each, or $24. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
-- Popsicle sticks. I bought the bigger ones you get in the craft section, and they were roughly $2. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
-- M&Ms. They make mini M&Ms, and I ended up buying three bags, which was a little much. I didn't realize how many M&Ms came in the bags of minis, and I only ended up using one bag. That was about $3 for each (so my total cost was $9 or so, but for 25 kids, one bag was plenty). </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
-- Sprinkles. We had leftovers from summer programming, so this was no cost to me. But for someone wanting to replicate, it'd be very inexpensive. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Total cost for supplies: under $50.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
We have napkins, forks, and plates in our programming room, so those might be extra costs. We also keep a supply of drinks, but I could see purchasing a couple of gallons of apple juice or apple cider, as well, and still keeping the cost low.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The set up for the program was simple. I wiped down each of the apples and de-stemmed them prior to the program. All of the apples were in good shape. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
We had two tables: the first had the apples, plates, napkins, drinks, and popsicle sticks. The second table had forks, the dips, and the toppings. While it would have been ideal to have spoons, we were out of them, so I improvised with forks. As the teens came in, they each helped themselves to an apple, put the stick through it (which was their favorite part, to the surprise of exactly no one), and then they had the choice of using a fork to spread the dips over the apples or putting the apple in the dip and turning it. Since they hadn't touched the apples beyond putting the stick through the center, there weren't germ concerns. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
After they put the dip on the apples, they could then top with sprinkles or M&Ms over their own plates. Some teens put the toppings right on their plates, as well as some extra dip, for when they got to the middle of the apple.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
This was a little messy at cleanup -- the dip and toppings table especially -- but for 25 kids it was more than well-worth it. As the teens finished eating, they just hung out around the room with each other. Some played games, some of the girls had a blanket and just chilled with one another. For me, that's the definition of a successful program: your kids don't come only for the food. They come to socialize with one another, too. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I'd debated bringing other topping choices for the event, but I am glad I stuck to what I did. It was more than enough, and, as I noted above, there were too many bags of M&Ms. I kept this event nut-free because I know allergies are always something to keep in mind. I didn't even want to touch it. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Many kids ended up eating a second apple, and when the program ended, I had 2 full bags of mini M&Ms left, as well as one tub of caramel dip. Everything else was gone. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Though the program went smoothly inside the room, there were some challenges outside the program that I think are going to change how I do things a little bit. Our security monitor came in to show me that a number of popsicle sticks had been found broken around the library (some of the teens were playing with them and I didn't realize they'd taken them out of the room). But the real downer was that he also found a caramel apple in the water fountain. As in, someone took it out of the room and put it there. Not cool.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
So in response, I think I'm going to have to rethink my stance on in-and-out privileges to programs. There is a bathroom immediately across the hall from the room, so that's not a big deal. But once a teen leaves, I think it'll have to be the case that they're done with the program then. I don't like having to make rules like that, but I also don't like making work for other members of staff -- not to mention how disrespectful leaving program materials around the library is. I can write it off as teens being teens, but I also think it's my responsibility to make them learn how to <i>be </i>more responsible. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
That said, I highly recommend a program like this. My food events always draw the teens, and they are always thrilled to be involved with them. Is there anything better than teens asking when the next program is because they had so much fun? </div>
Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-13587534024085304012013-08-01T12:18:00.003-05:002013-08-01T12:18:59.422-05:00Program Success: A Low-key Zombie NightThe last post I shared was one about how I wasn't having a successful summer program, and I went ahead and followed it up by doing a successful program. The wills and ways of working with teens in the library.<br />
<br />
I held a zombie event, but unlike a lot of the zombie proms or other zombie events I've seen, I kept mine incredibly low-key. The real reason behind that was because the actual big event of the program was watching <b>Warm Bodies</b>. But let me back up before I get to that.<br />
<br />
Earlier in the year, I asked my teens what they were into. Zombies. Zombies all the time. They love <b>The Walking Dead </b>and did they ever tell me how much they were excited to see <b>Warm Bodies</b>.<br />
<br />
This is why you ask your teens these things because they will hand your programming over to you.<br />
<br />
To end summer reading club, I wanted to do a big finale. Watching <b>Warm Bodies </b>was a given, since they were enthusiastic about it from the start. But I didn't want to do just that. And given that my time at the library is limited -- I'm part-time -- I didn't want to invest too much time or money developing a program that had the potential to bomb out anyway (and that's not to say I wanted to be lazy, but it's why I decided against doing zombie makeup or having the kids learn the Thriller dance or doing a lock in sort of event).<br />
<br />
So I decided I'd do an hour of programming and then show the movie, making the event a sort of two-part deal. Teens could come at 4:30 and do some zombie stuff, and then any teens who just wanted to see the movie could come at 5:30 and do that.<br />
<br />
Most showed up at 4:30, and the few who weren't interested in the activities went out into the library and came back at 5:30. Not a big deal! I even had a couple girls come in full-out zombie dress. They told me they spent 4 hours getting the look down, and we were able to use them as zombies for a library campaign we're launching in the fall. . .which is awesome.<br />
<br />
<b>What I did</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I set up four stations. Knowing how much my teens loved decorating cupcakes (which was another successful program I ran following my last post), I knew I wanted to do something with food. So we made zombie marshmallows:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8E6pTbt87svgU3lwCWZYtn3cOGy0djwpynyY-TUYkPEmJQ8cwBw1NLXF8DM3ENsGTriVjRTckMQbv0S2Rl8rm2Hbg0pQ-cGDaKZ7FHmmZFtrMk60kit35A2lZ5FI81nf6qUcZLMlvE-M/s1600/marshmallow+zombie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8E6pTbt87svgU3lwCWZYtn3cOGy0djwpynyY-TUYkPEmJQ8cwBw1NLXF8DM3ENsGTriVjRTckMQbv0S2Rl8rm2Hbg0pQ-cGDaKZ7FHmmZFtrMk60kit35A2lZ5FI81nf6qUcZLMlvE-M/s320/marshmallow+zombie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I bought 2 bags of those super-sized marshmallows, along with food coloring markers (Americolor gourmet writer brand which worked well), red and black decorating gel, and eye-shaped sprinkles at the craft store (Hobby Lobby if you're wanting specifics). I purchased lollipop sticks and put out a small plate of light corn syrup which was used to attach the sprinkles. Everything was completely edible and the teens got creative here.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghxf8I0W825dSFfPR6_eSbRj-wXLDEI7LK5o1r_1XwH93g5Z4DgvRUJ9bRDzQGJHbNcljHgOngwp8d-a254mNWMkiSxWNuIBpa1Nj1eVrwL41sFrrEpF-Ckh0n3W3LM0JCHfIRB7mwXpc/s1600/zombieman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghxf8I0W825dSFfPR6_eSbRj-wXLDEI7LK5o1r_1XwH93g5Z4DgvRUJ9bRDzQGJHbNcljHgOngwp8d-a254mNWMkiSxWNuIBpa1Nj1eVrwL41sFrrEpF-Ckh0n3W3LM0JCHfIRB7mwXpc/s320/zombieman.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
<br />
It was about $30 for all of the supplies and the teens loved this. I would do an entire program of marshmallow decorating, in fact.<br />
<br />
The second station we did involved zombifying famous works of art. I printed out five or six classic works of art that would look awesome as zombie art, and I provided crayons. This is what the goal was, and my kids were pretty awesome about it:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJHpczv_seGgwjkIch6Gq2srAb4moyMjP4-9QU0fSiGBUXCjklIi6kDeklbHm0G0gVyez3AyLFW58wEJQObBTIOwGEJ76Id9mNlFGuUitHCRYu6dOILZTL7jzkC6aueoQudKYFRCHhc_U/s1600/zombie+art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJHpczv_seGgwjkIch6Gq2srAb4moyMjP4-9QU0fSiGBUXCjklIi6kDeklbHm0G0gVyez3AyLFW58wEJQObBTIOwGEJ76Id9mNlFGuUitHCRYu6dOILZTL7jzkC6aueoQudKYFRCHhc_U/s320/zombie+art.jpg" width="249" /></a></div>
<br />
Obviously, that was my model.<br />
<br />
Cost to do zombie art? A few minutes Google searching famous art coloring sheets and printing them out. In other words $0.<br />
<br />
My third station was one that wasn't quite as successful as I hoped, but frankly, since the other two were so popular already, it didn't matter. I pulled out our library's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Zombigami-Paper-Folding-Living-Dead/dp/1402786468/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375376551&sr=8-1&keywords=zombigami">Zombigami book</a> and put out paper and scissors for teens to make zombie origami.<br />
<br />
Total cost: $0. I used paper we had already.<br />
<br />
The fourth and final station had <i>nothing to do with zombies at all</i>. My very first program for the summer program was a duct tape crafts event. Since it was attended by only four kids, I had plenty of left over supplies, and since so many kids kept asking me when the program was happening after it happened, I figured why not? So I had out the duct tape and the kids went to town. Most of them covered themselves in duct tape (some pretty nifty Angry Birds duct tape suspenders were made) but I told them as long as they didn't hurt themselves or others, they could have at it.<br />
<br />
(Spoiler: you give your teens freedom and most of the time they do not exploit it. We had no injuries at all here).<br />
<br />
Total cost: $0, since the supplies were all recycled. And guess what? The teens <b>do not care </b>if these things don't fit your theme.<br />
<br />
After an hour with the stations, I called in the handful of kids who I knew weren't in the room but wanted to see the movie. I told them get comfortable however they wanted -- a chair, hanging at the tables doing activities, sitting on the floor. When I hit play on <b>Warm Bodies</b>, I left the room in the hands of my summer page and my co-worker and I went to Little Caesar's and bought 11 pizzas to feed them all dinner.<br />
<br />
If you aren't taking advantage of a Little Caesar's in your area, which charges only $5 for a pizza when you want it, you should. I had a couple teens tell me they <i>walked across town </i>to see the movie and have dinner. I do not work in a small town.<br />
<br />
I brought the pizzas in when the movie was about half over, meaning the kids had to hang tight while I went to get it and they weren't just there for the free food.<br />
<br />
Total cost for the pizzas? $58. On top of the $30 or so for other supplies, the program ran for under $100 and it reached 30 very happy, very well-fed teens. Worth mentioning: we had our movie covered under our license. At the beginning of summer, it was not and we thought it would be an additional $100 to get the license. But luck fell on the right side this time.<br />
<br />
If I could change anything, I'd probably have erred on the side of getting more pepperoni pizza, since those went fast. I'd also maybe do a more involved station at the beginning of the program for the teens who didn't want to do the stuff we had (maybe some sort of game -- I'd eyed picking up <b>Zombie Dice </b>or <b>Zombie Fluxx </b>but didn't because of time issues).<br />
<br />
When the teens left, they asked when we'd be doing this again, and they were <i>thrilled </i>to hear we'd be having a <b>Hunger Games </b>showing the night before <b>Catching Fire </b>hits the big screen.Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-9081033094896310602013-07-09T08:58:00.001-05:002013-07-09T08:58:26.098-05:00Professional Envy, Programming, & Summer Reading ClubIt's been a challenging summer.<br />
<br />
Part of it is simply trying to do a lot of things with not a lot of time at work. But another part -- maybe the bigger part -- is still wondering whether and how librarianship is still the right place for me to be in a career.<br />
<br />
Don't get me wrong. I love what I do. I love working with teens. I love working with adults. I love working with kids who come in and spend 30 minutes asking me to look up every single horror movie they can think of so they can discover them for the first time (yes, it's sometimes a test of patience, but those kids want my undivided attention and I <b>enjoy </b>giving it to them).<br />
<br />
It's been a hard summer, and it's been really hard not to beat myself up for not being good enough or not doing enough every minute that I am there. Being part time and having the responsibility for virtually all of the teen stuff -- programming, collection development, the summer reading club, and so forth -- I've had to make choices and let things go. And there are days where I'm on the reference desk for a three hour shift and don't get to sit and take care of pressing issues (like the inbox of urgent messages, for one). There are shifts when I do have a minute to breathe on desk, and I can't force myself to actually <i>do </i>the work I need to do. I need to just <i>sit </i>and wrap my brain around everything.<br />
<br />
Coming off ALA, I felt refreshed and ready to head back to work with a clear head. I'd just spent days with people I admire and respect and felt their enthusiasm wholly.<br />
<br />
Except.<br />
<br />
I keep coming back to the same questions I have been wrestling with all summer long: am I doing enough? Why do my programs keep failing? What is failure anyway? Why can't I accept than six teens showing up for movie and a pizza is a good turn out? How could I reach more teens? What can I do differently in the fall to make it work? If I give up some responsibilities will it be better? Will I feel like I'm a quitter if I give up those responsibilities? How can I draw the sharp line between work time and me time, and how do I enforce it?<br />
<br />
For some reason, I doubt anyone <i>doesn't </i>struggle with the same questions at some point.<br />
<br />
But I think it's really easy to get mired with the idea you're not good enough because you're seeing people you respect and admire doing so much. I see such amazing programs being put on by people I know and know well. It makes me so happy for them. It thrills me to see great people achieving -- and not just achieving, but then <i>sharing those things so others can achieve too</i>.<br />
<br />
It's not to say I'm not doing what I can with what I have. I think I am. I see my book displays emptied days after I fill them up. The box for teens to share what they read this summer as part of summer reading club is stuffed to the brim. Teens are not just filling out their small forms with the title of the book and the author; they're also telling me why they read the book. I convinced a 13-year-old girl to sign up for the reading club after she asked me about the third book in the Gallagher Girls series, and then she gave me an impassioned talk about the differences between that series and the Heist Society series and why she prefers one over the other.<br />
<br />
On program days, though, I spend all morning fretting about whether it's going to be another failure. About what I did or did not do enough of to make it work or not work. And whatever enthusiasm I had, I've lost and I drown in a sea of self-doubt and . . . envy.<br />
<br />
Envy for people who do it so well.<br />
<br />
It's not easy to talk about nor admit. But I think on some level, we all feel it. A friend or colleague runs a creative program and has 20, 30, 50 people attend the event. Meanwhile, you put on a program your teens have been asking for and face a near-empty room. The three or four kids who attend have a good time, and while you try to hold on to that being the point, it's hard not to feel down.<br />
<br />
It's also hard not to feel like you're phoning it in when things you've talked about yourself -- passive programming, for example -- continue to fail when you try them in your place of work. Logically, I know it's something that takes time and consistency to make work. Realistically, I'm impatient.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure there is an answer to professional envy nor professional self-doubt. I'm not sure there are answers to the questions I think about all the time, either.<br />
<br />
The number of people who've mentioned to me that they've been feeling that pang of envy lately -- and maybe it is summer when it is worst because we are all just stretched so thin, so close to the breaking point -- you're not alone.Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-83351007646158540432013-03-13T08:24:00.002-05:002013-03-13T08:24:39.925-05:00Teen Summer Reading -- The Plan!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://library.utah.gov/programs/youth/images/2013TeenChallengePoster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://library.utah.gov/programs/youth/images/2013TeenChallengePoster.jpg" width="236" /></a></div>
<br />
The coworker I split teen responsibilities with is leaving the library before summer starts -- it's good for her and her family but I'm going to miss her because our minds were in the same place on a lot of things and, after working in 2 libraries where I was the only person doing teen services, it was so nice to share the job with someone else.<br />
<br />
With that, we had to hash out summer reading programs quickly this year since, well, I'll be going it alone.<br />
<br />
And I'm really excited about what we're offering. If you're still thinking or plotting or worrying, you're welcome to steal away. I'm not writing up lengthy descriptions or how-tos just yet, since I prefer to reflect upon after the fact, as opposed to plan it out.<br />
<br />
<b>Kickoff -- Duct Tape Creations</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
The teens keep asking, so I am providing. I'm lucky I know how to do a handful of things (wallets, hats, flip flops, and purses) but I told a couple of very eager and enthusiastic teens they have to come and show off their skills. Which I don't think will be an issue.<br />
<br />
<b>Pizza and a Movie</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I'm feeding the kids pizza, and I'm going to show them <b>Tremors</b>. Because hello campy "beneath the surface" horror fun.<br />
<br />
<b>Book Discussion -- Rotters </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
One of my goals after my 90 day evaluation at work was to run a summer book club for teens. There is a very active book discussion group at the high school, and they have been wanting something to supplement it during the summer. Enter the library!<br />
<br />
I angsted about what book to do for a long time, then I realized that doing a true horror story about, well, things beneath the surface was the way to go. I haven't read Daniel Kraus's <b>Rotters</b>, but I have a feeling we'll have a lot to talk about and I am looking forward to it.<br />
<br />
<b>Pizza and a Movie </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Another round of pizza being served and a movie being watched. I haven't decided yet if we're going to show <b>Jaws </b>or <b>The Sixth Sense</b>. I asked on our teen Facebook page but they haven't weighed in with me here. So I'll pull a librarian's choice.<br />
<br />
<b>Cupcake Wars</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I guess you can call this one right on the surface, as opposed to beneath it. I did a cupcake decorating event as part of my Mardi Gras party and the kids liked it a lot. So this time it's even bigger -- and I haven't decided yet if it will really be competitive or not.<br />
<br />
<b>Book Discussion -- Cinder</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Another book discussion, and this time we're taking on cyborgs. I haven't read this one but am so excited to and I think it'll lead to a great discussion, too.<br />
<br />
<b>Summer Wrap Up: Zombie Party</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I'm running a zombie party. And I am so excited about the things I have in mind for it. In addition to the party aspect, I'm going to show <b>Warm Bodies</b>. I'm completely unsold on the movie and don't want to see it, but my teens were raving about it and how cool it'd be if we could show it when it came out.<br />
<br />
I aim to serve.<br />
<br />
I'm still sussing out what I want to do in terms of passing programming and in terms of reader's advisory/displays, but I have a list of ideas in mind. I figure if I have them planned out now, I can be much more effective in implementing them during the summer.<br />
<br />
I'm pretty excited about the plans. I get to thinking sometimes I'm not doing a lot that's super innovative or mind-blowing, but then I remember that these are the things teens want to do and love coming to. And that's what matters.Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-6851247788936593612013-03-04T17:19:00.002-06:002013-03-04T17:19:24.554-06:00March teen displays<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj81y1uZRchCh6-MyU7GSHjbHLbAyZojMwqUOP8hz9qJWQwa5oB4S7UovrpiG547G8iROhZfSW6vfiSys9HzBBB4vyHAHh1Z-M3qeKdu5QPAdPA0wuRfMkLPtaeSzmSCEp2gFJJBClBdcA/s1600/stronggirls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj81y1uZRchCh6-MyU7GSHjbHLbAyZojMwqUOP8hz9qJWQwa5oB4S7UovrpiG547G8iROhZfSW6vfiSys9HzBBB4vyHAHh1Z-M3qeKdu5QPAdPA0wuRfMkLPtaeSzmSCEp2gFJJBClBdcA/s1600/stronggirls.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
I'm really pleased with my (finished) displays for March. I add finished since one of them isn't yet -- we've been so busy, I never got to fully flesh it out. And then I noticed some of the books I did get onto it were gone, meaning it needs a refill again (which is awesome and not a complaint).<br />
<br />
So this month, I went with three very different themes.<br />
<br />
First: Arts and Crafts. March is Youth Art Month and also National Craft Month, so I pulled out a few of our teen craft guides. This is my half-finished display, as my intention was to also pull out a number of fictional titles featuring artistic/crafty teens.<br />
<br />
Second: Get Lucky. No, not like that. The sign actually reads "Get lucky with a green book," and the display is filled with books that have green covers. As easy as it sounds, it was surprisingly hard to pull together enough books with entirely green covers. But I did it, and it really brightened up the display space.<br />
<br />
Finally: Women's history month. That's pictured above. But rather than a "historical girls" display -- which is quite limited -- I played with the idea of strong female characters instead. So the poster says "Like a strong female character?" and I pulled together books across genres featuring strong leading ladies. I think this might be my favorite display to date, as it includes so many different types of female characters and so many different genres. And since putting it up, some of those books have gone.Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-29243131934057452492013-02-27T00:00:00.000-06:002013-02-27T00:00:05.856-06:00"Beneath the Surface" Scary Movie Marathon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://library.ohio.gov/sites/default/files/beneath_poster_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://library.ohio.gov/sites/default/files/beneath_poster_sm.jpg" width="147" /></a></div>
<br />
Are your teens fans of scary movies? Mine are. And what could be more "beneath the surface" than the things that scare us in horror movies?<br />
<br />
One of the programs you could do to incorporate this with the "Beneath the Surface" theme for summer is running a horror movie marathon. But rather than show off the latest and greatest, why not show some of the classic and/or campy horror movies out there? These are the kinds of things that aren't lame to teens. You could do a marathon in a day, showing 2 or 3 films at once, or you could make it a program that happens once a week on the same day and at the same time.<br />
<br />
A challenge with scary movies is, of course, ratings. Which is why going back to the classic and campy horror is perfect. Many of the good ones are rated PG or PG-13. Here's a short list to get your mind cranking:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxMN_LEQpvKkR8rpoo0hNbGu9NikFdRmByOn4oLPuD8Pb2NTHsQ_xAWH-cr-V64iDfFYrGGpaQMEp4yLDlXWM1zrV0O4G-GJ16j_B_R_ie5lYvnnQnV6J5C6qZohAj0qxbKN7Js0fM3Pc/s1600/sixth_sense_ver2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxMN_LEQpvKkR8rpoo0hNbGu9NikFdRmByOn4oLPuD8Pb2NTHsQ_xAWH-cr-V64iDfFYrGGpaQMEp4yLDlXWM1zrV0O4G-GJ16j_B_R_ie5lYvnnQnV6J5C6qZohAj0qxbKN7Js0fM3Pc/s200/sixth_sense_ver2.jpg" width="138" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCc9Def8P8J571Hr_Zkpx4tIdO6ytGBO5sFifDqMehkIc5eI-Y2dW5b8w_IvXV0YIoyMV8Cuz695Wl5Ejq7oyX3K0KqNVI5kz9USgRSSSGqPG0gRMKX_RmB15DWt9TJQvG6EQPfXxrDPA/s1600/jaws.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCc9Def8P8J571Hr_Zkpx4tIdO6ytGBO5sFifDqMehkIc5eI-Y2dW5b8w_IvXV0YIoyMV8Cuz695Wl5Ejq7oyX3K0KqNVI5kz9USgRSSSGqPG0gRMKX_RmB15DWt9TJQvG6EQPfXxrDPA/s200/jaws.jpg" width="135" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbNwOxTUabbIF7XMVWKk5dLkWu9sLm59_PtRGUPrH3kYj4gPhXDx1zERTm0bsImZmJup6M7n3zLQUHp-pEi7mP-5iXDzOBiMxQa6ZKk-SEnknxAMN_4gyq-T8DKOHFUq4z5vzRKSdX6Y/s1600/tremors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbNwOxTUabbIF7XMVWKk5dLkWu9sLm59_PtRGUPrH3kYj4gPhXDx1zERTm0bsImZmJup6M7n3zLQUHp-pEi7mP-5iXDzOBiMxQa6ZKk-SEnknxAMN_4gyq-T8DKOHFUq4z5vzRKSdX6Y/s200/tremors.jpg" width="137" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoFlTrm2W3b64vdnP1jpXUulpnfOHCzVYdazOt3VlXDFyiFuP1MJcQD_wNRaXpY2j1AOvZkIGdtTw3ZielK_cGJxjUNBRbohRQwuftmNYiyLouweW_ovGn7O0MJfLI8NFmvnL4HaoBm5g/s1600/killerklowns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoFlTrm2W3b64vdnP1jpXUulpnfOHCzVYdazOt3VlXDFyiFuP1MJcQD_wNRaXpY2j1AOvZkIGdtTw3ZielK_cGJxjUNBRbohRQwuftmNYiyLouweW_ovGn7O0MJfLI8NFmvnL4HaoBm5g/s200/killerklowns.jpg" width="138" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCrl0YUCUl5JRGVoKCnRoGp3vgeSt_xSl_SDpxTDD2TIVE7RK8WcrZEL4STg25VR4VQTo06vr2Kqnb6PkprEqvg08IejdWP6V1ZjJApvJEkQld8jXTCtGzJXTK8cCbUe_mbubxoombYrk/s1600/gremlins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCrl0YUCUl5JRGVoKCnRoGp3vgeSt_xSl_SDpxTDD2TIVE7RK8WcrZEL4STg25VR4VQTo06vr2Kqnb6PkprEqvg08IejdWP6V1ZjJApvJEkQld8jXTCtGzJXTK8cCbUe_mbubxoombYrk/s200/gremlins.jpg" width="140" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyeLwSUwO9TOG85n8SUfQPk57f6HVA_P70PdOpz71CrrS0kqI6lKnD02ybVEcRgLODnvtRRJBH_2IeKsDqIcBHoThyphenhyphenVjGIHKs2bsVlsurZyQXrz3KOV9mMqFy_aC44wB3mMkKkKVEu-YI/s1600/theothers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyeLwSUwO9TOG85n8SUfQPk57f6HVA_P70PdOpz71CrrS0kqI6lKnD02ybVEcRgLODnvtRRJBH_2IeKsDqIcBHoThyphenhyphenVjGIHKs2bsVlsurZyQXrz3KOV9mMqFy_aC44wB3mMkKkKVEu-YI/s200/theothers.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIl7EFsY4aKhxcz3Z2HGH5V8Fd-OClikrggln25ov4uaxfdlbqLeB5gtHb1O5ePvEnC_xBBbm3_s4Rbrli8pnU2AIO4HzP9SHmrmOXHsXN5E1NogS6V5n2CYOsNL-KpzDp3n2mT75xSpw/s1600/poltergeist25big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIl7EFsY4aKhxcz3Z2HGH5V8Fd-OClikrggln25ov4uaxfdlbqLeB5gtHb1O5ePvEnC_xBBbm3_s4Rbrli8pnU2AIO4HzP9SHmrmOXHsXN5E1NogS6V5n2CYOsNL-KpzDp3n2mT75xSpw/s200/poltergeist25big.jpg" width="146" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHK2LnvIdHzizJGNaLPlDEOH0DeNDhTVswHPEKNSXsornrB_7YZ1XGdQNvkulm6mtr25EXqIjVPe_Pu2dpjFymk-yq3vSevUR6u92UUlvxQma_pgBrj3Z2LzftCs9W7ykaEy4ebddRg0E/s1600/The+Birds+Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHK2LnvIdHzizJGNaLPlDEOH0DeNDhTVswHPEKNSXsornrB_7YZ1XGdQNvkulm6mtr25EXqIjVPe_Pu2dpjFymk-yq3vSevUR6u92UUlvxQma_pgBrj3Z2LzftCs9W7ykaEy4ebddRg0E/s200/The+Birds+Poster.jpg" width="115" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJFvkbCrpdHp7MoH0KWLoJP99Ce6LkD7Bd-xGc3vI_47nkl3OtLI7gqnTbg3jgTxPAKL36fkHXl_ILo-JvKA5cuQeogk-uy9Ci7WHnAgLoALBIKNVShVenehwnysxY-qF6-1knE4d3Hsw/s1600/signs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJFvkbCrpdHp7MoH0KWLoJP99Ce6LkD7Bd-xGc3vI_47nkl3OtLI7gqnTbg3jgTxPAKL36fkHXl_ILo-JvKA5cuQeogk-uy9Ci7WHnAgLoALBIKNVShVenehwnysxY-qF6-1knE4d3Hsw/s200/signs.jpg" width="134" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
And two of my teens' favorites which are also in the appropriate rating category:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlSYMl5X83lC-K7gf4e_f6NWVZ6ZYa3jmJGj-DHBefqHwRl-TbbJuuZqaAsOjX4p7_qXwcYs9apchQCIbedSWQKc8a59KrqXgqT2Qp6G2mUcBZoudyHKVZJK68DslC0CyHHncFZwCjdgg/s1600/thering.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlSYMl5X83lC-K7gf4e_f6NWVZ6ZYa3jmJGj-DHBefqHwRl-TbbJuuZqaAsOjX4p7_qXwcYs9apchQCIbedSWQKc8a59KrqXgqT2Qp6G2mUcBZoudyHKVZJK68DslC0CyHHncFZwCjdgg/s200/thering.jpg" width="135" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzFgCfsUurNAsxUEkZWTBbDTUZZXwbiAe11CYmjNoUcw5XSz-76uHc6Zvu5oEAY-iDRcRWk5t4DvNVQEkqB6mhyphenhyphenB_6upZSRkxDxXOHqA7ZppYEoHeKUHKuoPdF5bVceCVMsyKApkxsKNs/s1600/thegrudge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzFgCfsUurNAsxUEkZWTBbDTUZZXwbiAe11CYmjNoUcw5XSz-76uHc6Zvu5oEAY-iDRcRWk5t4DvNVQEkqB6mhyphenhyphenB_6upZSRkxDxXOHqA7ZppYEoHeKUHKuoPdF5bVceCVMsyKApkxsKNs/s200/thegrudge.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-49585571802984716432013-02-20T00:00:00.000-06:002013-02-20T06:20:28.240-06:00Passive programming ideas for "Beneath the Surface"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://library.ohio.gov/sites/default/files/beneath_poster_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://library.ohio.gov/sites/default/files/beneath_poster_sm.jpg" width="236" /></a></div>
<br />
Passive programming is something I think a lot about. <a href="http://www.stackedbooks.org/2012/06/ala-presentation-notes.html">I've talked about it before at ALA</a>, which included a lengthy list of ideas for passive programming. It's something I want to continue thinking about and implementing because the more opportunities you provide passive programming for your teens, the more they will engage in and with it.<br />
<br />
While thinking about what programs I want to offer this summer to my teens, I've also kept a separate list of passive programs I want to implement. There are the obvious passive reader's advisory ideas, including book displays on mermaid books, on other worlds, on zombies, and on intergenerational stories (because our personal histories lie beneath our surfaces). Then there are a few others on my mind.<br />
<br />
If you're looking for some easy passive programs to implement this summer, here are some of the ones I'm considering:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Scratch art. Make up a bunch of <a href="http://rachelmoani.com/?p=105">homemade scratch boards</a>, leave them out in your teen area, and ask the teens to make their own art. Yes, this will require some cleanup, but leave garbage cans in the area for the teens to do some of the cleanup themselves. Then display the art in the teen area. If you want to, you could employ some of your teens to make publicity out of their scratch art for other programs. </li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://newspaperblackout.com/">Black out poetry</a>. But rather than use newspapers or magazines (which you can), why not rip apart some of those ARCs gathering dust on your shelves? Then if they happen to wander off, no one loses anything here. Leave out (or have a sign for where teens can ask for) markers, colored pencils, and crayons. Then display the art. Again, maybe some of your crafty teens can help you make some publicity for other programs through their own black out poetry. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>You know the incredibly popular "<a href="http://www.yahighway.com/2013/02/blind-dates-with-books.html">Blind Date with a Book</a>" display going around the internet right now? Take a spin on it. Cover your books with paper bags or construction paper, and in addition to the short description you might include to entice readers to check out the book, ask them to design a brand new cover for the book ON the blank paper. Display those covers. Put them on your social media, and hang them in your teen area. You could make an entire gallery of new covers for older books. This is the perfect way to also move some of those books that are still great but have dated covers. It's sort of like peer reviews, but instead of writing reviews, the teens are offering peer cover designs. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Something else that is "beneath the surface" is personality. How many of your teens know their Myers Briggs type? Pull together a bunch of personality tests in print or digitally and let the teens go to town. Let them share what their type is. Of course, provide information about what that means. There are great infographics floating around you could display in the teen area or share via your social media. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Origami. Do I need to elaborate? Leave instructions for how to make anything that might be "beneath the surface." Put out paper. Let them go to town.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Trivia challenges. Let the teens answer a series of questions (and let them cheat, if they want to). Have them submit the answers and pick a winner or two every couple of weeks. Prizes could range from ARCs to earning extra points toward whatever the summer reading goals are or the chance to create a display of their favorite books or it could be just the sweet feeling of being victorious. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Haiku contests. Pick a topic. Tell the teens they have x-amount of time (a week, two weeks) to submit their best haiku on the subject. Display the best. Or, display them all and let the teens vote on the best ones. Good topics for haiku trivia this summer include the outdoors, zombies, anything under the ocean, and so forth.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Post Secret. I introduced this to some of my teens a couple years ago and they loved it. They each made their own secrets using old magazines and pre-cut post card sized cardstock. Either let the teens do their own Post Secrets or give them a topic they have to do it on (you're a mermaid -- what's your biggest secret). </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
This is a very small sampling of ideas. I plan on spending some time reading Austin Kleon's <b>Steal Like an Artist </b>and Phil Hansen's <b>Tattoo a Banana </b>to mine new ideas or flesh out some thoughts I've had which haven't come to fruition just yet. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Do you have other suggestions for passive programs to try this summer that go along with the theme? Or which don't go along with it at all? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-58105776144870427172013-02-12T20:34:00.000-06:002013-02-12T20:34:05.062-06:00Program success: Mardi Gras Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPphKT8HGxJJRxMhAkPBmPCzEdwCfmVFp5Z3ObkrB1N4AjIcGjijhTkLMqpD4G0sW3eJK4qOOAT4KK8dP8213I0-ofkM_jc5z4QnW7LgGxTWDuzOK4-SZSgmi01kLG7kNCTXPvTBqmIPc/s1600/730922215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPphKT8HGxJJRxMhAkPBmPCzEdwCfmVFp5Z3ObkrB1N4AjIcGjijhTkLMqpD4G0sW3eJK4qOOAT4KK8dP8213I0-ofkM_jc5z4QnW7LgGxTWDuzOK4-SZSgmi01kLG7kNCTXPvTBqmIPc/s1600/730922215.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
I am very anti Anti-Valentine's Day parties. It's not that I'm against what the programs are, but I'm very against the terminology. Alternative Valentine's Day or other such titles? They're great. But anti makes Valentine's Day something to be against. Which is silly.<br />
<br />
Rather than doing a party in that style this year, though, I decided to offer the teens a Mardi Gras party instead. It was a hit!<br />
<br />
Here's what I did:<br />
<br />
I set up the program station-style, offering the teens a few options for activities. I had a station for cupcake decorating. My co-worker ordered 3 dozen unfrosted cupcakes from a local bakery, then she purchased green, gold, and purple frosting (the squeeze kind for maximum decoration ability), gold spray frosting, and sprinkles. I provided napkins and plates.<br />
<br />
One station was my bead station. I went to Mardi Gras a few years ago and had about 15 pounds of real deal beads. I let the kids have at them. I thought they'd want to take a lot more than they did, but the kids were conservative in their taking. Even if you had to buy the beads, they are quite cheap to acquire.<br />
<br />
I also had a mask making station. Do not underestimate how much teenagers love unrestricted access to glitter, gems, and feathers. I provided card stock, colored paper, and markers, crayons, and pencils, as well as scissors, glue and popsicle sticks. The mask above is the one I made, but the teens were super creative. I printed out about 6 different templates in the event the teens wanted them. A few did, but not all. Some went to town on their own.<br />
<br />
To show off the face masks, my coworker brought in an old frame and I took digital photos of the teens posing behind it (faces obscured for obvious reasons, but you can see the tips of their masks):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXellUSQ6PVYhM7FAnaofKJSJmC5pYSt_b6timwn6f3o9IwdOv5Rta3-7QpCeVBPVpJ967mTzT_J1HGlvETmTTbcAYHmzr8tbczwlNTTODCMqpVZCzusZ7RsH3J2uhlVJTKpCK6YF_aX8/s1600/teens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXellUSQ6PVYhM7FAnaofKJSJmC5pYSt_b6timwn6f3o9IwdOv5Rta3-7QpCeVBPVpJ967mTzT_J1HGlvETmTTbcAYHmzr8tbczwlNTTODCMqpVZCzusZ7RsH3J2uhlVJTKpCK6YF_aX8/s320/teens.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The teens loved this, and I think there could be an entire fun program in doing photos using various frames, costumes, and teen-designed creations. The opportunities then to play with those images digitally, too, could offer even more.<br />
<br />
The final event I did for the teens was a scavenger hunt so I could name a King and Queen of Mardi Gras. I did it early in the program and wish I'd waited because it was such a hit. I hid 45 chocolate coins in the programming room, and I told the teens the person who found the most would be King and the second most would be Queen. When one of the girls had the most chocolate, I told her she could pick to be King OR Queen and she wanted to be Queen. So I let her.<br />
<br />
I wanted to give the winners a baby (since that's what's traditionally hidden in King Cake) but we couldn't locate any babies. So instead, I gave the winners my big Troth Parade pendants. They totally loved it (the kid in the photo about on the left has one of them).<br />
<br />
Of course, in the background of the event, I was playing some Preservation Hall Jazz Band. I asked if they wanted the music louder than it was, and did they ever.<br />
<br />
I had the program at 4 pm, which was an ideal time to do this. The teen area was PACKED with kids at 4, so I wandered over there, told them there was a program with food, and they came. And they didn't just come for the cupcakes -- they stayed. We even had a visit from the local paper who took photos. I'm eager to see how those turn out.<br />
<br />
The total cost of this program was minimal: cupcakes and decorations, as well as whatever supplies you may need for mask making. The music came from our collection, the frame from a coworker, and that is all. This was such a great opportunity for me to get to know our teens (since this was my first program at my new job) and I got to pick their brains for ideas for future programs. I talked to them about the books, movies, tv, and music they liked and didn't like. Not only did I get to pick their brains, I loved spending time talking with them while they were making masks and finding out what it is they love doing. The girl above? Duct tape fiend. Her brother ended up showing me one of her creations which was so impressive, I made him email me the photo so I could post it on the library's Facebook to her credit.<br />
<br />
I would do this program again in a heartbeat. I might add another station or two, but really, the kids came to hang out and eat. I can't complain about that.<br />
<br />
Next up for us? We're doing a Fan Art Night as part of Teen Tech Week. I already heard some of the kids talking about how excited they were to do it.Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-45367184328466944012013-02-06T13:23:00.001-06:002013-02-06T13:23:10.727-06:00Program Idea: Rock Out<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://media-cache0.pinterest.com/uploads/cover_313211417773758223_313211349054523221_udnMGIuG_1355013126_222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media-cache0.pinterest.com/uploads/cover_313211417773758223_313211349054523221_udnMGIuG_1355013126_222.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
This year's summer reading theme for the CSLP teen program is "Beneath the Surface." It can be interpreted so many different ways which is kind of nice but it also lends itself to some, well, really lame sounding programs. But in the midst of thinking about how some of the program ideas I've seen popping up sound like the kind of things teens might never be interested in, I had an idea.<br />
<br />
A "rock out" party.<br />
<br />
I've seen a million program ideas for decorating rocks. You could <a href="http://donsimpson.deviantart.com/art/Two-Painted-Rocks-47543273">use colored pencils on pebbles</a> and protect the designs with sealant of some sort. You could also provide sharpies, white out pens, and other tools to <a href="http://ww3.sinaimg.cn/mw690/8c47416bjw1dw80twf9ekj.jpg">make rocks that look like this</a>.<br />
<br />
Teenagers want more than a pet rock, I think. So take this a step further and play off the "Beneath the Surface" idea of doing rock art take the notion of "rock" a little further.<br />
<br />
How about rock music playing in the background when you're making your rocks? Or maybe have a game of "Rock Star" or "Guitar Hero" for the kids and the rock decorating is part of the waiting time activity?<br />
<br />
And of course...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.poprockscandy.com/images/Main%20image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://www.poprockscandy.com/images/Main%20image.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
You'd serve your teens pop rocks during the program.<br />
<br />
This could be a cheap program -- the cost of pop rocks, as well as the cost of whatever supplies you provide for the decoration. The rocks are free. So is the music, if it's just pulled from the stacks. Since most libraries have gaming systems or access to them, that's also no cost.<br />
<br />
I'm positive there are other ways to spin the idea of a "rock out" party. Rather than just <i>make cool looking rocks</i>, make it even more worth your attendees' while with other activities to do.<br />
<br />
Keep your eye here. I plan on offering up some more program ideas for summer reading as the planning time gears up.Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-90180927852296122282012-11-30T14:46:00.000-06:002012-11-30T14:46:30.638-06:00December DisplaysI wasn't lying about trying to post a couple times a month, and with this post, I will have written twice in November!<br />
<br />
Here's what we've got on display for December. I love showing off displays because they're an easy way to highlight different aspects of your collection and they take little effort to do. We have a nice trio of display cubes at the entrance to our teen area. It's eye-catching.<br />
<br />
Since the end of the world is coming on the 21st, I thought first of throwing together a display of post-apocalyptic titles. Note: not dystopia. The signage in the back just says "December 21 is the end of the world. Are you ready?"<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP6BAIcsuaYVvEVHw4bhcMK-KjUwtdv79u_aPha613x6YnGaTkj9hbPmABkdEIQ9khuXr8BPtnW8Iw_Jbpsvoq6WFPgJhPXu0yAz98J09WKusHEASM1d6sqpMntFxOpJqrsKwkuL1O1hw/s1600/photo+(8).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP6BAIcsuaYVvEVHw4bhcMK-KjUwtdv79u_aPha613x6YnGaTkj9hbPmABkdEIQ9khuXr8BPtnW8Iw_Jbpsvoq6WFPgJhPXu0yAz98J09WKusHEASM1d6sqpMntFxOpJqrsKwkuL1O1hw/s320/photo+(8).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Then in the middle cube, my coworker and I decided to try a staff picks. Since a lot of our staff reads YA, she sent out an email to everyone, collected their results, and sent them my way. Can I just say I know I work in the right place when someone who wasn't me picked Herbach's <b>Stupid Fast </b>as a favorite?<br />
<br />
<br />
Here's the front of that display:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMdYArjvUP4sdBJT8en4RhINfgFzyu4pPXgKKK7JOmX1XlPZiu8WiQFy0aWhE4md2dUFzJRMFWG_RhT74ZGcdmlcEmwsXk_7xdzVOcUYzSjP3aY76Agn3XgiTFA47rqTwonjuM4oA6HiM/s1600/photo+(9).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMdYArjvUP4sdBJT8en4RhINfgFzyu4pPXgKKK7JOmX1XlPZiu8WiQFy0aWhE4md2dUFzJRMFWG_RhT74ZGcdmlcEmwsXk_7xdzVOcUYzSjP3aY76Agn3XgiTFA47rqTwonjuM4oA6HiM/s320/photo+(9).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
And here's what I did for the back of it (we had a ton of input which was fabulous):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZA4gTuiFyOwNyqYQuC8JAcnXkCclXp4ZS0sM0Eb9m7Sx-LZYrhKJo2obQ2JjY7FThOVIt-KcrV1aTttT_m5p-PJZyFO-JyIJuHJ3SbErs8s-KPnpm4BsX8TfLkjOGAAL34xewvFgHeU/s1600/photo+(10).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZA4gTuiFyOwNyqYQuC8JAcnXkCclXp4ZS0sM0Eb9m7Sx-LZYrhKJo2obQ2JjY7FThOVIt-KcrV1aTttT_m5p-PJZyFO-JyIJuHJ3SbErs8s-KPnpm4BsX8TfLkjOGAAL34xewvFgHeU/s320/photo+(10).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
My coworker did this display in November and I really like it, so I decided I had to snap a photo and include it. Because this kind of display is too easy not to do, honestly.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-0ZtHDNoACo-o60U0wEZkdHUhsF86f3wCx58zUv4oRzfB-pEqPcx6Z707fsxbgR6HIQCPexhtaOhyphenhyphengJeUHKuR6KHQRhA8Sk6727n1o6ePDw0enAfBIVXos61M3yi9ca4LsaheGQdILkg/s1600/photo+(11).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-0ZtHDNoACo-o60U0wEZkdHUhsF86f3wCx58zUv4oRzfB-pEqPcx6Z707fsxbgR6HIQCPexhtaOhyphenhyphengJeUHKuR6KHQRhA8Sk6727n1o6ePDw0enAfBIVXos61M3yi9ca4LsaheGQdILkg/s320/photo+(11).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I don't know if the sign is readable, but it says "I read a book and remember the cover was blue."<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8i6uWyZvgBSjvODIt-RshKh-Gy3ZotxYQhOPJCnxd6N73z_QklPjjOFNWMPiHqKozvkd79k8EniXoDrPjWOA46YOFtXHztEdAr8vt-Yd6kc1lkYfRNdn8rpwcb1bnfXz-GlHRyzv3-UY/s1600/photo+(12).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8i6uWyZvgBSjvODIt-RshKh-Gy3ZotxYQhOPJCnxd6N73z_QklPjjOFNWMPiHqKozvkd79k8EniXoDrPjWOA46YOFtXHztEdAr8vt-Yd6kc1lkYfRNdn8rpwcb1bnfXz-GlHRyzv3-UY/s320/photo+(12).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I think display creation is one of my favorite things as a librarian. It's creative, and it allows you to really sell up books that might otherwise not get sold easily being spine-out only.Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-80031287114835910672012-11-16T10:15:00.000-06:002012-11-16T10:15:03.657-06:00Easy passive programming for teensI've not forgotten about this blog! I'm making it a goal to try to blog a couple times a month here with either programming ideas or something related to librarianship as a career. What better way to stick to that one that offer up one of my coworker's brilliantly simple and well-received passive programs!<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJfZ_38PQi2AEauExonn_XXp_kNQyvApDKDrOqt3hgnvL_YYd0ewWwqvYGkGyHyyVYth3G3IqFHsSg-mpv6cj0pXfw9QekRvbYoWMiy2PsMs1oLk0_DbR7uVELqrvY4udXyegaEJ8RWKs/s1600/photo+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJfZ_38PQi2AEauExonn_XXp_kNQyvApDKDrOqt3hgnvL_YYd0ewWwqvYGkGyHyyVYth3G3IqFHsSg-mpv6cj0pXfw9QekRvbYoWMiy2PsMs1oLk0_DbR7uVELqrvY4udXyegaEJ8RWKs/s320/photo+(3).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
With the election going on this month, we wanted to let the teens have a chance to practice democracy in the library. We talked about options for what the teens could vote on, and since we still have a wildly popular anime and manga collection, why not let the teens vote on what new series to add to the collection? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The program involved creating a ballot of potential anime and manga titles (with a blank spot for a write-in candidate) and the teens filled it out, then stuffed it in the box. It ran for one week -- election week -- and the response was pretty darn good. Of course, the winners for both would be what's added to the collection.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So what was on the ballot? For the anime side, there was <b>Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion</b>, <b>Durarara!!</b>, <b>Natsume's Book of Friends</b>, and <b>Shakugan No Shana</b> and for the manga side, there was <b>A Devil and Her Love Song</b>, <b>Durarara!!</b>, <b>Earl and the Fairy</b>, and <b>GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class</b>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We're lucky to have a really nice display cube right at the entrance of the teen area, so it's easy to catch attention there. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Aside from this being a very easy to develop teen program and one that runs itself, this kind of voting program really lets teens have a voice in their library. How empowering is it for them to know they got to help choose what materials are in their own collection? Plus, it helps you as a librarian figure out what is and is not popular (which is particularly helpful when neither you nor your coworker find manga/anime your strongest area).</div>
Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-45650746342602004622012-07-17T00:05:00.017-05:002012-07-17T00:09:14.710-05:00Staying in the gameNow that I'm back in the game, so to speak, I feel like there's a lot worth talking about when it comes to staying current while in a period of unemployment -- either by choice or by luck. How do you stay abreast of the topics being discussed professionally when you're not dealing with them personally? How do you keep yourself one step ahead? And maybe most importantly, how do you take care of yourself when the stress of finding that next job are overwhelming?<br />
<br />
<b>Staying Current and Relevant</b><br />
Let's call this part of the post the things you probably already know. <b><br />
</b><br />
<ul><li>Get on social media. Even if you aren't an active yourself, follow along with the conversation on Twitter or in the library blog world. Follow (and interact with, if you so choose) with people who are doing things that inspire you or that you would like to see yourself doing. </li>
</ul><ul><li>Take it a step further: talk with those people. Get in touch with them and ask them how they got where they are. It's not always easy to put yourself out there, but sometimes you have to. Most importantly, though, if those people take the time to get back to you, make sure you thank them. Their time is precious, too, and that they took some to give you insight is worth the minute of thanking them. </li>
</ul><ul><li>Read your professional trade journals, but don't limit yourself to them. I read all of the journals I got as a member of ALA/PLA/YALSA/ALSC, but I also read through ALAN's journals. I made sure to peruse School Library Journal, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly, and I read VOYA when I could get my hands on it. In addition to those, I made sure to do a lot of reading of teen-centric websites and web magazines. Oh and the breadth of blogs I read -- not just book blogs or library blogs. I read blogs written by teens, pop culture blogs, blogs about publishing, and more. Different audiences, different authors, and different voices broaden and inform your world view. </li>
</ul><ul><li>Try out the new tools and toys. If you have an ereader, give it some good love so you can know how it works when you're faced with questions in a new job. Try out new social media outlets and figure out how you could use them in a work place. </li>
</ul><ul></ul><ul><li>Write for your professional journals. Pull from your experiences and from your current standpoint to write something meaningful for the profession (and ultimately for yourself). The journals are only as valuable as those who contribute to them, so have your voice heard. </li>
</ul><ul><li>Find something you're passionate about -- whether within the profession or not -- and <i>devote </i>yourself to it. Blog about it. Partake in it fully. Aside from showing that you can make something worth your time and energy and effort to get to know it inside and out, it allows you to hone your writing and thinking skills. </li>
</ul><ul><li>Read. Read. Read. Read inside and outside of your comfort zone. Push yourself to try new things. Stop if you can't get through something. </li>
</ul><ul><li>Don't worry about applying to every job out there. I know it's against a lot of what you'll hear, but I don't think you're doing yourself favors if you apply to any and everything that sounds remotely decent. Hold off and apply only to those jobs which sound like they would be good jobs for you. </li>
</ul><ul><li>Tailor your resume and cover letter for every single job. There is no such thing as one size fits all. If you're taking the advice of the bullet point above and only applying to those jobs that would be good, then taking the time to write specialized applications for each will pay off greatly. </li>
</ul>These are all no-kidding ideas, right? Anyone can tell you these things about staying current and relevant and preparing yourself for future employment. But how about those things they never tell you about?<br />
<br />
I learned a <i>lot </i>over the last eight months. Some things were good learning and some were not easy learning. But they were learning none the less.<br />
<br />
<ul><li><b>Unwanted advice</b>: I got a lot of unwanted advice while I wasn't working! A lot of it happened to suggest I should consider other career paths or other plans because, well, what I wanted to do (whatever it was -- I never quite defined it for myself) was "hard to get into." I think this is really unfortunate and, frankly, sad advice. If you want to do something career-wise, no one should stop you or suggest you apply your skills and knowledge elsewhere. Your decisions are your own. Yes, the field of information science is broad and yes, your skills are applicable in so many different places. But you know what? If you don't want to do those other things, no one should convince you that you should. Stay firm and positive in your own vision for yourself. Know who you can turn to when you DO need advice, and let those who chose to advice you otherwise say their piece but don't let it deter you from what you want. </li>
</ul><ul><li><b>Seek guidance when you need it</b>: You will likely need advice in the course of things, so know who you can turn to when you need a shoulder to cry on or when you need someone to read your cover letter and resume for the fiftieth time. Use your system to ask questions, to check your head space, to read those job ads for you that you aren't entirely sure about. Know getting it out with someone else can be the best thing, even if it doesn't answer every question. At least for me, it was rarely about the question but about emptying my mind wholly and fully to someone who just would listen. You don't have to be isolated or alone, even if it feels like you can be at times. Cultivate a support system that gives you what you need (and -- as importantly -- give back to that support system in any way you can). Never be too proud to ask for what you need.</li>
</ul><ul><li><b>Budget</b>: This is essential on many levels. First is the financial, of course. When I left my job, I was lucky I had a husband who was still working (though he doesn't bring in the big bucks as a public servant by any means), but not everyone is in that position or they are and realize losing an entire source of income is a huge change. Budget <i>before </i>you find yourself without work. Write down every single expense that comes up per month and make sure you round up (if my mortgage is $1030, I'd round it up to $1100 to be safe). Look at your margin and be reasonable about whether or not you're comfortable living with it. Budgeting for me required making the decision I would be giving up a lot -- my husband and I weren't going to go out for dates on a weekly basis like we had been, I wouldn't be buying anything unless it was an essential, and travel was to be kept to a minimum (that's my biggest spending area). It also meant figuring out how to pay off the big bills we had before they got any bigger. As soon as we sussed that out and made the decision it would work, the key was sticking to that budget. I tracked expenses like a madwoman. I knew what was going out and what was coming in. I squirreled away what I could. But what's important to keep in mind, aside from the financial budgeting side, is the time budgeting aspect. Now that your day is unstructured, you have all the free time in the world. For me, that was terrifying. I forced myself to find routines, to budget my time around things like writing, reading, chores, grocery shopping, and so forth. I made it a routine to get up by 7 am, to get in the shower and get dressed as if I were going to work, make breakfast, then sit at my desk (away from the television) for a set number of hours per day. Budgeting my time like that was a huge stress reliever. It forced me to <i>work</i>, even if I wasn't "working."</li>
</ul><ul><li><b>Make a to-do list and do it: </b>But I don't mean just a list of things you need to do during the week (grocery shop, write a blog post, etc.). I'm talking a list of things you never have had the time to do but have always wanted to. As long as those activities fit within your budget, there really is no better time to pursue them. Aside from keeping you feeling sane when you're stressed out about the job situation, it allows you to feel a sense of accomplishment. Items on my to-do list were to get involved in a YALSA committee (done), propose a session for a conference (accepted), write a book (wrote a 69,000 word manuscript which I've been revising for months), learn to cook a variety of new vegetables (done and bonus -- I taught myself to appreciate new foods and eat well while doing it), working out harder and longer (I may have signed up for a 5K, which is wild). These kinds of things kept me heading forward, even on the days that were incredibly tough. Learn a new skill you've always wanted to learn. I do believe that kind of stuff gives you an edge because it gives you an outlet for whatever stress you have on the job front. </li>
</ul><ul><li><b>Make a dream list</b>: Similar to the to-do list, but this is a list of those more lofty goals you have, be they personal or professional. Write down the steps for how to achieve those dreams and put one foot in front of the other. I've always had this business idea in my head, and while I'm not entirely sure it's feasible at this point in my life, I took the steps to not only think about it, but outline it, to solicit feedback on it, and to draw up next steps. It's not dead; it's still active. It's still a possibility. Rather than let it continue to be a "dream," it's been made more concrete by being put down on paper and actively pursued (even if it's on a small scale and even if it's at a place I know I can't go after it with my whole heart just yet). One of the hugest benefits of not working is that you can allow yourself to simply dream and <i>think about </i>the things you want to do and achieve. You don't have work or other commitments clouding the incredibly powerful act of dreaming. Write down those dreams. Once they are on paper, they feel more real. More attainable. </li>
</ul><ul></ul><ul><li><b>Take care of yourself</b>: My biggest weakness is I don't like to take care of myself in the ways I sometimes think I should. The truth is, I don't think most people do. When I first started not working, I found myself wanting to sleep all the time. I'm not a huge sleeper as a rule -- I function best on 4 or 5 hours -- but I wanted to take multiple naps a day. It worried me that that was my method of coping with change. Whether or not that was the case, I finally let myself sleep when I wanted to. Eventually, I found myself not needing those extra naps and I found myself back in a normal sleep pattern. What I had needed in those first few weeks of adjustment was time to decompress and relax. Denying myself that was more harmful than just doing it. Likewise, it is essential to work out, even if it's a 20 minute walk every other day, and it's crucial to eat well. One of my good friends told me when I first was not working that I should make it a habit to wear shoes every day. That that simple act would put my mind in a different place. And you know what? She was right. It was one small step in taking care of myself because it forced me to care just enough about how I felt to keep my mind in the right place. </li>
</ul><ul><li><b>Take care of yourself, part 2:</b> Best but hardest lesson I learned while not working? That there are very, very tough days. I remember one day I was driving home from grocery shopping and had to pull over because I was just crying. There was nothing particularly different about that day than any other, but something simply set me off. I have always been a denier of my emotions, thinking it was smarter to suck it up than to let into them. A friend said to me that I needed to stop that, and when I woke up to how powerful a change simply letting myself be sad or angry and let out the tears was, I realized how much better it felt to actually <i>get</i> it out. It was sort of a wake up call to how important it was to take care of the emotional aspect of everything, too. Allowing those bad days was just as important as appreciating the good ones -- and maybe it made those good ones better. In other words, there are going to be things that knock you down and taking care of yourself means letting yourself be upset or frustrated, especially because that'll be enough to help you pick yourself back up and try again. </li>
</ul><ul><li><b>Treat yourself:</b> Celebrate small victories just like they're big ones. Don't hole yourself up entirely. One of the best things I did was have mid-week lunch dates with a friend. No, we didn't spend any cash. She'd come over in the middle of the day, I'd cook us lunch, and we'd veg for a couple hours. It was indulgent without being indulgent, and it was an opportunity for both of us to relax and share our highs and lows. We'd cheer each other one in what we were pursuing and we'd commiserate about those less-than-fantastic setbacks. On a particularly bad day, we'd buy a carton of ice cream, sprinkles, and indulge on it while watching movies. The effect those sorts of things can have on your mood and on your outlook are big. Even if it comes from a place of feeling like you've hit bottom, treating yourself as someone worth being treated helps pull you out. </li>
</ul><ul><li><b>Be vulnerable</b>: Passion, heart, feelings, and allowing yourself to indulge in yourself put you in a vulnerable position. It's terrifying. But it's also incredibly powerful to embrace that vulnerability and acknowledge it's part of getting through things. Yeah, it'll cause you to cry some days but that's all a part of the game. It'll make the payoff in the end feel that much sweeter. But if you take the first points of this post -- the practical tips -- and marry them with the second points of this post -- the less practical -- you'll find the vulnerability is motivating, not debilitating. </li>
</ul><br />
I can think of a billion other lessons I learned. As much as it sucked, not working gave me so much time to learn about myself and to think about what I want out of my life in a way I never was able to before.<br />
<br />
Do you have any tips -- practical or otherwise -- for those librarians who aren't working? How do you suggest staying in the game? In staying ahead? In taking care of yourself?<br />
<ul></ul>Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-35010731057611486602012-07-07T10:11:00.000-05:002012-07-07T10:11:40.837-05:00Eight Months LaterEight months ago, <a href="http://fieldacquisitions.blogspot.com/2011/10/most-personal-thing-to-write-about.html">I quit my full-time youth services job</a>. It wasn't easy, and it scared me to think about what would be the next thing. And I wrote just a couple months ago how <a href="http://fieldacquisitions.blogspot.com/2012/05/job-searching-and-self-reassessment.html">I didn't know if there would be a next thing</a> at all.<br />
<br />
The day I quit, I called my mom from the car after going out to dinner. I was so scared to tell her because I didn't want to disappoint her. But when I shared the news, what she said to me was something along the lines of <i>you'll figure something out. You've always done a bunch of things at the same time and it's always somehow worked for you</i>.<br />
<br />
I thought that for a while, but nothing really happened. I applied to a few jobs and heard nothing back. I interviewed for a job and did not get it. In that space of time, I spent a lot of time worrying, questioning whether or not I knew what I was doing, stressing about whether too much time had passed and I wouldn't ever find myself a library job again. In that space of time, I did a lot of thinking -- true thinking -- and a lot of reassessment and wondering about what I wanted out of a career. I'd made the firm decision full-time work wasn't for me. I want to do too much and the rigidity of a full-time schedule isn't something that works with me. I'm not the most productive or useful when confined to it.<br />
<br />
In the waiting time, I took up a job as a reader (which sounds vague and I keep vague, but essentially, I get to read potential manuscripts and give feedback on them). I then took a copy editing gig with a university press. I spent a lot of time writing, and I've got a manuscript I've been revising and am really quite proud of. I did a lot of blogging and reading and thinking about them both. I drafted some ideas for a business and it's still something I'm considering putting into motion down the road. I took on work as an admin assistant for YALSA committee and I gave a presentation at ALA. I spent a lot of time learning things and a lot of time just considering what options could be viable. I want my career to be centered around books -- YA books especially -- and I want to work with teens. I want to stay in the library world somehow.<br />
<br />
It's weird when you don't want what's traditional or expected. I don't want to work full-time, and I don't want to limit myself to one work experience. I thrive on variety, and I'm good at multi-tasking and juggling more than one project at a time. But by the same token, it's challenging to explain what it is you do. I do <i>a lot</i> of things. <br />
<br />
<br />
Last week, I interviewed for a library job. I'd made the decision that if this one didn't work out, it might be time to consider other options. To pursue something else just a little bit harder.<br />
<br />
I am beyond pleased to report, though, I don't have to.<br />
<br />
<br />
I've got a library job again.<br />
<br />
<br />
I can't express how excited I am to dive back into the library world and to do so on such a flexible schedule (because this particular position is very flexible). I'm eager to get the chance to talk about books and reading, to find information for people, to work again with teens, both with programming and collection development. Because it's part time, I get the opportunity to keep my feet in the other things I'm doing and I think that it'll allow me to be <i>better </i>at the other things I'm working on.<br />
<br />
<br />
I'm not entirely sure what the trajectory is from here. Over the last eight months and a lot of thinking, I've come to accept that what I want out of a career is and will be different from many others in the field. My goals aren't in climbing a ladder but are rather in expanding beyond the ladder. All those things you learn in school and in a career field about how important it is to know what you want and to have a vision for where you want to be in 5, 10, 15 years . . . I've really come to think that way of thinking is limiting. At least for me. I want a variety of experiences and challenges, and I've come to learn they aren't all going to come from one place. That <a href="http://www.stackedbooks.org/2012/07/on-passion-and-igniting-it.html">what I set out as a goal isn't necessarily going to come out of a traditional career path</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
All of this is to say: this feels right. This feels like the last little piece snapping into place. And I'm thrilled to talk about libraries, teens, and working with both again here very, very soon. Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-29143362306263563772012-05-03T13:58:00.000-05:002012-05-03T13:58:07.609-05:00Job searching and self-reassessmentThis post is kind of long overdue, and I'm not sure how helpful or coherent it'll be, but it's something I've been thinking about and wanted to talk about.<br />
<br />
Before diving in, though, I wanted to send out a huge, huge, HUGE thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out my survey. I've gone through the answers and have been absolutely blown away with some of them, both in a good way and in a bad way. I didn't realize there were places that considered 39 hour per week employees <i>not </i>full-time and thus didn't offer them insurance or other benefits. I'll share some of the interesting results (anonymously) in the future, and I have used a lot of what I've gathered to think about what I wanted to talk about in this post, which is job searching. I'm writing this in hopes of offering up some insight, as well as seeking some from anyone who still drops by here to read the archives. <br />
<br />
As you'll remember, <a href="http://fieldacquisitions.blogspot.com/2011/10/most-personal-thing-to-write-about.html">I left my job 7 months ago</a>. It's been a real ride, these months, with plenty of highs and plenty of lows, with the majority of the time being right in the middle. When I left, I knew that getting another library job would be a challenge, especially since I'm a bit location bound for the time being (I was one of those people that chose to take part in the government incentive for home buying, thus locking me into my home for at least three years -- doing my part to stimulate the economy while simultaneously taking a huge gamble on what the future could hold during that time period). Fortunately for me, I live within driving distance of the suburban areas of two major metropolitan areas, as well as a few other urban areas.<br />
<br />
Most library school grads know that finding a library job is tough. That's why those who want a job put in the time and effort to get as much field experience as possible through internships, part time work, and volunteering. Back when I was in my last semester of grad school in fall 2008, I worried like crazy about what sort of market I was getting into. I'd worked in libraries for a long time and gained good experience for a fresh grad, and since I was flexible with location, I applied just about everywhere. Before I graduated, I scored a few interviews, including one at a public library that (believe it or not) flew me in and put me up in a hotel on their own dime. It was the only one that did that in my job search, and I spent hundreds of dollars traveling for interviews thereafter. Everyone knows public librarians don't make money. They go into it because it's "a calling" (in quotes because it often seems that's justification for the low pay scale). But you sink in tens of thousands of bucks for the master's level education and then hundreds of bucks for interview attire, for interview travel, and so forth, because it's a field you're passionate about and are willing to put that into for. It's just part of the game.<br />
<br />
I watched a number of people who I respected highly in library school spend months looking for jobs, so I knew my road wouldn't be any easier than theirs. I graduated in December 2008, having had a few rounds of interviews, but ultimately, I didn't have a job offer until May 2009. It seemed that the going rate for a new grad to get their first job was about six months then, and I felt so lucky to get the job I had.<br />
<br />
I moved across the country for a job that paid $15 an hour. I did it for the experience it would bring me, and I cannot say I regret what experience and knowledge I took away. I worked hard and I enjoyed it a lot, though the commute (an hour each way) and the cost of gas began to kill me. I didn't put out an active job search while working there, but I did apply to a couple of places that had neat-sounding opportunities, including my local library. Luck struck when I was offered that job and had the chance to work closer to home, with virtually no commute, for a bit more money. More than that, though, it allowed me greater experience, more flexibility in work, and it gave me much more responsibility (seeing it was second in command, leadership wise). I worked hard -- so hard -- in that job, but I was in a position where I needed to leave.<br />
<br />
I knew leaving would be tough. I knew the market for library jobs was tough. But with a few years of real-world library experience, I thought I'd have a bit of a leg up in the market when opportunities did arise. More specifically, since I'm looking more favorably toward part-time employment, I thought I'd be able to find something in a few months. In my initial search for library jobs back in 2008-2009, I remember feeling overwhelmed with how many part-time jobs there were. Now it seems the opposite is true.<br />
<br />
In the course of these last seven months, I've applied for a grand total of three library jobs.<br />
<br />
With an aim for my happiness and career-satisfaction, of course I've got more limited options in terms of what jobs I'm applying for. Being location bound, of course I've got more limited options. But having spent hours every day looking through job ads, I have to say, this is a much narrower -- scarily narrow -- field than it was even a few years ago. There are far fewer jobs, even at the national level, and there are far greater demands upon applicants, not just in what requirements there are for applying, but also in terms of the sorts of experience they want. Even knowing I have experience, I look at some of the ads and wonder whether I'll ever be good enough for it. Or worse, maybe I have the experience but looking at the list of job functions, it looks overwhelming. I like to have too much to do. I like keeping busy and I like the challenges there in, but many of these jobs combine the functions of three or four full-time jobs into one. It's the new reality with budgets and the need to meet demands. <br />
<br />
I worry that my experience is somehow holding me back in a few ways. First, maybe, I read job advertisements much differently now than I did when I first started out. I have a greater sense of time management and time investment involved with many tasks, and I can easily see when the demands of a job are going to be more overwhelming than challenging. Knowing, too, how many other great and experienced librarians are out there with much more flexibility makes me question myself and my skill set. When I was a fresh grad, I knew I'd be up against challenges, but I wonder now that I'm myself "experienced," if I am more aware of how tough competition really is. I wonder what it is I bring to the table that's different or makes me stand out. I'm passionate about library service, about helping patrons and anticipating their needs, about putting the right book in the right reader's hands. But is that enough to make me stand out?<br />
<br />
Self-doubt has crept in and I can't seem to shake it.<br />
<br />
There are so many things I want to accomplish in my life and in my career, and even though I know this is only a temporary block, it's not an easy one to work around. I have been beyond fortunate enough over these last few months to pick up a couple of freelance, non-library job opportunities that are helping pay the bills. But more importantly, they're also allowing me an opportunity to dabble in some of my other interests in the book world. I'm lucky in that both of these opportunities sort of fell into my lap accidentally. I didn't have to apply for them. I didn't get them through a job advertisement or through an application process. I wasn't competing against anyone but myself.<br />
<br />
I've also been toying around with a small business idea -- one focused on librarianship and library services -- and I've taken some of the initial steps in working on it. It's a combination of all the things I love about librarianship along with meeting a need I think exists, especially now that there are so many demands upon librarians who are working. But much of this sort of dream project exists in my head at this point. I feel like I need more experience and more knowledge to make it happen in the way I want to make it happen.<br />
<br />
Self-doubt.<br />
<br />
There are many days I wake up and I miss working in the library. I miss working with teens and I miss figuring out how to solve a patron's problem. Those are the days I probably spend more time hitting refresh on job boards. Those are days I spend more time looking for new ways to search on aggregated sites for jobs. Those are days I have so much build up inside me I begin self-doubting all the decisions I've made that have led me up to this point and all the self-doubt I had about whether I've killed my career by making the decisions I have up to this point. Those are the days I wonder whether or not I'm meant to be in this field, despite my passion for it. <br />
<br />
I think maybe what's toughest is knowing I'm the only one holding me back right now. Even with the legitimate limitations I have, it's myself holding me back from putting myself out there. I realize everyone has this happen in their lives and in their careers. It's part of growing up and figuring yourself out and it's not fun. Frankly, it sucks. It's hard -- so hard -- to watch your colleagues talk with excitement over what they're doing and know you're not a part of it right now and know that part of why you're not a part of it is because you're doing it to yourself. It's not that I am not working or thinking or trying or dreaming, but rather, when I feel like I have an idea of what I want, I'm telling myself I'm not good enough for it. So where do you go from that place? <br />
<br />
The right thing is out there, and I know I love having variety in what I do. I love the idea of building a career in libraries that's not all together typical or linear. I love bringing my assortment of passions and experiences into what I'm doing and making it work. I love working because I love working. Not because of a paycheck or the security therein. But when did experience bring such doubt? How do you overcome it and just...take that leap?<br />
<br />
There's that line about wisdom coming with experience, but I fear it's turned into the opposite for me. With experience I've become so cautious and worried. Shouldn't I feel more confidence, especially in a field where you know you're passionate and engaged and able to contribute fully? Is it really the job market that's changed a whole lot or is it me who has?Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-35017926119843697872012-02-22T12:40:00.001-06:002012-02-22T12:58:42.440-06:00Help a librarian out: a survey on teen/ya library servicesIt's been quiet here since I talked about <a href="http://fieldacquisitions.blogspot.com/2011/10/most-personal-thing-to-write-about.html">leaving my job</a>, and it's not because I haven't been busy. I have been. Over the last few months, I've done a lot of thinking about my career and librarianship and what I want out of both of them. I've also picked up an amazing freelance job that has really pushed me further toward pursuing my passion, I've <a href="http://fieldacquisitions.blogspot.com/2012/01/where-ive-been-and-where-im-going.html">published an article in VOYA</a>, and I've had <a href="http://www.stackedbooks.org/2012/02/exciting-news.html">a proposal accepted to talk about Contemporary YA lit</a> at this year's YALSA YA Lit Symposium in St. Louis. Honestly, it's been a whirlwind in the best sort of ways.<br />
<br />
In thinking about my dreams and goals in librarianship, I've done a lot of thinking about teen/ya services and how for many libraries, they're a luxury. They're not a priority for any number of reasons (time, staff, and money being the three biggies that encompass about everything) and knowing the value these services have on teens and in communities, I've become real fired up about ways even the smallest libraries can reach this group. I'm thinking about this beyond the library world, too. I'm thinking about reaching teens through the places they are -- school, clubs and organizations, and so forth. <br />
<br />
This is the part where I ask for your help. I've developed a survey about library services to teens/young adults, specifically as they relate to reader's advisory and collection management. For those maybe unfamiliar with the term "reader's advisory," it's the fancy wording for helping people find books; "collection management" refers to figuring out what books to buy for the library and which ones to get rid of that are taking up space on a shelf. I want to know how libraries are helping teens find books to read and how librarians are finding the books to buy for their collection. <br />
<br />
If you can give me any insight, I would be so appreciative. Please pass this along to anyone who can weigh in. It's my hope to not only reach libraries where teen services (and reader's advisory) thrive, but I am especially eager to hear from libraries where they do not and where there is a need for these sorts of services. No library is too big or too small, and I'm open to the range of libraries who serve teens/young adults, so I welcome input from school, public, and academic libraries.<br />
<br />
NOTE: There is a scroll bar for the survey on the right-hand side. It'll take you to the other questions and the "submit" button. You do not need to comment on this post to share your answers.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="2804" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/embeddedform?formkey=dFBEMGZ4UjZMeTNYUms3RjBVN09Pbnc6MQ" width="590">&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word"&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;lt&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Loading...&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word"&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;lt&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;</iframe>Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-83815521294646212552012-01-27T12:45:00.000-06:002012-01-27T12:45:31.784-06:00Where I've been and where I'm goingAfter seeing a really nice blurb written up in December's VOYA about my blog, I started feeling pretty guilty I hadn't updated since my last post (which is still the scariest thing I've ever posted on the internet!).<br />
<br />
But I don't really have a huge update yet, except that you can read an article I co-wrote in <a href="http://www.voya.com/">THIS month's (February 2012) VOYA</a> about my QR Treasure Hunt program. If you look at the digital edition, it's pages 30-31.<br />
<br />
And thank you to <b>everyone </b>for your amazing support and encouragement on my last post. These last four months have been an adventure -- in every sense of the word! I should be back up soon. I've got a host of things I'm eager to talk about.Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-27426927773914593772011-10-27T14:34:00.012-05:002011-10-27T18:06:41.531-05:00The most personal thing to write aboutI've been putting this off and putting this off, since it's one of those topics that's incredibly <span style="font-style: italic;">tricky </span>to write about. But the further away from it I move, the more I realize it's one of those things that should be talked about. Even if it's for no one's sake but my own.<br /><br />I quit my job.<br /><br />My last day was almost exactly three weeks ago, and no, I didn't switch jobs. I quit without a backup plan.<br /><br />There are a whole host of reasons why I decided it was time, but the real thing it came down to was that I wasn't happy. Me. <span style="font-weight: bold;">My </span>needs weren't being met.<br /><br />I think part of what makes this so tricky to write about is that anyone who works in a field like librarianship is so customer focused. Everything is about our communities and meeting the needs of others. That's precisely WHY we get into the field as it is. We want to help other people and we want to do things that other people ask of us. We want to offer them the resources we can because we have the knowledge to do so. We want to provide programs that meet their interests because we have the skills to do so. We want to connect them to the world because we ourselves have made these connections, and really, there's nothing more exciting than watching someone else feel that spark of understanding, of curiosity, of excitement.<br /><br />Librarianship is a giving field.<br /><br />With how much we're dealt as a field when it comes to budgets (that is to say, we get none, and then it gets slashed more), when it comes to staff (we get none, and then it gets slashed), and salary (laughable at best, then it gets slashed), we still rise above it. We can run crazy good programs on shoe string budgets. We can count on colleagues to help us figure out a way to run a crazy good program on <span style="font-style: italic;">no </span>budget because as a field, we thrive on sharing. It's the spirit of librarianship.<br /><br />We drive ourselves to constantly outdo ourselves. We keep statistics and measure ourselves against ourselves. We look at holes in services and figure out ways to fill them in. We look at our community and figure out where what we do in our buildings can be pushed and brought to other places where the community could benefit. We build programs to bring in every age group we can imagine. We keep our collections up-to-date and we keep tabs on what's coming down the pipe so that we stay on our game. We want to keep our customers happy.<br /><br />One thing we lose in the process though is ourselves.<br /><br />We're all giving people by nature. That's why we dive into the field and that's why we strive to keep doing better all the time. That's why I don't know a good librarian who doesn't work 40 hours in the building and another 20 or 30 at home, reading, networking, planning programs, researching, developing, and much much more. All for their job.<br /><br />We beat ourselves up over the things we can't control. If we aren't getting enough people in the door to our program, we blame ourselves. We could have done more promotion. Could have jumped on an idea quicker. Could have made the program stronger. Could have written that grant application better. Could have recruited and trained more volunteers. Shouldn't have missed that book in that series when it came out.<br /><br />But do we ever step back and think -- is this making <span style="font-style: italic;">me </span>happy and satisfied? Am <span style="font-style: italic;">I</span> being fulfilled?<br /><br />It was too easy for me to come home after a day at work, one where I'd easily have done 3 outreach story times, emailed with various teachers about collections or program plans, put together ideas for the next day's program for middle <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">schoolers</span>, done a 4-hour long shift on the reference desk, shelved, and feel like I accomplished nothing. Or worse, feel like I'd accomplished all of the wrong things. It was so easy to beat myself up, especially when I saw or heard things around me. You know what I'm talking about -- the grumblings you hear through the staff grapevine or the community members who'd come into the library and suggest that there be more programs at night, on the weekends, that there be more offerings for one age group. It was so easy to take those things to heart. To want to deliver. To never, ever feel good enough because I was only providing 3 story times at the schools a week, a weekly program for one age group or another, keeping my collection in tip-top condition, performing outreach, keeping an active teen book club fresh and fun, and so forth. I could do more! I could offer more! I <span style="font-style: italic;">should </span>offer more because my community wanted it and isn't my job to serve my community? I'm a failure because I'm not doing everything I can.<br /><br />I forgot I'm only one person.<br /><br />But then there's the perennial argument: recruit more volunteers! Get more staff to help out with programs! And those are things I did and thrived on doing. I could do that. The more volunteers, the easier it'll be. The more staff that helps, the easier it will be.<br /><br />Yep, the easier it'll be to offer <span style="font-style: italic;">more</span>. And the easier it'll be to forget that training and supervising takes time and energy. And it requires being even more conscious and prepared for everything coming up than doing it solo. And sometimes, it means people who shouldn't get chewed out about the stupid things librarians get chewed out about DO get it. Knowing your summer intern got yelled at by a parent because our library couldn't offer every kid at a big program a glue stick of their own sucks. It sucks more than when they yell at you, the librarian. You're not only not doing enough now for your community, but you're not doing enough for your own staff.<br /><br />You're not taking care of yourself in the process at all.<br /><br />Offering a million programs is great. I was offering a million and a half as the only staff person for youth in my library. It never felt like I was good enough. I could do more. I should do more. I'm told to do more. I'm told I'm not doing enough. I'm not giving up enough. As a newbie librarian -- I'm 27, librarianship my only career, having gone for my MS as soon as I finished undergrad -- I felt I had a lot to prove. I wasn't trying to prove anything to myself, but rather, trying to prove myself to my job, to my community, to the field as a whole. I was justifying coming home feeling crummy every night with the notion that it was just how it was. It was going to be hard and unsatisfying sometimes. It's easy to run yourself into the ground. Especially when you're new and unestablished. Especially when people are skeptical of you. If, for example, you've entered into a position after someone who left a legacy. Who people loved because of what they brought to the job. To what they brought to the staff. You feel like you need to fill that hole and then do it even more. Because that's how you establish yourself in a job, right?<br /><br />You can love something you do and still forget you're not loving your job.<br /><br />After summer reading this year, I felt let down and unsatisfied. I wasn't getting what I needed to be getting. I didn't feel like what I needed to be doing was being done, and I came to realize that this wasn't the right job for me. I wasn't fitting into the hole that I felt I should be. I was wearing myself thread bare with little satisfaction. Pressure inside and outside made me work harder and longer, but I wasn't feeling happy. I wasn't finding the challenge something worth pursuing. Instead, every day became another thing to get through. Another obstacle in the way of a weekend of reading which, you know, is another way of saying more work.<br /><br />I worked hard to build my own knowledge, my own connections, establish a wealth of ideas worth trying. I was lucky -- I got to try them. I was in an ideal situation where nearly any and all of my wacky ideas were not only not laughed at, but they were implemented. It never felt good, though. It never felt like it they were mine or that my knowledge was valued for what it was. I don't expect parades, but not as much as a thank you for programs, for the hours of toil and worry and stress, it hurt. It hurt a lot.<br /><br />I took it took personally.<br /><br />I didn't take it personally enough.<br /><br />That breaking point made me realize it was time to go. That jumping out while I still had most of myself in tact was what I needed to do to be happy and satisfied.<br /><br />It wasn't easy.<br /><br />More than one person got the oh-shit email from me.<br /><br />More than one person told me I made the right call.<br /><br />Three weeks later, I'm still wavering on whether I've dove into the crazy end of the pool or not. But I do know one thing, and that's that I don't feel awful at the end of the day, even if I've not achieved anything. Even if I'm not working. Even if I know that finding a job that fits my needs as a librarian might be challenging. What I've walked away with is an intense understanding of what <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">I</span> need in a work place. It's so easy to ignore our own needs. It's so easy to ignore our own happiness and need for fulfillment in the name of serving others. In the name of the idea that it's just how it goes. That work is work and isn't meant to be a place where we're going to be satisfied and happy.<br /><br />I beg to differ.<br /><br />I love librarianship. I love working with teenagers. I want to continue on that path specifically. But I need to find that place where what I bring -- my knowledge, my skills, my talents and my passions -- meld with what the library/community needs are. I wasn't melding in my last job. I was coming home fatigued, not energized.<br /><br />I want to be energized by what I do.<br /><br />This is the world I know I do well in and in which I can thrive. It's a field where there is much to do and explore. A field where what we bring as individuals matters a LOT more than we're ever admitting. It's a field where you can go on and on and do any and everything.<br /><br />Stepping away from a job was the scariest thing in the world. Admitting it this openly was the second scariest. I've always been a hyper-involved person. Even in this sabbatical of sorts, I'm keeping myself busy in the librarianship world. Last week, I submitted an article with a colleague to be published in February's issue of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">VOYA</span>. I purchased my tickets to attend ALA in Dallas this winter, and I'm presenting at ALA Annual this coming summer in Anaheim. I've also got plans to put together a proposal for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Yalsa's</span> Lit Symposium next fall. I'm always willing to go the extra ten miles for anyone.<br /><br />Except myself.<br /><br />I'm going to write more about this in the next few weeks, pointing out the triggers that made me realize it was time for a change, hoping it helps anyone else who might find themselves in that position. I realize, too, that there's an opportunity to talk about what would have made this work better for me, and there's certainly the knowledge that in posting this, I'm putting myself out there to be asked what I've learned from the experience and about myself. These are all things I've mulled over for months, and, I think, things worth sharing. When we own our feelings, it makes them easier to talk about and distill them into knowledge.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span>After crying on your shoulders, seeking your ever-brilliant advice, and sometimes annoying you to no end with my near-daily crises, a huge thank you goes out to those of you who know who you are. Without your pushing, without your encouragement, I could have never made the plunge. And as much as sometimes the days have sucked and as much as I know more days will suck hereafter, I'm -- for the first time in a long, long time -- happy. I have the best network of colleagues, both those in librarianship and those outside it, I could ask for, and for that I know I'm lucky. </span></span>Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5695363590116935010.post-51467836498465221672011-10-18T01:05:00.000-05:002011-10-18T01:05:00.089-05:00Falling into Art<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYS7MKGrWszmNUGYmKbZaq0eC5IOU_v6r6BcgFdQqAKQyostI2fMgMLmf7ecjX_aQgCXwOWO9zMJQHnXLqSzO4iaQOBYGwmqTFKFTYe2eSf9KWsm2taqrrZu74i4OVrWnIYGwlFMawKns/s1600/100_1858.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYS7MKGrWszmNUGYmKbZaq0eC5IOU_v6r6BcgFdQqAKQyostI2fMgMLmf7ecjX_aQgCXwOWO9zMJQHnXLqSzO4iaQOBYGwmqTFKFTYe2eSf9KWsm2taqrrZu74i4OVrWnIYGwlFMawKns/s200/100_1858.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662623835245196274" border="0" /></a><br />This fall for programming, I decided I wanted to reach out to a new group that wasn't being reached as much as I'd like -- the preschool to 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">nd</span> grade demographic. This is a fun age to work with, as these kids love trying new things. I thought long and hard about what sort of programming would work well for this group; I'd had luck with our stand alone programming, such as our Princess Tea and our Superhero Party, but I wanted something more regular.<br /><br />Then it hit me: art! We're not talking about crafts here. We're talking art. The kind parents hate doing at home because it's so messy. Since we're a library, and we're used to messes, this seemed like the perfect outlet for these kids to express their creative urges. I wanted more than simply projects, though. I wanted this program to be about tactile experience, too. I wanted to give kids a ton of different options for creating and I wanted it to be done through means that would be unique and develop some of those fine motor skills that are so important at that age. Of course, these programs translate well for older kids, too, and at my library, sometimes big brothers or sisters have stopped in with their younger siblings, and they've found making art just as fun as the little ones.<br /><br />I bought a few key supplies before fall and winter programming began to prepare for this program, and I made sure on all of our advertising that it mentioned these art projects can get messy and to dress for it. I've had no complaints about that, and by purchasing large, pump-lidded paints (pictured above and purchased through <a href="http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/">Discount School Supply</a>), as well as large plastic lunch trays (also through Discount School Supply), I've ensured that what could turn into a very messy project is actually very manageable. Washable trays keep tables from becoming makeshift art pieces quite nicely.<br /><br />In the program, I like offering more than one project, allowing kids to do any of them they like or all of them, too. If you're looking for a fall project, here's what we did earlier this month!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnOyxoSEvBd-QIKmePsnXG3amyPKeBUlY91tYpnI4OOzhqXF6sccT1vWjdUqF798xd8tYK_WOez27Ih_DXIJ0gy_ZW-3B4L0NhrdeBQsvfhOwzkPSrER6GrCU32aTkR9bWie9bCKmPXco/s1600/100_1863.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnOyxoSEvBd-QIKmePsnXG3amyPKeBUlY91tYpnI4OOzhqXF6sccT1vWjdUqF798xd8tYK_WOez27Ih_DXIJ0gy_ZW-3B4L0NhrdeBQsvfhOwzkPSrER6GrCU32aTkR9bWie9bCKmPXco/s200/100_1863.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662624634730863970" border="0" /></a>I focused all of my ideas on leaves this month, and the day of the program, I went for a walk up and down the street where my library was, picking up leaves in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. Though I felt a little like a crazy lady picking up leaves from people's yards, no one looked at me twice. Perhaps I've a reputation. Alas, as you can see above, I filled a small storage tub with them. Cost? $0.<br /><br />Then I set up two of the three projects at one table:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUumrIECJYOCQmOlZ_iC6Y4giLUuLUTiyNDqyUfSJgGl09Uhp04jmUhn8EFFhnozTaYvGrh_uHwVChCRWRHHwYJOuuAipjGW-SEWqgnicuJcqtpvK9JKkZn5yCjBrIfFWyA5S6NFvZIKY/s1600/100_1857.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUumrIECJYOCQmOlZ_iC6Y4giLUuLUTiyNDqyUfSJgGl09Uhp04jmUhn8EFFhnozTaYvGrh_uHwVChCRWRHHwYJOuuAipjGW-SEWqgnicuJcqtpvK9JKkZn5yCjBrIfFWyA5S6NFvZIKY/s200/100_1857.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662625899272496386" border="0" /></a>I spread a pile of leaves down the center of the tables, with a project on either side. On the right, this:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3RCgw18lTUpZLJeuq0rWNNHOQiaJoOPp-YOPaFlraKlfRJkAGDUCEUg1f2Vyh3GGcyeu0UcFWRYmcQdCVX9d71nuRkxjWyFn0I8bZCJRCZYhOMN5c39zrwFb1GA4JiVIVCiHOzxf7zA4/s1600/100_1859.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3RCgw18lTUpZLJeuq0rWNNHOQiaJoOPp-YOPaFlraKlfRJkAGDUCEUg1f2Vyh3GGcyeu0UcFWRYmcQdCVX9d71nuRkxjWyFn0I8bZCJRCZYhOMN5c39zrwFb1GA4JiVIVCiHOzxf7zA4/s200/100_1859.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662626218979475890" border="0" /></a><br />Leaf rubbing! I pulled out a box of our crayons and made an example of what leaf rubbings looked like. This is a satisfying project for kids because they get to be a little messy with coloring and still enjoy seeing something that looks like a leaf. It's one they can make into something really artistic and it's one that they can simply enjoy doing without a plan in mind. We had a little of both.<br /><br />On the left side of the table, this project:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAAHKTlJkTCpSiZw0tiJoWbbX51FCgz5J4HRPj7J-TweEF821vdatfSyBxBSy4ELTm9m7dgYGTdM-9D_RANohgyrgSAjm1mxekP-V4YGnhrSIR1NbELkMouyDiM-9tRiEjUpo82uzPp4A/s1600/100_1861.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAAHKTlJkTCpSiZw0tiJoWbbX51FCgz5J4HRPj7J-TweEF821vdatfSyBxBSy4ELTm9m7dgYGTdM-9D_RANohgyrgSAjm1mxekP-V4YGnhrSIR1NbELkMouyDiM-9tRiEjUpo82uzPp4A/s200/100_1861.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662626726436457154" border="0" /></a>Leaf collages. The kids were able to put leaves into any shape or design they wished to (and some simply piled them one on top of another) and then I put down a piece of contact paper to keep them in place. The nice thing about this project is that the leaves will stay nice for a long time, making it a piece of art they can hold on to for a long time. Supplies needed? Scissors, contact paper, and construction paper. All of those are things probably hanging out on a shelf in your supply area for free.<br /><br />On the other side of the room, I set up our other project -- one that required the lunch trays, clothes that can get messy, and ample paper towels and hand wipes for the kids (and parents, too):<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg95zMX-sRz85Cm12-7h16-j69eWQiO9xt1M7Gp1VWCkMXnRvQMJSz_ZmM4q0FUuHtqiFNSns3ljjInHvXiTpnVmIA4ijFgFmoVMIMZgFJzvl2rUHVqWnUWV_xVIRnTPAfpnnuIBtQoDvA/s1600/100_1856.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg95zMX-sRz85Cm12-7h16-j69eWQiO9xt1M7Gp1VWCkMXnRvQMJSz_ZmM4q0FUuHtqiFNSns3ljjInHvXiTpnVmIA4ijFgFmoVMIMZgFJzvl2rUHVqWnUWV_xVIRnTPAfpnnuIBtQoDvA/s200/100_1856.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662628278698598514" border="0" /></a>I pulled out a pile of paper plates, some paint brushes, a couple cups of water, and, as you can see on the far right, the remaining box of leaves. The third project was making these:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE5s2OCSnf6oP8fb2TqN39XYJ-kDX2OnYQZPTkwNuVUEvKLVQnk34zBZrK-rvjedmSaJKUXg5I0reQzDIUkdspCrsQA6dLtYiVU4iczvclw2EqklvTZFUVa9WrFjyhAVK17YLmWBT77Eo/s1600/100_1862.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE5s2OCSnf6oP8fb2TqN39XYJ-kDX2OnYQZPTkwNuVUEvKLVQnk34zBZrK-rvjedmSaJKUXg5I0reQzDIUkdspCrsQA6dLtYiVU4iczvclw2EqklvTZFUVa9WrFjyhAVK17YLmWBT77Eo/s200/100_1862.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662628648254009314" border="0" /></a>Leaf prints! For this project, the kids pulled out leaves, painted them however they wanted to (yes, right on the leaf) and then pressed them down on the paper. While the kids were doing this, I kept trying my hand at it, as my example didn't seem to do much to show the veins of the leaves. I eventually found -- thanks to the help of kids who were much smarter than me -- that painting the back side of the leave would highlight the veins a lot more. Lesson learned.<br /><br />This simple-to-assemble program was a big hit, and even after some of the kids finished all of the projects, they went back and made second and thirds of some of them. The cost is little more than picking up the leaves, and we probably have plenty of those to spare this time of year.<br /><br />These programs are great for the family, as often this age group wants a little help from mom and dad. But what I think is important to remember in doing a program like this is less about making the right kind of art piece and more about experiencing the process of making art. As you can see, my examples are extremely simple and even, if you will, lazy. I don't want the kids or parents to feel like they need to make things the way I do. Art is about expressing as you want to, and while kids are usually so eager to do that, it's often parents who insist on making things like examples (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">storytime</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">crafters</span> are probably familiar with this phenomenon). In these projects specifically, there are so many sensory elements to the art, and I think it's important to step back and let the art come to the kids. If they want to just paint a leaf and not press it, let it happen. If they want to just paint and not bother with the leaves? Let it happen.Kelly Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288216494070095497noreply@blogger.com2