"Beneath the Surface" Scary Movie Marathon

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?

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.

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:

And two of my teens' favorites which are also in the appropriate rating category:

Passive programming ideas for "Beneath the Surface"

Passive programming is something I think a lot about. I've talked about it before at ALA, 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.

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.

If you're looking for some easy passive programs to implement this summer, here are some of the ones I'm considering:

• Scratch art. Make up a bunch of homemade scratch boards, 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. 

• Black out poetry. 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. 

• You know the incredibly popular "Blind Date with a Book" 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. 

• 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. 

• 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.

• 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. 

• 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.

• 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). 

This is a very small sampling of ideas. I plan on spending some time reading Austin Kleon's Steal Like an Artist and Phil Hansen's Tattoo a Banana to mine new ideas or flesh out some thoughts I've had which haven't come to fruition just yet. 

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? 

Program success: Mardi Gras Party

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.

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!

Here's what I did:

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.

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.

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.

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):

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Program Idea: Rock Out

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.

A "rock out" party.

I've seen a million program ideas for decorating rocks. You could use colored pencils on pebbles and protect the designs with sealant of some sort. You could also provide sharpies, white out pens, and other tools to make rocks that look like this.

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.

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?

And of course...

You'd serve your teens pop rocks during the program.

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.

I'm positive there are other ways to spin the idea of a "rock out" party. Rather than just make cool looking rocks, make it even more worth your attendees' while with other activities to do.

Keep your eye here. I plan on offering up some more program ideas for summer reading as the planning time gears up.

December Displays

I wasn't lying about trying to post a couple times a month, and with this post, I will have written twice in November!

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.

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?"

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 Stupid Fast as a favorite?


Here's the front of that display:

And here's what I did for the back of it (we had a ton of input which was fabulous):

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.

I don't know if the sign is readable, but it says "I read a book and remember the cover was blue."

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.

Easy passive programming for teens

I'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!

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? 

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.

So what was on the ballot? For the anime side, there was Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, Durarara!!, Natsume's Book of Friends, and Shakugan No Shana and for the manga side, there was A Devil and Her Love Song, Durarara!!, Earl and the Fairy, and GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class.

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. 

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).

Staying in the game

Now 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?

Staying Current and Relevant
Let's call this part of the post the things you probably already know.

• 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.

• 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. 

• 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. 

• 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. 

• 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.

• Find something you're passionate about -- whether within the profession or not -- and devote 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.

• 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. 

• 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. 

• 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. 

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?

I learned a lot over the last eight months. Some things were good learning and some were not easy learning. But they were learning none the less.

• Unwanted advice: 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. 

• Seek guidance when you need it: 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.

• Budget: 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 before 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 work, even if I wasn't "working."

• Make a to-do list and do it: 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. 

• Make a dream list: 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 think about 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. 

• Take care of yourself: 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. 

• Take care of yourself, part 2: 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 get 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. 

• Treat yourself: 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. 

• Be vulnerable: 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.

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.

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?