Professional Envy, Programming, & Summer Reading Club

It's been a challenging summer.

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.

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 enjoy giving it to them).

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 do the work I need to do. I need to just sit and wrap my brain around everything.

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.

Except.

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?

For some reason, I doubt anyone doesn't struggle with the same questions at some point.

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 sharing those things so others can achieve too.

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.

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.

Envy for people who do it so well.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Teen Summer Reading -- The Plan!

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.

With that, we had to hash out summer reading programs quickly this year since, well, I'll be going it alone.

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.

Kickoff -- Duct Tape Creations

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.

Pizza and a Movie

I'm feeding the kids pizza, and I'm going to show them Tremors. Because hello campy "beneath the surface" horror fun.

Book Discussion -- Rotters 

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!

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 Rotters, but I have a feeling we'll have a lot to talk about and I am looking forward to it.

Pizza and a Movie 

Another round of pizza being served and a movie being watched. I haven't decided yet if we're going to show Jaws or The Sixth Sense. I asked on our teen Facebook page but they haven't weighed in with me here. So I'll pull a librarian's choice.

Cupcake Wars

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.

Book Discussion -- Cinder

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.

Summer Wrap Up: Zombie Party

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 Warm Bodies. 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.

I aim to serve.

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.

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.

March teen displays

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).

So this month, I went with three very different themes.

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.

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.

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.

"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.