Library Lions

THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY TEEN BOOK FESTIVAL

2012-02-29T11:14:00.027-08:00

Welcome to Library Lions! This week we’re showcasing THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY TEEN BOOK FESTIVAL.

Student MC 2012 Teen Book Festival

In 2004 a group of librarians, parents, and students joined together with the avowed purpose of promoting teen reading in our community. We held the first Montgomery County Teen Book Festival in January of 2005. Following the first event we received the Highsmith Award, given annually for the most innovative project involving a school library in the state of Texas.

Our Dream is to celebrate the joy of teen reading. In support of this dream we promote books and bring together teens and authors.

A Roar For The Committee
The festival couldn’t be a success without the work of each and every member!
The Teen Book Festival is a group effort. From the beginning, it has been supported by the Conroe Independent School District and has grown to include volunteers from entire Montgomery County area. The committee includes public and school librarians in the area, as well as parent volunteers and other community members.

Cinda Williams Chima & Pam Cooper (Pam is one of the founding committee members)

Three of the many librarians who help us each year.

More Volunteers

(See the full list of all of the librarians and volunteers on our website )

Author! Author!
We’ve had so many great authors over the years! This year’s festival included:

From L-R Melody Carlson, Patrick Jones, Cinda Williams Chima, Joseph Hayes, Belle Whittington, Melissa Studdard, Gayle Forman (somehow Kristin Cast didn’t make this photo op)

Other authors we’ve had include Chris Crutcher, Lois Lowry, Lauren Myracle, Melissa Marr, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Sara Zarr, Justina Chen, Gordon Korman,, Cassandra Clare, Tamora Pierce, and Neal Shusterman.

The Festival Day
The festival day is largely run by student volunteers. We have a student master of ceremonies every year and students introduce the authors at each session.

Authors and their student assistants

We have student volunteers who escort the authors,

Lauren Myracle student escorts

They help with food, handle the festival surveys, and provide entertainment.

Another unique aspect is that the artwork for the festival this year was created by a student. We had a contest among the schools where students created artwork and the winner’s art was used for the banners, T-shirts and bookmarks promoting the festival.

Before the festival, the student volunteers get to have brunch with the authors. As you can imagine, that is a huge hit with the teens!

Lois Lowry Brunch

Neal Shusterman Brunch

While teens are arriving during the first hour or two, we have music, food and book sales in the main area of the school where the festival is held. In the past we’ve hired a band to play. This year we had a DJ playing music. Additionally, we typically have student performances. We’ve had school jazz bands, dance troupes and drumlines. This year we had students from the host school’s theatre department perform scenes from “Little Women.”

Dance troupe

Drumline

The first event is a general assembly. This includes a panel of all the authors.

Author Panel from L-R Sara Zarr, Nick Abadzis, Cassandra Clare, Shirlene Obuobi

Our student master of ceremonies directs questions to each of the authors. The keynote author speaks. Then we have two breakout sessions where each of the authors will speak in their own locations throughout the school.

Chris Crutcher

Finally, the day concludes with autograph sessions and more mingling in the common area.

Roars For The Fest!

"What a day full of AWESOMENESS! So many wonderful readers in one place at one time! It was like MAGIC! ♥" Belle Whittington- Author,

"Thank you for hosting such a wonderful festival this weekend!" Sherry Stafford Rowland – Adult attendee

Roars from Our Student Surveys!

“This book fair is the coolest thing ever, the majority of people never get to meet authors and I think it is a huge privilege,”

“I have come to this for 6 years in a row. Epic every year.”

In addition to comments about the event, we get a lot of requests for authors for future festivals.

What’s Ahead?
We are looking forward to a bright future! We have formed a formal non-profit organization and hope to see the festival grow into a special celebration of reading for the people of Montgomery County and surrounding areas.

Thank you for the interview! We enjoyed haring all about the terrific Montgomery County Teen Book Festival!

Let’s Link Up
Festival Website

Facebook:

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

VALENTINES FULL OF LIBRARY LOVE

2012-02-08T16:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Month. This week we’re celebrating Library Love with celebratory quotes from previous posts with authors, librarians, and kids across the U.S.!

"I love connecting readers to books, but my favorite thing is connecting readers and authors. I have a very supportive Friends group which has provided the means to author visits in the schools. One middle school girl was so excited to meet an author. She told me she didn't think she would ever meet a 'real live author.'"

Darcy Brixey Teen Librarian at Bellevue Library, Bellevue WA

"I Love Libraries! In case you can't tell by looking at me, I think libraries are awesome. When I was a kid, I used to play library. Um, I still do . . ."

Author Lisa Yee

"I have the best job in the entire world. I love talking about children’s literature and helping a child find the perfect book. I could discuss children’s books twenty-four hours a day. The best part of my job is when a reader visits the library to tell me about what they read the night before or to share a cool website. I am very lucky."

John Schumacher (aka Mr. Schu) teacher-librarian at Brook Forest Elementary School in Oak Brook, Illinois.

"I love connecting with people, and connecting people with books."

Chris Davis Youth Services Librarian at Sacramento Public Library,

"I feel delighted to work with teens who are creative, funny, smart and far more together then I was as a teen. I believe that libraries are the last public space and I think librarians should all be challenging outmoded ideas of what types of programs we should have in libraries. We have an All Ages Arts Night

that showcases teen performers, dance, hip hop, spoken word."

Jennifer Bisson Teen Librarian Seattle Public Library.

"When I was a kid, I was the new girl in school nearly every year. This was in a time when folks didn’t move around a lot so that made me a real oddball. There were some pretty rough first weeks of school – lots of teasing and excluding. I quickly learned that no matter where I went, I would find a friend – between the covers of a book, in the school library. I would not have grown into the person I am without the salvation of those libraries."

Author, Kirby Larson

"I work in the best children’s room in New York City.I really love getting my books into the hands of readers. So much so that I’ll spend hours making sure that we have the maximum amount of books on our shelves, just in case there’s a reader about with a penchant for the additional works of Kenneth Grahame and such."

Elizabeth Bird Children's Librarian NYPL

"I love the creativity involved in being a teen librarian. Realizing that even though I don’t call myself crafty, I do a lot of crafty and creative activities with my teens. I love how my job is different every day. I think my biggest love is the collection development part of my job. Buying all the books and media for teens."

Kristin Fletcher-Spear Teen Librarian Foothills Branch Library in Glendale, Arizona.

"My absolute favorite part of my job is connecting readers with books. A lot of times, here in New Britain, the teens are not really enthusiastic about reading. If you can just connect a teen with one book, one, that really peaks their interest, then they will come back and ask for more. Having a teen say “Miss, you pick out the best books” brightens my day like nothing else! I love to go to the schools and book talk, because a lot of the teens in New Britain don’t have transportation to get to the library, so I have to come to them. It’s another way to reach them and to say, 'Yes, reading can be totally awesome.'”

Jessica Miller Teen Librarian New Britain Public Library, New Britain, CT.

Love from the Cubs!

“Walking in the library is like walking in the mall; you can look at stuff and not walk out with anything.” Alex, 7th

“Reading is a doctor because it helps.” Riley, 6th

“The library is like my room where I feel safe inside.” Daphne, 6th

“I like the library because it has books for everyone. Even when I’m in middle school I can find something to read here.” G, 3rd grade

“I like that you can find something to read at any time in the library. The librarians can always give you a recommendation!” C, grade 12.

“My favorite thing about the library is the Best of Books display. It shows kids and teachers reading their favorite books. Each person tells about the favorite book..I use it to find new books. - Syed, Grade 5

More Roars!

"When I was a child, I spent far too much time searching the woodlands for a secret door to the magical Otherworld. I collected many beautiful stones, which my mother called “clutter” and I called “magic”. During these years of searching, I did discover one small reliable door into a vast enchanted country I could open any time she liked: it was the cover of a book. My school librarian knew me and knew the books I liked, she set me on the path of story exploration, a path I’ve followed as a reader and a writer ever since.

"In the past few years I’ve begun to worry about the ongoing health of our public libraries. And I’ve been stunned to see how fast libraries are vanishing from our public schools. I created Library Lions blog to roar about the importance of libraries, applaud librarians working with youth, and to showcase the amazing library programs across the U.S. Here at Library Lions we celebrate Library Love all year round. Special thanks to all the librarians and authors who have taken the time to interview with us."

Janet Lee Carey Author, Creator Library Lions Blog

"I like to involve kids in decisions about our school library. I have a suggestion box for kids to recommend good books they’ve read that aren’t in the Library. I buy as many of the suggestions as I can and the kids love it. They’re listened to. They’re part of the Library."

Carol Matheson Teacher Librarian at Redmond Elementary in Redmond WA

"Libraries provide open access to information and entertainment to people regardless of age, gender, educational background, economic status, etc. In our consumer-based society, there are few places outside of libraries where anyone can go to learn, grow and connect for free. I love that my personal values of sharing resources (borrowing instead of buying and making information publicly available), promoting life-long learning, and preserving public spaces- mesh with the values of my profession."

Jessica Gomes Teen Librarian Issaquah Library, Issaquah, WA

"Each day is different and varied in the library, and it keeps all of us on our toes!"

Stacy Dillon Lower School Librarian at Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School in New York City

"I love how YA books have become so popular. I like seeing adults and teens come into the department and exit with an armload of books. I love chatting with teens about books and giving them some to read. It’s especially great if they don’t really like reading, but need a book for school and then they come back for more just like that one!"

Jennifer Rummel Teen Librarian Otis Library,Norwich, CT

"I love connecting library patrons, especially teens, with programs. To see them interact with a comics illustrator, artist or author is a real thrill. An even bigger thrill is to see them teach each other, whether it is a gaming program, or an art workshop. You never know what seeds are being planted. It is such a great opportunity to visit a school and talk about some of the cool books that are out there for teens and all the programs and things that teens can do at the library."

Seated on panel, Ken Gollersrud Youth Librarian High Point Branch of The Seattle Public Library

"I LOVE my job and feel very fortunate to find something that is such a perfect fit for my personality, my skills, and my life’s goals."

Susan K. S. Grigsby Librarian Elkins Pointe Middle School; Roswell, Georgia

"I have the best job in the world with the best kids in the world. I love that I am able to see each student in the school every week. We learn together. They teach me as much as I teach them….maybe I learn more than they do. I love that I am able to learn new ways to access information along with the students and we can share our favorite books. I am the librarian at Einstein Elementary School in Redmond, Washington. We are the Einstein Otters and we will change the world!"

Anne Sandbo Librarian Einstein Elementary School, WA

"Every day I look forward to serving in the Middle School library because each day is unique! As I work with young teens, my goal is to increase their knowledge of being effective users of information. I love connecting to the students and staff, promoting literature, teaching how to be ethical with technology and serving the families I work with on a daily basis."

Teresa Young Middle School Librarian

"As a YA author and proud owner of a well-worn library card, I want to give back to all the librarians whose book recommendations have fed my imagination over the years and helped me grow as a writer. I know it’s hard being a librarian in a rough economy. You’re strapped for time and cash, but still want to create fun programs to keep your kids and teens reading week after week. Not because they have to, but because they want to."

Kay Cassidy Author and Creator of The Great Scavenger Hunt Contest,

More Love from the Cubs!

“Our library has the best books. There are always new books for me to look at.” -Jasmine, Grade 3

“I love when we Skype with authors and illustrators.” Gabrielle, Grade 3
“Thank you so much for starting up book club again. Books are so important, and I think in this day and age we are losing them.” – Michelle, Grade 9

“I can’t believe you have this! This is so awesome! OMG it is SO COOL! Listen to the song I just made.”— Samantha, Grade 9, said while using Garageband in the Digital Discovery Zone.

“You give me the BEST books” Alexis

“That was really fun! Can I make another one?” John at the I-pod Brownie program

“A book is like a roller coaster ride, you read it and want to read it again.” Audryanna, 6th

“The library is like Wonderland where we are Alice with a new discovery around each corner.” Kali, 8th

“The library is a thrift store; everything is used.” Tori, 6th

“The library is like a recycling center; you read, return and repeat.” Rose, 7th

“The library is a friend because when I am down, I can always turn to it.” Sarah, 7th

HOW CAN LIBRARY LIONS READERS KEEP LIBRARY LOVE ALL YEAR ROUND?

"Support your local public library! We love our volunteers and appreciate every penny that’s donated, but most of our essential functions can only be funded by the city or county government’s budget. When times get tough (as they are right now), tough decisions have to be made about those budgets. It’s crucial that city and county governments know that public libraries are a vital service to their communities. Libraries are more needed than ever. Our buildings are bursting with job-seekers, recent immigrants, and students of all ages who need help with their homework. They may be the only places where children hear stories read to them, elderly people figure out how to use a computer mouse, or someone who’s having a bad day sees a smile. And our local governments need to know all this so they don’t put us in the same pile as the parks and the art projects that are awesome but tend to lose their funding more rapidly than the police and fire departments."

Lesley James Librarian Douglass-Truth Branch of the Seattle Public Library

Thanks to everyone for your year round Library Love. Library Lions Roar!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Librarian Turned Author, Carole Estby Dagg!

2012-02-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

Please Roar today’s guest, author Carole Estby Dagg!
Carole has stopped by to share her Library Love with us, and what better person to do that than a former librarian turned author!

A Bit of Background – Carole the Librarian
Carole started volunteering in her school library in 1952, later she worked her way through the University of Washington at the NE Branch of the Seattle Public Library in the early 60’s, earned her library science degree at the University of British Columbia, and has seen school, academic, and public library operations from the standpoint of volunteer, page, circulation desk clerk, children’s librarian, branch manager, and assistant director.

And Now Author!
She crossed over to the other side—the writing side—with her first book after she retired from Everett Public Library.

The Year We Were Famous
“Would you walk over four thousand miles to save your family's home?”
(Clarion Books, 2011)

Tell us about Your Library Love When You Were a Cub
In fourth grade, I looked forward to Thursdays, when my teacher let me spend most of day in the school library. Then, as now, school libraries were understaffed and librarians appreciated unpaid help from eager wanna-be librarians.

“Carole the cowgirl” this was taken a couple years before I started volunteering in the school library; 1950 was the year I met Great-aunt Clara.

I read to kindergarten and first grade classes as they came in, checked books in and out, repaired books, and processed new magazines. I loved rotating the date due stamp to the next due date, the smell of library paste, dipping the metal nib of a wooden-handled pen into India ink to letter date due cards, and most of all, having younger kids calling me the ‘library girl’ on the playground.

More Library Love
The Year We Were Famous couldn’t have been written without the help of the librarians across the country who scrolled through microfilmed newspapers of 1896 to locate articles about Clara and Helga Estby (my great-aunt and great-grandmother) as they passed through on their 4,000-mile walk from Spokane, Washington to New York City.

Sketch of Great-aunt Clara and Great-grandmother Helga which appeared in the New York World in 1896

For each chapter, I checked out armfuls of books—often children’s books with lots of illustrations—on everything from President McKinley to the eating habits of cougars. When The Year We Were Famous came out, the biggest event was at my home-town library, where the staff made me feel like a rock star, with my name in lights on the reader-board.

Here I'm in 1896 costume for a program about TYWWF at the San Juan Island Library

Here is my writer's shack. I currently write in Everett, and a converted woodshed on San Juan Island library.

Author’s Roar
School librarians, with their involvement in Battle of the Books and reading circles, encourage love of reading—the basis for the lifelong learning students need. I saw first-hand how understaffed school libraries are when—after retirement from the local public library—I volunteered a morning a week at the local elementary school. The school librarian had a steady stream of classes coming in, so she had no time for collection maintenance. After I had weeded the entire collection, tossing geography books on Africa from the 1960’s and sports biographies of people who were stars before even the students’ parents were in school, the shelves so bare the PTSA had to organize a series of fund-raisers to replenish the shelves.

When I worked at a public library branch where nearly a third of the users were new to this country, I saw whole families came in for materials for the citizenship test and videos and DVDs that were the Rosetta Stone of learning a new language. I felt almost maternal joy when I saw a child who had known only a few words of English three years before come into the library speaking with nary an accent and acting as translator for his grandmother…or when an immigrant’s daughter who had been in my preschool story hours came in a dozen years later for materials for her research paper on Freud.

Hooray for ALA!
ALA is the most important link between publishers, writers, librarians, and readers. My most memorable conference was in Seattle of January, 2007. As I came up to the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators booth, I found out that one of our own, Kirby Larson, had received a call that morning to tell her that her book Hattie Big Sky, had been named a Newbery Honor Book. I also took advantage of having so many publishers in one place to talk to representatives of publishers which had expressed interest in my manuscript – and ended up shaking hands with Jennifer Wingertzahn at Clarion Books, which ultimately published The Year We Were Famous.

A Lion’s Pride of Programs
I love bookstore programs, but not every child has transportation to bookstores and the money to buy books. School and public libraries provide the accessible link between authors and their readers. As a children’s librarian in a public library, I visited all the classrooms in the area to share my favorite books and talk up the summer reading program. As a new author, I’ve already talked to roughly seven hundred middle school students in their schools. As a member of The Class of 2k11, I visited libraries in New York City during Book Expo America Week.

The photo is in front of the Seward Park Branch of NYPL; I'm the one waving in the front row.

My Favorite Librarian
My daughter, Emily Dagg, of course!

She’s carrying on the mission of bringing children and books together and following literally in her mother’s footsteps by having worked in three of the libraries I worked in many years ago. As current head of children’s and young adult services for Everett Public Library, she has been involved in a series of fundraisers to create a new teen area. Here she is, showing off the new teen area at EPL.

Let’s Link Up

Website Carole Estby Dagg

Thank you,Carole for sharing your story and Library Love with us.

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

OUR INTERVIEW WITH THE AMAZING MR. SCHU!!

2012-01-18T11:26:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews. Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest Mr. John Schumacher!

John Schumacher (aka Mr. Schu) is a teacher-librarian at Brook Forest Elementary School in Oak Brook, Illinois. John graduated from St. Xavier University with a Masters in Teaching and Leadership and from Dominican University with a Masters in Library and Information Science. He has taught English in Seoul, South Korea, and is starting his eighth year at Brook Forest. John serves on ALSC’s Children and Technology committee, AASL’s Best Websites for Teaching and Learning, and two readers’ choice award committees. He was a judge for School Library Journal‘s 2011 Trailee Awards and recently became a FableVision Ambassador. In his spare time (ummm…what’s that?) he reads, travels, and blogs at Watch.Connect.Read.and Two Libraries, One Voice. John is a 2011 Library Journal Mover and Shaker.

The Skinny
I have the best job in the entire world. I love talking about children’s literature and helping a child find the perfect book. I could discuss children’s books twenty-four hours a day. The best part of my job is when students visit the library to tell me about what they read the night before or to share a cool website. I am very lucky.

Library Laughs
I wish I had photographs to accompany the story you’re about to read. Teni, an avid reader and aspiring writer, tells it best...

One of our 5th graders was strolling out the door. A nearby squirrel had been scurrying around the backside of the school. The squirrel must have been overwhelmed by all 19 of the kids in our class because before we knew it, the squirrel had sprinted through the door. Mrs. Grygienc yelled at the squirrel as if it would understand. “Get down, get down!”she said. Mr. Schu also chased the squirrel around the library. He had to explain to one of the third grade teachers about our squirrel incident. After a brief period of time, the startled squirrel bolted out the library doors. I bet we won’t be seeing that squirrel anytime soon. Maybe he came in to check out a Scaredy Squirrel book? -Teni, Grade 5

Take a Peek Inside My Library

Readers Roar
“My name is Syed. I am a fifth grader. My favorite thing about the library is the Best of Books display. It shows kids and teachers reading their favorite books. Each person tells about the favorite book..I use it to find new books. We get to meet many authors. I’ve met Dan Gutman, Marriane Malone, Kate Messner, Linda Urban, Harry Bliss, Jennifer Holm, Matthew Holm, and Ridley Pearson. I love to read fantasy. I really like Harry Potter, the Dragon Chronicles, and Ranger’s Apprentice.” - Syed, Grade 5

“Mr. Schu has a dramatic aura. He always greets us with a loud HELLO!-” Teni, Grade 5

“Our library has the best books. There are always new books for me to look at.” -Jasmine, Grade 3

“I love when we Skype with authors and illustrators.” Gabrielle, Grade 3

Book Brag: What three books are hot this year? Why?

Lunch Lady and the Field Trip Fiasco by Jarrett J. Krosoczka http://www.randomhouse.com/book/202853/lunch-lady-and-the-field-trip-fiasco-by-jarrett-j-krosoczka

Graphic novels rule in my school library! The Lunch Lady series was the most circulated series during 2011.

Any book featured in my Reading Road Trip video.

I Want My Hat Back-- I rarely read the same book to every class, but I Want My Hat Back screams, “READ ME ALOUD! DISCUSS ME!” Oh, the conversations we had.

Author! Author!
Thanks to Anderson’s Bookshop, the best bookshop in the world, authors visit our school throughout the year. We have hosted fifteen authors in three years. I love when an author connects with the audience, interacts with fans during the book signing, and inspires students to write. The pics below show just a few of the authors we've had visit us at Brook Forest Elementary.

DOREEN CRONIN

PETER BROWN

KATE MESSNER

KATEMESSNER and LINDAURBAN

RICHARD PECK

JENNIFER and MATTHEW HOLM

Library Lion’s Roar: ONE LAST BIG ROAR
Shannon McClintock Miller and I live 338 miles apart but connect our libraries, students, and teachers with each other on a daily basis. We use social networking tools and apps to create amazing and rich experiences for our students. You can follow our adventures at Two Libraries, One Voice. http://www.twolibrariesonevoice.com

Let’s Link
Blog(s)
Watch. Connect. Read.: www.mrschureads.com

Two Libraries, One Voice: www.twolibrariesonevoice.com

Thank you, Mr. Schu for the terrific interview!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

ROAR FOR NY SCHOOL LIBRARIAN STACY DILLON

2012-01-04T12:05:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews. Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest, STACY DILLON!

Stacy is a Lower School Librarian at Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School in New York City.

“We are a progressive school that’s been operating since 1921. The first thing that you see when you walk in our doors is the library!”

The Skinny
One of the things that I love most about my job is that I am not alone! We are a team of librarians, including Jesse Karp (Early Childhood), Jennifer Hubert Swan (Middle School), Karyn Silverman (High School), and myself. We work together, and are able to bounce new ideas off of one another, observe each other’s classes, and get excited about new projects or new books. Each day is different and varied in the library, and it keeps all of us on our toes!

A Lion’s Pride of Programs
Our joint Lower School / Middle School library houses a goldmine of a folktale collection. We have a picture book collection as well as a collection of anthologies, many of which are out of print. My first grade curriculum includes a folktale study wherein folktales are told geographically, and students discover the similarities in stories across cultures, as well as the mechanics of story in general, and folktale as a genre. This piece of curriculum wouldn’t be nearly as rich without our fantastic folktale collection.

We also have a great graphic novel collection. Jesse is a graphic novel expert and he is constantly growing our collection. It’s no coincidence that our top circulating items are all graphic novels!

Reader’s Roar
I asked some of our students what their favorite thing about the library is, and this is what we found out!

“I like the library because it has books for everyone. Even when I’m in middle school I can find something to read here.” G, 3rd grade

“I like that you can find something to read at any time in the library. The librarians can always give you a recommendation!” C, grade 12.

“The advanced readers section! It’s so great that we get to read books before they are out!” S, grade 6

Librarian Note: The advanced readers section came about from our BBYA reading club...I don't want folks to think we have arcs on the shelf to borrow!

Book Brag What's Hot This Year Stacy?
Any and all of the Basher books fly off our shelves. Our students love the format, the characters and the presentation of the facts! Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice series is always in high demand as well. Students are continually asking “When does the next one come out? Do you have anything just like it?” And Babymouse, Babymouse, Babymouse. The brother/sister Holm duo can do no wrong, and the appeal of these particular graphic novels cross gender and age lines in a pretty incredible way.

Library Lion’s Roar
Another highlight of being a librarian at LREI is that we try to get out of the building as much as we can! Since we are in NYC, we are lucky to have a vast number of libraries and institutions to visit. In October LREI students gave the D train a workout, with 3 separate trips to the NYPL’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.

Author Author!
We bring authors into our school every year for our annual Book Week. Authors and illustrators visit each classroom to talk about their craft to our students. It’s one of the most exciting weeks of the school year!
The Lower School had an amazing Book Week this December with visits from:
~Lisa Graff – author of Umbrella Summer
~P.D. Eastman – author of Go Dog Go!
~Gina Goldmann – contributor to Hands Off Harry
~Judith Inglese and Dedie King – author and illustrator of I See the Sun in Afghanistan

~Roxie Munro – author/illustrator of Hatch!
~Cornelius Van Wright and Ying Hwa-Hu author/illustrator of Sam and the Lucky Money

~Dave Roman – author and illustrator of Astronaut Academy
~Ai-Ling Louie – author of Vera Wang: Queen of Fashion

~Marthe Jocelyn – author/illustrator of Hannah’s Seven Dresses
~Monica Wellington – author/illustrator of Mr. Cookie Baker
~Julie Appel – author of Touch The Art: Count Monet’s Lilies
~Julia Sarcone-Roach - author of Subway Story

~Isabel Hill - author of Building Stories

Let’s Link
Library Lions Readers find out more from these Blogs:

Lower School Library Blog
Middle School Library Blog
High School Library Blog
LREI Libguides
Welcome to my Tweendom
Reading Rants
Someday My Printz Will Come

Thank you,Stacy for your terrific interview!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

LISA YEE'S LIBRARY LOVE

2011-12-27T10:10:00.000-08:00

It's our last post of the year here at Library Lions. Let's all give a mighty roar for our guest the amazingly talented author LISA YEE!! ROAR!

Whether in a book store or a library, Lisa'a award winning books are guaranteed to fly off the shelves! Here's her latest!

Click Here to learn more about Warp Speed.

Since Lisa lives at Warp Speed, we're lucky to have her guest blog today here on Library Lions. Welcome Lisa. Let's talk Libraries! Go!

Lisa
I Love Libraries!In case you can't tell by looking at me, I think libraries are awesome . . .

When I was a kid, I used to play library. Um, I still do . . .

(For you young folk out there, that's a library card that you sign and get stamped when you check out a book. This is pre-scanner, pre-computer, pre-e-books. Yes, I am old.)

I was thrilled to be invited to speak the the Young Adult librarians at the main branch of the LA Public Library.

It's gorgeous inside . . .

I was part of a YA author panel that took place in the Mark Taper Auditorium LAPL Manger of Youth Services, Eva Mitnick led the event, and our panel was moderated by Penguin/Dial Books for Young Readers VP of acquisition and development and editor Jennifer Hunt . . .. . .

The panel included Cecil Castellucci, Holly Goldberg Sloan, Sherri Smith, Margie Stohl, Carol Tanzman, Janet Tashjian, Angelina Jolie, and Moi. (Well, most of those people.) We had a WONDERFUL dialogue with the attractive, witty and smart YA Librarians . . .

Later, some librarians shared their favorite books with us . . .

Since we were on the YA panel, it was only fitting that we visit the Teen area . . .

Then get this . . . we went SHOPPING at the LIBRARY with a GIFT CERTIFICATE the librarians gave us!!!

After, it was off to Cole's for a literary lunch with Cecil and Sherri . . .

We love Cole's and have been there with authors Ransom Riggs and Sonya Sones! (Though not at the same time.) And we love librarians, too!!!

Oh! And what did I end up getting at the store? How's about this . . .

What's that, you ask? Why, it's old fashioned vintage rubber stamps of things called typewriters and rotary dial phones!!!

Let's Link UP!

Follow Lisa on Facebook

Lisa's>Website

Lisa's Blogs

Follow her on Twitter

Thank you Lisa for the terrific interview!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.
Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Einstein Kids Will Change the World!

2011-12-01T12:09:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews. Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest, Anne Sandbo!

When asked about her job, Anne says “I have the best job in the world with the best kids in the world. I am the librarian at Einstein Elementary School in Redmond, Washington. We are the Einstein Otters and we will change the world!"

Einstein Library

The Skinny
I love that I am able to see each student in the school every week. We learn together. They teach me as much as I teach them….maybe I learn more than they do. I love that I am able to learn new ways to access information along with the students and we can share our favorite books.

Library Laughs
One day I was checking books out with a class. A little boy had an overdue book and he couldn’t remember what the book was. I pulled up the picture on the computer and showed it to him. He looked at me and asked “Does it tell you where I left it?”

Another day I was exploring encyclopedias with 3rd graders. We’d gone over Alphabetical order and how to make a good guess if you’ll find something at the back or the front of the volume. When I asked where I would look for the Japanese Beetle a student answered:
“Probably in Japan.”

A Lion’s Pride of Programs
I think my favorite program that we do with our students is Battle of the Books. Einstein has participated since the program began and even though we’ve only won the district battle once, we have teams of real readers. They form teams, read the books and above all, they have fun. In the 10 years we’ve been doing Battles, we have only had teams end the tournaments with smiles, laughing and handshakes all around. You can’t do any better than that.

Readers Roar: Let’s hear from the kids!

~I love that the library was open this summer. I got to read the books that are checked out all the time during school. ~ Jen grade 4

~ I don’t ever want to hear Mrs. Sandbo use her “librarian voice”. I think it would be scary!~ Robert grade 5

Book Brag: What's Hot This Year?
Our Greek Mythology Graphic novels are hot this year. We have multiple copies of three volumes and there is as long a waiting list for them as there is for the 2012 Guinness World Records.

Author! Author!
I had the perfect author visit a few years ago. Robert Liparulo’s (author of the Dreamhouse Kings series) publisher called me. He said Robert had looked at our web site and would like to come see the students at Einstein.

He came with free books, he didn’t charge us for the visit or travel. He asked students to submit ideas to him for future settings for his books. He stayed connected with the students for years after his visit. Several of them were readers for him before later books were published. He really motivated some of our reluctant readers to start reading!

Library Lion’s Roar: ONE LAST BIG ROAR
Our students are coming to the library during recess to add grains of rice on the free rice.com website. They read the stories of the difference it makes to kids around the world and they get practice with some vocabulary and know they make a difference.

Let’s Link
Library Website: As it says on our website: We know just about everything, just ask us.
http://www.lwsd.org/school/einstein/Library/Pages/default.aspx

Thank you, Anne for your terrific interview!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Roar for Middle School Librarians!

2011-11-03T16:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews. Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest Middle School Librarian, Teresa Young.

Mrs. Young works in Springfield, MO. We first met when I presented at the Children’s Literature Festival of the Ozarks. We're pleased to interview her here on Library Lions!

The Skinny: How long you’ve been a Youth Librarian?
This is my 8th year as a school librarian. I served four years in an Elementary and then followed my students over to the Middle School. This will be my fourth year in Middle School.

When I switched from Elementary School Librarian to Middle School Librarian, I read the student evaluations and presented a vision to the principal of how I could transform the library by rearranging furniture, splashing some paint on the walls and creating new reading spaces for the students to enjoy.
I’m happy to say we made some fun changes.

Before

After

Library Love: Briefly, what do you love most about your work?
Every day I look forward to serving in the Middle School library because each day is unique! As I work with young teens, my goal is to increase their knowledge of being effective users of information.

I love connecting to the students and staff, promoting literature, teaching how to be ethical with technology and serving the families I work with on a daily basis.

This school year I am serving as the President of the Regional Area of School Librarians and have been an active part of the state wide professional organization, MASL, Missouri Association for School Librarians.

Library Laughs:
When you think of a Middle School student, you have to think of a cell phone. Our school rule is no phones during school time however as soon as the last school bell rings, cell phones come out of everyone’s pockets.

During National Library Week, the Student Library Advisory Board, SLAB, decided to have a book drive for the new Preschool that opened just down the street from us. They have a great facility but only a small space for a library with books supplied from donations. A teacher in our school building volunteered to bring her young children’s favorite toy car into the library so that the preschool book DRIVE could be collected to donate to our neighbors. Students saw the car, came into the library and then asked permission to take a picture of the car because it was so cute!

Cameras were flashing but no students were allowed to get inside the car. Not sure anyone our size would even fit! The book DRIVE was a success and boxes of books were brought to build a preschool library or to put books in backpacks to take home.

A Lion’s Pride of Programs:
The Library is the place to be from before school programs, during school learning and after school clubs. Before school the Spanish Club meets one morning a week, the Breakfast Club meets two mornings a week to listen to a Truman nominee book be read aloud, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) meets with one of the coaches and SLAB, Student Library Advisory Board alternates meetings with the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) which both create activities that involve school spirit around literacy or scholarship and serving others in our school or community.

During school, the library is used constantly by the reading teachers who require students to read to science and social studies teachers needing students to do research on a topic. The Health teacher uses the library for technology projects where students create and then share about a health topic. The art teacher makes uses of the library space and computers when starting a new project such as perspective. Even the PE teacher will use the library to have students do research on sports that are being taught in class.

The library is really the heart of the building and offers so many opportunities for others to learn about the resources inside by celebrating National Geography Awareness Week, Money Smart Week and Pi Day!

After school, the students proposed to start a Twilight Book Club and all those students who loved the books, gathered together to share their favorite book character, play Twilight games and even eat Twilight snacks. Again, the students created a club to “hang out” and called themselves the “Couch Club”. Nothing formal was announced as there was a limited space on the couch, but the club grew from word of mouth and the students quickly found a safe place to just chill.

Readers Roar: Let’s hear from the kids!
Students wrote metaphors about the library. Some chose to use a simile, since that was a little easier to do. Here are some samples of what the students said about the School Library:

“Walking in the library is like walking in the mall; you can look at stuff and not walk out with anything.” Alex, 7th

“Reading is a doctor because it helps.” Riley, 6th

“The library is like my room where I feel safe inside.” Daphne, 6th

“A book is like a roller coaster ride, you read it and want to read it again.” Audryanna, 6th

“The library is like Wonderland where we are Alice with a new discovery around each corner.” Kali, 8th

“The library is a thrift store; everything is used.” Tori, 6th

“The library is a friend because when I am down, I can always turn to it.” Sarah, 7th

“The library is like a recycling center; you read, return and repeat.” Rose, 7th

“The library is a toolbox I use for my work.” Mitchell, 6th

Book Brag: What three books are hot this year? Why?
The Truman Readers Award is promoted in this school library. This is a state program sponsored by MASL where the students pick their favorite. Reading teachers use the books in literature circles in class. Students hear about all the books and then select the one that interest them. There are twelve books on the list and students read at least four titles to be eligible to vote in early March. These are the hot books from that list:

1. MAZE RUNNER I can not keep copies of this book on the Truman rack nor on the Hold shelf. As soon as students know it is available they want to read it. This is the first book in a trilogy about boys who work through obstacles in their “community” as they seek out an escape.

2. THE LAST THING I REMEMBER Another title that students are talking about after they read it and everyone wants to get their hands on it! This is another book that is the first in a series. The main character awakens in a torture chamber with no memory of how he got there. He flashes back to the last thing he remembers.

3. JANE IN BLOOM Every student who reads this title tells at least two others and the book constantly moves from student to student. This is a first novel for author Deborah Lytton. A deeply personal look at sisters, the oldest sister faces issues with anorexia and the youngest has to deal with grief issues.

Author! Author!
One of the Middle School reading teachers used the book, THE MAN WHO LOVED CLOWNS with her classes.

When I asked her if she had ever met the author, June Rae Wood, a Missouri Author, she told me no. I immediately contacted June Rae Wood and asked her if she could squeeze in a visit to my school library before attending the Children’s Literature Festival of the Ozarks in October. She told me her fee and then I started making phone calls asking if businesses would like to fund her visit. A local business contributed so the students and the teacher got to interact with the author. We even had a parent reception after school. This made reading come alive to these students who continue to ask for June Rae Wood books.

June Rae Wood Author Visit

Library Lion’s Roar: ONE LAST BIG ROAR
Because I see a great need for new and fresh materials in the Library, I write grants every year to fund a special project. Some of the grants are local and others are national. Each grant makes a difference and helps me to offer the newest and best to my students and staff. I would like to send a ROAR to Lowe’s who gives grants to libraries nationwide. Lowe’s gave over $5,000 for our library to build our nonprint collection as well as a computer kiosk where the students can easily access the card catalog for searching or to work on a health technology presentation.

Building the Kiosk

Finished Kiosk

Thanks again for interviewing with us here on Library Lions!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Roar for TEEN READ WEEK

2011-10-17T16:27:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions special edition celebrating TEEN READ WEEK. This year’s theme “Picture It.” What R U doing for TRW?

Here at Library Lions we’re Roaring for YALSA = Young Adult Library Services Association. Swing by their site and see what YALSA says about TEEN READ WEEK

“Teen Read Week is an initiative of the YALSA. Teen Read Week started in 1998. This year's theme is Books with Beat @ your library®. YALSA encourages teens to read poetry, audiobooks, books about music, and more. Libraries across the world celebrate Teen Read Week with a variety of special events and programs”
Announcing this year’s Top Ten list of books for Young Adults!

Congratulations to the Teens Top Ten!!
Teens from selected libraries across the U.S. read and voted for the Top Ten list.

Special thanks to YALSA's Teens' Top Ten Committee is Chair Jennifer Barnes, Rebecca Jackman, Amy Fiske, Carrie Kausch, Rachel Kitzmann, and Lisa Martinez.

Best-selling author, Jay Asher is the spokesperson for 2011 Teen Read Week this year
More about what Jay’s doing for Teen Read Week here

We’re also roaring the 25 nominees this year:
•Bachorz, Pam. Drought. Egmont USA. 2011.
•Beam, Cris. I Am J. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 2011.
•Beaudoin, Sean. You Killed Wesley Payne. 2011. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
•Black, Holly and Justine Larbalestier. Zombies vs. Unicorns. Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry Books. 2010.
•Card, Orson Scott. The Lost Gate. Tor Books. 2011.
•Clare, Cassandra. The Clockwork Angel. Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry. 2010
•Collins, Suzanne. Mockingjay. Scholastic. 2010.
•Collins, Yvonne. Love, Inc. Disney/Hyperion. 2011.
•Condie, Ally. Matched. 2010. Penguin/Dutton.
•Cremer, Andrea. Nightshade. Penguin/Philomel. 2010.
•Fitzpatrick, Becca. Crescendo. Simon & Schuster Children’s. 2010.
•Grant, Michael. Lies. 2010. HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books.
•Hawkins, Rachel. Demonglass. Disney/Hyperion. 2011.
•Hakwins, Rachel. Hex Hall. Disney/Hyperion. 2010.
•Kagawa, Julie. The Iron King. 2010. Harlequin.
•Lore, Pittacus. I Am Number Four. HarperCollins. 2010.
•Moore, Peter. Red Moon Rising. Disney/Hyperion. 2011.
•Nelson, Jandy. The Sky is Everywhere. 2010. Penguin/Dial Books for Young Readers.
•Oliver, Lauren. Before I Fall. HarperCollins/HarperTeen. 2010.
•O’Neal, Ellis. The False Princess. Egmont USA. 2011.
•Patterson, James. Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel. Little, Brown & Company. 2011.
•Pearce, Jackson. Sisters Red. Little, Brown and Company. 2010.
•Smith, Cynthia Leitich. Blessed. Candlewick Press. 2011.
•Westerfeld, Scott. Behemoth. Simon Pulse. 2010.
•White, Kiersten. Paranormalcy. HarperCollins/HarperTeen. 2010.

More ways Library Lions can celebrate:

1. Join readergirlz The cutting edge literacy and social media project for teens, awarded the National Book Award for Innovations in Reading. Support readergirlz and keep up with the latest great book news.

2. Free your inner teen and read an excellent book from the Top Ten or from the nomination list this year.

3. RIP Read In Public

RIP on the subway, bus, in the park, in the grocery store line – join those of us who RIP!

ROAR REDMOND ELEMENTARY LIBRARY

2011-10-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Also, the picture you’re adding and the —who is absolutely wonderful. J

Welcome to Library Lions interviews. Raising a Roar for Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest School Librarian Carol Matheson!

(Pictures of Carol by Redmond Elm. PTSA President, Elena Savage)

Carol is a Teacher Librarian at Redmond Elementary in Redmond WA.

I met Carol last year on one of my Read Across America school visits and knew at once I wanted to interview her for Library Lions. Welcome Carol!

Thanks, Janet.

Roar for Lion Cubs
Last year on my visit I noticed that your students are Very involved in the library. Can you tell us about that, Carol?

I like to involve the students in decisions about our school library. I have a suggestion box for kids to recommend good books they’ve read that aren’t in the Library. I buy as many of the suggestions as I can and the kids love it. They’re listened to. They’re part of the Library. I also periodically do a survey asking kids what they like about the Library and what they would change. We’ve changed a lot including
~ How many books they can check out
~ How long they can check them out
~ When they can check out (almost any time they want to—recesses, before and after
school, etc.)
~ They wanted the Library to be brighter so we added posters to the wall which they
picked out

I work very hard to make sure that what I teach is meaningful to our students. In primary I focus on introducing them to a wide variety of picture books—we read Classics, Folklore from around the world, books reflecting Lifeskills (which is a big focus in the classroom for primary students), and even books demonstrating the 6-Traits of Writing. In intermediate we focus on research skills from doing a research project on birds to an extensive unit on what resources to use (and trust) for different kinds of projects.

The Skinny: Briefly, what do you love most about your work?
I love the kids. I love getting to know them, teaching them, encouraging them to read, encouraging them to be the best person they can be. Some of my kids face big challenges: some are homeless, some don’t have enough to eat, some move frequently, and some have behavior and/or learning challenges. I’m amazed some of these kids can even make it out of bed in the morning and yet they come to school to learn, make friends and start believing in themselves.

I also love the people I work with. They are an amazing group who try to help the student who struggles with everything and challenge the student that everything comes easy to. They are compassionate, hard-working, caring people with good senses of humor!

I feel like I do one of the most important jobs in the world. It’s hard. I put in long hours and go home much more tired than I did in the business world (I was in marketing for 15 years before becoming a teacher). But, I know what I do makes a difference and the rewards are big: An “AH HA” moment, a hug, a smile from a face that came in sad, a junior high or high school student that still stops by to say hi . . . .

Library Laughs
We are the Redmond Hawks so above the check-out desk the students chose to have pictures of Hawks. One of them is a beautiful photo of a Sharp-Shinned Hawk. I have a 6th Grader who loves turtles and insists that this hawk looks like a turtle. He takes polls of everybody who walks through the Library. We have now banned the dreaded “t” word during class because it was causing a bit too much disruption but it can be discussed during check-out time. It has made a very fun bond between me and the kids in that class, especially with the turtle lover.

Turtle or Hawk??? Kids check the photo out.

A Lion’s Pride of Programs
We have a wonderful program at this school which was started by a 5/6th Grade teacher who enlisted me. It’s called Hawks Read.

(Artwork by Paula Randolph)

The 6th Graders (and the 5/6 Split) read to the Kindergartners and First Graders every Friday at 1:00, right after lunch recess. The Library supplies the books (pulled by a student volunteer in the morning). The teacher got the idea from a reading program sponsored by Target. Our kids weren’t eligible for the Target program because they were too young so we contacted Target and explained what we were doing. They were amazingly generous with a big celebration about reading last year to help kick the program off and money for books in the Library. They gave us another grant this year.

We also have another program call Donuts for Dads and Muffins for Moms.

Once a month we have donuts, muffins, fruit, juice, etc. and kids come in with their families to read books. We have people in every corner of the Library eating and reading (despite the fact we tell kids not to read and eat at the same time). It is very fun and much loved. We’re fortunate to have the PTSA and the Neighborhood School House help sponsor this.

Readers Roar: (Let’s hear from the kids!)
~ I like coming to the Library to read at recess sometimes because it’s calm and quiet.~ Varsha, Grade 4:

~ I love to read all the fantasy and adventure books. Mrs. Matheson even lets me come in after school almost every day to check out books. ~ Alex, Grade 4:

~ I like Mrs. Matheson because she is really nice. I come to the Library because of her and I really like to read a lot.~ Jared, Grade 6:

Book Brag: What three books are hot this year? Why?
I’d love to tell you about a wonderful award winning book that I can’t keep on the shelf but . . . at least they’re excited about reading.

~ Graphic Novels—it doesn’t matter which one. My section was decimated the first week of school and I’ve been working hard to add as many books to that section as possible.

~ Harry Potter—the last movie set off another year of checking every one of those books out.

~ The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series—Given the competition for these books when they’re actually in the Library, I’m amazed how well the kids peacefully work out who gets what and nobody complains!

Library Lion’s Roar: ONE LAST BIG ROAR
I’d like to roar about my PTSA. Given this is a school with almost half of our students on free and reduced lunch, our PTSA performs miracles. They have been amazingly supportive of the Library program and have worked with me to fund wonderful new books which have helped almost double our circulation since I came five years ago. A roar to all those wonderful people who put hours into supporting our teaching, making sure all of our kids get to participate in special programs and helping our school be an even better place.

Thank you, Carol for your terrific interview!

Love Libraries? School libraries need your support. Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview.

BANNED BOOKS WEEK!

2011-09-25T10:21:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions special edition Banned Books Week.

Lesley James, librarian at Douglass-Truth Branch of the Seattle Public Library is here to Roar for Banned Books Week. Welcome Lesley!

The Skinny: First tell us a little about yourself and your library

We have an awesome after-school Homework Help program at my branch, thanks to the amazing volunteers who spend two to four hours each week helping students of all ages. The students deserve a lot of credit, too, for wanting to learn and for helping each other. I keep things bubbling along by orienting the volunteers, organizing the schedule, etc.

I’ve been a librarian for eleven years. One of my favorite things to do is visit schools to do presentations on information literacy and the research process. Sometimes classes of English Language Learners or special education students visit the branch for a presentation on “How the Library Is Organized.” I also love doing good old-fashioned booktalks and enjoyed working with a nearby school where I taught students how to do their own booktalks so they could share their favorites with their classmates.

Douglass-Truth Library interior

For many years, several branches worked together to hold a “Reading Marathon” that pitted four middle schools against each other to see which could log the most reading time in a six-hour period. Because of budget cuts and staff reorganizations, this year the competition was between the three grades from one middle school and held at just my branch, but the participants still had a great time eating snacks, winning raffle prizes, and, of course, reading.

Tell us about Banned Books Week:

Banned Books Week is that special time of the year when librarians get together and ban as many books as possible…just kidding! (Although teens are sometimes confused by the name.) The serious fact is that every year books are removed from the shelves of libraries when library staff responds to patrons’ official complaints by choosing to censor. Librarians and other educators who consider themselves staunch supporters of the First Amendment want to bring this to the attention of the public so they can appreciate their Freedom To Read. It’s also a great opportunity to examine the issues and emotions that prompt those complaints and the prices we sometimes pay for having the freedom.

It surprises some students to learn that there are books I hate—but I make it clear that I’ll defend the rights of those books to be on the shelves of the library with my last breath. That’s what makes the Freedom To Read so powerful: it’s not a simple or easy thing to defend, but it’s worth it.

Learn more at the American Library Association site:

Can you showcase some more displays for us?
There are great displays at every branch of The Seattle Public Library system.

What do you do to spread the word about Banned Books Week and Intellectual Freedom Issues?
When teachers invite me to do a presentation on intellectual freedom for their classes, I do a lesson on the “competing goods” of the Freedom To Read. I start by showing the students the text of the First Amendment and then I show them a newspaper photograph and tell them this is a picture of the First Amendment in action. We discuss what’s going on in the photograph: an African-American woman is crouched defensively over a white man who became the target of a group of violently angry people who turned up to protest a Ku Klux Klan march. Why would this woman protect a Klan member whose speech is filled with such hate for her race? Because she believes in his right to speak, no matter what he’s saying. The protesters have an equal right to voice their opinion, but not to silence his. It’s a compelling image that helps students understand the gravity of defending free speech, even when you completely disagree with it.

Next, we do an activity that involves small groups of students looking at children’s picture books that have been challenged in the past and guessing what the challengers objected to. We use picture books because they’re easier to flip through than young adult novels, they lead to a later discussion about age restrictions, and they elicit cries of, “But I love the Lorax!” By the way, I want to give credit to the Multnomah County Library System librarians—I observed a version of this activity led by them at a conference and adapted it.
PHOTO cover The Lorax

Some of the reasons for challenging seem silly to the students (such as the bottle of wine in Little Red Riding Hood’s basket for her grandmother leading to alcoholism) but others are more serious (such as the use of racial slurs in Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry). The important thing I want students to understand is that they all represent someone’s personal values. Whatever their personal values are, the students always bring up the point that it’s good to have books that represent different opinions. If we removed every book that offended someone, there would be no books left on the shelves! The students also agree that that depicting a particular behavior doesn’t necessarily condone it and that it’s better to show reality as it is, rather than trying to shield readers from harsh truths.
We do a couple of other activities during this lesson and I’d be happy to share them, as well as details about the activities described above.

Any Banned Books you would like to highlight?
I’d like to highlight some hometown heroes. Three local (Seattle or Seattle-adjacent) authors of books for teens are represented in the American Library Association’s “Books Banned or Challenged in 2009-2010” booklet: Sherman Alexie, Brent Hartinger, and Richelle Mead. Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was challenged but retained on a school summer reading list. (It’s important to note that many challenges fail to lead to a banning.) The objections focused on “vulgar and racist” language. So many teens, especially boys, have read and loved this book.

You could have a great discussion about the difference between being racist and depicting racism with these readers. Hartinger’s Geography Club was retained at a public library despite complaints that it was “obscene or child pornography.” (In 2005, it was banned and then reinstated by a nearby school district, although the focus that time was a scene in which the protagonist arranged to see someone he met online.) This book also provides a great opportunity to talk about the difference between gratuitous sex scenes and sex scenes as an important part of the plot—or, in this case, books in which characters think about sex but don’t actually have it but are still considered “pornography.”

Mead’s entire Vampire Academy series was banned at a junior high school for “sexual content or nudity,” including books which have not yet been written. It’s true that schools don’t have the same responsibilities as public libraries to protect the freedom to read, but that doesn’t mean they should go ahead and ban books without reading them first!

What can Library Lions readers do to roar for Banned Books Week?
Support your local public library! We love our volunteers and appreciate every penny that’s donated, but most of our essential functions can only be funded by the city or county government’s budget. When times get tough (as they are right now), tough decisions have to be made about those budgets. It’s crucial that city and county governments know that public libraries are a vital service to their communities.

Yes, a lot of people get their information online these days, but where do people go when they don’t have computers or the skills to navigate the increasingly complex world of online information? The library, of course. We are actually more needed than ever. Our buildings are bursting with job-seekers, recent immigrants, and students of all ages who need help with their homework. They may be the only places where children hear stories read to them, elderly people figure out how to use a computer mouse, or someone who’s having a bad day sees a smile. And our local governments need to know all this so they don’t put us in the same pile as the parks and the art projects that are awesome but tend to lose their funding more rapidly than the police and fire departments.

One More Library Lion’s Roar:
I’d also like to put in a plug for the profession of librarianship, which seems especially relevant at a time when we’re celebrating the First Amendment. It’s true you don’t need a master’s degree to do a lot of the things we do these days (if I had a dollar for every printer I’ve un-jammed, I could have retired by now) and that what we bring to our work is somewhat intangible. But intangible doesn’t mean unimportant. Librarians hold back the forces of censorship with one hand and welcome everyone—and I mean everyone—into the library with the other. Without us, freedoms would get chipped away, both the freedom of ideas to enter the public space and the freedom to gain access to those ideas, regardless of your skills or resources. Interest in those ideals led me to library school and by the time I left, they were tattooed on my soul.

Let’s Link!Teen

Blog: http://blog.spl.org/yablog/

Adult Blog: http://shelftalk.spl.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeattlePublicLibrary?ref=ts
Thank you, Lesley for your terrific interview!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Author Kirby Larson Shares her Library Love

2011-09-01T10:36:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews special Author Edition. Please roar our guest award-winning author KIRBY LARSON!

Kirby is here today to share her Library Love with us.She went from history-phobe to history fanatic while writing the 2007 Newbery Honor Book, Hattie Big Sky.

(She is currently at work on a sequel to Hattie Big Sky.)

Her passion for historical fiction is reflected in The Fences Between Us (Scholastic, September 2010)

And her newest book, The Friendship Doll (Delacorte; May 2011).

In 2006, Kirby began a collaboration with her good friend, Mary Nethery, which has resulted in two award-winning nonfiction picture books: Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship and Survival (illustrated by Jean Cassels)

And Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine and a Miracle. They have their eyes peeled for another project to tackle together.

A Leo through and through, Kirby won't rest until she's shared her love of writing with as many people as possible. She's made over 200 presentations, traveling to twenty states and as far away as Germany, Lebanon and Qatar. Kirby lives in Kenmore, Washington with her husband, Neil. When she’s not reading, writing, or walking Winston the Wonder Dog, Kirby enjoys gardening, bird watching, traveling, or drinking lattés with friends.

Tell us About Your Library Love When You Were A Cub

In third grade, my dad took me to the downtown Bellingham public library. I was intrigued by a book called Gulliver’s Travels – full of giants and odd beings and adventures – and wanted to check it out. The librarian was hesitant – “She won’t understand it,” she told my dad. But he told her to go ahead and let me check it out. Of course, the librarian was right – most of the book went right over my head. However, the feeling that two adults agreed I could handle a big book like that was better than being granted three wishes.

Author’s Roar Funding for libraries, especially school libraries, is currently under threat. As an author, what are your thoughts about that?
When I was a kid, I was the new girl in school nearly every year. This was in a time when folks didn’t move around a lot so that made me a real oddball. There were some pretty rough first weeks of school – lots of teasing and excluding. I quickly learned that no matter where I went, I would find a friend – between the covers of a book, in the school library. I would not have grown into the person I am without the salvation of those libraries and am heartsick that it would ever seem like a good choice to cut funding for them. On the other hand, I did serve two terms on our local school board and I am fully aware of the financial pressures facing schools. The bottom line is that we say we value kids and education but our actions as communities belie our words. I honestly don’t know what to do about this societal flaw. What I can do is vote to support school and library levies, which I do, and I also donate books to several local schools.

Hooray for ALA!
My ALA experience in New Orleans was too much fun this year! What's the best part?
Catching up with librarian friends.

My buddy from Bowling Green, Alecia Marcum

Adrienne Yorinks and Jeanette Larson share my love for hummingbirds

Sampling some of the Big Easy's best eating (thanks to my driver for the recommendation of the Ernest Cafe and to Dianne de Las Casas for suggesting Ramblas where my agent and I enjoyed the most amazing scallops served in a cigar box)?

Or being on a panel with super-star Children's Lit prof, Sandy Imdieke and two Silver Sisters, Jenni Holm and Ingrid Law. If they ever tire of writing for children, those two could make a killing as stand-up comedians.

Though there is something overwhelming about the exhibit floor, there is something exhilarating too. All. Those. Books. And all those people who love books. Some love them too much. I saw more than one librarian doggedly dragging heavy bags of books off the exhibit floor and onto the shuttle buses. Some enterprising teens could make a killing hiring out as book caddies during the conference!

A Lion’s Pride of Programs
My energies in the past few years have been focused on school visits, and I have been hosted by some of the most amazing librarians around. I’ve read in a milk jug igloo in Bowling Green Kentucky

Milk jug igloo at Alecia Marcum's school -- I don't generally wear jeans to school visits but my bag had been lost by the airlines!

I've spoken to 850 middle schoolers at a pop in Birmingham, and to the combined student bodies of three rural schools in central Montana; I’ve visited the school just up the street from me, as well as international schools in Qatar

And Lebanon

And Department of Defense schools in Germany. I wouldn’t have had the chance to make these amazing connections without the support of savvy librarians, who not only invited me but also helped prepare their students so that my visit could be as successful as possible. By that, I don’t mean that my every whim was catered to (though librarians do spoil us authors rotten). What I mean is, that kids were so familiar with my work that my presentations truly enhanced and underscored the school’s reading and writing curriculum. I can’t tell you what it means to me to have an adult comment, after one of my presentations, that the student asking the most questions was one who didn’t like to write. And when I get a letter from a student telling me how my visit inspired them to read a book, or to try their own hand at a story or poem – well, there is no joy like that!

Library Lion’s ONE LAST BIG ROAR!
As you know, my passion is historical fiction and I rely heavily on libraries and librarians for my research. I can’t even count the number of books I’ve had access to through interlibrary loan – books I wouldn’t have been able to read without that amazing service. A research librarian in Great Falls, Montana taught me about Sanborn maps so I could see what the cities I place my characters in looked like in 1918 or 1941 or whenever.

My local library systems (King County and Seattle) subscribe to on-line services – like the historical newspaper index, or the Oxford English Dictionary – that I certainly couldn’t afford on my own.

Kenmore Library

And no matter what nutty question I have – I once needed to find out when waterwings were invented!-- some research librarian takes it seriously and helps me track down an answer. My books would not exist without libraries and librarians – which is why I want to roar about how great they are!

Lets Link Up
~Kirby's Blog: www.kirbyslane.blogspot.com

~Website: http://www.kirbylarson.com (readers can sign up at this site for my semi-monthly e-newsletter)

Thanks again Kirby for the terrific interview! You are now an official Library Lioness!

* * *

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Bilingual Biblioburro & Summer Reading

2011-08-15T10:59:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews. We Raise a Roar for Libraries and the outstanding Youth Librarians in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest, Angela Morris!

Angela is Children’s Services Manager North Central Regional Library system. The headquarters are in Wenatchee WA, but the system has 28 branches in five counties.

Tell us about yourself
I was recently the project lead for a grant awarded by the Foundation for Early Learning to do early literacy education to underserved families. We hosted a literacy fair where we presented parent education, offered literacy activities and gave away free books to children that attend the local Head Start preschool.

I plan and execute our very successful Teen Read program every fall where popular authors do school visits and public events - we reach thousands of teens with this program. Last year we had Gordon Korman, this year Avi is coming!

Gordon Korman

Library Love
I love my job because every day is different and I get to do a huge variety of tasks that promote the love of reading to kids and families in our library district. I love helping and supporting the branch librarians with youth services, working with community agencies on early literacy, doing book selection, planning and organizing programs and crafts for the summer reading program, interacting with authors, and a million other things.

Library Laughs
Storytime lends itself to lots of potential for funny moments. I’ve done storytimes where a child asks an awkward question where you have to think quickly or there is one kid that seems to have a comment about everything (these are the smart, verbal ones, so you gotta love em!). I think one of my most embarrassing moments was when I mispronounced a word so badly that the word that came out was the name of a body part that we usually don’t discuss in polite company!

A Lion’s Pride of Programs I am especially proud of our early literacy curriculum we use in our storytimes that we call Links to Literacy. We model ways of reading to kids that emphasizes early literacy skills for the parents and at the same time the kids are having a great time singing, listening to stories and doing activities. Please check out this video to hear me describing Links to Literacy storytimes. http://www.ncrl.org/kids.htm

I also want people to know about our Online Summer Reading Program that we launched this summer. It has been extremely fun and successful with over 11,000 reading hours logged so far this summer (we have 2 more weeks to go). We still offer the in-library summer reading program, but the online version is accessible to kids who live in very rural areas and for older kids. Look for more good things on our Online Summer Reading Program next summer.

Library Lion Cubs
We have a wonderful volunteer who works in the children’s department at Wenatchee Public Library – her name is Sabrina and she is 11 almost 12 and is going into the 7th grade. She works twenty hours per week! Which is amazing. She helps organize book carts, looks for request books on the shelf, keeps things tidy and assists with programs for the younger kids. She loves to be at the library and is following in the footsteps of her older sister who has worked there as a page for several years.

Sabrina

She loves getting the first opportunity to check out new books, observing what books patrons choose and she can’t seem to stop herself from checking out way too many books. Of course she loves to read and her favorites are: Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Little Women and the Mother-Daughter Bookclub series. When she grows up she wants to be a pastry chef and teacher. She loves school and has discovered that the more she reads for fun, the easier her schoolwork is (if only all kids learned this valuable lesson!).

Library Lioness on Wheels
Deborah McVay has been traveling all over our district doing bilingual programs. Her biblioburro is pictured with her below!

What’s hot this summer and why?
The sizzling hot books at North Central Regional Library this summer are:

~Pinkalicious series by Victoria Kann – because every little girl wants to look like a princess and have “attitude”.

~Dork Diaries series by Rachel Renee Russell because kids love a funny underdog – and it is sort of a girl’s version of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

~I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore – teenagers with superpowers? What’s not to like? The movie version likely pushed this book over the top for kids in this area.

Author! Author!
The perfect author’s visit actually happened here a couple years ago when Lois Lowry came to do several programs around our library district. I spent several days driving her to her various venues, so I had the opportunity to really enjoy listening to her impressions of our area, observations on life and descriptions of what she plans to write in the future. Her programs were insightful, moving and just good storytelling. I never got tired of hearing her speak. One never knows what it will be like to interact with an author – you are hopeful that they will be pleasant and not too demanding, but Lois Lowry was professional, candid and a wonderful conversationalist. I feel lucky and honored to have had this time with her. And of course the kids and adults who heard her speak loved her too!

One Last Roar!
The summer reading program theme this year - “One World, Many Stories” was awesome. It gave endless opportunities for highlighting all of our great books on cultures, food, geography, animals of the world and on and on. Typically our branches give out inexpensive incentives for reading prizes and this summer to celebrate world cultures, many of them introduced a program in which their Friend’s group donated money to Heifer International for every hour that the kids read. This was a great way to increase awareness for how other kids in the world live. The "prayer flag craft" is an example of one of the crafts we did this summer that goes with the theme "One World, Many Stories".

Let’s Link

Library Website www.ncrl.org

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/NorthCentralRegionalLibrary Thank you, Angela for your terrific interview!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below. Note to

Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Roar For Children's Lit Fests!

2011-08-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome to this Library Lions Special Edition. This week we’re highlighting the terrific Children’s Literature Festival at Truman State University, MO!

Host Campus Truman State University Kirksville, Missouri

Daisy Rearick, Reference Librarian/Periodicals/Microforms at Pickler Memorial Library, Kirksville, Missouri, is here to tell us about the Lit Fest! Daisy grew up in Mexico. She loves children’s books. Welcome Daisy.

Share Your Dream with Us.
The purpose of the Children’s Literature Festival is to stimulate an interest in reading and literature among young students. The festival provides an opportunity for children from the northeast Missouri region in grades 4-6 to meet and interact with authors and illustrators from around the country.

Francisco Alarcon's workshop 2011

We lost the Festival for a few years. What Happened?
The Children’s Literature Festival was an annual event for 21 years until 2004 when it was discontinued due to severe budget cuts. In 2007, a Children’s Literature Festival Fund was created in an effort to bring the festival back, and two years later, the event began taking place once again. For the past two years, the Festival has also received grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the Missouri State Library, a Division of the Office of the Secretary of State.

We're Happy to be back up and running now!

2011 Festival Presenters

Tell the LL readers what happens on the Festival Day.
During the festival, the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students have an opportunity to meet with three authors and ask them how their work was created and came to be published. The authors present fun workshops inspiring students' love for literature, encouraging them to explore their own writing and drawing projects in school and out.

The 2011 festival highlighted the work of 10 authors:
Francisco Alarcon, Darleen Bailey Beard, Carmen Bernier-Grand, Janet Lee Carey, Dianne Gray, Lynne Jonell, A. LaFaye, Laurie Lawlor, Anna Myers and N. A. Nelson. Ard Hoyt, an illustrator, also participated in the event.

Mary Amato's workshop

Janet Lee Carey's workshop 2011

We also have a book signing

Ard Hoyt at the book signing

Cheers for the Children’s Literature Festival at Truman University!

~ “Lots of kids don’t enjoy reading and this [festival] is another tool to encourage them to make it “cool”. Many students from Northeast Missouri don’t get an opportunity to travel and hear speakers other than school trips, so they are that much more engaged.” From a teacher.

~ “I cannot think of any other chance I have had as a student, and can think of few occasions I will have as a professional, that will provide me with such a unique chance to connect with so many different types of professionals all so concerned with literacy.” From an MAE student

~ “Thank you so much for inviting me! The young people were wonderful, and I hope that a few went away inspired. And the committee - I applaud all of you. Through your hard work and organization, the Festival ran seamlessly.” From an author who presented

Anna Meyers's workshop 2011

Readers Roar. Let’s hear from the kids!
~ “It has inspired me to want to try to write a short story.” Anne – Grade 4

~ “at the lit festival, I feel so inspired to read more books and learn more about authors.” Ben – Grade 6

~“[the festival] tempts me to read different kinds of books” Jennifer – Grade 5

N.A. Nelson's workshop 2011

~ “[I have changed how I feel about reading] because authors get their ideas from real events, and it makes me wonder what things go on in the world.” Student

~ “it changed how I feel about reading or books or authors because I learned to always have a problem.” Student

Darleen Bailey-Beard's workshop 2011

Library Lion’s Roar: ONE LAST BIG ROAR
We already have seven of our authors lined up for the 2012 Literature Festival, and we are thrilled to once again have a state grant to help us out with the expenses!

Let’s Link
Library Website: http://library.truman.edu/

Children’s Literature Festival website: http://library.truman.edu/Children'sLiteratureFestival.asp

Thanks again for the terrific interview, Daisy!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

The Big Move

2011-07-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S.. Please Roar today’s guest Linda Baker.

Linda works at Jefferson Public Library – Jefferson Oregon.

The Skinny Tell our readers about the Big Move
The sky isn’t falling but the library (pictured above) in Jefferson Oregon just might! A recent engineering report found the 150 year old Conser House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and home to the library, to be “….severely structurally deficient…”.

To fulfill with our mission of supplementing the library’s limited resources in order to ensure quality services for the community we have launched a $800,000 Capital Finance Campaign to build a new 4,000 square foot library and meeting room space. This is a huge commitment for our small rural community of 3,000 but we are dedicated and determined.

How Has the Community Pitched In?
I work with a group of enthusiastic volunteers who come from varied backgrounds. A retired elementary school librarian, real estate agent, artist, community volunteers and a retired state auditor. The other members and I are happily at work implementing the Capital Finance Campaign to build a new library. We have a great time meeting with community members of all ages, ethnic backgrounds and income levels. Moving day for the library will allow the Jefferson Historical Society to repair the building and then use that space for museum activities.

Valerie Hauser Library Director

Here are the plans for the new library. Happily, it will be just across the street from the present location so we will be able to easily visit and reminisce.

Linda and Mayor of Jefferson, Mike Myers, signing lease agreement for the library

Tell us Your Dream
Our dream is that the public library in a community such as Jefferson is not simply a building where books are housed. The library will be a place where diverse elements of the town come together and form the tapestry of community. Adults with limited reading and language skills will find assistance with the help of skilled librarians. Children of all ages will have age appropriate spaces and activities. The Jefferson Lions club has pledged to make funding the library of their major community projects. This added support from the community really makes us feel proud and very special!

Library Laughs
Spanish is the first language for many of our children. Sometimes the children whose first language is English want to learn new words in Spanish. One child who worked very hard at learning new Spanish words every day proudly told me one morning that he had learned how to say waffle in Spanish. Excited for him I asked him to tell me what his new word was – Eggo he proudly replied!

The Library Spanish Bilingual Collection

A Lion’s Pride of Programs
Here at Jefferson Library, we truly enjoy helping children and teens find just the “right book” for their reading level and interest! We’re also excited to watch that same child or teen help the “older generation” learn a new computer skill or advance to the next game level.

Many of the people who have used the library computers to successfully find employment end up moving into new jobs. We are particularly thankful to have a Librarian who is excited about collaborating with all the volunteers, providing guidance and encouragement as we work toward our goal.

We also partner with a program called Reading For All and collected 1,000 books to give as gifts to children who are low income and some have never had a new book of their own. It was hard to tell who was more excited, us as the givers or them as the receivers. The bonus is the positive impact this project will have on their lives in the future.

Author! Author!
We have asked many authors to sign books and send them to us to help raise funds for our new library. The authors have been very generous! We have received signed copies from all over the USA, England, New Zealand and even from the tiny county of Principat D’Andorra – do you know where that is – I sure didn’t and had to Google it for the location.

We will have over 500 books to sell when we attend Wordstock, a book fair, in Portland Oregon in October. As a special treat, the authors JA Jance and Steve Berry will be coming to Salem Oregon to meet with the public and participate in a book signing!

A Call for Books
If you're an author who would like to Roar your support, we would be thrilled to have a signed copy of your book to help our Big Move!
You can snail mail your copy to
Friends of the Jefferson Library
PO Box 656
Jefferson OR 97352

If you have any questions, email Linda - library2010@q.com -
THANKS for your support!

And now a Roar for Everyone helping us in the library and supporting us through the Big Move!A few more pics

Jackie Schmacher, Library Assistant

Glenda Adcock. Linn Benton Community College Work Study Student

Thanks again for the interview, Linda, and best of luck with the big move!

Linking Up

~Jefferson Public Library: http://www.jefferson.plinkit.org/~Reading For All: http://reading4all.com/

~Chemeketa Cooperative Regional Library Service (which includes all libraries in
Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties, and which shares materials between the member libraries. http://www.ccrls.org

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Roar for Cavalcade of Authors!

2011-06-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews.This month we're Raising a Roar for Cavalcade of Authors! It's an honor to introduce librarian Michelle Lane, creator of Cavalcade!

Michelle has been a librarian for 6 years. Here’s her school library “called The Cat’s Den” at Enterprise Middle School in West Richland, WA.

More Michelle:
I’m 40…something and still play competitive softball. This summer I'll be busy with a supervisory/mentoring position with Antioch University for our new library program which is starting up here in the Tri-Cities.

I'm looking forward to speaking at WLMA in October regarding the Cavalcade of Authors and a new Young Adult – Washington website I am helping to develop that will be the go-to place for readers, writers, librarians, and booksellers in Washington State who love young adult fiction. I will be looking forward to a Janet Lee Carey author feature down the road here. (Janet note - Thanks Michelle!)

The Skinny – Tell us how Cavalcade of Authors began Michelle
Author Timothy Zahn inspired me. In September of 2009, I was presenting with author Maureen McQuerry at the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Conference where I attended a workshop about author visits with a panel of authors speaking to what makes a successful author visit. Timothy Zahn brought up that he would much rather teach kids about writing rather than stand up and talk about himself and the rest of the authors concurred. Tim also mentioned a very successful teen book festival in Rochester that invited a large group of authors to work with teens from all over the city. I put the two ideas together and thought to myself, “I could totally do this for my students at Enterprise.” All the way home from Portland I brainstormed and planned. When I returned to school on Monday, I had a plan and started contacting authors to present at our school that April…and the rest is history!

In 2009 I started the Cavalcade of Authors at our school and 70 students from three middle schools in our district attended.

Our first year, we had seven authors on a budget of about $5,000. I wrote and received a $2500 grant from the Richland Education Foundation and received another $2,000 from Friends of the Mid-Columbia Libraries. The remainder of the money raised came from charging schools a small fee for an author visit done free by one of our authors.

(Janet Note - I had a blast presenting at Cavalcade in 2009!)

Photo 2009 author session with Alma Alexander.

The Cavalcade of Authors is dedicated to providing the secondary students of our region access to some of the best Young Adult authors of our modern era. Our special interest is to celebrate Pacific Northwest Authors while introducing students to a variety of genres and subject matter and to furthermore, promote reading and writing within our community.

We have provided for our participants an authentic writing conference experience. Students who qualify by reading a book from four of the authors, attend four 45 minute creative writing sessions each put on by a different author. A free t-shirt is awarded to students who read eight of the authors.

In 2010 we partnered with RADCON and held Cavalcade at the Pasco Red Lion for which RADCON paid. We had 225 students attend from seven secondary schools in our district and this time nine different authors presented. Each school paid $1000 for 50 of their students to attend the writing conference. Our budget in 2010 was just under $10,000. We collected around $3,000 from our city library and schools who paid for author visits.

2010 authors

This year we had 500 middle and high school students from 12 schools in our region, spill onto Columbia Basin College campus to see 11 young adult authors. Next year we will expect nearly 800 students.

2011 Author Panel

We created a partnership with our local college who hosted our event last March where 500 middle and high school students attended from 12 schools in our region on a $15,000 budget. We charged each school only $500 to send 50 students and received business / library donations and sponsorships to cover the remainder. We invited 11authors mostly from the Pacific Northwest, but this time several from around the nation.

In 2012, we expect to bring on six more schools for a total of 18 and we anticipate 800 students to be in attendance. Our authors total 12 and are mostly from around the nation, one from the UK, and a few from the Seattle area. We are now starting to cycle through our Pacific Northwest authors: Janet Lee Carey is our first to make a second appearance!

Check out our Cavalcade videos!
http://www.cavalcadeofauthors.org/2009/09video.html
http://www.cavalcadeofauthors.org/2010/10video.html

How do you do it all?
I have a team of librarians from the Richland and Kennewick school district and one Super Parent that help in the organization and planning. We work closely with Barnes and Noble Book Sellers who does all of our book sales throughout the year each year.

I have the daunting task next year of making $30,000 appear and it is making me nervous. My Super Parent is like a dog on a pork chop and together we have brought in at least $7,000 in the last week from Mission Support Alliance and RADCON, so I’m feeling a bit better these days. Every year fundraising for our project is quite the leap of faith…and nerve wracking, but each year we have met the challenge, thanks to our very supportive community!

Readers Roar. Let’s hear from the kids!
The most touching comment came this last spring from an 11th grade alternative high school student; shared in context by the organizer from the alternative high school in our district, Rivers Edge:

“[Organizing Cavalcade] is very challenging because of how fluid our student body is, as well as their poverty level; however, I’m still convinced it is well worth it. Because many of our students can’t afford a book or a T-shirt, I select Book Room copies that they’ve read to have signed during autograph time. This helps them look like everyone else and gives them a task to fill their time. I encourage them to have their program and/or T-shirt signed also. [This last year] Terry Trueman gave one of our students a signed copy of No Right Turn. On the bus going home that student said, “This is the first book I’ve ever owned and I’ll keep it all my life”. These words from an 11th grade boy brought tears to my eyes!”
– Paula Fallon, Organizer Rivers Edge

~ “It was wicked awesome! How we got to experience the life of an author.”
-Kathleen, 8th grade.

~ “What I liked about the Cavalcade of Authors is that I met students with the same interests as me and I got to know authors which kids don’t always get to do!”
-Sarah 8th grade.

~“I thought Cavalcade of Authors was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I loved how each author had something different to teach us and share their writing experiences and their careers.” - Breanna, 6th grade.

~ “I liked everything: The experience, all the nice authors, the people and how much I laughed!” – Becca Johnson, 8th grade.

~ “I liked the fact that these authors related so much about their personal lives to us.” – Alex, 11th grade

~ “I learned a lot about the intense and imaginative process of writing books.” - Matt, grade 12

Roars from the Authors!
~ “We were treated like rock stars, I tell you.” – Lorie Ann Grover, author.

~ “[What I liked most were] the kids. They were engaged and curious and asked insightful questions. – Brenda Cooper, author

~ “[What I liked most were] the attentive kids, the great staff, and the impressive organization.” – Stephen Wallenfels, author

~ “I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the quick minds, the incredible imaginations, and the sheer unbridled enthusiasm of your students”. – Alma Alexander, author

~ “I loved the way you organized [Cavalcade] having the kids read the authors' works in order to participate in the sessions. This made such a huge difference to the quality of our contact.” – Janet Lee Carey, author

Connections:
Library Website: www.cavalcadeofauthors.org we will be updating 2012 information over the summer.

Blog:Our YA-WA website will be a website with a blogging page. www.ya-wa.com – This site is currently under construction but will be launched by July 16th, 2011.

Thanks again Michelle for the Special Edition Interview!

And thanks to fellow authors who have participated in Cavalcade of Authors for the past three years!

2009 Cavalcade of Authors
Alma Alexander
Arthur T. Lee
Janet Lee Carey
Maureen McQuerry
Renee Riva
S. A. Bodeen
Timothy Zahn

2010 Cavalcade of Authors
Ben Mikaelsen
Brenda Cooper
Deborah Reber
Dia Calhoun
Lorie Ann Grover
Patrick Carman
Royce Buckingham
Suzanne Selfors

2011 Cavalcade of Authors
Mary Jane Beaufrand
Justina Chen
Melissa de la Cruz
Kimberly Derting
Alane Ferguson
David Patneaude
Mary E. Pearson
Lisa Schroeder
Terry Trueman
Stephen Wallenfels
Rick Yancey

Library Lions readers: Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Life-Size Monopoly. Library Fun with Jessica Miller!

2011-05-16T15:37:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews. Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please welcome today’s guest Jessica Miller!

A librarian for five years, Jessica has spent the last three years running the teen department at New Britain Public Library, New Britain, CT.

Jessica created tween programming at her library. Prior to her arrival, children’s programming stopped at grade 4 and teen programming didn’t begin until grade 6. Programs directed specifically at tweens ( grades 4 to 8) bridges the Children’s Department to the Teen Department without losing readers!

More Roars for Jessica
We first met Jessica on her amazing book blog http://ireadtorelax.blogspot.com. She reviews middle grade and young adult materials for three different national review journals. For the past two years, she’s also participated as a judge for the Amazon Novel Breakthrough Award young adult section.

Jessica is currently one of the Young Adult section co-chairs for the Connecticut Library Association. She and her co-chair, Geri DiOrio (of the Ridgefield Public Library), plan the annual Young Adult section annual meeting for all YA Librarians in CT and plan the young adult programs available to all CT Librarians at the CLA annual conference.

The Skinny
Jessica says -- My absolute favorite part of my job is connecting readers with books. A lot of times, here in New Britain, the teens are not really enthusiastic about reading. If you can just connect a teen with one book, one, that really peaks their interest, then they will come back and ask for more. Having a teen say “Miss, you pick out the best books” brightens my day like nothing else! I love to go to the schools and book talk, because a lot of the teens in New Britain don’t have transportation to get to the library, so I have to come to them. It’s another way to reach them and to say, “Yes, reading can be totally awesome.”

A Lion’s Pride of Programs
I’ve already mentioned our Tween Time programs several times. I think that these programs are some of my favorites. We’ve done Life-Size Monopoly, Waterworks (outdoor water games!)

Summer Olympics, a Murder Mystery, a Library Scavenger Hunt, two “Camp-Out” movies complete with s’mores!

It’s a great age group…the tweens are old enough to do just about anything, are interested in just about everything, and they don’t yet have that “too cool to do that” vibe that the high school teens sometimes exhibit!

Some of my other favorite programs include our annual Spring Teen Creative Writing Contest, our monthly craft programs that have included altered books, decorated journals, “stained glass windows,” and beaded jewelry and the food related programs like cookie or cupcake decorating!

Readers Roar
~James – Our Library has a HUGE selection! It’s really great. I never have any trouble finding books I need for school projects or a movie to watch or a great new book. I’m really into science fiction and fantasy and the Library has a bunch of books like that that I can check out. Right now I’m reading my way through Ray Bradbury’s books.

~Blaze - The Library’s really good. I love the “Wii Fun” gaming programs and using the computers. I like to read WWE magazine and Game Informer. I want to be in the WWE when I grow up.

~ Jemima – I love all the new books in the Teen Section! Especially Cassandra Clare’s newest, City of Fallen Angels. I’m obsessed with that series.

Library Laughs
Just recently we did a Tween Time program called, “The Earth and Our Universe.” As part of the program, I decided to have the tweens create an alien…together. We had a whiteboard and a rainbow of dry erase markers and I asked each tween in turn to go up, pick a marker, and draw a part of their alien. At first the kids were a little shy. No one wanted to really do it, but as we added parts and started explaining why the alien had six wiggly arms, or googly stalk eyes or a barbed tail…the kids started cracking up.

At one point, Kaitlyn shouted out that the alien was holding bacon. When I told her that the alien wouldn’t have bacon because there would be no pigs in a gaseous environment, I have never seen a lip stick out further…but when I went on to explain that the alien would be able to eat something remarkably similar made from a “Rumschnautz” and drew an alien pig on the board, she danced right around the room! By the time we were done, the tweens were all snapping pictures of their alien on their cell phones so that they could look at it again later.

Book Brag: What three books are flying off the Teen/Tween shelves right now, and why?
~ The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan – Since The Lightning Thief, any book that comes out with Rick Riordan’s name on it is impossible to keep on the shelves here at NBPL. We have to order extra copies to keep up with the demand and house it in both our Children’s and Teen Departments. Both our tween and teen readers love the mythological aspects of Riordan’s books.

~ The House of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast – This year’s books, Awakened (Jan 2011), Dragon’s Oath (July 2011), and Destined (Nov 2011) are in HUGE demand. Again we buy multiple copies of each and the hold lists begin months before they come out and run for months after they’ve arrived. The teens love the soap opera feel of this vampire series.

~ City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare. Our teen readers love the gritty urban feel of this fantasy. “It’s not in a fairy world. . . but it’s creepy and cool fantasy.” The dark romance, danger, and paranormal aspects of this series really appeal to our high school readers.

Author, Author!
Recently we experimented with doing an author visit via Skype. It was AWESOME. It was super easy and much cheaper than having an author come to the library. We were able to have author, Paul Volponi, do a demonstrative visit with the YA Librarians from around the state. Paul Volponi explained his writing style, other visits he’d done with teens, and then let us ask questions. It was a really great experience!

Through http://skypeanauthor.wetpaint.com/ you can find a list of authors willing to do either free or very low cost “virtual visits” to Libraries across the US.

Library Lion’s Roar
Finally, I’d like to mention that we are located in a very urban, poor area of Connecticut. One of the things we are most proud to be able to offer at our Library is our Teen Department’s Homework Center. Generously funded by a grant from the American Savings Foundation (http://www.asfdn.org/) we are able to offer free one-on-one tutoring to students in grades 6 through 12 four days a week after school. It allows many students who would fall behind in school to get the extra help that they need at no cost to them. It is vital to a lot of New Britain’s families.

Thank you for the terrific interview, Jessica! For those of you who would like to explore more, here are Jessica’s Links:
Jessica’s blog – http://ireadtorelax.blogspot.com
The Library’s Teen Book Blog – http://nbplteenbookblog.wordpress.com/
The Library’s Teen Myspace Page – http://www.myspace.com/NewBritainLibraryTeens
The Library’s website – http://www.nbpl.info
The Library’s Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/nbpl.ct

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Welcome Anime & Manga Goddess

2011-05-02T10:57:00.000-07:00

Library Lions welcomes today’s guest Kristin Fletcher-Spear who has worked as a Teen Librarian for going on 11 years

Kristin works at Foothills Branch Library in Glendale, Arizona.

We first connected with Kristin on her cool blog Book Obsession Check it out LL readers!

Kristin is also a published author of the book Library Collections for teens: manga and graphic novels. Kristin jokingly calls herself “the anime and manga goddess of Foothills library.”

The Skinny: Briefly, what do you love most about your work?
That’s too hard to narrow down! I love the creativity involved in being a teen librarian. Realizing that even though I don’t call myself crafty, I do a lot of crafty and creative activities with my teens. I love how my job is different every day. I think my biggest love is the collection development part of my job. Buying all the books and media for teens helps me on every level of my job. I love booktalking, displaying, programming around books (I host a monthly Ani-Manga club all about manga), and most importantly connecting teens with books.

Library Laughs
Two fellow teen librarians (one a teen/adult librarian, and one a teen/tween librarian) and I painted our teen space over the course of a weekend. We painted after we closed each night. It took us 17 ½ hours to do the base and all of the fabulous polka dots. The next week, I found out that a print shop could have made vinyl circles for us for under $200. Every time I see the polka dot wall I think about that.

Kristin, we here at LL just want to say your hand-painted polka dots shows your Library Love.

One day I came to work to do a program, even though I had a fever, I was using a blender to show how to make a smoothie and instead of lifting the blender pot up, I twisted it off the base and all the smoothie came out from the bottom! I remember thinking, “This is why I have sick time.”

And from the mouths of teens: On a book review (spelling mistakes not corrected): “Nicholas Sparks is the new William Shakespear.” Whenever we are having a rough day, we pull the review out just to smile.

A Lion’s Pride of Programs
I just did an interview for a teen cable show about teen volunteering and the teen who interviewed me began the introduction with “Do you remember the public library—the one you used to go to for storytime? Well, you can volunteer there as a teenager!” I groaned to myself that this teen is missing out on so many fabulous things if she hasn’t been in the library since as a young child.

We have a wide variety of programming for teens. Hands on activities like crafts, interactive/competitive programs like Yuck Night, Cooking programs like Iron Chef Challenge

We also do movie events, videogaming, and book-oriented programs.

These are just some of the types of programs we hold throughout the year. I would like to highlight our book-oriented programs since they are fit our core values as librarians:Each month I hold an ani-manga club focusing on anime and manga. Teen Book Café is a book club without any assigned book. In both programs, instead of focusing on a specific book, we talk about a genre. I provide a bookmark with title suggestions, a cartful of books, and in between teens sharing their books, I booktalk titles they may not know.

Readers Roar: Let’s hear from the Teens!
Sarah F who is getting school credit for volunteering at the library said:
"Volunteering at the library started off as an obligation and has turned itself into loads of fun. The programs are fun, the staff is great and the environment is fantastic!"

Our teen volunteer program is an amazing opportunity for teens. Last year our teens volunteered over 3100 hours. They help us in programs, at the reference desk, shelving and pulling of materials, and so much more. I love mentoring the volunteers and see them grow as teens.

I also heard a teen volunteer tell a little boy who asked her how much money she makes at the library that she “gets paid in fun”. Probably my favorite quote about volunteerism that I have ever heard!

Book Brag: What three books are hot this year? Why?
Paranormal romance is still the big ticket item at my library. City of Fallen Angels, Cassandra Clare’s newest title in the Mortal Instruments series is a powerhouse right now!

For boys, it would be Scorpia Rising, the last Alex Rider novel, or Emperor of Nihon-Ja, the last Ranger’s Apprentice novel.

But I’m most interested in Gayle Forman’s Where She Went, the sequel to If I Stay, which I found so powerful and moving.

Library Lion’s Roar: ONE LAST BIG ROAR
As a teen librarian you only get to impact these teens for a few years and then they move on. Sometimes we never see them again, other times word comes back about their successes. Every time I hear that my role in the library helped a teen discover themselves or make an impact on their lives somehow, I get all the encouragement I need to keep going and working with the newest batch of teens.

Kristin’s Connection Info:

Blog: Book Obsession http://bookobsessiongpl.blogspot.com
Library Website www.glendaleaz.com/library
Library Teen Website www.glendaleaz.com/teenlibrary
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/GlendaleTeenLibrary

Thanks again for the terrific interview, Kristin!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Library Fun & Leprechaun Traps

2011-04-18T14:26:00.000-07:00

Library Lions welcomes today’s guest, Chris Davis!

Chris is a Youth Services Librarian at Sacramento Public Library, Rancho Cordova Branch

LL Roars for Chris!
For Tots
•Chris built up large Storytime groups for preschoolers, babies and their caregivers, with “Stay and Play” sharing times fostering early literacy. She also conducts regular outreach storytimes to local HeadStart preschools
For Children in Need
•Chris began a “Keep or Return” collection of donated children’s books for a local temporary housing shelter. Chris also meets with teen moms on services the library provides for them and for their new babies
For Teens
•Chris connects middle school students, teachers, and parents with the library’s services in class visits to the library, and visits to their schools
•Organizes fun craft programs for kids and teens

The Skinny
I love connecting with people, and connecting people with books. I could expand this, by listing all the different kinds of people (babies and their caregivers, teens, and adults from all kinds of backgrounds) and all the different forms the contents of books and other library "stuff" take (ebooks and databases, and manga and movies); but really, it all comes down to the great feeling I get when I've connected with someone, and helped connect them with some great library "stuff."

For example, an older teen girl asked me for books for her brother and sister one day. Her family came from Russia, and I think because she speaks English more easily than her parents, she acts as the go-between for the kids and their schools. Her sister loves reading, her brother hates it. What books could I recommend? I found a bunch of exciting series books for her brother (by Eoin Colfer and Kenneth Oppel), and The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall for her sister. She came back some time later, so pleased, and asked for more for each. I have no great quotes from them. Just a great story and a great feeling about what I do here every day.

A Lion’s Pride of Programs
We have all kinds of programs for kids and teens at Rancho Cordova Library: a kids' Chess Club; monthly Gaming Day; Reading with the Dogs when the great people from Have a Heart Foundation bring dogs and their handlers into the Community Room, and kids practice reading to a dog friend. We have music programs, author visits, writing workshops and summer reading programs.

Kids enjoy Kitchen Science slimes and bubbles.

Some of the crafts we've done include making recycled newspaper crafts in honor of Earth Day including some very cool porkpie hats out of newspaper.

We've molded chocolate skulls and roses, made popsicle stick catapults & designed leprechaun traps, (Note from Janet, Chris did you catch any leprechauns lurking in your library?)

Kids show off Mardi Gras Masks.

In two weeks, we'll be making Manga Dioramas with teens!

Preschool Storytimes and Baby and Me Storytimes are wildly popular. Parents, caregivers, kids and babies connect and share in fun storytimes that feature books, music, flannel boards, toys and crafts. I also take storytimes out into the community, at several Head Start day care centers and get great pictures and letters directed to Librarian Chris. Walking into a room of children eagerly anticipating your visit is just the best!

Library Laughs
Something happened at the first library LEGO mania program we hosted last month

We planned to have games of LEGO RockBand as well as LEGO blocks for building. I had lots of donated LEGOs, as well as the shared set from our system-wide Programming Team, to use. I had taken lots of fliers out to the schools, as well as advertised in local papers and put up posters in the branch. We had the nice new Wii game, and just to be sure it would all work, we set it up the day before the program. Uh oh! We “thought” the system the branch owned a Wii. We discovered it's actually a Play Station. We quickly called Gamestop, had them hold their last copy for us, picked it up on the way home from work, with half an hour to spare before they closed. On program day, since all our expertise (and I use that term very loosely) is with the Wii, we could not get the game set up right. We were rescued by the lovely green-haired pierced teens from Cordova High who had come for the program!

They got the game set up and going, other kids, young and old came by, and the day was saved! Interestingly, one of the high school girls refused to play, herself, saying that she just watches, because she's "no good" at RockBand, that all her friends are better. Instead, she patiently shepherded all the littler kids through the game, explaining how to choose their song and level of play, how to use the guitar and drum set, and making sure everyone got a turn. It freed me up for setting up the LEGOs, and admiring everyone's creation, and really added to the success of the day.Hooray for volunteers!

Readers Roar
"The library is a "great resource for the entire family!"

"Absolutely love your storyteller! Very gifted in her craft. The children are engaged and entertained.” - Patty L.

"My kids love storytime!” - Dim L.

"It's a great place to come for my kids. It's a wonderful learning environment."
- Julie K.

"Storytime with Miss Chris is a favorite part of the week for my boys. They've already memorized the nursery rhymes she uses on a regular basis and love to hear the new stories." - MaryAnn P.

"I get the chance to see the news, check my email, download songs, view DVD movies - Plus seeing my friends as well." -Evaristo C.

Author! Author! Describe the perfect author visit from a librarian’s point of view.
It is great when an author actually connects with the audience. Students gathered at McKinley Library to hear Janet Lee Carey talk about The Double Life of Zoe Flynn (The Children’s Book Pick for One Book Sacramento)

They were really interested to hear how she gets ideas for her books, and how she has to decide what has enough substance to sustain a whole book. When she talked about the craft of writing, she included them - they came away feeling they could be writers too. That kind of connection is what makes for a really good author visit.

Note: Hey thanks Chris. I had a great time meeting you and the students when I toured for One Book Sacramento:)

Book Brag: What three books are hot this year? Why?
• Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins - because they are fast-paced, speculative fiction about a dystopian future, with a bit of fight-to-the-death, a bit of revolution and social consciousness, and a bit of love triangle thrown it. They are easy reads, fun, and give teens a lot of things to talk about.

•Matched by Ally Condie - in a different kind of future, a dystopia which echoes The Giver or Brave New World, Cassia is a good girl, following the rules of society, until the day she sees an unexpected face on the screen showing her the person who is her Match for life. Now she must choose whether to stay with the perfect match the system has chosen for her, or follow her heart. This is less violent than the Hunger Games, is the first in a series, which seems to be a draw for readers, and also gives teens plenty to talk about.

•The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The mysterious howling by Maryrose Wood - in this first book of a series for younger readers that is sure to be popular, fifteen year old Miss Penelope Lumley is hired as governess to three children who have been raised by wolves, and have been found in the woods by the strange hunting enthusiast, Lord Frederick. It is smart and funny, full of mysteries that are begging to be solved. And it has a heroine who is genuinely likable and kind.

Library Lion’s Roar: ONE LAST BIG ROAR
I've talked about lots of programs and resources we have inside the library, but Sacramento Public Library also has all kinds of online resources that kids can access from home, including Homework Help, great databases and downloadable music from Freegal. Our newest thing is pre-loaded Nook e-readers from Barnes and Noble which check out for 3 weeks, just like print books. Each Nook is loaded with about 20 popular books. There are Nooks for teens, for kids, and separate Nooks pre-loaded with bestsellers, mysteries, and romances, to name a few. All of us at SPL are really excited about this new way to get books into people's hands and keep them reading!

Connection Info
Blog: http://altlibrary.com
alt+library: an interesting blog for Sacramento readers in their 20s and 30s with really interesting comments from SPL programming librarians, Lori and Jess

Library Website: http://www.saclibrary.org

Thank you, Chris for your terrific interview!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Happy National Library Week!

2011-03-31T10:30:00.000-07:00

Happy National Library Week Everyone.
Please Roar today’s guest Teen Librarian Josie Watanabe!

Josie’s been a Youth Services Librarian for six years. She works at Seattle Public Library | University Branch

The Skinny
I really enjoy working with teens because of their passion and personality. In the University District (U District) we are surrounded by private, public and alternative schools and so we get a great mix of teens using the branch. The U District also has a lot of amazing services for street youth. My absolute favorite thing is working with street youth and the organizations that serve them.

Readers Roar. Let’s hear from the teens!
“I like libraries because I can read stuff for free. I like being surrounded by knowledge”.
~Oliver H. | Library Blogger

“I like libraries because they allow the expansion of reading opportunities. Whenever I go to the library I am surrounded by a new variety of books about anything and everything I could ever imagine.”
~Andrea N. | Teen Volunteer

“I like the peaceful atmosphere of the library.”
~Jin H. | Teen Volunteer

Library Laughs
A few years ago I had a teen volunteer go on a wild stickering streak with our uncataloged books. Uncataloged books are books that people take from the library on the honor system. Typically, teen volunteers put a large rectangular sticker on the bottom left hand corner of each book. One week (at the beginning of spring) we had a ton of donated romance books that needed to be stickered. The volunteer went on a wild stickering fling and covered each and all of the romantic faces with a large rectangular pink sticker. For a few weeks our romance readers had to use their imaginations when picturing the characters!

A Lion’s Pride of Programs
As far as programming, the Seattle Public Library has suffered from tremendous budget cuts since 2009. Sadly enough, it has been the Teen Service Librarian positions that were dramatically affected. Our library board has recently adopted a new Strategic Plan that really focuses on youth programming, teen involvement and innovation and technology. I am hopeful that we will be able to bring back some of our popular programs and create many new and exciting programs in the near future.

Our digital media collection hasn’t suffered as badly and is becoming a great service. We have just started offering a free music from Freegal. The music comes from the Sony music library and the music does not expire or implode! Freegal is really easy to use and has been very popular with all ages!

Although our budget has been tight, I still am able to get out of the building to do outreach (thank goodness!); one of my favorite places to visit is the Sanctuary Arts Center. The Sanctuary Arts Center is a place for street youth to hang out and create art. Their mission is to provide a safe, warm and calm environment for homeless and street involved youth to experience creativity and success through the use of various artistic media. They completely succeed!!! Here are some examples of youth created art.

If you are ever in Downtown Seattle for First Thursday,drop by their art gallery in Pioneer Square. You can pick up some amazing art and have a silk screened t-shirt made to order! For more details go to: www.sanctuaryartcenter.org or contact Caroline Falt, Program Director/Volunteer Coordinator: volunteer@sanctuaryartcenter.org

Book Brag: What three books are hot this year? Why?
Clockwork Angel, The Infernal Devices Book 1 by Cassandra Clare. This book takes off from the first page and never stops.

Alice I Have Been: A novel by Melanie Benjamin. This work of fiction is written from the perspective of the real Alice from which Lewis Carroll based his character on for the book Alice in Wonderland. I think this book is destined to be a cult classic!
~ Josie W. Teen Services Librarian

Teen recommend, “Psyren is being serialized in Shonen Jump and the first volume will be released next month. I predict Psyren will be a hit this year.”
~Oliver H. Teen Blogger

Author! Author!
I love authors who are engaging and enthusiastic. Hearing about the writing process isn’t always fun for teens, but hearing about the author’s life and how she integrated those experiences into a book is very inspiring! We also love swag!!!

Connections
Blog: Push to Talk

Library Website: www.spl.org

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SeattlePublicLibrary

Thank you, Josie for your terrific interview!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com to set up an interview.

Roar for Seattle High Point Branch Youth Programs!

2011-03-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews. Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest Ken Gollersrud from the High Point Branch of The Seattle Public Library!

Ken has been a youth librarian for 11 years. At The Seattle Public Library, he helped popularize Latino cultural programs such as Day of the Dead including sugar skull decorating, partnering with a Latino club at a middle school that created altars for the library event.

More sugar skulls

Ken hosted a youth photo exhibit along with an artist’s reception at the South Park Branch. Working with the South Park Community Center he's organized Friday Late Night Programming for teens including: Gaming, Urban Legends, Zinery, Comic Book Illustration, Hands On Henna Artwork and African American History Night.

Hands on Henna

The Skinny:
Ken says -- I love connecting library patrons, especially teens, with programs. To see them interact with a comics illustrator, artist or author is a real thrill. An even bigger thrill is to see them teach each other, whether it is a gaming program, or an art workshop. You never know what seeds are being planted. It is such a great opportunity to visit a school and talk about some of the cool books that are out there for teens and all the programs and things that teens can do at the library.

Library hallway

Library Laughs:
My first experience book talking at a school was a big learning experience for me. I was at a high school with another librarian. I walked up to the audience and the book I was talking about flew out of my hand as I tripped. How I was embarrassed! The first few times I had the plot lines typed out on the back of the books. I have progressed to the point where now I can talk about books and engage the audience without reading notes. It is almost like storytelling for teens! I love to book talk “Acceleration” by Graham McNamee. It is a lot of fun to get students all excited about the book and then leave them in suspense. Through my job I get all kinds of opportunities to do public speaking which I have learned to relax and have fun with.

A Lion’s Pride of Programs:
I host gaming at my branch about once a month. It is a great way for young people from all backgrounds to interact with each other. They teach each other about gaming and have fun. The secret thing the adults don’t know is that the teens are so great about sharing and working with each other and helping set up the equipment and packing it up.

Readers Roar:
When I am visiting a school it is so cool to hear kids express amazement at a book they would never think the library would own like a book, on lowriders or their favorite singer. I remember listening to a teenager was told to attend our zinery program. He walked in the door and said, “This is so dumb.” A half- hour later he was telling his friend how much fun he was having making a sport zine.

Author! Author!
Author visits are a lot of fun.
Sandra Cisneros was celebrating her 25th anniversary of the classic “House on Mango Street.” I suggested that The Seattle Public Library invite her. Invited school classes received their own personal copies of the book, weeks before the visit. At the event Sandra talked about writing and reading to over 100 middle and high school students at the Central Library. She took questions and then posed for pictures with each class. Sandra autographed the books for each student.

I suggested that The Seattle Public Library invite Luis Rodriguez, author of “Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A.” Luis came to our South Park Community Center and spoke to a crowd of about 200-300 about life, writing, reading. He offered advice to parents about their teens, to adults and to teens. He stayed and autographed everyone’s book and talked with anyone who wanted to talk with him.

Book Brag:What three books are hot this year?
I won’t name the obvious book title with ‘Hunger’ in the title , but I really liked “Marcelo in the Real World” by Francisco X. Stork. I thought it handled a teen dilemma situation well. High Point Branch youth are always fascinated by the 2011 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records. I am always putting a copy of this on hold for someone. “The Drama High Series” by L Divine is the always asked for series at the High Point Branch!

Library Lion’s Roar: ONE LAST BIG ROAR
I have been involved with REFORMA,The National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking for several years. I helped to form the Northwest Chapter. We present programs at the Oregon and Washington annual state library association conferences that educate library staff about how they can present programs that would appeal to Latinos/Spanish Speakers.

We have a Google Group where we ask advice from each other on how to better serve our Spanish Speaking patrons. Come join us! In May we are going to have a meeting and training day for our members and new members.

E-mail me for more information! http://nwreforma.blogspot.com/2010/04/portland-metro-meetings-this-week-about.html

The REFORMA, RNC IV, National Convention is coming up in Denver in September 2011:
!Nos Vemos en Denver!

Thank you Ken for your terrific interview!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.
Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Library Lions Read Across America

2011-03-05T10:33:00.000-08:00

Library Lions Roars for Read Across America!

Special Spotlight on Mary Harris of Parkplace Books in Kirkland WA.

Mary Harris introducing me at my book launch party for The Dragons of Noor. Photo by Heidi Pettit.

Parkplace Books

Mary celebrated National Education Association's Read Across America again this year by putting together a fabulous RAA program in the Lake Washington School District.

~She contacted 21 School Librarians in the Lake Washington School District

~Gathered 15 excited authors

~And organized free author visits for each school

Mary and PPB co-owner, Rebecca Willow, also raced about delivering authors’ books to each school so the students could have thier books signed on the exciting day of the author's visit.

The RAA events spreading over two weeks celebrated our local authors, the school libraries, our independent bookstore PPB, and, of course, the importance of reading.

I was happy to participate and present my Words on the Wing assemblies at three schools meeting busy librarians and eager students and signing books for happy readers.

Mary's thoughts on the RAA events:
It has been so rewarding planning this event, the authors are terrific in their willingness to donate their time and the librarians are fabulous in their willingness to organize the visits. As a bookstore we are always looking for innovative ways to get books into the hands of kids. We do it to remind our public of how lucky we are as a community to have so many authors and illustrators in our area. Thank you, Janet, for all do for us here at PPB!

The feeling is mutual, Mary. We can’t thank you enough! We’re lucky to have PPB in our community.Let’s put our paws together for Mary Harris, Rebecca Willow, and the amazing Parkplace books!

First Lady, Michelle Obama led the RAA kickoff at the Library of Congress.

LL readers. How did you celebrate Read Across America?

Special Valentines Edition. Welcome Kay Cassidy!

2011-02-13T11:49:00.000-08:00

Library Lions Special Valentines Edition. It’s all about Library Love.

We asked award-winning author Kay Cassidy to swing by and share her story of Library Love and her outstanding library program The Great Scavenger Hunt Contest™

Let’s give a LL Roar of Welcome to Kay Cassidy!

2008 Golden Heart® winner Kay Cassidy is the author of teen fiction she wishes was based on her real life. Her debut novel, THE CINDERELLA SOCIETY, takes readers behind the veil of a secret society of good populars dedicated to defeating the mean girls of the world. Kay is also the founder of the national Great Scavenger Hunt Contest™ reading program for kids and teens.

In her life B.W. (Before Writing), Kay was a leadership specialist and corporate educator. These days, if she's not writing, Kay can often be found doing free Skype visits with book clubs who have read THE CINDERELLA SOCIETY or speaking at writing and library conferences around the country.

The Skinny:
What motivated you to invent The Great Scavenger Hunt Contest™?
As a YA author and proud owner of a well-worn library card, I want to give back to all the librarians whose book recommendations have fed my imagination over the years and helped me grow as a writer. I know it’s hard being a librarian in a rough economy. You’re strapped for time and cash, but still want to create fun programs to keep your kids and teens reading week after week. Not because they have to, but because they want to.

The Great Scavenger Hunt Contest™ is here to help you do just that. With trivia challenges and monthly prizes for readers and librarians alike!

How it Works:
Getting involved in The Great Scavenger Hunt Contest™ is as easy as 1-2-3-4!
#1) Register your library to participate via the simple online registration form at http://www.kaycassidy.com/hunt/library-reg/. The program is open to all public and school librarians.

#2) Print off the ready-made promotional flyer from the Librarian Resources section of the site and display it in your library. Check out some of the fun displays created by participating Hunt librarians!

Librarian Patty McClune of Conestoga Valley High School in Lancaster, PA

Librarian Jennifer Rummel's display. Library Norwich CT. Hey! Jennifer was just interviewed here on LL earlier this month! Small world:)

#3) Readers can view and print their trivia challenge from the online list after finishing a book. They'll complete the trivia challenge and turn it into you. A quick check against the answer keys with at least 8 out of 10 correct means you get to enter them in the monthly contest!

#4) Fill out the contest entry form and cross your fingers! Then check out the monthly e-newsletter to see if your name and your reader's name are announced as the latest winners.

** The winning reader receives: a $50 gift card to the bookstore of his or her choice!

** The winning librarian (that could be you!) gets to choose five (5) new titles from the featured Hunt titles list to add to your library's collection!

See more winners on the Winner's Page.

Kay in the center)congratulating November 2009 winning reader Hannah S. and winning librarian Kim Murdock from Lapel, IN

For more information on how the program works, visit Kay Cassidy Hunt How it Works or check out Kay Cassidy Hunt Faqsfor more details.

Roars for The Great Scavenger Hunt Contest™
“In these tough economic times when we are all trying to cut back, it is great to know that there is someone out there that encourages teens to use their public libraries! You can tell that Kay Cassidy is a true book lover and encourages children to read in a variety of venues.”
~ Debbie Henricks
Evergreen Community Library
Metamora, OH

“The students just print off the trivia challenges to answer and return to me. Using the ‘answer key’ link I am able to give them immediate feedback as to whether their hunt was successful or not. Great program!”
~ Bonnie Mickler
Dubois Middle School
Dubois, IN

“These books are flying off the display I created…”
~ Sarah DiLorenzo
McAlester Public Library
McAlester, OK

“I LOVE it! It is a great way to introduce books to Teens and it is free. Who doesn’t love trivia?????”
~ Jennifer Nash
Wallingford Public Library
Wallingford, CT

Spreading the Word:
One of the most interesting things about The Great Scavenger Hunt Contest's success is how quickly it's grown by word of mouth! After mentions in School Library Journal Teen and Publisher's Weekly Children's Bookshelf, nearly a hundred new library registrations rolled in. But the remaining 500+ libraries heard about us from other librarians. Hunt librarians are featuring the Great Scavenger Hunt Contest™ in their workshops at library conferences from coast to coast and are talking it up with fellow librarians in their area as a fun, FREE way to draw kids back to the library to read for pleasure. I think that's the highest form of flattery!

Staying Connected with Kay Cassidy:
Author web site: http://www.kaycassidy.com/
Great Scavenger Hunt Contest™ web site: http://www.kaycassidy.com/hunt/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/KayCassidy
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kaycassidy
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/kaycassidy
Blog: http://teenfictioncafe.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much Kay for visiting us here at LL and for spreading Library Love!
Happy Valentines!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview.

Welcome Jennifer Rummel

2011-01-31T17:05:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews. Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please welcome today’s guest Jennifer Rummel.

Jennifer pictured here at Edith Wharton’s Library

Jennifer is the teen librarian at Otis Library in Norwich, CT

Jennifer’s believes librarians should keep up with their reading. She read 350 books in 2010! Her terrific blog YABookNerd has book reviews, library news, pop culture events, author interviews, and contests.

Jennifer contributes to the eastern CT Librarians Blog. She reviews books for VOYA, TeensReadToo, and makes and posts booktrailers on youtube.

The Skinny:
I love how YA books have become so popular. I like seeing adults and teens come into the department and exit with an armload of books. I love chatting with teens about books and giving them some to read. It’s especially great if they don’t really like reading, but need a book for school and then they come back for more just like that one!

I believe that teens are in a make or break it phase of their reading lives. I think everyone has the perfect book just waiting for them and all it takes that one book to hook a person and make them a reader. I love helping teens try to find that one book that will rock their world.

Library Laughs
Last year, I was showing Iron Man 2 just as it released to video. I had about 15 teens in the room. We started the movie – only to discover that the movie I rented through the Red Box was the first Iron Man. When I came into work, the Head of Cataloging mentioned that the copy from the library came in that morning before I arrived at work. I quickly ran downstairs, but the movie was locked in a cabinet. I didn’t have the key.

I called her at home and we quickly came to the consensus that I should break into the cabinet and we’d fix the lock later. So I used my amateur skills, feeling like I was in a movie myself, I picked the lock. The teens enjoyed watching the intended film.

A Lion’s Pride of Programs
Food Fun
My teens love programs with food. We’ve done make your own chocolates, I-pod brownies, smoothies, popsicles, and candy sushi. I just saw this program about how to make healthy delicious homemade potato chips that I want to try. We don’t have access to a stove, so I have to get creative and grab a lot of ideas from other librarians, books, and blogs. I love how the librarian community is so friendly with sharing their awesome ideas – not every job is like that.

Girls’ Night In: DIY Spa Night
We really had a great time at this event and the girls walked away with bath salts, lip gloss, and a bath potpourri mixture they had all made themselves. Plus, we all tried out an oatmeal mask that made our faces smooth. There was lots of laughter and lots of fun. See the news bite.

Famous Women’s Tea
The first annual event for the library happened because of a program at my Alma matter William Smith (the other half of Hobart and William Smith Colleges). I adapted the program to fit out library. The first year, we focused on famous American women.

We had members of the community volunteer to portray a woman of their choosing who was significant in her times and who helped change the world. All the women, including several students from the local high school, dressed in costume. The response was so positive that we will be hosting it again this year, focusing on Civil War women to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War: Here’s the news bite.

Readers Roar:Let’s hear from the kids!

“This library shows the best movies,” Tiara

“You give me the BEST books” Alexis

“That was really fun! Can I make another one?” John at the I-pod Brownie program

“You’re the cool librarian,” Claudine

Book Brag: What three books are hot this year? Why?

Only three books? Wow this is hard. I’m going to have to choose:

Last Sacrifice - It’s the end of Rose’s story. I just finished it and it’s an amazing end to the series. Plus Rose is so feisty and a girl who kicks serious butt.

Eona – So many people waiting for the follow-up to Eon Dragoneye Reborn, a perfect read. It’s FINALLY coming out in April. Another strong female read.

Across the Universe - I’ve been hearing great things about this book. Here’s the tagline: A Story of Love, Murder, and Madness Aboard an Enormous Spaceship Bound for the Future. It sounds so unique and gripping.

Author! Author! Describe the perfect author visit from a librarian’s point of view.
I love having authors come to the library. I wish more of my teens took advantage of this opportunity, but those who come to my author programs have a great time. I have been fortunate to have some really great authors: Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Marley Gibson, Michelle Zink and Jessica Verday all came last year.

Jessica and Michelle READ poster

I love having the room all decorated. We have a food table full of goodies

I introduce the author, who gives a talk and usually a reading. The author stays to sign books or bookmarks and meets the readers. Then I usually have a chance to gush about how much I love their work and take some photos. I usually take a photo to make a READ poster for the teen area.(Not all the READ posters are from author visits, some might be from authors I’ve seen in bookstores. Other authors I’ve contacted through email or facebook asking for their photos and they’ve graciously sent them to me.)

READ posters vlog:
Note from Janet: Hey I'm in there with Dragon's Keep on the readergirlz READ poster. Thanks, Jennifer :)

Library Lion’s One Last Roar
I’m an aspiring author – and have participated in NaNoWriMo three years in a row (the past two years I’ve held write-ins at the library for other local writers). I’m working on four drafts at various stages. They’re all teen novels. The first novel is in free verse about a girl named Emily who has spent her entire life waiting for something to happen. Now that she's off to college, she expects her life to completely change. Only nothing does. Luckily, her new roommate is spunky and outgoing, the kind of person who makes things happen and Emily and Lauren become fast friends. The girls struggle to balance class, work, romance and their own friendship during that tumultuous first year of independence. Emily must stop waiting and find happiness on her own terms.

The second, set in a different world, features Princess Raphaela whose father has just died, leaving her in charge of a kingdom. However, there’s a law decreeing no woman can sit upon the throne. In order to prove her worth to the council and thus the kingdom, she must locate and retrieve a long lost magical amidst dragons, backstabbers, and worrying about her fate.

The third book takes place in a small town in Vermont where the main character’s family owns a Christmas tree farm. Kate works on the farm while juggling school, figuring out her plans after high school, and dealing with her boyfriend who runs hot and cold.

The fourth book takes place during summer. A group of teens have been united at one particular camp to focus on video games. Each teen excels at video games and has been recruited to test out one particular game. Luke recognized the strange rules, although it takes him a while to understand the camp isn’t really what it seems. Luke might have uncovered the secret, but certain knowledge can get you killed.

Thanks again for the terrific interview, Jennifer!

Jennifer’s Connections
Blog: http://yabooknerd.blogspot.com/
Librarian blog: http://ecya.wordpress.com/
Reviews: http://www.teensreadtoo.com/JenniferRummel
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/yabooknerd
Twitter: (as YABookNerd) http://twitter.com/#!/yabooknerd
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/yabooknerd?feature=mhum

Library Lions readers swing by and show your Library Love in “comments”

Librarians who would like to showcase their library programs contact Janet for an interview at jlcarey@hotmail.com

Library Lions Welcomes Jessica Gomes

2011-01-16T17:16:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews. Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest, Jessica Gomes

Jessica works at Issaquah Library, Issaquah, WA

She approaches her job with vitality, offering a range of dynamic programming from the Manga Club where teens publish their own fan art zine and host an annual Art Walk showcasing their talent, to a Teen Music Show featuring local high school bands, and a Digital Discovery Zone (affectionately known as the DDZ). More about DDZ below. Jessica says, “It’s great fun and currently the only place for teens to use Mac computers through the King County Library System.”

The Skinny
Jessica says - Libraries provide open access to information and entertainment to people regardless of age, gender, educational background, economic status, etc. In our consumer-based society, there are few places outside of libraries where anyone can go to learn, grow and connect for free. I love that my personal values of sharing resources (borrowing instead of buying and making information publicly available), promoting life-long learning, and preserving public spaces- mesh with the values of my profession.

Master Mahan performing Issaquah Library’s Librarypalooza, June 2008

A Lion’s Pride of Programs:
The Digital Discovery Zone is a big red van with MacBook laptops, a green screen, a stop animation station, and more; basically it’s a place where teens can go to create and share digital photos, videos, animation, music and more.

In October and December 2010, Issaquah Library teens stopped by the Digital Discovery Zone to create their own comic strips, mix music, capture, edit and share photos, draw digital manga fan art, and make photo slide show DVDs.

In 2011, the Digital Discovery Zone will be visiting various branches of the King County Library System and making stops at community centers, schools, festivals and more around the county. Look for it in your town.

Chibi

Library Laughs:
Funny things happen at the library all the time. One of my favorite things though is the impromptu wasabi eating contest that took place at Manga Club’s Art Walk this past summer. Chris and Alex, two high school boys, began bragging about how much wasabi they could eat. Each one claimed that he could “eat the other one under the table.” Soon, they were facing one another at a table- equipped with a set of chopsticks, a cup of water, and a generous dollop of wasabi.

They sized one another up over the green mounds before beginning to tentatively eat their way through the green heat. It was intense. Suddenly, Chris shoveled his remaining wasabi (a mouthful) into his mouth, all while maintaining a neutral facial expression. This seemed like a victory until Alex shoveled his remaining wasabi into his mouth, also with a neutral facial expression. The winning qualification became, instead of eating the most wasabi, going the longest without water. (Though it is known that water doesn’t cool the sensation.)

Faces turned red but nobody caved.. In the end, it was a draw and both contestants got a free manga book. I later commented on the intensity of the face off on Manga Club’s Facebook group. Chris replied to my comment with “ LOL. Nothing for me.” Yep, just another day at the Issaquah Library’s Manga Club.

caption: Go By Bathroom (afternoon in Japanese class), by a Manga Club teen

Readers Roar: Let’s hear from the kids!
“Thank you so much for starting up book club again. Books are so important, and I think in this day and age we are losing them.” – Said by Michelle, Grade 9, upon the learning that Summer Book Group will continue throughout the school year.

“I can’t believe you have this! This is so awesome! OMG it is SO COOL! Listen to the song I just made.”—Said by Samantha, Grade 9, while using Garageband in the Digital Discovery Zone.

Book Brag: What three books are hot this year? Why?
Depends on what you mean by hot. Post-apocalyptic fiction and dystopian SF in general is really big right now, in terms of popularity and demand. Many young adult readers are turning to imagined, not-so-distant futures in which today’s current fears of environmental destruction, economic collapse, and government failure have been realized.

Of course the third installment of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay, is one such book that has attracted a lot of readers this year but Ship Breaker by Paulo Bacigalupi is up and coming. Ship Breaker is a hit with my teens and was just named the 2010 Mock Printz winner by teen librarians at King County Library System.

Another one that’s not popular but certainly provocative is Janne Teller’s Nothing- definitely another one to watch out for. It’s an existential social experiment. Some of the darker issues raised by this book have made it a problematic addition to teen fiction world- critics ask “Who is its audience?” “What kind of reader is this book for?” “Is it for teens?” Every reader is different but, like Lord of the Flies, which is has been compared to, Nothing is probably better suited to an upper high school audience. It may not be “hot” in terms achieving a level of bestseller sales in the U.S. but Nothing is a well-crafted story that will make its reader think. And that is hot.

Author! Author! Describe the perfect author visit from a librarian’s point of view.
The author arrives 30 minutes ahead of the scheduled time to get set up and acquainted with library staff. Author has low expectations for audience turnout and does not take actual audience turnout personally if low. Author is well-equipped to respond to strange questions or to field “How can I become a published author like you” questions from adults.

Connections
Library Lions people like to stay connected. Readers can check out the Blog: Issaquah Library Teen Readers

Facebook: Issaquah Teen Readers

Thanks again for the terrific interview, Jessica!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview.

First Roar for 2011!

2011-01-05T11:25:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Library Lions first roar of 2011! We Raise a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest Librarian Susan K. S. Grigsby

Susan has been a Youth Librarian for 15 years. She works at Elkins Pointe Middle School; Roswell, Georgia. I met Susan in 2009 when she was the President of the Georgia Library Media Association. It’s a delight to have Susan kick off our first 2011 LL post!

Roars:
~Susan testified before her State Education Subcommittee on the importance of public school libraries and adequate library funding.

~She coordinates the Georgia Summer Institute professional development programs for librarians throughout Georgia.

~She will be presenting a concurrent session at this year’s Internet in Schools National Conference in Washington, D.C. March 2011.

The Skinny: What inspired you to become a librarian?
I was active in Atlanta’s audio/video industry prior to becoming a media specialist. When my second child was born I began to look for a more kid-friendly career and read about how Georgia needed qualified media specialists. I had no idea what that meant but I was intrigued and investigated what it would take to become one. I found out it was the new term for “school librarian” but when I learned about all the technology then available in the schools and how my background could be used effectively every day I jumped in with both feet.

I LOVE my job and feel very fortunate to find something that is such a perfect fit for my personality, my skills, and my life’s goals.

A Lion’s Pride of Programs:
March Madness
We start our March Madness Reading Tournament with a a big team "rah rah" Pep Rally in the gym. March Madness connects reading with sports so we show photos like the one below to get things started.

The Reading Tournament is run with "homeroom teams". We treat it like the March Madness basketball format. Students fill in reading logs and teachers create DEAR time that is logged on student accounts. Our tech specialist set up a database in which teachers can plug in the number of minutes read. We start counting the minutes each week in March, narrowing down to sweet 16, elite 8, and the final four - the final four get to come to the tailgate party in which the tournament winner (most minutes read) is announced.

We culminate the program with the March Madness Tailgate Party

Photo of Tailgate Party

I also have a themed reading program in which students are required to read at least one book from that month’s theme and one book from any other area in the library. It is based on The Dewey Decathlon developed by Kris Woods, a fellow Georgia media specialist. I took her idea and tweaked it a little for my own purposes using monthly themes like Realistic Fiction, Horror/Mystery Fiction, Biography, Fantasy/Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, etc. to help guide students towards a broader range of reading materials. Each month, every student that has read the two required books are invited to the library for Cafe Read-A-Latte –

I serve them Mocha Lattes or Vanilla Lattes with some home-baked treats and they get to hang out for 30 minutes and read magazines, play board games, or just visit with friends in the library while enjoying their treats.

Clapping Paws for Susan and her Library Programs!
~ I attended, and thoroughly enjoyed, your Café Read-A-Latte presentation at COMO!
(Conference participant)

~ WONDERFUL! Thank you so much for putting this together. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and had so many excited kids today with their books!! Thank you again!! (Teacher)

~ We are so lucky to have you!! Thanks for all you do! (PTA President)

~ When I get a chance I want to come by and get some reading logs for the historical fiction month…A.Z. ASKED to read his book yesterday….. sometimes mountains do move… Thank you partner for the support and assistance as we try to get these kids reading! (Reading Teacher)

Library Laughs:
In my first year as a media specialist I worked in a K-8 private school. I had a beautiful library collection in a brand new facility and prided myself on really knowing my collection. One day a little 1st grader came in and asked for my help in finding a book on dinosaurs. I confidently led the way to 567.9 and then asked if he had something in particular in mind. He replied that he wanted a dinosaur book that had pictures in it. I pulled a big, colorful book off the shelf and said, “How about this one?” He shook his head and said he really wanted a book that had pictures in it. I pulled another book off the shelf, and another. He kept saying “I really want one that has pictures.”

I showed him the pictures in the book and said “See? This one has pictures.” Again, he shook his head and looked at me like I must be the most dense librarian on the planet. “Pictures,” he said. “You know...pictures like you take with a camera!” Thinking I had the request nailed I pulled out a book filled with photographs of scientists digging up dinosaur bones with accompanying drawings of what they believed the dinosaurs looked like. “NO!” he said. “Pictures of the dinosaurs!” I slowly realized what he wanted, got down on one knee, looked him straight in the eye and said softly, “Cameras weren’t invented when dinosaurs were around because people hadn’t been invented yet, either.” “Oh,” he said. “Then that first one you showed me will be okay.” He happily checked it out and went on his way!

Author! Author!
We were fortunate to be visited by Laurie Halse Anderson in November 2009 just as Chains was being promoted.

Susan with Laurie Halse Anderson

Laurie Halse Anderson did an amazing presentation to my middle schoolers about how she did her research into the historical accuracy of her story. She made some beautifully poignant remarks about how finding out our founding fathers were slave owners rocked her own belief system and forced her to think about our American Revolution in a slightly different way. The students were mesmerized and so many lined up after class to speak to her personally - she looked every one of them in the eye and listened to what they had to say, answered their questions without rushing them, and signed their books if they had them. It was one of my career highlights.

Book Brag: What three books are hot this year? Why?

~The Hunger Games series (Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins).

~Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth.

~I’m just starting to get some interest in The City of Bones series, too.

~I know this makes more than three, my students cannot get enough Origami books. Is this some kind of new craze?

Library Lion’s Roar: ONE LAST BIG ROAR
I work with some of the best teachers in my county. It is an absolute pleasure to walk into my building every day and know that I will be collaborating with some of the most creative, dedicated teachers I’ve ever met. It is the collaboration that makes my program work. It takes effort, compromise, flexibility, and energy but it is worth every second when I see the results: improved student achievement. My principal is a smart leader who knows how to create a positive working environment without micromanaging the professionals in the building. This atmosphere of mutual respect has cleared the way for innovative and dynamic teaching to take place. I encourage anyone reading this to reach out to his/her staff and find a way to work together towards improved teaching, improved learning, and improved students.

Susan’s Links

Susan Grigsby Wordpress

School Library Website

Susan’s Website

Thanks again for the interview, Susan!

Love Libraries? Become a Follower of Library Lions! Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview.

LIBRARY LIONS LAST ROAR FOR 2010

2010-12-13T11:25:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the last Library Lions interview of 2010. Please Roar today’s guest, Darcy Brixey. Known for her strong passion for intellectual freedom, Darcy is a perfect fit for LL last 2010 Roar!

Darcy has been a Teen Librarian for over 9 years. She's currently Teen Librarian at Bellevue Library, Bellevue WA.

The Skinny
Believe it or not, I took a long path to admitting I was a librarian at heart. I was always that kid reading under the covers with a flashlight long after my parents thought I was asleep. I burned through a lot of flashlight batteries in those days.
When I graduated from high school I started a nursing school, then went to EMT school.

I was still denial, until I got a job working at my local library. It was a true breath of fresh air and I found myself working with the most intelligent and talented people I had ever known.

I learned that my quirks, such as constantly rearranging my book shelves, and the need to look up trivial bits of information, were not quirks at all; they were the marks of a fledgling librarian.

Library Laughs
There are so many funny things that happen in this job. Some can't be printed, and others are recurring themes.

I love the kinds of questions we get. We've been asked to provide maps of uncharted islands, photographs of Columbus, and to calculate what hamster years are in comparison to dog and human years.

My true geekiness shows when I do database demos. I love to show teens how to use the library from home, at 3 am, while wearing their bunny slippers.

More geekiness -- When I was still a kid, Tipper Gore and the Washington Wives started the Parents Music Resource Center and forced the record industry to start labeling music with a parental warning against explicit lyrics. Even as a fourth grader I knew I had strong feelings about having the right to free speech. I just didn’t know there was a term for it: intellectual freedom.

A Lion’s Pride of Programs
Teen Writers
Last summer I held a poetry and teen fiction contest. The winners received gift cards and their written works were printed in the Bellevue Reporter. I really enjoy supporting young writers. It was also nice to partner with the local paper to get these kids some recognition for their talent.

The Poster Project
I launched the Poster Project with local celebrities and young readers using ALA graphics software. As part of the Poster Project, I’ve met with city council members, newscasters, rock stars, authors and athletes.

Here’s the poster Darcy did of the readergirlz founding divas

Pictured: Justina Chen, Lorie Ann Grover, Dia Calhoun, Janet Lee Carey
Note from Janet -- Thanks for the beautiful poster of us, Darcy!

Author! Author!
I've been extremely lucky and have hosted some of the nicest authors around. They have given great workshops and spoken to kids in schools. I think any author that comes prepared to talk to audiences that may or may not know how to respond or ask appropriate questions. Some of my favorite visits have been with authors who are able to joke with the kids but also treat each audience member’s question with respect.

Author Mitali Perkins gave a terrific writing workshop

Mitali's book Bamboo People was Junior Library Guild Selection Summer 2010 Indie Next Pick ★ Publishers Weekly
★ School Library Journal

I love connecting readers to books, but my favorite thing is connecting readers and authors. I have a very supportive Friends group which has provided the means to author visits in the schools.

Poet Erik Korhel author of My Tooth Fell in my Soup and other poems gave a poetry workshop

Readers Roar
One middle school girl was so excited to meet an author. She told me she didn't think she would ever meet a "real live author."

Book Brag What three books are hot this year? Why?
Anything Manga. The kids just can't get enough. I’m seeing a new crowd of kids in my graphic novels section.

Mockingjay is still flying off the shelves. Adults have picked it up as well. I love it when parents read with their kids. I think most of the joy of reading books is talking about them with others. It is a true testament to the excellence of teen literature that parents also enjoy these books.

Scorch Trials, the sequel to Maze Runner has been popular with my teens.

Library Lion’s Roar: ONE LAST BIG ROAR
Our system recently designed a purchased a van and filled it with Mac computers. This Digital Discovery Zone will be showing up at teen centers and schools in my area. I can’t wait!

Thank you Darcy for your terrific interview!

Find out more about our great King County Library System on Facebook:

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians:
If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

See you back here where we will Roar for Libraries again in 2011!

Special Edition Teen Read Week

2010-10-20T11:13:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions special edition celebrating TEEN READ WEEK.
What are you doing for TRW?

TRW poster by YA Author Holly Cupala

Library Lions Gives a Roar for YALSA (the Young Adult Library Services Association)

What YALSA says about TEEN READ WEEK
“Teen Read Week is an initiative of the YALSA. Teen Read Week started in 1998. This year's theme is Books with Beat @ your library®. YALSA encourages teens to read poetry, audiobooks, books about music, and more. Libraries across the world celebrate Teen Read Week with a variety of special events and programs”
More on YALSA’s TEEN READ WEEK pg
Hear Author Nikki Grimes.

More ways Library Lions can celebrate:

1. Free a book from the Library shelf, crack open the pages like wings.

Try some of my favorites

by Justina Chen

by Holly Cupala

by Mitali Perkins

Celebrate the Beat with a Teen Novel in Verse

by Lorie Ann Grover

A Teen Fantasy

by Dia Calhoun

2. No matter what your reading taste -- free your inner teen and read an excellent Teen book. This week I’m reading Laini Taylor’s LIPS TOUCH THREE TIMES.

Laini's three tales are funny, scary, and delicious! By the way tonight (Oct 20th) Laini Taylor will join readergirlz for a live chat on Twitter. Come meet her and chat about her book.

3. Read In Public
Read on the subway, bus, in the park, in the grocery store line . . . everywhere.

BANNED BOOKS WEEK

2010-09-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions BANNED BOOKS WEEK Special Edition! Please Roar today’s guest Lynn Miller, Teen Librarian at The Seattle Public Library, Ballard Branch.

First a bit about our Guest:
Lynn has worked 10 years as a Teen Services Librarian. She says, I am the luckiest librarian because of my colleagues at Ballard Branch. We work in concert to serve 1000- 1500 patrons a day at the busiest branch library in Seattle. Serving a teen well means being sure you already served them as children, serving their parents, serving their teachers, schools and community, and being prepared to continue to serve them as adults.

Tell us about Banned Books Week:
Every year in September libraries and book stores have the unique opportunity to remind their patrons of how precious their 1st Amendment right is by celebrating Banned Books Week and the Freedom to Read.

It is a time to feature Big Ideas, stir up conversation, even controversy. When each person stops to think about it he or she has a unique idea of what the 1st Amendment means.

American Library Association is a professional library organization that established and supports Banned Books Week in lots of ways.

If you are asking yourself “What is Banned Books Week?” Check out this Banned Books Week ALA page

Or take a look at the Banned and Challenged List for 2009-2010

What is your library doing for Banned Books Week?

Displays!!

We always do displays at the front of the library. But these are not passive displays!

Do your homework and be prepared for discussion. In some states or in some library settings, a Freedom to Read display might in itself be questioned or censored.

A display can be as simple as a collection of banned and challenged titles with custom Post-it notes on them, such as, “What would you do if someone said you couldn’t read this book?” (There is a Glue Stick product that can turn any piece of paper into a Post-It note.)

A few years ago, a librarian took some poor condition gift books that would have been recycled and altered them for a display that has turned out to be the biggest conversation starter imaginable. He put a copy of Harry Potter in a jar; he bolted them, locked them up, etc. This has stopped our library patrons in their tracks.

Book-It Program Danger: Books!
Finally, for over ten years Seattle Public Library (with funding from the SPL Foundation) has collaborated with Book-It Repertory Theatre and Seattle Schools to bring Book-It's show Danger: Books! to about twenty Seattle middle and high schools.

This year Book-It performed selections from On the Devil’s Court by Carl Deuker, Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes and The Land by Mildred Taylor at Salmon Bay School, my neighborhood school.

Following the performance 250 7th & 8th graders discuss censorship and the 1st Amendment. Each year after the discussion ends, I am re-inspired by these young minds and am proud to be a Teen Services librarian.

Any Banned Books you would like to highlight?
Geography Club by Brent Hartinger is a title that appears on the most recent list of Challenged and Banned books. Very well-told story. And scary. And powerful. We have countless books on our shelves of heterosexual romance among teenagers. But this story crosses the line and tells a different kind of story, equally real.

I mention it because I am proud of the West Bend Community Memorial Library, West Bend, Wisconsin for retaining it despite a month’s long campaign to remove. Both sides exercised their 1st Amendment rights. This is how the discussion should take place in a community. Fortunately, the book was retained and readers were able to then choose to read it or not read it and decide for themselves.

What can Library Lions blog readers do for Banned Books Week?
How to celebrate Banned Books Week?
For myself, I try to read and understand a little more each year about the issues of censorship. Intellectual Freedom is central to our work. As you get sensitized to the subject, one reads the news with an eye to how infringements on the Freedom of Speech and Freedom to Read play a bigger role in our life than we might at first think.

I also make a point to read a challenged or banned book each year. There are so many to choose from! Most amazingly great literature.

For a Library? Make a display of banned and challenged books or create a booklist. If you have time and support for programming: invite community members to read Banned and Challenged books or organize a discussion led by your local chapter of the ACLU.

Readers Roar:
Middle school and high school students are at a wonderful age to think about and appreciate their rights. Their first question is “That was banned?” Followed by “How can a book be banned with the Internet?”

Pretty soon they understand that our 1st Amendment allows us to challenge books and also protect books from being banned. Rights get complicated very quickly. They love speculating about the subject of censorship!

Library Lion’s Roar: ONE LAST ROAR FOR BANNED BOOKS WEEK
"After Danger: Books! performed at Salmon Bay School this week a 7th grader from the school came into the library. He recognized me from the morning and thanked me for the presentation. Then said: “I think I would like to read On the Devil’s Court.”

I love connecting young people with books they might like to read. Whatever it takes.

Here’s a way to connect Library Lions Blog readers, try the Push to Talk
The SPL Teen Blog
Seattle Public Library Facebook

Thank you, Lynn, for the Special Edition for Banned Books Week!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at janetleecarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Shauna Yusko Evergreen Jr. High Library

2010-09-09T13:57:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest Shauna Yusko

Shauna is a youth librarian at Evergreen Junior High Library in Washington

When I asked her how long she’s been a librarian her answer:
Forever :)No seriously,12 years. 5 in public libraries, which I loved;7 in school libraries,which I love more(summers off ROCK!)Shauna’s currently on YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults committee (2011),she’s won a national Best Buy TEACH Award (A LL Roar of congratulations for the award, Shauna!).
She also added she used to coach a middle school speech team and LOVED IT.

The Skinny:
I originally wanted to be a science teacher (probably high school chemistry). When it was time to get the teaching degree however,I was pregnant with my first child and did not relish the thought of student teaching while pregnant. So I was looking for something else to do. My husband, who’s aunt was a librarian, suggested library school. And that’s actually kind of funny coming from a man who never reads.But I realized that I’ve always loved to read (almost like an addiction) and being a librarian would give me a chance to work with students on all subjects, not just one. And since I can’t be Indiana Jones, this is the next best job!

Library Laughs:
Wow, I have to pick one? Hmmm…you probably do not want to hear about the time the preschooler vomited all over storytime. And when you work with teenagers in junior high/middle school, there are MANY hilarious stories to choose from. I should probably pick a story where I don’t have to change names to protect the guilty. Okay, one that definitely stands out is the time that I put up the Twilight READ poster featuring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. I had a group of 9th grade girls in the library at lunch standing near the poster, pointing, ooh-ing and aah-ing. There was quite a bit of girl giggling too. The best part is, the girls would send one of their group out to find other friends in the lunchroom so they could come ogle the poster as well. So funny to watch, I wish I had taken a picture, or even video. The best part? It went on for days.

Now,if only they realized that the Sherlock Holmes READ poster (starring Jude Law and Robert Downey, Jr.)

Or the Orlando Bloom READ poster were much more worthy of their staring…

A Lion’s Pride of Programs:
I absolutely have a favorite library program:Not Just Reading & Writing.This program allows our 7th grade Tech I classes to tie their learning of technology skills into the Language Arts curriculum. The project culminates with them writing, illustrating, and publishing a children’s picture book of their own design. Completed picture books are also turned into an audiobook, narrated by the students.(Some books are also translated into Spanish by EJH students)When the final books are published, 7th graders invite kindergartners from the neighboring elementary schools to visit the junior high library for a field trip to hear the stories read aloud.

It might be considered crazy by some to have 75 kindergartners and 75 7th graders in the library at one time, but we call it organized chaos… and GREAT FUN! So much fun that we do it each semester. Maybe that makes us crazy? I’m not sure who has more fun though, the kindergartners or the older kids.

Reaching Readers:
Since I work in a school, I have a slightly captive audience. Just like a lot of librarians, I try and reach readers any way I can…having new books on hand, displaying books, talking with students whenever I can about what they are reading, soliciting book reviews, having contests, promoting new books, etc.
I inherited an old library in an old building,so trying to make the collection up-to-date and the library seem inviting and welcoming has been a big key (it is amazing what paint and posters will do to change the look of the library).

Collaborating with teachers is a big key for me in order to get students in the door, as are making the library a place to want to come and hang out (now, if only they would stop playing tag in the stacks).

I have also started a library blog and a Facebook page to reach readers in new ways!

Readers Roar:
“Thank you so much for your patience and helping me find great books! I have enjoyed every one!”—Juliana, Grade 9

“Thank you so much for letting me read all the advance copies. I am always looking for more books to read.”—Gretchen, Grade 8

“This is the best library EVER!”—John, Grade 7

“Thank you so much for letting me read my book at Dickinson Elementary. I appreciate everything you have done for me. Thank you!! Thank you!!”—Selene, Grade 7

Book Brag: What three books are hot this year? Why?
Well, for us, this year means the school year, which just started. In the first week of school, our top three books (based on checkouts and hold requests) would be: (1) “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins; (2) “Mockingjay” by Suzanne Collins; (3) “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days” by Jeff Kinney. Really not a surprise.

Since kids know that I receive advance copies of books, I have already been asked this year for “Halt’s Peril”, the next book in the Ranger’s Apprentice series (coming in October, which I do have an ARC of), and “Angel” by James Patterson, the next book in the Maximum Ride series (coming in February, which I do not have a copy of).

Author! Author! Describe the perfect author visit from a librarian’s point of view.

FREE :) I know that is pretty unrealistic though, but you did say perfect. I would love to host an author that genuinely enjoys talking with students and can be flexible in what they present...be willing to go with the flow depending on how the students are interacting. A real love of what they do goes a long way and really gets kids engaged in what they have to say. My dream visit would be a “roundtable” of sorts with several authors at the same time, talking about books, reading, writing, and more. As part of the BFYA committee, I attended a pizza party at ALA in June (hosted by Penguin Publishers) where John Green, David Levithan, and Andrea Cremer entertained teens in the audience with stories about books, reading, writing, touring. PERFECT!! And completely out of my budget!

Library Lion’s Roar: ONE LAST BIG ROAR
So many things I could roar about. But I’ll probably just say that I love the library blog and have become completely addicted to blogging. Truly, if there were a 12-step program for it, I might have to join. I hope that you’ll stop by and visit!

~

Thank you, Shauna for your terrific interview!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar for your local library or favorite school library in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at janetleecarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

TEEN LIBRARIAN KIRSTEN EDWARDS

2010-08-22T11:42:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest Kirsten Edwards!

Kirsten works with teens in the King County Library System (Duvall, Carnation & Skykomish branches).

Duvall

Carnation

Skykomish

Kirsten’s worked as a librarian for 15 years. In that time she helped found the Printz Award, (having had the honor of being on A.L.A.’s Printz Award founding committee), she’s been active in Washington State Library Assoc. (WLA), and is proud to be co-president of the
Society Gaius Julius Solinus, an ancient library humor society.

She’s particularly proud of the paper she presented, “"Addressing the Balance of Gender Diversity in In-Building Early Juvenile Text-Media-Based Library Presentations" And Kirsten was the first ever Librarian Guest of Honor at a Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention!

The Skinny: How did you become a librarian, Kirsten?
I’m a failed scientist. Seriously, I bombed advanced microbiology (A+ on the class work, D- on the lab work – and it was a pity “D” because the prof felt sorry for me). I took one of those extensive “what should you do with your life” studies at the career center and got a tie for first: scientist & librarian. Since I still own My First Reference Book ™ I figured I’d give librarian a shot. I’ve never looked back. My best friend, Lorraine is the one who lured me over to the Fun Side of The Force in library school and I pursued youth services instead of special librarianship.

Being a public librarian specializing in teens (and earlier in my career, kids and teens) is the bomb: you get all the run-and-find-out reference fun in the small branches, and your customers are so much more lively, enthusiastic and yes, fun than grown ups. Seriously: in what other profession can you team up with a group of teens and build a Read-inator for the library’s entry in the Duvall Days Parade?

I also get to Talk Books with people for a living (in librarian-speak that’s called “readers advisory” which pretty darn blessed. I publish (with the other librarians at KCLS) monthly favorites at my library systems Librarytalk. I’m “Kirsten at Duvall.” Here’s my latest talk

Library Laughs:

One of our library customers recently approached us with a bag full of books to return, and pulled out a small, somewhat elderly board book.

"I need to "fess up," quote she, "I caught my daughter peeling the cover back--almost off. So I got some acid-free glue, glued it back on and let it sit between weights. Here."

I took the book from her and examined it: "Nice work!"

"Well, I just wanted to you to see it, in case you wanted to charge me a fine or something."

"Oh no," I replied. "Normally, we try to discourage patrons from doing home repairs, but this is splendid: very nice indeed!"

She left, and I checked in the book, and what message should, before my wondering eyes, flash upon the screen?

Yep:

BOOK COVER PEELING. SEND TO WORKROOM

Heh. Small town libraries are the best, and my customers rock.

A Lion’s Pride of Programs:
Shhh! My bosses let me run RPGs (Role Playing Games) for my teen customers as Summer Reading programs. I’ve done ‘Toon at Burien, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld (specifically the Night Guard of Ankh Morpok) at Lake Hills, Star Wars D20 at Skykomish, and, most recently Return To Hogwarts at Carnation.

RETURN TO HOGWARTS

What makes this last one so cool was that, like most RPGs I’ve run for the library, it was a special kinda one-time event. Even a pretty good moderator can’t really handle (well) more than 15 players at a time, and with teen players, who may need to be brought up to speed on the game system itself, that becomes a hard maximum. That’s a lot of work to put together for just a few kids. I got away with it for three or for summers at Skykomish where the total teen population averages, say 30 by reporting that "1/4 of the towns teens attended..." but eventually The Powers that Be caught on. Last year I was able to run a "return to Hogwarts" RPG using a game my friend (writer, gamer) Steve Jackson had devised for his children. The teens had a blast and really wanted a repeat—but I couldn't justify the time sink for just 12 teens. So one of the girls who played the game (and yes, my gaming programs—video and tabletop—regularly run 50 – 75% female, so the notion that Girls Don't Game is bogus) stepped up and offered to run another "episode." For this young lady, who writes Harry Potter fanfic, gaming is like making the best fan fic ever—and I'm happy to be mentoring a whole new generation of girl gamers.

Reaching Readers:
Mostly, as a teen services librarian, I booktalk. I do it in the library (where we call it "readers advisory", at the schools, at the grocery store ("Hey—you're the library lady") anywhere anyone (teen or parent) is willing to "talk book." While the presentations at the schools are a form of storytelling—meaning I block out my actions and gestures, write a starting script, plot interactive group reads—the one-on-one deals usually start with "tell me what kind of stories you like" whether it's in book form or T.V.

I'm all about the story me, and I have to admit that in my secret of hearts I know Books are Best, and there's something on the printed page for everyone ("Every reader his book. Every book its reader" –Ranganathan) I know that for some people, different media reach people differently. One of the great things about the explosion of manga and graphic novels in the U.S. is the way this format reaches people who prefer video as their story-delivery-media. They're turning out to be a fantastic gate-way drug into serious book reading--!

Readers Roar:
So, one of the middle school teens who comes to Pizza and Pages decided that once a month wasn't enough and decided to form her own book club. She sent me an e-mail over Christmas to let me know how her project was going. My favorite excerpt:

"This Monday I just had my second meeting! We were reading "The Kin: Suth's Story" by Peter Dickinson, and we went out into my back yard and built a fort. Two more people have joined! "
--Alison G. grade 7

Book Brag: What are the Top Three with your Teens right now?
~Well, there's The Hunger Games which would be topping the NYT best seller list if they hadn't in a fit of awesome lameness, decided to exile teen and children's lit from their lists. Take American Idol cross it with Survivor and make it to the death. Then tell it from the point of view of two teenager who are having to fake being in love with each other (except that he's probably really gone on her and trying to survive it) so that they can work the ratings—and survive the Hunger Games. Well, until the very end, when they're going to have to try to kill each other. Only one contestant can make it out of the Games alive, after all...

~Bride of the Water God is a Korean graphic novel – a "manwa"—which is spreading steadily among my local teen readers by word of mouth. The art is stunning and the beauty-and-the-beast storyline is very appealing. The heroine has been thrust into an alien world of gods and demi-gods as the bride of a petulant, little-boy water god. She was sacrificed to bring the rain, and save her village. By night she's visited by a handsome and enigmatic young man who is slowly winning her heart as a fellow "slave" captured by the capricious deity. Unbeknownst to her, he's actually her husband: he's trapped as a child by day.

~Another book with a long wait list is The Maze Runner in which Thomas wakes up in an elevator with no memory of anything but his name. The elevator rises, the doors open, and he finds himself in "the glade" where a group of similarly amnesiac boys. They tell him that the glade is surrounded by a high walls and a maze. By day, they send out Runners to chart the maze. By night they must be safely back in the glade before the doors shut off the maze or be destroyed by terrifying monsters, and shifting walls that re-create a new maze pattern every day. Thomas is intriguing, the mystery of the maze is intriguing, and even when you think you know what's going on, it turns out you don't.

Author! Author!
Add a mix of teenagers who are primed by their own interests and experiences to share what the author does and loves. In my “best author visit ever” this was me bringing Charles De Lint to the High School honors students/art students.

Charles De Lint

The honors students were readers and thinkers—a chance to hear one of the great modern American illustrators talk was a rare treat. The art students were getting what for many of these small town kids was the first chance to meet and hear from someone who’d done what they were (maybe) only dreaming of. I think school librarians and school teachers have a better chance of getting the author and audience to meet each other halfway than does the public librarian.
But every so often we have the opportunity to bring interested teens and relevant creators (authors, artists, musicians) together; and when we do, it’s magic.

Library Lion’s Roar: Any last words Kirsten?
I'm really proud of the way I piloted using VPN technology and our staff laptops for small scale but powerful outreach. One librarian + one laptop + a box full of handouts, targeted media and library cards = nanoBranch of the King County Library System. I did a dry run at a small literary science fiction and fantasy convention (Foolscap) then after about a year and a half of "proving" the technique and working through the bureaucracy, I got to use it the way I really wanted to: taking the library to the high school lunch room.

I and one of my branch managers (Lead library assistant Ronni Brown) had a library card drive / nanoBranch for two days during all three lunch periods at Cedarcrest High School. It was a smash hit—we're invited back this fall. I've attached a photo of Ronni signing up one of the high school students for a library card. We checked in books for teens, checked out books, I brought the current Evergreen Award nominees, answered reference questions, and placed holds, too.

Thank you, Kirsten for the terrific interview!

~Blog readers. Do you Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

~Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at janetleecarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Welcome Elizabeth Bird NYPL

2010-08-09T11:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest, Elizabeth Bird!

Elizabeth is the children’s librarian at New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building! Here are the famed Library Lions of NYPL!

Elizabeth has been a children’s librarian since 2004. Her famed blog A Fuse #8 Production is hosted by School Library Journal. She served on the 2007 Newbery committee, and writes reviews for Kirkus, School Library Journal, TimeOut Kids New York, and sometimes the New York Times. Librarian by day, writer by night, Elizabeth has sold two picture books to Greenwillow, a non-fiction adult book about the true stories behind your favorite children’s books which she is writing with two other bloggers to Candlewick, and an informational title for librarians with ALA Editions. Elizabeth was on the November 2009 cover of School Library Journal, as well,there was an article about her in Forbes Magazine in February of 2010. We are honored to interview her today for Library Lions!

The Skinny:
Elizabeth says, “I work in the best children’s room in New York City.” But she didn’t always feel that way. “I fought tooth and nail against ever becoming a librarian. I’m serious. When I was a kid I was the kind of child that would create cataloging systems for the family’s VHS tapes. I alphabetized the family’s books by author. I even tried to create subject headings for my National Geographic Magazines, long before I knew what a subject heading was. In college, I rebelled. I got a major in Fine Arts with a concentration in Photography (though I also majored in English, so clearly I was hedging my bets). Finally, after years (one year) of realizing that I didn’t want to do anything with photography that would actually pay me, I threw in the towel and went to library school. Which, obviously, I adored.”

In terms of my work, I really love getting my books into the hands of readers. So much so that I’ll spend hours making sure that we have the maximum amount of books on our shelves, just in case there’s a reader about with a penchant for the additional works of Kenneth Grahame and such.

Readers Roar:
Here’s one of the children from a bookgroup I run. She was featured in a YouTube video my library put out thanking the people of New York for helping us overcome our recent budget cuts.

As she says, “Thanks for saving the bookgroup.” – Annie, 2nd grade. Ain’t she a cutie?

Library Laughs: What’s your favorite funny library story, Elizabeth?
Ever? Oh, this one’s good. It’s a true story and it happened to a friend of my husband’s. It’s not a public library story, but I think folks can appreciate it anyway.I went to a small liberal arts college in Indiana, and typically when winter break rolled around some kids would go home and some would stay at school. Two girls were working the circulation desk of the college library when my husband’s friend noticed them. Thinks he: “Aha! I have a chance with these girls!” and he proceeds to make himself obnoxiously present for days at a time. They just want to get some work or studying done, and there he is. Wanting to chat.

In the course of one of his chats, he mentions oh-so-casually that he’s staying off-campus and if they ever want to visit he never locks the door. They pay attention to this fact, because by this point revenge is at the forefront of their minds. So one day they determine when he will be out and they go to him home with a big box of tattletape. Those of you who have worked in technical services will remember that tattletape is the long, think, and sticky metal strip that folks put in books so that they’ll set off the library’s alarm. And in my library they had those bars you had to push through to exit the building. So in the event that a person had not properly checked out a book, an alarm would sound and the bar would stop the person from leaving.You probably see where this is going.

That night the two girls placed the tattletape in all the guy’s clothes. And I don’t mean in a rush job either. I mean in the cuffs of his shirt. The inseam of his pants. The inside of his hems. By the time they were done, most of his clothes had tattletape in them. Then the fun began. The first time he visited them in the library, nothing happened. They had missed that batch of clothes. He was probably pretty flattered by how closely they watched him leave too. The second time he visited, however, off went the alarm. He studiously emptied out his bag entirely for the miscreant book, only to find nothing there. So they let him out. Then it happened a second time. Then a third. Every time this guy came in the library he was setting off the alarm.

Eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore. So one day, after the alarm went off, he began to try to figure out what the rogue element was. He tried walking through without his bag. Off goes the alarm. He removes his shirt. Off goes the alarm. Before the girls knew it, the guy was performing an elaborate striptease right in front of them, desperately trying to get rid of whatever clothing it was. At long last he stood there in only his underwear . . . . and made it through.

By that point they just had to tell him, and they did. A prankster himself, he was thrilled at the explanation. I suppose that at some point he worried that he had magnetic blood. Now every time I go through a security gate in a library, or even a store, I think about that story. Whatever you do kids, don’t make the employees angry with you. Their revenge could be epic.

A Lion’s Pride of Programs:
My favorite program is one that was started by Rebecca Schosha and Sarah Couri at my previous library, and that I’ve picked up. The Children’s Literary Salon is a monthly series of talks with people in the children’s literature field on a variety of topics. We’ve had everything from New York Times reviewers of children’s literature to playwrights who have adapted children’s books to the stage to female graphic novelists to scholars. Every month it’s different, and every month it’s interesting. It’s just for adults too, so anyone with a love of children’s literature can attend and hear a variety of folks speak about the field. It’s unique and a lot of fun.

Reaching Readers:
I thought I'd show you some readers circa 1913?

We see a lot of kids on a daily basis, partly because we have so many tourists. But on a local level a lot of classes and teachers like to bring their kids to the library for programs and tours. Since we have so many authors in the area, it’s fun to bring in kids to see a special author or illustrator talk on a program. We also give tours of the building and tell folks about all the stuff the library provides. As for myself, I do the toddler and preschool storytelling programs, which are a lot of fun.

Book Brag: What books are flying off your shelves this year and why?
Movies always make certain books hot, so right now I’m seeing all my Ramona books checked out. They usually go during the summer months because of reading lists, but not ALL of them! So thank you Ramona & Beezus! Also, I still can’t seem to keep Diary of a Wimpy Kid on the shelf. We just bought about ten new copies of the books, and they disappeared entirely after two days. Amazing!

In terms of books that haven’t been turned into movies, I’m seeing a lot of love for Meg Cabot’s Allie Finkle series, Elizabeth Cody Kimmel’s Suddenly Supernatural books, and John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice titles.

Author! Author! Describe the perfect author visit from a librarian’s point of view.Oo.
Excellent question. The perfect author visit comes when an author wants to visit my library, free of charge, and we happen to have a Saturday open for them. If they’re an illustrator then they do lots of great drawings on our sketchpad both for and with the kids. If they’re an author, then they know how to make the kids laugh. And no matter how you slice it, the best visits are from folks that are former teachers. The kinds of people who know how to command a room full of antsy kids. That’s the definition of my perfect visit, anyway.

Library Lion’s Roar
Keep an eye peeled for Elizabeth’s picture book Giant Dance Party, due out on store shelves Fall 2011!

Find out more about NYPL on their blog or here on facebook

Thank you, Elizabeth for your terrific interview!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at janetleecarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Jan Chapman, Cuyahoga Public Library, Strongsville, Ohio

2010-07-26T09:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest Jan Chapman

Jan writes book reviews for VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) and is currently serving on the 2011 Michael R. Printz Award Committee. The Printz Award is given yearly to the author of a young adult book that exemplifies the highest literary standards.
Jan says working on the Award Committee is, “the absolute highlight of my career! I love reading all those wonderful books and engaging in intense and lively discussions with my fellow committee members. What could be better than that?”

ROARCuyahoga County Public Library, Strongsville, Ohio was recently rated the NUMBER ONE library (for its size and population served) in the entire country!

The Skinny:
I have been a teen librarian for eleven years and loved every minute of it. When I was studying for my degree in library science, I took a class in young adult services. That was all it took. I knew that was what I wanted to do in library land.

I began working in libraries as a volunteer when my two children were in school and I realized that this was the perfect career for me. When I began working with teens, I discovered my passion for teen services, a passion that has never waned. Teens need parents to raise them and teachers to educate them, but they also need an interested adult in their lives who encourages them to read and to be a part of their community. Teen librarians can fill that role and it is one of the greatest gifts of the job.

Library Laughs:
A few years ago, I was walking down a flight of stairs to the lower level of the library in order to help a customer, who was walking ahead of me, find a book. I warned her that the steps were narrow and tricky to maneuver. A second after my warning, I tripped and fell on her! No injuries, thankfully, except to my pride.

A Lion’s Pride of Programs:
My favorite teen program is a Project Runway Fashion Challenge that is based upon the popular reality series, Project Runway. We hosted the program during the summer, when we had an “ecological” summer reading theme.

The challenge for each budding fashion designer was to create an outfit using only bubble wrap, colored duct tape and recyclable materials (which tied in to the ecological theme). Each designer brought along a friend, who would be their model. They had about an hour to complete their outfits so that they were ready for a runway fashion show and judging. I was absolutely floored at the creativity and imagination that went into making some of these outfits. Check out the pictures, you will see what I mean!

Reaching Readers:
Book clubs are a great way to connect readers with books. I lead a book club at a local middle school and also participate in leading a graphic novel book club called Comix Quest. The best way to reach readers, I think, is just to chat with them about what they like to read. Being friendly, enthusiastic and knowledgeable about teen books goes a long way when trying to reach readers.

Readers Roar:
~“I always remember sitting in the school auditorium listening about all the cool things the library had planned for the upcoming summer's annual Summer Program. I never thought that someday I'd have the opportunity to volunteer for that same program. I am grateful for all of the chances you gave me and all of the other teen volunteers to help out the library. Thank you. Please inspire more kids to keep reading; it seemed to work for me.”
-Kevin G.

~ "Reading is always a great way to have a good time while learning new information and jumping into a whole other world. I can always find a great selection of books at my public library, as well as a friendly staff who are always willing to help. I love to read and am grateful for my library!"
-Jada G.

Book Brag: What three books are hot this year? Why?

~ Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins. This is the sequel that everyone is waiting for! The Hunger Games and Catching Fire are the first two books in this incredibly suspenseful sci-fi series. Mockingjay is coming out in August and there is already a huge waiting list. And you can bet that I am on it!

~ The Pretty Little Liar series, by Sara Shepard is really hot this year, especially now that it’s a television show on ABC Family.

~ This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen. Sarah Dessen is always a popular author and This Lullaby is a funny, sometimes cynical look at love.

Author! Author!
The best author visits are from enthusiastic authors who love talking to teens and engage them in conversations during the visit, instead of just doing a presentation where the author is doing all the talking. I also love it when authors share funny stories about their writing experiences or about their lives.

Library Lion’s Roar:
I’d like to give a “roar out” to my library, Cuyahoga County Public Library, which was recently rated the NUMBER ONE library (for its size and population served) in the entire country. That is a great testimony to all the wonderful librarians and branch staff who work for this library system.

Thank you, Jan for your terrific interview!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at janetleecarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

Interview with Jennifer Bisson Seattle Public Library

2010-07-12T17:49:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews -- Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest Jennifer Bisson, YA librarian at the Seattle Public Library.

Jennifer has been Youth Librarian for just over 8 years. She’s dedicated to changing the misperceptions about libraries one innovative program at a time. “I believe that libraries are the last public space and I think librarians should all be challenging outmoded ideas of what types of programs we should have in libraries. I have hosted something called All Ages Arts Night, which was a showcase of teen performers, dance, hip hop, spoken word and bands, a teen produced fashion show, teen produced film festival, and hope to do a an all teen fine art show with teen classical and jazz ensembles in the near future.”

The Skinny:
I wanted a job that was never boring or monotonous, where I could do something that helped people, and involved working with folks of all ages from different backgrounds.

Seattle Central Library Teen Center

Library Laughs:
There are lots of crazy things that happen when you work with the general public, especially in a busy, urban library but one of the funniest that I can share here, involved a story time regular. This little boy never missed a story time, brought me homemade art, cookies, and admitted to his mom that he wanted to be my boyfriend. My “boyfriend” showed up super excited one day to show me his new… superman underoos! He almost had his pants off before his mom stopped him and had to explain why that was not appropriate at the library.

A Lion’s Pride of Programs:
We have been doing the Teen Center Advisors (TCA) for 4 years now. We have teens from all over the city representing public, private, parochial, and homeschooled teens who are gay, straight, Christian, Muslim and all kinds of backgrounds including new immigrants.

TCAs Creating a Poster

It amazes me how there is never any tension and the teens all treat each other with complete respect. The one thing they all seem to have in common is that they are a little bit nerds! As a proud nerd, I feel delighted to work with teens who are creative, funny, smart and far more together then I was as a teen.
One of my favorite things is seeing former TCAs when they stop by the library. Some sneak in to get teen book suggestion when they are overloaded with college reading. Others ask us to write recommendations for scholarships, internships or other opportunities. One just came to talk about co-hosting an event with an all youth created and led queer youth organization she is helping start. Still others just stop in and say hi. I know we do not get to spend loads of time with them but I cannot help but feel like we are a unique category of adult in their lives that does not give them homework, or tell them to clean their room. We get to know them a little, encourage them, ask them questions, and hopefully give them a venue to get involved a little or a lot in their community. Want to see some of the things they have to say? Listen to some of the podcasts we recorded with them -
or check out our teen blog

The picture shows the summer reading display they created.

We have an All Ages Arts Night that showcases teen performers, dance, hip hop, spoken word,bands,

And a Fashion Show

Reaching Readers:
I am super excited about a programming I am piloting this summer. We are writing personalized reading lists for teens or (PRLs). Teens contact us through Questions Point (email would be just as easy) and tell us some books they have liked or not, and any genres they are interested in or anything else they want to tell us about their reading habits. Some are short, more like Twilight please, and some are detailed with a dozen or so books they have liked and hated. Either way each teen gets their very own list of 5-6 suggestions just for them. They can use the service as often as they like.

Since the launch on June 1st we have gotten about 20 requests, and this is before it has even hit our main webpage. So far we have advertised it on our teen web page, the summer reading booklet, and a few local blogs picked up the story. Four teen services librarian answer requests to cover 7 days, and keep suggestions fresh. In addition we are archiving the list for use at all reference desks to promote better teen reader’s advisory.

Readers Roar:
Our TCAs write at least one book review a month, here are 2 good ones for summer.
~What’s French for Ew? follows British teenager Emily on the school trip of a lifetime to France. She has it all planned; she will spend her seventeenth birthday in Paris with her boyfriend. However, chaos ensues when she must bring her “Baby Annoy” (a life-like baby doll for her health class) along for the ride. What’s French for Ew? is a perfect example of not judging a book by its cover. Although it looks like yet another dumb teeny-bopper book, it’s actually funny and witty. Emily is extremely likeable and Katie Maxwell is an excellent writer. This is a fast read I would recommend to any francophones in middle or high school – Hannah, 17

~Starclimber by Kenneth Opal, the sequel to Airborn and Skybreaker, follows the story of two young people, Matt Cruse and Kate De Vries, as they embark on a journey beyond the sky. This is a great book, with the same amount of action, suspense, and romance as the first two books in this series. I highly recommend this to readers of the earlier books, and everyone else in middle or high school should read the first two, as it is one of my favorite series. – Eli, 14

Book Brag: What three books are hot this year. Why?
~Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins of course! If you have not read Hunger Games yet, hurry up so you can be caught in time for this 3rd one to release later this summer.

~Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. – I have not read this yet but hear it is good for Twilight fans.

~Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld ; illustrated by Keith Thompson. I am on hold for this and it is taking forever!

Thank you Jennifer for your terrific interview and fun pics!

Give a roar for more Library Lions interviews. If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at janetleecarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot

Anna Ruhs, Starkville Public Library, MS

2010-06-24T12:11:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest Anna Ruhs YA Librarian at the Starkville Public Library in Mississippi.

In just 3 years Anna has raised the circulation from 50 YA books a month to currently over 600 YA books a month! How did she do it? "By moving and expanding the collection to a more inviting part of the library created a teen hang-out spot that our city didn’t really have."

Anna used a few Wild incentives. “All of my teens think I’m crazy. Last year, as a reading incentive, I told my teens that if they read a huge number of books, I would let them cut my hair off! About twenty teens read over six hundred books in two months, and they celebrated by buzzing off my hair at our end of the summer party.

After my hair was buzzed off last summer: Teen said: “You look so very goth. But without the goth.” Me: “You mean my short hair?” Teen: “Yeah, except you're not wearing black and you're happy.”

The Skinny:
What I love most about my work is what I wanted as a teen—I am able to find books that teens actually want to read and provide a place that is specifically for them. Helping a teen find a book and a niche is incredibly rewarding, especially when he or she goes from “I don’t like books” to “Do you have any new books? I’ve read all of these!”

Library Laughs:
We all have to work double duty at the library, so one day while I was working at the circulation desk, an older gentleman came in and asked for a book of poetry. When I asked him what kind of poetry he wanted, he laughed and asked me how many kinds there were. Then he asked for “chicken poetry.” I thought that was strange, but I actually started looking for “chicken poetry” when I realized that he meant poultry. I’m pretty sure he thought I was insane!

More Laughs:
~Teen: "Tubular is like awesome, but like in surfer talk."

~Teen: "I really need to wear glasses, but I don't because I don't want to. That's why I'm such a good actress."

~While playing a game during book club: Teen: “I don't get it. Why would we look for the ghost if we don't want it to get us?” Me: “It's just a game.” Teen: “But it isn't true to life.”

A Lion’s Pride of Programs:
We keep our library busy with both children and youth programs all year round. I have two regular teen book clubs that meet year round. One is a “classics” book club (we use the term “classics” pretty loosely), and one is a sci-fi/fantasy book club. The teens pick what we read, and we meet every week for discussion and fun! Our summers are jam-packed with two teen book clubs, two library events, and a books-to-movies club every week. I usually collapse after July is over!

One of my most popular summer programs is my annual Henna Tattoo Program with a talented local artist named Lisa Rickels.

I also partnered with our local Barnes & Noble for a Mad Hatter Tea Party program, during which the teens made hats and tasted different types of tea.

During a Surf ‘n’ Spray(paint) art program, teens designed surfboards, experimented with spray paint and water, and popped water balloons full of paint on a large piece of drywall.

Reaching Readers:
I do my best to find out what teens want to read instead of pushing something on them. I’m honest about the books I’ve read. Teens take my opinions more seriously when I’m not trying to tell them that I love every single book in the library!

I also communicate with students at the schools in the area, use library facebook profile, and a library twitter. Facebook is the most effective because of the level of interaction it allows, and teens can get their friends to come to library programs by showing them pictures and events on my facebook profile.

Readers Roar: What are your Teen Readers saying?

~“Before I started going to book clubs I was super shy. Getting into the library and meeting some of the people I now call friends really helped.” --Becca, Grade 11

~“Books are my escape from this world. Without them, I would lose my mind. I have to read a little every day or else I feel like I’m trapped by reality and I can’t be creative.” --Sarah, Grade 12

Book Brag: What three books are hot this year? Why?

~The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Teens really connect with this book. The characters are believable, and the plot keeps readers on the edge of their seats. Guys and girls find Katniss’s dilemma appealing, and they often have very serious discussions about which of the male characters she should choose. The third installment in the series comes out at the end of the summer, and it’s probably one of our most requested books right now.

Teen Review:“The Hunger Games is a chilling dystopic novel with a subtle basis in Greek mythology. Katniss is a not-quite-ordinary girl living under the reign of the All-Powerful President Snow. When Katniss is selected for the Hunger Games, she determines to be not just your ordinary girl.”--Magdalen, Grade 7

~The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Heather Brewer. Vlad Tod is a funny and engaging character. It’s a great series for many of my teen, who are often looking for vampire books that aren’t primarily romance stories.

~Bleach by Tite Kubo. In general, manga is doing really well in our library right now because we recently received a large grant to purchase a lot of new titles. Bleach is probably the most popular of the manga series we currently have in circulation.

Library Lion’s Roar:
Libraries are incredible places! Through my library, teens who might never have socialized together (or with anyone) have found a place and a group of friends. Getting teens to read books they love now keeps them reading later; I have “graduates” of my YA programs who still come by to visit and talk about books and life! I think librarians are an incredible group of individuals who love books and people, and find a great deal of joy in bringing the two together.

~ ~ ~
Thank you, Anna for your terrific interview!

Reader's Contest:
Win a new paperback copy of Stealing Death.

Make a comment -- Roar about your library and tell us what you love about it. Leave contact email in the comment. Book winner will be chosen by July 12.

To Librarians:
Give a roar for more Library Lions interviews. If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at janetleecarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

2010-06-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Library Lions interviews. Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest Adriana Melgoza, Teen Librarian in California’s Alhambra Civic Center Library

Adriana is one of the recipients of the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color Scholarship in 2006. Adriana traveled to Dallas, Texas to attend the first JCLC Conference, which brought together all five ethnic caucuses of ALA. Let’s hear from Adriana.

The Skinny:
I’ve been a teen librarian for two and a half years. Working in libraries inspired me to become a librarian. I love reading (always have) and I love the idea of a place where anyone can come to explore all there is inside the endless amounts of literary material. The thing I love the most about my work is the moment when someone’s eyes light up after you find a book they have been waiting to read. I totally get what that feels like and it never gets old.
Truth be told, when I was a young girl myself I used to pretend that my kitchen table was a library counter and I would put due date slips in all of my own books and check them out to my brother and sister. I don’t think I got all of my books back and I could probably collect a pretty hefty library fine from them now.

Our Teen Area

Library Laughs:
Okay, I don’t know if this is funny or gross or both. When I was working in Circulation a few years back at a university library I found a stale, old hamburger patty left inside the pages of one of the library books. I showed all of my co-workers my find and we were just left speechless and baffled. The best we could come up with was that they brought in their tasty lunch to eat in the library and when they feared they would get caught, they stuck the patty haphazardly in the book?? But we were left wondering, what happened to the bun?

A Lion’s Pride of Programs:
I would love more teens to know about our super-duper summer reading program (this is the second year we are doing it). We are straying from the “making waves” theme and doing our own “making a difference” theme. Our focus is on exploring different areas of community involvement, social awareness, and of course reading! Each week teens are eligible to read for prizes, as well as attend free events. If they complete all four weeks of reading and reporting, teens are eligible to enter in our grand prize raffles, which boast prizes such as an Apple iPod, a digital camera, FEED Hunger Project bags and bracelets, and a multitude of signed books donated by numerous (very generous) YA authors.

Some of our events will be making blankets to donate to Project Linus (an organization that donates blankets to hospitalized children), and putting together care packages to send overseas. The program starts June 28th and more information can be found on our MySpace and Facebook pages, which will be updated with photographs from all of our events and programs as the summer progresses (myspace.com/alhambrateens & facebook.com/alhambrateens).

AIDS Awareness Clothesline

Reaching Readers:
I try to reach our readers by promoting our programs as much as possible. We also use our MySpace and Facebook pages quite a bit. I’m also constantly reading YA books (last year I read 71). I try to keep our teen collection as up to date as possible, with as many in-demand titles on our shelves as I can. Many times teens approach the reference desk with suggestions of their own, and in our library Manga and vampire or supernatural and fantasy reads are the most popular. I love when we get new books in and as soon as I put them out they get borrowed. Our teens are definitely avid readers and I’m so happy to be able to provide a plethora of books for them to devour.

Readers Roar:

~“Woot if you LOVE James Patterson! It’s soooo cool! I love it! I wish I had all of James Patterson’s books in my house! Oh yea! 100% yea! Oh my gosh yes!” Lily, Grade 8

~Review of Skip Beat v.1 by Yoshiki Nakamura “I liked that the main character, Kyoko, is so independent and is brave enough to go into showbiz and acting.” Macy, Grade 9

~Review of Night World (Daughters of Darkness) by L.J. Smith “I like how they solve what they needed to solve and it felt very real, like you’re in the book with them. I also like how it’s romantic and sweet.” Jenny, Grade 8

~“What I like about the library are the endless possibilities of subjects to read and study.” Roxanne, Grade 12

Book Brag: What three books are hot this year. Why?
~ House of Night series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. I think they are popular because of the vampire phenomenon going on in books and media, and also because the books themselves are great at portraying a vampire world within a school academy, while at the same time characterizing teen angst and a coming of age tale.

~Any book by Nicholas Sparks. With all the movies coming out based on his books (The Notebook, Dear John, and The Last Song, to name a few), readers of all ages have been asking for these titles, but especially teenage girls.

~The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell. With the second Sex and the City movie coming out this year, this look at Carrie Bradshaw before she came to the big city is pretty popular. Its popularity will continue if they decide to make a movie out of it, which is pretty much the prerequisite to being a hot item at our library.

Author! Author!
The best author visit is when they engage teen readers and get across the message that anything is possible, regardless of what you are doing, be it writing or any other career. We had a great author visit from Lisa Yee this past March and by the end of her visit the teens were clamoring to speak with her and asking when the next author visit would be. I also think having a great sense of humor and being down to earth really comes across and is appealing to teen audiences, so that would be essential for the perfect author visit as well.

Library Lion’s Roar
I’m just so happy to be a part of “library land”. I think these days’ people are inundated with the media, news, and the internet, but it’s so nice to be in a career where you can get a little bit of everything. At the library you can read about current events, but you can also escape into faraway lands and talk to other people about books, community events, and life in general. In essence I’m so happy to be a part of a profession that truly wants to improve people’s lives, and there is such a feeling of family and community in that. I love it!

Thank you Adriana for your terrific interview!

Give a roar for more Library Lions interviews! Roar for your library in the "comments" below.

If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at janetleecarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.

2010-06-04T12:38:00.000-07:00

LIBRARY LIONS
Library Lions interviews ~ Raising a Roar for Libraries and for the outstanding Librarians serving Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest, Karen Kline. In her years of service, Karen was also instrumental in bringing Read Across America to the Lake Washington School District.

Welcome Karen. First up let’s hear the skinny.

The Skinny:I’ve been a librarian since 1994 when I graduated from the University of Arizona with an MLS. I am currently working at Emily Dickinson Elementary and Explorer Elementary in Redmond, Washington. I serve students from K-6
Here's a pic

Interestingly, I attended an elementary school for two years that had no librarian or real library – just a small collection of donated books in a common area. I don’t recommend that!

Library Laughs: The first library I managed was a new portable building that seemed to have been placed on the migratory path of scorpions – one of my volunteers was stung (she was okay in the end). The same school had the custodian walk the perimeter of the playground prior to recess to do “snake patrol.” Only in Arizona!

Inspiration:I decided to become a librarian the year I was assigned to teach middle school science with no textbook – the building had spent all the money on lab materials that year at the new school, and I was only allowed use of the lab two days a week. I spent a lot of time in the library creating curriculum materials!

I love finding the right book for the right reader. I love reading and interpreting literature for students and hearing the ahs, oohs, and laughs in all the right places. I love being bombarded by students after a book talk asking if they can check out the book that I presented.

Hidden Treasure: The best goldmine in the library is often the librarian’s assistant. These folks catch all the bizarre things that go on behind the scenes. They alert the librarian to things she may have missed and keep things running smoothly. My advice: make friends with the librarian’s assistant and bring her chocolate!

My favorite library program is our district’s Battle of the Books. Seeing kids huddle up to discuss the answers to questions about what they’ve read and get excited about books is fuel on the librarian’s fire!

Reaching Readers:Kids seem to stay very current in what is hot on the reading scene. Last year’s favorite books don’t seem to remain favorites into the next year. To reach today’s young reader, I try to interview students to find out what books they’ve read recently and liked and try to suggest similar reads. Moreover, it works even better if a peer can recommend books to another peer, so I try to give time in class for peer book recommendations. Our library catalog is soon to allow students to submit their own reviews, and I think that will be exciting for young readers.

Reader Roar:
“Why can’t we just spend the school day reading what we want to read?”
Nelly, Grade 6

Book Brag: What three books are hot this year and why?
~ The Piggie and Elephant series by Mo Willems -- These books seem to really understand kid humor.
~ The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins -- Gore, suspense, and an element of survival make this one a hit.
~ The Two Bobbies: The True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship and Survival by Kirby Larson and Mary Nethery – This book was a landslide winner of the Washington Children’s Choice Award. I think kids really identified with the struggles of the animals in this heartbreaking story.

Author! Author!
The perfect author visit begins with teachers who promote the author’s books weeks (maybe months) before the visit. I love it when a class has had a class read aloud or two from the author’s works. Small group meetings with the author are optimal. Of course, the books must be wonderful and engaging, and then everything seems to fall into place.

Library Lion’s Roar:
We library and book lovers must continue to band together at the polls to pass levies and elect officials who promise and keep promises to fund school and public libraries. It is unacceptable to fund libraries from donations and to staff libraries with volunteers. Our libraries are a public good that pay off untold dividends!

Thank you, Karen for your terrific interview!
Give a Roar for more Library Lions interviews!
If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at janetleecarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.