TEEN LIBRARIAN KIRSTEN EDWARDS

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

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

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

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

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.

ROAR FOR LIBRARIES

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, 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.

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.