10, 247 as of last night!
I knew you could do it which is why I put my money where my mouth is! Keep up the awesome work!!!!
BTW, we are nearly double the number of teens registered at BPL and several times more than the other boroughs. Not like we're competing but we KNOW Queens teens are readers and this just shows the truth of that!
Reminder, the $500 will be split between the three libraries with the greatest percent increase in teen registrations over last year (minimum registration 150 teens) so you've got all summer to kick last summer's butt and get some cash for your teen services.
I'm SUPER proud of you all. Nice job!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Great Work--Keep it Going!
Keep up the REALLY terrific work, folks!
As of last night, you've surpassed our 2010 teen registrations by over 1250, are just 729 teens away from matching our 2009 total and just 1582 teens away from our goal of registering at least 10,000 teens!
YAY!!
As of last night, you've surpassed our 2010 teen registrations by over 1250, are just 729 teens away from matching our 2009 total and just 1582 teens away from our goal of registering at least 10,000 teens!
YAY!!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
:)
Half way there!
As of last night, we have more than 5,000 teens registered for Summer Reading 2011.
Rock on!!
As of last night, we have more than 5,000 teens registered for Summer Reading 2011.
Rock on!!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Ten Tips for Teen Summer Reading: #10
KICK-OFF DAY
We're finally here! Eight months and 35 posts later and Summer Reading Kick Off 2011 is here!
My last tip is this: YOU CAN DO IT!
We are already at 2,689 teens registered as of Tuesday night (7,599 for all ages) and we haven't even officially started yet. You've got this.
As a reminder and as an announcement for those not at the In-Service Tuesday, there's been a change in the challenge!
Instead of giving the cash to a youth-serving charity, I am donating the money to Queens Library!
To the three libraries with the highest PERCENTAGE increase over their 2010 teen registration numbers (minimum of 150 teens registered this year), a split of the cash as follows:
$250 Highest % increase
$150 2nd Highest % increase
$100 3rd Highest % increase
to be used for TEEN SERVICES at the library's discretion (ie. materials, programs, supplies, a party, etc.).
Rock on, team!
Cash in the Coffee Can: $502
We're finally here! Eight months and 35 posts later and Summer Reading Kick Off 2011 is here!
My last tip is this: YOU CAN DO IT!
We are already at 2,689 teens registered as of Tuesday night (7,599 for all ages) and we haven't even officially started yet. You've got this.
As a reminder and as an announcement for those not at the In-Service Tuesday, there's been a change in the challenge!
Instead of giving the cash to a youth-serving charity, I am donating the money to Queens Library!
To the three libraries with the highest PERCENTAGE increase over their 2010 teen registration numbers (minimum of 150 teens registered this year), a split of the cash as follows:
$250 Highest % increase
$150 2nd Highest % increase
$100 3rd Highest % increase
to be used for TEEN SERVICES at the library's discretion (ie. materials, programs, supplies, a party, etc.).
Rock on, team!
Cash in the Coffee Can: $502
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Ten Tips for Teen Summer Reading: #9
One More Week
The numbers are already looking great! We have a total of more than 5000 people registered for summer reading, with more than 3000 of them teens. ROCK ON!! We'll be ordering more library card holders as registration incentives and sending out the left overs we have to libraries in need of more in the meantime.
Use your teams, engage your teens, think BIG, be advocates and remember that LIBRARIES MATTER especially in the summer months.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $488
Cash in the Coffee Can: $488
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Ten Tips for Teen Summer Reading: #8
What's in a Name?
So there's a new feature on the SR website this year--a random name generator. This was an NYPL thing meant to protect users' privacy and it will likely result in many forgotten names and mass chaos.
BUT!!
Think of the fun you and your teens could have. There are lots of creative arts and writing projects inherent in a random name generator that's formatted like this one. Have your teens draw their names and hang the drawings around your space. Create a story chain involving the characters. You don't even have to use the names you have--build on it and have fun.
Oh! Have the teens create one of those books where the page is cut in parts and you can flip them so it could have a person's head/bird's body/lion's feet (etc) using the generated names.
Think of it this way--if you're going to spend your summer looking up silly names, shouldn't someone get a laugh out of it?
Cash in the Coffee Can: $474
So there's a new feature on the SR website this year--a random name generator. This was an NYPL thing meant to protect users' privacy and it will likely result in many forgotten names and mass chaos.
BUT!!
Think of the fun you and your teens could have. There are lots of creative arts and writing projects inherent in a random name generator that's formatted like this one. Have your teens draw their names and hang the drawings around your space. Create a story chain involving the characters. You don't even have to use the names you have--build on it and have fun.
Oh! Have the teens create one of those books where the page is cut in parts and you can flip them so it could have a person's head/bird's body/lion's feet (etc) using the generated names.
Think of it this way--if you're going to spend your summer looking up silly names, shouldn't someone get a laugh out of it?
Cash in the Coffee Can: $474
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Ten Tips for Teen Summer Reading: #7
So They're Signed Up--What Now?
Once the teens are registered, it's not over. Logging and reviewing books is a fun way to share what teens read while helping us track how much they read. The SR website makes the experience more like other social media experiences so it should be familiar for teens (as long as they can remember their username!!).
Consider highlighting the teens' reviews or work with them to create a new badge. Figure out ways to make their ongoing PARTICIPATION in Summer Reading fun and meaningful.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $460
Once the teens are registered, it's not over. Logging and reviewing books is a fun way to share what teens read while helping us track how much they read. The SR website makes the experience more like other social media experiences so it should be familiar for teens (as long as they can remember their username!!).
Consider highlighting the teens' reviews or work with them to create a new badge. Figure out ways to make their ongoing PARTICIPATION in Summer Reading fun and meaningful.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $460
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Ten Tips for Teen Summer Reading: #6
A Friendly Wager
So you know how mayors of cities competing in big sporting events always wager something on the outcome of the game? Why not do that with another library?
Find a colleague in Queens (or anywhere, for that matter) and bet their teens what your teens will do this summer. You could wager on
Cash in the Coffee Can: $446
So you know how mayors of cities competing in big sporting events always wager something on the outcome of the game? Why not do that with another library?
Find a colleague in Queens (or anywhere, for that matter) and bet their teens what your teens will do this summer. You could wager on
- number of teens signed up
- number of books read/logged
- number of books reviewed
Cash in the Coffee Can: $446
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Ten Tips for Teen Summer Reading: #5
Outreach
Where are the teens in your neighborhood when they're not at school, home or your library? Find out and find them there. If the teens won't tell you, ask the adults--they'll be happy to let you know where mobs of teens are. Whether it's just by hanging a flier in the window of the pizza place or visiting the local community or rec center, bringing the library TO teens who aren't regular library users can open doors.
Day camps and vacation bible schools may have younger kids as campers but most will have teen counselors--make sure those teens get signed up. Get to know the non-profits in your community, especially those that work with teens and see if you can do a Summer Reading event there.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $432
Where are the teens in your neighborhood when they're not at school, home or your library? Find out and find them there. If the teens won't tell you, ask the adults--they'll be happy to let you know where mobs of teens are. Whether it's just by hanging a flier in the window of the pizza place or visiting the local community or rec center, bringing the library TO teens who aren't regular library users can open doors.
Day camps and vacation bible schools may have younger kids as campers but most will have teen counselors--make sure those teens get signed up. Get to know the non-profits in your community, especially those that work with teens and see if you can do a Summer Reading event there.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $432
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Ten Tips for Teen Summer Reading: #4
Peer Pressure
Several libraries did very well last summer by using their teen staff, volunteers and regulars to get other teens to sign up. Think about it--it can't be SO awful a thing to do if other teens are pushing it, right? (see--peer pressure) Even better, see what your teens think would be the best way to get other teens signed up and take their advice whenever possible.
We have some Target money set aside to support and reward libraries that make the best use of teen volunteers and Book Buddies so be creative, be focused and put those teens to work!
Cash in the Coffee Can: $418
Several libraries did very well last summer by using their teen staff, volunteers and regulars to get other teens to sign up. Think about it--it can't be SO awful a thing to do if other teens are pushing it, right? (see--peer pressure) Even better, see what your teens think would be the best way to get other teens signed up and take their advice whenever possible.
We have some Target money set aside to support and reward libraries that make the best use of teen volunteers and Book Buddies so be creative, be focused and put those teens to work!
Cash in the Coffee Can: $418
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Ten Tips for Teen Summer Reading: #3
Summer Reading = Advocacy
Many of the libraries that did well last summer on their Summer Reading numbers used registration as part of their budget advocacy campaigns. Numbers have meaning to the folks holding the purse strings, so being able to increase our SR numbers during the threat of cuts is HUGELY important.
Appeal to teens and adults by reminding them that signing up for SR is another way to show support for Queens Library. Remind them what next summer will look like if we lose funding this summer.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $404
Many of the libraries that did well last summer on their Summer Reading numbers used registration as part of their budget advocacy campaigns. Numbers have meaning to the folks holding the purse strings, so being able to increase our SR numbers during the threat of cuts is HUGELY important.
Appeal to teens and adults by reminding them that signing up for SR is another way to show support for Queens Library. Remind them what next summer will look like if we lose funding this summer.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $404
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Ten Tips for Teen Summer Reading: #2
Be Creative
It's tough to do Summer Reading on a shoe-string budget. The good news is that there are lots of ways to entice teens to participate that don't cost very much.
The J librarians have come up with lots of wacky stunts that get the kids reading (and make great news stories and anecdotes for funders); why don't we? Think about it--what do teens love more than being able to feel superior to adults, so think of a challenge that will be both meaningful for them and potentially humiliating for you.
Creative programming helps, too. I got some great ideas for the SR brochure that aren't going to cost a lot. Build on the theme of One World, Many Stories--it's so perfect for Queens!
Challenge your staff, too. The registration targets created by CLS and CEL administration are meant to encourage agencies to work as a team to reach all ages for Summer Reading. But, if you're a competitive bunch, see who can register the most people. Decide what that person should get for winning (a few extra off-desk hours?).
Cash in the Coffee Can: $390
It's tough to do Summer Reading on a shoe-string budget. The good news is that there are lots of ways to entice teens to participate that don't cost very much.
The J librarians have come up with lots of wacky stunts that get the kids reading (and make great news stories and anecdotes for funders); why don't we? Think about it--what do teens love more than being able to feel superior to adults, so think of a challenge that will be both meaningful for them and potentially humiliating for you.
Creative programming helps, too. I got some great ideas for the SR brochure that aren't going to cost a lot. Build on the theme of One World, Many Stories--it's so perfect for Queens!
Challenge your staff, too. The registration targets created by CLS and CEL administration are meant to encourage agencies to work as a team to reach all ages for Summer Reading. But, if you're a competitive bunch, see who can register the most people. Decide what that person should get for winning (a few extra off-desk hours?).
Cash in the Coffee Can: $390
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Ten Tips for Teen Summer Reading: #1
Try the schools.
It doesn't always work, but they can be a great way to get a huge boost in numbers. The easiest way is to ask the schools for a list of the teens' names after you've visited the classes or an assembly--many schools will do this and it saves them and you lots of time and those little registration papers.
Remind teachers that since they're assigning summer reading anyway, the teens might as well sign up for Summer Reading to make it official.
Offer to speak at a PTA or other meeting to reach parents. If you are doing classroom visits and are limited on incentives (sorry, but we ARE poor), bring a couple of things to either raffle off or award as prizes for trivia--it's a great way to tie together book-talks and Summer Reading and get the teens (especially middle schoolers) excited.
If you can't get into classrooms, try a "Summer Reading Great Race." Split your staff into teams and see how many schools they can drop off fliers at during a set amount of time. It can't hurt to at least get a foot in the door and leave materials in the office. If your staff is VERY small, race yourself (and make sure to reward yourself with something cold to eat or drink!).
Cash in the Coffee Can: $376
It doesn't always work, but they can be a great way to get a huge boost in numbers. The easiest way is to ask the schools for a list of the teens' names after you've visited the classes or an assembly--many schools will do this and it saves them and you lots of time and those little registration papers.
Remind teachers that since they're assigning summer reading anyway, the teens might as well sign up for Summer Reading to make it official.
Offer to speak at a PTA or other meeting to reach parents. If you are doing classroom visits and are limited on incentives (sorry, but we ARE poor), bring a couple of things to either raffle off or award as prizes for trivia--it's a great way to tie together book-talks and Summer Reading and get the teens (especially middle schoolers) excited.
If you can't get into classrooms, try a "Summer Reading Great Race." Split your staff into teams and see how many schools they can drop off fliers at during a set amount of time. It can't hurt to at least get a foot in the door and leave materials in the office. If your staff is VERY small, race yourself (and make sure to reward yourself with something cold to eat or drink!).
Cash in the Coffee Can: $376
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Literary Short Stories with Teens--Take 2
Back in January, I attended a training in Princeton, NJ with People & Stories/Gente y Cuentos to conduct their NEH Grant-funded Story Talk program for teens here in Queens.
I became involved in this grant accidentally. A colleague from Westchester County mentioned having worked with this program (I mentioned it briefly in my 1/28 post) in the prisons in Westchester. They sounded so cool I emailed them and within a couple of days, they had added Queens Library to the list of libraries to be trained under the grant (lesson: it never hurts to ask).
So I did the training and lined up my first partner site, a group home for older teen boys with severe emotional disabilities (say what you will about me, I never take the easy road!). But at the training, the P&S folks talked about the size of the group they wanted and I didn't think I would be able to get that with the boys, so I shopped around for a Queens Library with a big teen population it might work. I found one (which I am not going to name; some of you know, for the rest, it doesn't actually matter) and scheduled the 8 weeks of programs there and also at the group home.
I started at the QL site first. I had a group of about 15 teens, mostly 7th graders, a little younger than the grant's target age of 14-18. The story I selected from the stories P&S supplied for the first series of programs was called "Do Not Attempt to Climb Out" by Anndee Hochman (who, btw, besides being a writer, does P&S programs with adults). I picked this one for a couple of reasons: 1) because I had already worked with it during the training so I felt very prepared and 2) because it has an ambiguous ending that I figured would get their attention. Ever the optimist, I arrived with all my supplies, plus donuts and juice and got ready to be a facilitator.
And then spent the next hour trying to get the teens to stop talking, stop hitting each other, sit down, sit up, etc.. I will admit that I left the library a basket case, went straight to do another program, went home and had a drink. But I also don't give up that easily, so I went back the next week to try again. It took 20 minutes for a slightly smaller group to sign an attendance sheet and things went downhill from there. I did manage on both occasions, to read the story aloud and start a discussion, but both times, the discussion was such a struggle I felt no one, especially the teens, got anything out of it. The second week, I ended early and we decided that it wasn't the right time and we'd try it maybe again in the future.
I was off the next day (that fluky 70 degree Friday) and walked from my apartment across the bridge over the Belt Parkway to walk the promenade under the Verrazano Bridge. I sat on one of the benches and was trying to just meditate about life and suddenly knew I had to try again with the library group. So I am.
This Monday, I did the first session with the boys in the group home. I had 7 participate. I might have had more but 1 who was interested can't be in the same room with one of the others who wanted to attend and another hadn't taken his meds while he was home for the weekend and had to be taken to the hospital. Again, I had selected "Do Not Attempt to Climb Out" and amidst the drama, started reading. Amazingly, there was not a peep out of the group as I read. The discussion, as at the library, was a struggle, but I held on to the listening part as hard as I could, knowing that was the first step (the staff assured me that the fact that 7 boys came in, listened attentively and tried to participate was a HUGE success).
Today, I got the newsletter from P&S and on the back cover is a book review of a memoir by a woman who taught poetry classes at San Quentin maximum security prison. The program manager who reviewed the book included a quote, told to the author by her supervisor: "'To survive and do a good job working in prison, you have to hold onto what it is you want to do and, at the very same time, let go of all assumptions that you're going to get it done the way you first planned.'" I had to laugh because isn't that pretty much what it means to do a good job doing library programs with teens?
It's so easy to forgot that lesson. Especially when we have high hopes and high expectations for a program and have this crazy dream notion of perfectly behaved children sitting silently and attentively (what? you don't have those teens?), reality is such a let down. But it shouldn't be. It is what it is and we just have to keep picking ourselves up, dusting ourselves off and trying again. I know this. We all KNOW this. Feeling it on those days who want to cry in your own program is a totally different thing.
But may tomorrow, at the library story program, I'll remember.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $362
I became involved in this grant accidentally. A colleague from Westchester County mentioned having worked with this program (I mentioned it briefly in my 1/28 post) in the prisons in Westchester. They sounded so cool I emailed them and within a couple of days, they had added Queens Library to the list of libraries to be trained under the grant (lesson: it never hurts to ask).
So I did the training and lined up my first partner site, a group home for older teen boys with severe emotional disabilities (say what you will about me, I never take the easy road!). But at the training, the P&S folks talked about the size of the group they wanted and I didn't think I would be able to get that with the boys, so I shopped around for a Queens Library with a big teen population it might work. I found one (which I am not going to name; some of you know, for the rest, it doesn't actually matter) and scheduled the 8 weeks of programs there and also at the group home.
I started at the QL site first. I had a group of about 15 teens, mostly 7th graders, a little younger than the grant's target age of 14-18. The story I selected from the stories P&S supplied for the first series of programs was called "Do Not Attempt to Climb Out" by Anndee Hochman (who, btw, besides being a writer, does P&S programs with adults). I picked this one for a couple of reasons: 1) because I had already worked with it during the training so I felt very prepared and 2) because it has an ambiguous ending that I figured would get their attention. Ever the optimist, I arrived with all my supplies, plus donuts and juice and got ready to be a facilitator.
And then spent the next hour trying to get the teens to stop talking, stop hitting each other, sit down, sit up, etc.. I will admit that I left the library a basket case, went straight to do another program, went home and had a drink. But I also don't give up that easily, so I went back the next week to try again. It took 20 minutes for a slightly smaller group to sign an attendance sheet and things went downhill from there. I did manage on both occasions, to read the story aloud and start a discussion, but both times, the discussion was such a struggle I felt no one, especially the teens, got anything out of it. The second week, I ended early and we decided that it wasn't the right time and we'd try it maybe again in the future.
I was off the next day (that fluky 70 degree Friday) and walked from my apartment across the bridge over the Belt Parkway to walk the promenade under the Verrazano Bridge. I sat on one of the benches and was trying to just meditate about life and suddenly knew I had to try again with the library group. So I am.
This Monday, I did the first session with the boys in the group home. I had 7 participate. I might have had more but 1 who was interested can't be in the same room with one of the others who wanted to attend and another hadn't taken his meds while he was home for the weekend and had to be taken to the hospital. Again, I had selected "Do Not Attempt to Climb Out" and amidst the drama, started reading. Amazingly, there was not a peep out of the group as I read. The discussion, as at the library, was a struggle, but I held on to the listening part as hard as I could, knowing that was the first step (the staff assured me that the fact that 7 boys came in, listened attentively and tried to participate was a HUGE success).
Today, I got the newsletter from P&S and on the back cover is a book review of a memoir by a woman who taught poetry classes at San Quentin maximum security prison. The program manager who reviewed the book included a quote, told to the author by her supervisor: "'To survive and do a good job working in prison, you have to hold onto what it is you want to do and, at the very same time, let go of all assumptions that you're going to get it done the way you first planned.'" I had to laugh because isn't that pretty much what it means to do a good job doing library programs with teens?
It's so easy to forgot that lesson. Especially when we have high hopes and high expectations for a program and have this crazy dream notion of perfectly behaved children sitting silently and attentively (what? you don't have those teens?), reality is such a let down. But it shouldn't be. It is what it is and we just have to keep picking ourselves up, dusting ourselves off and trying again. I know this. We all KNOW this. Feeling it on those days who want to cry in your own program is a totally different thing.
But may tomorrow, at the library story program, I'll remember.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $362
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Harry, I Miss Ya
ABC Family did a big Four-Day movie event of Harry Potter movies last weekend. I will just say that I watched A LOT of HP!!
It was weirdly nostalgic, weirdly because I will watch any of these movies anytime I catch it on TV so it's not like it's been a while, but for some reason (maybe seeing the trailers for the final film?) it made me kind of homesick for the days of waiting for the next book to be released and spending all weekend reading it so no one could spoil it for me on Monday.
Sigh. I wonder if there will ever be another phenomenon like HP. Sure,Twilight and The Hunger Games have put up a good fight, but they're not the same. My husband and I were watching "Get Him to the Greek" the other night and almost peed ourselves over the scene in the club with Tom Felton.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $348
It was weirdly nostalgic, weirdly because I will watch any of these movies anytime I catch it on TV so it's not like it's been a while, but for some reason (maybe seeing the trailers for the final film?) it made me kind of homesick for the days of waiting for the next book to be released and spending all weekend reading it so no one could spoil it for me on Monday.
Sigh. I wonder if there will ever be another phenomenon like HP. Sure,Twilight and The Hunger Games have put up a good fight, but they're not the same. My husband and I were watching "Get Him to the Greek" the other night and almost peed ourselves over the scene in the club with Tom Felton.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $348
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Squee Moment
So I have marked on my Outlook Calendar today a gold box with the word Chime written in it. For those of you up on new releases, you will know that this means that Franny Billingsley's new book (her first novel since The Folk Keeper in 2001, which I LOVED) comes out today. I pre-ordered it from Amazon and cannot wait to read it. I am hoping it arrives when I can take an entire day or evening and do nothing but read it cover to cover!
I have two other new books marked for the coming weeks:
The Star Wars Craft Book by Bonnie Burton (tomorrow!)
True (. . . Sort of) by Katherine Hannigan (April 26--I sobbed aloud while reading the ARC on the R train so it's a must buy)
And most recently I've had the final Terry Pratchett Tiffany Aching book I Shall Wear Midnight, Joan Bauer's new book Close to Famous and something else I can't remember also on my calendar. I am beside myself waiting for Bitterblue, Kristin Cashore's next book that seems to be taking FOREVER!
So I started thinking about those moments of excitement and anticipation before a new book, and about our teens who start asking for the next book in a series or a new book by a favorite author as soon as the buzz hits the air.
There's nothing quite like this waiting, is there? It's like waiting for a door to another world to open and it's good to remember that our teens are as eager for those doors as we are.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $334
I have two other new books marked for the coming weeks:
The Star Wars Craft Book by Bonnie Burton (tomorrow!)
True (. . . Sort of) by Katherine Hannigan (April 26--I sobbed aloud while reading the ARC on the R train so it's a must buy)
And most recently I've had the final Terry Pratchett Tiffany Aching book I Shall Wear Midnight, Joan Bauer's new book Close to Famous and something else I can't remember also on my calendar. I am beside myself waiting for Bitterblue, Kristin Cashore's next book that seems to be taking FOREVER!
So I started thinking about those moments of excitement and anticipation before a new book, and about our teens who start asking for the next book in a series or a new book by a favorite author as soon as the buzz hits the air.
There's nothing quite like this waiting, is there? It's like waiting for a door to another world to open and it's good to remember that our teens are as eager for those doors as we are.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $334
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Literary Short Stories with Teens
To be completed when I have perspective!
Cash in the Coffee Can: $320
Cash in the Coffee Can: $320
Thursday, March 3, 2011
AWESOME SR Programs
I'm working on compiling the programs many (most!) of the libraries sent for inclusion in the SR Program brochure. We have so many this year that sadly, I will likely have to edit out some of the more generic "Teen Summer Reading Club Meeting" entries to fit all the programs in.
But can I just say how many REALLY creative and fun programs you all are planning for teens this summer! I am SO impressed. Really. No disrespect, of course, but I know sometimes planning around a theme, this far ahead doesn't exactly get the creative juices stirring.
I will also add that many of the MOST interesting programs were submitted by folks who aren't technically YA librarians, so way to rock the team approach (and heads up, "Official" YA folks--the competition is fierce!).
Cash in the Coffee Can: $306
But can I just say how many REALLY creative and fun programs you all are planning for teens this summer! I am SO impressed. Really. No disrespect, of course, but I know sometimes planning around a theme, this far ahead doesn't exactly get the creative juices stirring.
I will also add that many of the MOST interesting programs were submitted by folks who aren't technically YA librarians, so way to rock the team approach (and heads up, "Official" YA folks--the competition is fierce!).
Cash in the Coffee Can: $306
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
A Glimpse at the World of Teens
(this post is not about Summer Reading, I couldn't help myself!)
I am honored to be acting as a NYS judge in the national Letters About Literature program. I received my packet of letters this week and started reading and two things jumped out at me.
The goal of the program is for kids and teens to write letters to authors to let them know how their book changes their view of the world or of themselves. The letters I received were from 7th and 8th graders. I had kids from Nassau and Suffolk, as well as a few from Manhattan and a bunch from the Rochester area (the city as well as the rural/suburban areas around it).
The first thing I noticed was how many of the students talked about being bullied. It was without a doubt the most frequent theme in the letters and what was especially striking was how many of them said they had been picked on for no reason. I was proud, though, that they were willing to write about it in letters that went through their teachers, which tells me that anti-bullying efforts are working to at least help kids feel brave enough to talk about being bullied. It's an important first step.
The other thing that struck me was how many students made comments like "Living in my comfortable, middle class home, I didn't know that there was . . ." and then said things like poverty, racism, discrimination, war. It was shocking to me that in this age of 24/7 media and constantly being plugged in, our teens are that insulated from the world outside their doors. Now, granted, some of this is just teens being self-absorbed teens, but still.
This made me think again about an article by Douglas Rushkoff in the February, 2011 School Library Journal I've been talking about to everyone. It has to do with rethinking how we do technology with young people. The letters made me recall his comments about how social networking is changing the way we communicate. Discussing how communicating in virtual environments removes the 93% of communication that is non-verbal, he says "our interactions online become highly literalized, suspicious, devoid of context, and continually parsed for their real meaning. We end up experiencing one another much in the way someone with Asperger's does" (p. 31).
So. Yeah.
Instead of feeling inspired by many of the letters I judged that talked about how reading whichever book made them see what the world is really like, I feel oddly depressed. Mostly because I get the sense that this wasn't life changing for most of these teens, but just another assignment for school and that they would go back to their comfortable, middle class lives and forget the glimpse beyond their doors. And social media is going to help them do it.
Bluh.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $278
I am honored to be acting as a NYS judge in the national Letters About Literature program. I received my packet of letters this week and started reading and two things jumped out at me.
The goal of the program is for kids and teens to write letters to authors to let them know how their book changes their view of the world or of themselves. The letters I received were from 7th and 8th graders. I had kids from Nassau and Suffolk, as well as a few from Manhattan and a bunch from the Rochester area (the city as well as the rural/suburban areas around it).
The first thing I noticed was how many of the students talked about being bullied. It was without a doubt the most frequent theme in the letters and what was especially striking was how many of them said they had been picked on for no reason. I was proud, though, that they were willing to write about it in letters that went through their teachers, which tells me that anti-bullying efforts are working to at least help kids feel brave enough to talk about being bullied. It's an important first step.
The other thing that struck me was how many students made comments like "Living in my comfortable, middle class home, I didn't know that there was . . ." and then said things like poverty, racism, discrimination, war. It was shocking to me that in this age of 24/7 media and constantly being plugged in, our teens are that insulated from the world outside their doors. Now, granted, some of this is just teens being self-absorbed teens, but still.
This made me think again about an article by Douglas Rushkoff in the February, 2011 School Library Journal I've been talking about to everyone. It has to do with rethinking how we do technology with young people. The letters made me recall his comments about how social networking is changing the way we communicate. Discussing how communicating in virtual environments removes the 93% of communication that is non-verbal, he says "our interactions online become highly literalized, suspicious, devoid of context, and continually parsed for their real meaning. We end up experiencing one another much in the way someone with Asperger's does" (p. 31).
So. Yeah.
Instead of feeling inspired by many of the letters I judged that talked about how reading whichever book made them see what the world is really like, I feel oddly depressed. Mostly because I get the sense that this wasn't life changing for most of these teens, but just another assignment for school and that they would go back to their comfortable, middle class lives and forget the glimpse beyond their doors. And social media is going to help them do it.
Bluh.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $278
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Straight from the CEO's Mouth
I learned two things this week from meetings where Mr. Galante spoke that are super important for teen services.
First, did you know that teens are our largest population of library users? On any given day, 10,000 teens walk through our doors. This is huge, folks, both literally and figuratively. Are we, organizationally and individually, doing all we can to meet the library needs of those teens?
Second, it was so great to hear at the Director's Talks that the decision to stop buying books rather than face library closures was made in order for our libraries to remain community spaces. This is also huge, especially for our teens, who often have no place else to go than the library.
As we plan for Summer Reading, keep these things in mind. If we're seeing 10,000 teens a day, we can easily register more than 7200 for Summer Reading. And think of what being a community space in your community means, especially in the summer months, especially in the face of looming budget cuts and use that to inform not only your program planning, but your advocacy efforts as well.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $264
First, did you know that teens are our largest population of library users? On any given day, 10,000 teens walk through our doors. This is huge, folks, both literally and figuratively. Are we, organizationally and individually, doing all we can to meet the library needs of those teens?
Second, it was so great to hear at the Director's Talks that the decision to stop buying books rather than face library closures was made in order for our libraries to remain community spaces. This is also huge, especially for our teens, who often have no place else to go than the library.
As we plan for Summer Reading, keep these things in mind. If we're seeing 10,000 teens a day, we can easily register more than 7200 for Summer Reading. And think of what being a community space in your community means, especially in the summer months, especially in the face of looming budget cuts and use that to inform not only your program planning, but your advocacy efforts as well.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $264
Friday, February 4, 2011
Halfway There
Can you believe it? But the cash can doesn't lie and here we are, halfway to the goal!
Now that we're solidly into 2011, the SR book lists are done and we're heavy into the planning stages for Summer Reading 2011, my blog focus is going to be more practical in nature. I hope. I usually start out thinking nuts and bolts and end up writing library theory (along with the occasional rant).
And given how . . . wintry . . . this winter has been, isn't it kind of nice to start thinking about summer?
Cash in the Coffee Can: $250
Now that we're solidly into 2011, the SR book lists are done and we're heavy into the planning stages for Summer Reading 2011, my blog focus is going to be more practical in nature. I hope. I usually start out thinking nuts and bolts and end up writing library theory (along with the occasional rant).
And given how . . . wintry . . . this winter has been, isn't it kind of nice to start thinking about summer?
Cash in the Coffee Can: $250
Friday, January 28, 2011
Do We Sell Our Teens Short?
I was contacted by Queensborough Community College to be a partner/support organization on their application for The Big Read, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts. We've done Big Read programs before and we did it when I worked at BPL, so I was really excited to be part of QCC's project.
Then I read the text they had selected: The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick.
The Big Read is geared at middle and high school students with an aim "to broaden audience outreach and deepen participation, especially reaching lapsed and/or reluctant readers" so when I read Ozick's haunting literary novella about a Holocaust survivor, I will freely admit to thinking "This will NEVER work with our teens!"
I understand why QCC selected this text; they have a renowned Holocaust Archives and Resource Center they are planning to use to support the program, but I just got stuck on how hard a sell this book is going to be to reluctant readers.
But then I started thinking about my own prejudices and assumptions about what teens can handle. This came up a little bit in the In-Service on Tuesday, too. Early next week, I'm participating in a two-day training with People and Stories/Gente y Cuentos a reading and discussion program that introduces literary short stories to underserved adults and teens. The whole foundation of their amazing work is that even people without much formal education can interact with high quality literature in a way that incorporates their lived experiences as a valid means for understand the text.
So I've been reading Paulo Freire again and thinking about popular education and realized that I have been too willing to accept that our teens "can't handle" complex, moving works of literature in this "Jersey Shore" day and age. And maybe some of them can't, or won't, but that's no reason not to see what they CAN handle. And so I am preparing for the literary revolution!
Cash in the Coffee Can: $236.00
Then I read the text they had selected: The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick.
The Big Read is geared at middle and high school students with an aim "to broaden audience outreach and deepen participation, especially reaching lapsed and/or reluctant readers" so when I read Ozick's haunting literary novella about a Holocaust survivor, I will freely admit to thinking "This will NEVER work with our teens!"
I understand why QCC selected this text; they have a renowned Holocaust Archives and Resource Center they are planning to use to support the program, but I just got stuck on how hard a sell this book is going to be to reluctant readers.
But then I started thinking about my own prejudices and assumptions about what teens can handle. This came up a little bit in the In-Service on Tuesday, too. Early next week, I'm participating in a two-day training with People and Stories/Gente y Cuentos a reading and discussion program that introduces literary short stories to underserved adults and teens. The whole foundation of their amazing work is that even people without much formal education can interact with high quality literature in a way that incorporates their lived experiences as a valid means for understand the text.
So I've been reading Paulo Freire again and thinking about popular education and realized that I have been too willing to accept that our teens "can't handle" complex, moving works of literature in this "Jersey Shore" day and age. And maybe some of them can't, or won't, but that's no reason not to see what they CAN handle. And so I am preparing for the literary revolution!
Cash in the Coffee Can: $236.00
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Part of The Post I've Been Struggling With
A couple of weeks ago, I walked through the Central YA room on my way out through the staff room at the end of the day and was struck by something so unusual I had to ask around later on to see if I had seen what I thought I had seen. There were teens, teen girls in particular, browsing the fiction stacks, talking about books and seeking reader's advisory from the librarians.
This doesn't seem like something that should have drawn my attention, right? After all, isn't this at least part of what a library should be? But until I walked through that day, I hadn't realized that I never saw teens browsing for books in that space before.
What changed? There are no computers in the YA room right now because of the construction, no tables either. And I had to ask myself if the teens who were now using the room, who clearly were taking ownership of the space, its collection and its staff, had been limited in their prior usage by the noise and crowds that had previously existed around the tables and computers. (BTW, when I asked the staff if they had noticed the same changes in usage, they said yes, that they had been remarking on it amongst themselves since the construction walls went up.)
But here's the thing, and the place where I keep getting stuck: is there a way for the teens that need the library as a space to use the computers and hang with friends to coexist with the teens that need the library as a space to find books, be creative and do homework? Of course, this assumes that these are two distinct groups ("readers" and "non-readers," perhaps) with divergent needs, which may not be the case.
Can libraries do both of the things I think we MUST do at the same time and well: connect people to the social and political resources they need AND connect people to the cultural and creative resources they need?
Cash in the Coffee Can: $222.00
Thursday, January 13, 2011
The Post that Wasn't
I've been working on this post on and off for 2 days because I can't quite figure out what I want to say even though I kind of know what I want to say. I've given myself a headache, actually, which tells me that I need to throw in the towel. So here is what I will say:
For anyone who thinks we don't need libraries, I recommend the brilliant, if unsubtle, Mike Judge satire Idiocracy. Actually, I recommend it to everyone (with the understanding that the people who don't think we need libraries probably won't get the point).
To everyone else, I will add that I watched this movie the first time in 2007 after it was recommended by a library director speaking at the Urban Libraries Council Executive Leadership Institute. I watched it again this past November and was alarmed by how much closer we've come to the future world Judge depicts in just three short years.
Great movie making? Maybe not (although it is pretty funny). Terrifying prediction of our likely future? Sadly, yes.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $208
For anyone who thinks we don't need libraries, I recommend the brilliant, if unsubtle, Mike Judge satire Idiocracy. Actually, I recommend it to everyone (with the understanding that the people who don't think we need libraries probably won't get the point).
To everyone else, I will add that I watched this movie the first time in 2007 after it was recommended by a library director speaking at the Urban Libraries Council Executive Leadership Institute. I watched it again this past November and was alarmed by how much closer we've come to the future world Judge depicts in just three short years.
Great movie making? Maybe not (although it is pretty funny). Terrifying prediction of our likely future? Sadly, yes.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $208
Friday, January 7, 2011
Awards and Booklists and Teens (oh my!)
I became a YA librarian for the books. As a children's librarian, I had started working more and more with tweens so I was reading a lot of middle-grade fiction (what we called "young teen") for work and a lot of YA fiction for fun. My excitement over the fiction is what prompted me to make the switch to YA services when I applied to NYC libraries and the rest is history. Except that these days, I have to admit, my interests are less and less about the books. Which I am okay with most of the time, although I do feel guilty for not reading as much or as widely as I could.
But yesterday I participated in the Queens Library Mock Newbery meeting and I am now 100% committed to having a Mock Printz Award for books published in 2011.
I had never participated in a mock award meeting before (shocking, I know) so it was interesting to learn about the process and really exciting and inspiring to sit in a room with other professionals who are passionate about literature for young people and actually TALK ABOUT BOOKS! It was so much fun, especially to hear the wide range of opinions on each of the books.
But here's the thing--the ALA awards and lists are for us and other educators. I have never once had a kid or teen run in on a Monday afternoon in January and ask for the winning books, although I've had plenty of peers do so. That does not necessarily negate the value of awards (and to a certain extent any list of recommended reading we as professionals and adults prepare for teens and kids) but it should be a reminder that many of these books will never fly off our shelves.
On still the other hand, that does not mean that participating in a mock awards process is an exercise in futility. It is something nearly all large libraries and systems do because (I think) it is a way to remind us as professionals of our own expertise and to empower the vast majority of us who will never be on a "real" ALA selection committee. In looking at the lists of mock awards winners NYPL, BPL and we have chosen over the last few years, there are often stark differences between them and the "real" winners, which often reflect our unique point-of-view as librarians working with youth in an extremely diverse urban environment. This is useful! We should know what our peers consider the best of the best but we should also be critical and think of what is the best of the best in our corner of the library world. And if nothing else, it's a way for us to access quality books we might not have otherwise read which we can then bring to those teens who will appreciate them.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $194.00
But yesterday I participated in the Queens Library Mock Newbery meeting and I am now 100% committed to having a Mock Printz Award for books published in 2011.
I had never participated in a mock award meeting before (shocking, I know) so it was interesting to learn about the process and really exciting and inspiring to sit in a room with other professionals who are passionate about literature for young people and actually TALK ABOUT BOOKS! It was so much fun, especially to hear the wide range of opinions on each of the books.
But here's the thing--the ALA awards and lists are for us and other educators. I have never once had a kid or teen run in on a Monday afternoon in January and ask for the winning books, although I've had plenty of peers do so. That does not necessarily negate the value of awards (and to a certain extent any list of recommended reading we as professionals and adults prepare for teens and kids) but it should be a reminder that many of these books will never fly off our shelves.
On still the other hand, that does not mean that participating in a mock awards process is an exercise in futility. It is something nearly all large libraries and systems do because (I think) it is a way to remind us as professionals of our own expertise and to empower the vast majority of us who will never be on a "real" ALA selection committee. In looking at the lists of mock awards winners NYPL, BPL and we have chosen over the last few years, there are often stark differences between them and the "real" winners, which often reflect our unique point-of-view as librarians working with youth in an extremely diverse urban environment. This is useful! We should know what our peers consider the best of the best but we should also be critical and think of what is the best of the best in our corner of the library world. And if nothing else, it's a way for us to access quality books we might not have otherwise read which we can then bring to those teens who will appreciate them.
Cash in the Coffee Can: $194.00
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