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
Thursday, March 24, 2011
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
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