Tag: extra stuff

Here’s what I’ve been doing lately…

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I don’t know about you, but I have been just SWAMPED lately with just everything! I can’t believe we’re almost completely through April – summer reading is right around the corner, but I am nowhere NEAR ready! Our Hunger Games program went very, very well, & we had a reasonable number of teens attend. I created the program with the intention that it’d take about an hour for them to get through all the challenges, but they went all hardcore on it & the first team was done in eighteen minutes. EIGHTEEN. Every team was done in half an hour, so I’ve promised that the Catching Fire event will be much more intense & difficult. & they cheered!

The photograph up top is from our local newspaper – the bows went over very well, & made for very photogenic teens!

This past Saturday we held our very first Otaku Mini-Anime Convention. Although it was a blast, someone remind me to never again plan a six-hour teen event? Four hours is about the limit of my attention span, apparently. To be fair, most of them didn’t show up until the afternoon, so I think a noon to four time will be perfect.

They had a blast making sushi, as you can see below…

 
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It was actually quite easy – I picked up sushi rice, nori, krab, cucumber, shredded carrot, cream cheese, & a few condiments. They used wax paper to roll up their creations, & it worked really well! So should you decide to do this, there’s no need to fork over the money for mats. You can easily do this for about $20-25 dollars, & I guarantee they’ll have fun.

 

Pinterest + Summer Reading = SO MANY IDEAS!

So hey – are you on Pinterest yet? You really ought to be! It’s turning into an amazing collaboration between every librarian everywhere – I have so many ideas for this summer reading I literally have no idea which ones to use.

This is just a PIECE of my summer reading board…

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…lots zombies & stars & everything glow-in-the-dark! It’s going to be a great summer even if the slogan is dumb. No, I’m still not over it.

What I love about Pinterest, as opposed to other bookmarking sites, is that because it’s all visual, it inspires to think beyond what’s being offered. Prior to this, I’d bookmark something, but by the time the program came around, I usually completely forgot about that great thing I found six months ago. Now, I see something, & about a million different ways I could use it goes off in my head, & it’s so much easier to plan things! & because you can organize into little boards, I’ve got each program separated along with miscellaneous boards, & I can visit & see all my ideas every time I work on a program. Love it!

It is still invite-only, but if you throw out to Facebook “I need a Pinterest invite!” I can practically guarantee you’ll get about seven people offering them to you. I had people coming out of the woodwork to give me mine!

In Which I Go Goth

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I challenged the teens to read 500 books during the summer reading program – & if they did, I’d go goth. Well, they delivered, & so I delivered! I assure you I’m usually much more smiley, but that doesn’t seem very goth-like. To Goodwill I went seeking appropriately goth attire, & I hit up Hot Topic for the temporary black hair dye, which is possibly the grossest, thickest stuff to ever touch my hair. Black eyeliner, lipstick, & eyeshadow completed the look.

I think I spent… $10? maybe $15? of my own money, & it was worth every penny. I wore this to our Summer Finale Party & the teens couldn’t have been more delighted at the change in my appearance – apparently there was even some debating going on about whether or not I was goth in high school (for the record, I was not). The teens have promised they’ll meet the even bigger goal next year so I’ll repeat. I highly recommend the experience to everyone!