Tag: trends

A Library Battle Royale

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Perhaps you’ve of a little thing called Fortnite? If not, well… you officially have homework.

We purchased ~40 Nerf guns from hasbrotoyshop.com, laid down some different colored tape throughout our library, gave whistles to all staff members, put boxes everywhere, and let ’em at it.

Oh, and we had a T-Rex. Because why not?

We played for about ninety minutes, but the teens would have been perfectly happy to play for the entirety of the four-hour After Hours Event™.

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A few more details:

→ It was very easy to set-up a tax exempt account at the Hasbro Toy Shop, and we mostly just purchased the 3.99 single shot guns, along with extra darts. I signed up for emails and got a really great discount, and have not been bombarded by emails since.

→ We used different colored masking tape (available at craft stores) for the boundaries, placing them on the floor in increasingly smaller circles, and used the library PA system for the announcements about arena shrinkage (ie, in two minutes, you must be inside the yellow circle or you will be eliminated, etc).

→ A map of the library was provided, so they could plainly see that they weren’t allowed behind circ, to hide in the bathrooms, etc. If we do this in our meeting room, I won’t give them a map, since the “drop zones” (which they drew from a basket) will be visible throughout the arena.

→ Blowing the whistles was super fun. Really loud, but fun.

→ We had an area designated for those who were eliminated – I recommend placing that somewhere they can see the action, because they were super into watching.

→ We did lots of variations – singles, duos, teams of 3 and 4, start with a weapon but scatter before it begins, etc. They’ll come up with lots of ideas.

→ If they won, they got a “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner” pin, which yes is from PUBG but they thought was awesome.

BATTLE ROYALE RULES (as read to participants):

1. Throughout the library and marked on your map are your drop zones. Everyone/every team will draw their drop zone, and at the sound of the whistle you will proceed there to find weapons & building materials

2. All weapons, ammo, and materials are in plain sight – nothing is hidden behind books, shelves, desks, etc. DO NOT enter any area that is blocked off, and DO NOT go behind any desk. If you are discovered in any out-of-zone area, you will be eliminated.

3. If you are hit, you are down and must be revived by a team member. You must immediately drop to your knees, although you may move away from the action and take cover. In order to be revived, one of your team members must tap you on the back.

4. If, however, you are hit again before a team member revives you, you are eliminated.

5. Staff members in the gray shirts will act as referees. A blow of the whistle means a violation has occurred; do as the referee says, whether that is going down, being eliminated, etc.

6. As time goes on, the arena will begin to shrink. Pay attention to the announcements to learn which circle to report to.

7. Anyone outside of the circle when the clock winds down will be eliminated.

8. There are building materials throughout the arena. You may use these as shields, or build a fort to defend your team.

9. Alliances are permitted, however, there can be only one winning team.

10. We will play this multiple times, invoking variations of single player, squad play, & other fun surprises.

11. The T-Rex is invincible. If you are attacked by the T-Rex, you are eliminated.

Let’s begin!

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This was incredibly fun for all involved, and we will definitely keep doing it until the Battle Royale genre disappears. My biggest piece of advice is this: If you haven’t played or watched Fortnite, PUBG, Blackout, etc, do so before you plan this event.

Mini rock cactus pots

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I don’t know about you,  but around here, a.) cacti and succulents are very popular, and b.) my kids cannot paint enough rocks. As there are very few crafts they seem willing to do, I’ll let them paint as many rocks as they’d like!

You can get a BIG bag of rocks from your local big box home improvement store for $10-$20 dollars; the pots are from Pat Catan’s for about sixty cents apiece. Have fun!

Pokeball Charms

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This easy craft is a great addition to anime club meetings and game nights, and can even be something left out in your teen space for anyone to do. I recommend painting the beads white beforehand, and encouraging your kids to make a variety of Pokéballs. The lollipop sticks, string, and wooden beads can generally be purchased altogether for under $10.

 

Five Nights at Freddy’s LIVE!

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I adore this game.

Or should I say, I adore watching Markiplier play this game. I love it so much, in fact, that my husband got me the main four animatronic character plushies for Christmas this year.

We hide them around the house in unexpected places and scare each other. I mean, how could we not?

But anyways. If you don’t know about Five Nights at Freddy’s, you should. Go watch that video and then ask your teens about the rest if you don’t care to watch more. Basically, it’s a jump scare game about Chuck E. Cheese-esque characters who have taken to wandering about the place after hours. You, as the night security guard, have to look after the place without letting the characters get to you – or else they’ll kill you.

(It’s a bit more complicated than that, but that’s the gist.)

This year, for our After Hours Event™ (it’s the reward for completing our summer challenge), we’re doing Five Nights at Freddy’s LIVE! The teens and I are very, very excited.

Of course, for those of you who are familiar with the game, we can’t emulate most of the first one, as it mostly involves tracking the characters on security cameras and slamming the door shut before they get you.  Subsequent games, however, use flashlights and a music box mechanic, which we can TOTALLY duplicate!

So here’s how we’re going to do it:

Up to five can play at a time: Freddy, Chica, Bonnie, Foxy, and the security guard. Each of the animatronics will don a headband that denotes which character they are.

Our teen room is a long rectangle, and has two doors on either end. I’ll be blocking the windows if need be, but I think it’ll be dark enough by the time we do this, around 8pm in mid-August. I don’t want it completely dark in the security guard’s ‘office’ – just enough to set the mood.  Outside the room, I’m going to fashion some ‘ventilation shafts’ using large boxes I’ve been hoarding. Bonnie and Chica will have to crawl through the boxes to get from door to door (if this doesn’t work, I’m going just make them run around the stacks to space out the attacks). They’ll knock outside the open door, then wait for a count of ten before entering the room.

IF the security guard gets to the door before the count of ten is over and closes it, the character can stay for another count of ten before heading through the ventilation system to the other door. As in the game, the security guard will have to keep the door shut until the character leaves. Keeping the door shut, however, drains your precious power faster – and causes Freddy to appear (he’ll be hiding behind one of the bookshelves). As soon as one door is shut, Freddy will begin counting. If he gets to thirty with one door shut, or fifteen with both doors closed, the Freddy jump scare is triggered.

IF the character gets into the room, the security guard must shine a flashlight for a count of ten to get them to run away.  Neither the guard nor the character can move while shining the flashlight – which means they can’t wind the music box or open the door, if need be.

A laptop or iPad will be set up with speakers at a table away from the doors, with this video providing the ‘music box.’ It’s a minute long, and once the music is stopped, Freddy will wait for a dwindling amount of time (beginning with 30 seconds and lessening by ten seconds each time) before jumping. Therefore, the security guard must keep the music ‘wound’ by refreshing the video. If enough time passes and the music box has not been wound, the Freddy jump scare is triggered. (I do, in fact, realize that the music box triggers the puppet, but that would require yet another person.)

But what about everyone’s favorite pirate, Foxy? Pirate’s Cove will be in one corner of the room, covered by a curtain. Every fifteen seconds, Foxy become more visible – first the curtain will open, then an arm, etc. As in the game, the security guard will need to occasionally ‘check in’ by shining a flashlight on Pirate’s Cove for a count of ten, thereby resetting Foxy to his original position. Thirty seconds later, the curtain opens again. If you forget to check Pirate’s Cove long enough, the Foxy jumpscare is triggered.

In order to win, the security has to make it through five minutes of this without triggering a jump scare. Then the teens trade places and move on!

Character cards for role clarification.

Do you have any suggestions for improvement? Let me know!

Are you sure you like teens?

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The following is the text of the LibChat (aka, library TEDTalk) that I gave at the 2016 Ohio Library Council Annual Convention and Expo. 

A microphone! They don’t usually let me have one of these. When I was in college, a work friend saw me pass outside the Wendy’s on High St and said to his friend, “That’s the loudest girl I know. She’s going to be a librarian.”

Of course, what he didn’t know and what I didn’t know is that I was going to be a teen librarian. The ability to be loud is pretty important in my line of work. I can be a pretty loud person, both vocally and personality-wise, but what most people don’t know is that I’m really quite an introvert, which is also helpful. While plenty of teens are rowdy, noisy, and excitable, an awful lot of my nerds are quiet and awkward – they need someone who can come down to their level when they need it.

And that’s what being a teen librarian is all about – doing what TEENS need. Absolutely everything is about them. And if you don’t like TEENS, you shouldn’t work with them.

When most people think about teen services, they immediately think of teen fiction, which, don’t get me wrong, is having an amazing moment. But my focus has to be on what THEY want to read, not what *I* like. I mean, my favorite book, teen fiction or otherwise, is Christina Meldrum’s MADAPPLE. It’s a beautiful coming-of-age story about a girl raised in isolation, filled with beautiful imagery about nutritional plants and virgin births in various religions throughout history, and just a dash of incest.

That’s sounds like an easy sell to an eighth-grader, right?

So while I have an interesting answer for every teen reader who asks me, ‘Hey Sarah, what’s your favorite book?” for the majority of my patrons, I need to have an understanding of what THEY want.

A few years ago, I kept seeing THE GIVER on lists of books to give to readers of THE HUNGER GAMES, and I don’t think that’s accurate. Hunger Games is a masterful work of storytelling that compels you to keep reading because every single chapter ends in a cliffhanger.

And while THE GIVER is an absolute masterpiece that every single person on this planet should read, it’s not the book to give to a kid who just sped through the non-stop action-adventure of THE HUNGER GAMES. They need another action-packed thriller to keep them reading, even if it’s not of the same caliber.

Because that’s how you create a reader.

I mean, everyone loves John Green. But once they’ve burned through his four and three-quarters books, I have to know what else to give them. And that’s where knowing teen culture comes along. And let’s face it – we have a problem in the library world, where we still put books first. We’re the gatekeepers of knowledge and culture. Those things exist in a variety of mediums, and always have.

I’m going to list a bunch of things. When you know what I’m talking about, I want you to raise your hand.

  • Michelle Phan
  • Good Mythical Morning
  • Gunnarolla
  • Hannah Hart
  • Rosana Pansino
  • Dan & Phil
  • Rooster Teeth
  • JackSepticEye
  • Zoella
  • Tyler Oakley
  • Markiplier
  • Pewdiepie
  • The Vlogbrothers… otherwise known as John & Hank Green… creators of free educational content being used in classrooms around the world…

If you didn’t raise your hand, congratulations. You’re out of touch with an entire generation.

That collection of people are Youtubers (and some of the biggest names at that). They are the movers and shakers of our culture for ages 30 and below. They are making movies, writing books, creating shows, and shaking the very foundations of traditional media. They’re connecting with their fans, raising money for charity, and creating genuine communities online. Millions of people around the world are tuning in to watch them each day.

Pewdiepie, the biggest Youtuber as of this moment, has 40 million subscribers. Network television would KILL for those sorts of numbers!

That’s one of the reasons why everything is being rebooted. Traditional media is desperate to reach this generation, so they’re going back to what they know worked before. I’m… not convinced it’s working, although most of my teens who saw it enjoyed the new Ghostbusters.

When I first became a teen librarian in 2007, I would frequently pair books with tv shows and movies for quick book recommendations. Now, I simply ask what they watch, and the answer is almost always ‘YouTube.’

Knowing what they like is a big part of the puzzle that helps you create programming and build collections. But it’s also a great way to prove to them that you care about what they care about. Teens are just beginning to discover what THEY like, and we as librarians have the power to legitimize those interests by simply having a bit of knowledge.

I had a young teen come in asking for THIS BOOK LOVES YOU and I immediately said, “Oh, the new book by Pewdiepie?” You should have seen his face when he found an ADULT who knew what he was talking about. It’s even better that I can continue the conversation by saying, ‘Pewdiepie is fine, but I personally prefer Markiplier and the Game Grumps.”

Asking if they saw the newest episode of Supernatural when you spot the Winchester tattoo doodled on their notebook means that you can have a conversation and create a connection. That in turn makes it a whole lot easier to demand good behavior – because they know you’re on their side.

Recognizing the red shirt with the yellow star from STEVEN UNIVERSE means that I know it exists. It’s a cartoon with lots of queer-friendly content, and that goes a long way to reaching a teen who possibly feels alone everywhere else.

You don’t have to be an expert on these things, but you do have to stop at Hot Topic and see which fandoms are in right now. Which music videos are they listening to while they check their Facebook? Which shows are on the CW, MTV, Cartoon Network, and FreeForm? All these things go a long, long way to connecting with an audience that is notoriously hard to reach.

Because again, the biggest part of the job is the teens themselves.

I often like to tell people that my job is a mix of bookstore manager, pop culture guru, party planner, and social worker/therapist. I’m somewhere between teacher and cool much-older stepsister.

Teens need someone like that in their lives. Most kids have that person: a youth pastor, soccer coach, drama club advisor. But for the kids who aren’t involved in those sorts of activities, I’m their person.

I’m often among the first they come out to; someone who they can trust to use the name and pronoun they prefer without question or judgement.

They come to me with questions about STDs. I know which of them are sexually active (and yes, I remind them to use protection).

They respond to ‘What’s going on?’ With a plea for advice on what to do now that his girlfriend is pregnant. He’s excited to be the father he never had, but she’s thinking about terminating the pregnancy, and he’s panicking about it. What would you say to him?

I know who has learned to ‘play the game,’ becoming a different person depending on the group they’re in so they can better navigate the moods at home.

I watch them return home when the college financial aid dance becomes too complicated and life on campus alone gets too scary without the support system so many people take for granted. Home might not be great, but at least it’s familiar.

I know which of them suffer from emotional abuse and avoid being at home as much as possible, often skipping meals to do so and walking long miles to get to the safety of Teen Central.

I suspect who’s being physically abused, based on the hoodies and jeans being worn during one of the hottest summers I can remember. I put the suicide hotline number in their hands after I notice what they were looking at online, asking no other questions.

They leave me notes that say things like ‘hey girlie miss you lol’ a few weeks before shooting their abusive father in the head at 2 in the morning while he slept. I hadn’t seen her in months.

There’s nothing that can prepare you for this part of the job, other than love for the kids. Yeah, being a teen librarian is filled with movie premiere parties, the latest social media app, the newest Five Nights at Freddy’s game and tons of nerdy, awesome laughter, but it is also a heartbreaking experience, one shared by all of your teen librarians.

And if you don’t like these noisy, smelly, emotional creatures, please, stay out of my profession. Thank you.

 

Ahoy there, Teen Think Tankers!

These presentations were a part of the Teen Think Tank Event on September 19 at the Lima Public Library. In the interest of wanting to share with my fellow teen librarians, and to save some trees, I’ve made the resources available here.

Avast! The All-Important Hand Out!

Yo-Ho-Ho (& a bottle of whaddya mean you’re not into that anymore?)
Powerpoint // Slides PDF

Shiver me timbers, that’s AMAZING: Teen programs under $25
(adapted from Do More With Less)
Powerpoint // Slides PDF

Supplemental sources:
>> Live & Let Spy: Trivia, Caesar cipher, Morse code, & Running key cipher
>> Superheroes vs Villains Ultimate Showdown: Trivia // Challenge sheet
>> Night of the Ninja: Trivia
>> Doctor Who: Trivia through Time and Space
>> Mortal Instruments: City of Bones trivia
>> Supernatural Survival Skills 101: Trivia
>> Divergent: Trivia

Note: I don't have the answers for most trivia (sorry!), but all answers can be found online. Also, all Powerpoints include fancy, aptly-themed fonts, but if you search online for the font, you can easily install it. While playing the game, to return to the question grid, click the shape in the corner.