A while ago I shared with you a review of It’s a Bird, from a graphic novel review newsletter I write for my library system called Getting Graphic.  It has been a little longer between reviews than I had planned, but today I am back with two more reviews for you.  The first review is a newer title that you should definitely be aware of and the second is an older title, and is perhaps my favorite graphic novel of all time.  I will continue to post more titles here each month or so, but if you want a little more please check out the newsletter itself and feel free to subscribe if you so desire.

The Plain Janes
By: Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg

When Jane was knocked off her feet by a nearby terrorist attack in Metro City her parents decide it is time to leave.  The family moves a long way from the city to a suburban town called Kent Waters.  Jane hates it there, until she forms a secret club called People Loving Art In Neighborhoods, or simply P.L.A.I.N.   The group, which is made up of four less than popular girls, all named Jane, attempts to create meaning both for themselves and for their town by creating renegade art projects throughout the community.  While some folks seem to love the art provided by P.L.A.I.N. the community as a whole begins to fear it and starts to investigate these “crimes” very seriously.  The Plain Janes is the first of a variety of graphic novels put out by MINX, an imprint of D.C. comics that is aimed at teenage girls.  It is fun and quirky, and will certainly appeal to its intended audience, as well any adult, female or male, who can remember what it is like to be a teenager trying to find his or her way through life.

Blankets
By: Craig Thompson

At a very expansive 592 pages, Blankets has the space to cover a lot of material.  In this novel, the author relates his childhood, telling readers about his family, which consists of two very religious and strict parents as well as a younger brother who is at times the companion in his adventures but can also double as his mortal enemy.  His bizarre family life and childhood are the reasons that he often feels ostracized from his peers until he meets Raina, who soon becomes his first love. This is a coming of age tale, much akin in style to J.D. Salinger’s classic The Catcher in the Rye.  Often, Heralded as one of the best ever graphic novels and as one of the first great examples of the genre, Blankets has a lot to live up to.  Readers will not, however, be disappointed in this choice, even if they go in with the highest of expectations.  This is one title that any graphic novel fan should be aware of, and is a great title for a first exposure to the genre.

Previously I posted about what I have planned for Teen Read Week at my library and I asked what you have planned.  Today I am back with the first few responses.

Kimberly, a Teen Services Librarian from the Kingston Frontenac Public Library writes:

We usually put up dispays and have our municipalities declare Teen Read Week.  This year, we are also holding a teen membership drive throughout the week.  We will be holding a drawing at the end of the week, and the winner will get an iPod Nano Video.  Teens will get a ballot if they:

1. register for a library card
2. bring a friend who registers for a library card
3. use their library card to borrow materials or a book an internet station
4. visit the library’s teen website

There is no limit to the number of ballots they can recieve (other than, of course, they may only register for one card themselves!).

Molly, Associate Director of the Guthrie Memorial Library wrote:

In conjunction with Teen Read Week, a nationwide initiative by libraries to encourage teens to read for fun and discover their local libraries, the Guthrie Memorial Library - Hanovers Public Library and the York County Library System will welcome Robin Brande, author of Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature (Knopy Books for Young Readers, September 2007) for events in York County October 12-13, 2007.

York County’s Teen Read Week celebration is now in its fourth year.  Controversy surrounding the teaching of evolution in schools in Dover, Pennsylvania (kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District) in 2005 makes Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature an especially timely and important choice for York County.

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature tells the story of a ninth grade girl who has been ostracized by her friends and her church for doing the right thing.  She faces many tough decision during her freshman year: social pressure, parental relationships, faith, romantic relationshiops, and sense of self.  When her science teacher begins a unit on evolution, things get out of hand as Mena struggles to find a way to reconcile her faith and religion with science.

The book has already been selected as one of the Young Adult Library Services Association’s Best Books for Young Adults for 2007.  Additionally, Borders has chosen Brande as an Original Voice for September.

Brande will be part of a local initiative called One Book, Every Freshman, where she will speak to ninth grade students at area high schools who have read her book.  Nearly 500 copies of the book will be given away in conjunction with participating schools in preparation for Brande’s visits on Friday, October 12 to Hanover High School and Delone Catholic High School.  This program, based on the One Book, One Community model, will bring reading as a collaborative activity to high school students, as well as introduce them to a fresh voice in young adult literature.

Also on Friday, October 12, Brande will visit Dover Area High School for programming with drama and language arts students.

On Saturday, October 13, Brande will do a talk and signing at the Borders store on Whiteford Road in York, Pa at nooon, and then will be headlining at the York County Library System Teen Read Week Kickoff event at 5:00 pm at the Guthrie Memorial Library - Hanovers Public Library in Hanover, PA.

So what are you planning?

If you would like to share what your library has planned please send an email to jberns89@gmail.com with TRW in the subject line.  Include in the email a short description of your events, and make sure to let me know if you do not want me to mention your name or what library you work for.  As always, feel free to post information about your events in the comments as well.

Last year we posted a series about Teen Read Week.  The point of the series was for you, the readers, to share both with us and with each other what your plans were for TRW.  This was a good opportunity for all of us to share our excitement with each other, all while creating a resource for librarians who might be having trouble coming up with plans of their own.  Seeing as how everyone enjoyed sharing last year, I thought we could do it again this year for the TRW theme of LOL @ your library, which takes place October 14-20.

So, I will get us started by sharing what my library will be doing for TRW.  After that I am relying on you guys to tell me what you’re doing.  Email me at jberns89@gmail.com with a paragraph or two about what you are doing (programs, school visits, contests, etc…) and include TRW in the subject line.  I will try and post a few ideas every couple of days as I get them.  If you want me to post your email or other info about you so people can contact you with questions about the programs let me know.  I will try to post a first name and library for each person if it is given to me, unless you ask me not to.

We have a few things planed for TRW this year at my library, the first being a school visit.  I will be going into our local high school with one other staff member to book talk a bunch of books and plug a few of our programs.  Last year we talked to most of the freshman class as they cycled through the English classroom and while I am not exactly sure what the school has planned for us this year I suspect it will be something similar. 

While we are book talking in the schools we will be handing out a coupon, which students can bring in to our library in order to receive a free book, while supplies last.  This treat is provided for us thanks to our friends of the library group who are going to buy us 50 or 60 paperback books.  I have picked out 6 or 7 titles and these will be both the books we book talk and the books we give away.

Finally we will be hosting a comedy program called Laugh Out Loud.  We have a professional comedian, Dwayne L. Gill, who will be coming in to give a stand up comedy workshop to our teens.  I will, of course, be trying to drum up as large of an audience for this event as I can while I am at the school.

So, that is what my library has planned, what about yours? Email me at jberns89@gmail.com with a short description of your plans and don’t forget to include TRW in the subject line.  Feel free to mention your plans in the comments as well, or better yet, once your event has happened use the comments to tell us about how it went.

About 1 year ago I wrote a post about the then soon to be released Nintendo Wii and what benefits it would have over other systems for library gaming.  Having now owned a Wii for about 6 months and having used it at my library a time or two, I thought it would be fun to revisit the post to point out a few reasons that this system is a great choice for library programming.

             Before the release of the Wii I speculated that it would be a great system for libraries because it would appeal to many ages and I stand by that thought now that it is out.  One of the things that Nintendo has done with the Wii is create a system that is accessible to every one, from a young child, to the elderly, because it relies heavily on natural physical movements and less on the mashing of buttons, which can be unnatural to someone who does not have much gaming experience.  In addition to creating a system that could be fun for everyone, Nintendo also seems to be doing a good job putting out games for it that appeal to anyone.  From simple games like Wii Sports, to more complicated games like Trauma Center: Second Opinion, there are games for both the casual and hard core gamers alike, and gamers of any age.   So, in addition to being a great draw to get teens into your library, this system can also be used for events with a younger crowd.  Better yet, it might be a perfect system to use if the teens in your library would like to help introduce their parents, or even grandparents, to video gaming.

             Another great thing about the Wii is that there seem to be two reasons that make it a great choice for social gaming.  First is the fact that it is a physical experience.  Games like Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero have become very popular with libraries because it is fun to have a game that gets you moving, and it is also very fun to watch someone play a game that gets them moving.  Nintendo has capitalized on that by making movement a central part of almost every game for the Wii.  You can have 4 people lined up next to each other, each swinging the remotes like a tennis racket, while the characters on the screen engage in a heated doubles match.  Afterwards everyone could take a turn using the controller like a fishing rod and hopefully real in a large catch.  Not only is this a ton of fun to do, but it is also very fun, or better yet funny, to watch. The second reason is that many of the games that Nintendo makes are often meant to be played with numerous people.  This has been a big draw for earlier Nintendo systems and it continues to be the same for the Wii as well.  There are games like Mario Stikers Charged or WarioWare Smooth Moves, which are already out, as well as the soon to be released Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which is sure to be a huge multiplayer hit.  Either way, because of both the style of play, and the type of games, Nintendo has hit the nail on the head when it comes to social gaming, a fact that their advertising is often quick to point out.

             There is also a temporary reason that makes the Wii a great choice for library gaming.  This is the simple fact that is still very hard to get your hands on one.  When stores do actually get this system in stock they still sell out very quickly.  This means that if the library can somehow get its hands on one, there will be plenty of people who want to come experience it because they can not get their own.  This is a lot easier said than done, but if you happen to find one somewhere, or if you have a staff member who owns one and is willing to bring it in I would highly recommend doing so.  At our last videogame night I brought mine in and every one, teens and parents alike, was very interested in trying it out.

One last reason that the Wii is such a good choice for the library is its price point.  The Wii retails at $250 dollars, which includes a game called Wii Sports, as opposed to the Sony Playstation 3 which retails at $499 and up.  The Microsoft Xbox 360 has recently come down in price, but it still generally costs $299 for the core system.  All three systems have similar prices for games and controllers depending on which ones you choose to buy.  So, when considering the ever tightening budgets that libraries have, the savings of anywhere from $50 to $250 can be a big deal.

So, all in all, if your library is looking to purchase a video game system to use for programming, I highly recommend the Nintendo Wii.  It is a very fun system, which is sure to draw a big crowd at your next gaming night.  For more info on the system or the games check out the Nintendo website, IGN, or an Avatars Reflection, which is where Jami Schwarzwalder, an active library blogger and video game enthusiast reviews games for the Wii.

Recently I stared writing a graphic novel reader’s newsletter for my library system called Getting Graphic. In it I usually mention about 5 or 6 titles, some of which are newer titles while others are past favorites that I feel everyone should be aware of. I will be posting one or two of these reviews here every month, but feel free to check out the newsletter, or subscribe to it, if you would like to read about the rest of the titles. For now I will leave you with today’s review, which falls under the category of older favorite everyone should be aware of.

It’s a Bird…
Writer: Steven T. Seagle
Artist: Teddy Kristiansen

This fascinating story about Superman depicts the Man of Steel in a whole new light. Seagle’s partially autobiographical story follows the life of a comic writer named Steve as he wrestles with the decision to start writing for Superman. This decision should not be hard as Superman is the Mecca of any comic writer’s world, however for Steve this is not the case. Steve is dealing with a dark family secret, which relates to his own mortality. His secret causes him to think Superman, with his infinite powers and near invincibility, is a ridiculous character that he can not relate to. This turmoil provides the basis for a very touching and real Superman story. Steve’s thoughts and actions throughout provide a wonderful insight into the world of comics and writing in general. Teddy Kristiansen’s understated art style also lends a wonderful touch to this must read story. This novel would be recommended for anyone who enjoys Superman stories, as well as those who simply enjoy a penetrating and personal graphic novel.

Recently my library system decided to start a YA blog.  Previously we did not have much of an online presence for our teens and this will hopefully mark a change in the right direction.   We have it ready, but we will not be officially launching it until the end of the summer.  I wanted to share some of our goals and thoughts behind the blog so they might aide other librarians, but also so those of you who already have one can advise us on what will and won’t work.  So let the comments fly.

            In regards to content, we decided we wanted to model it after a blog called The Atrium.  The Atrium is the blog for the Grand Rapids Public Library system and it is one of my favorite library blogs.  The thing we liked about The Atrium was that the bloggers discuss more than just books and events.  They talk about anything on their minds, from the weather, to knitting, and everything in between.   Then they find a way to tie it to the library.  I have seen a lot of teen blogs that talk about programs and or books, but not too many that go beyond those topics.  We wanted something a little more versatile so we could talk about the things that really interest our teens.  We plan to write about anything and everything, from sports, to music, movies, or books.  Basically anything that interests us and would interest our teens.

            This then presented a small problem.  How do we make this blog applicable to the library if we are not necessarily talking about library events or items?  Well we have two answers to that.  The first is that almost every topic we could write about can be tied to the library.  If we write about the latest movie in the theatres, we can link to our catalog showing some movies we carry with those actors.  We could write about playing fantasy baseball and give a plug for a new sports book, or mention an upcoming program with a local athlete.  Secondly we decided that every other blog entry should directly tie to a library item or event.  This should not be hard, because, as mentioned above, almost anything can be tied to our collection or programs. It does, however, provide a reason for us to stay on task and it also helps us defend the blog if our board or administration is skeptical about its purpose.

            So, we have our content ideas ready, what about commenting?  We were unsure what, if any, rules we wanted to have for commenting.  After consulting the 12 laws every blogger should know found on the Aviva Directory and reading the comment guidelines on a variety of other blogs, we came up with the following guidelines, which will appear on the comment form.

• Please use appropriate language.
• For your safety, comments containing or requesting personal information, including phone numbers, will be deleted.
• Feel free to speak your mind, but please be respectful to others; offensive and inappropriate comments will be deleted.
• Comments are moderated; CADL is not responsible for the content of posted comments.
• CADL reserves the right to delete comments at any time for any reason; comments not directly related to the discussion will be deleted.

Most of these guidelines are probably not necessary but we wanted to make sure that we had the right to moderate the comments if a need were to arise.  They basically just give us the right to not post a comment, or to delete a comment, and they explain why we might do that.

            That is where we are right now.  The blog is ready to launch and we are simply waiting on a name.  We have decided that a fun way to launch the blog would be to have a contest, in conjunction with our summer reading program, to name it.  For the next month or so our teens will hopefully be emailing us possible names.  The winner will receive a gift card for a book store, in addition to having the name selected for the blog.

            Hopefully these ideas help any other folks out there starting a blog.  I would love to hear from those of you who have been running a teen blog for a while now.  What has worked for you and what hasn’t?  What do you write about?  Do you moderate comments at all?  And of course how have you attracted your teens to it?

It’s been a while since I have had the time to post, but there have been a number of things that I have discovered about recently, which I would like to share just in case some of you don’t know about them.

The first of these is the Summer Blog Blast Tour, which was organized by Colleen Mondor, the brainchild of Chasing Ray.  This tour consists of a number of interviews with assorted children’s and YA authors, which will take place all week on a variety of lit blogs.  It kicked off on Sunday with an interview of Gene Yang, the author of American Born Chinese, on Finding Wonderland: The Writing YA Weblog.  It will go throughout this whole week and will feature many authors including a few of my favorites like Chris Crutcher, Kazu Kibuishi, and Brent Hartinger.  I would highly recommend going over to Chasing Ray for a peek at the schedule to see what authors you like and where you can find their interviews. Also, thanks to Colleen for putting all this together.

Next I need to mention a phenomenon that I am sure most of you are already aware of, but I just discovered it a few weeks ago so I feel the need to mention it.  The phenomenon that I speak of is called Brotherhood 2.0.  This is a video blog run by John Green, author of Looking for Alaska, and his brother Hank Green who is the creator of a great environmental technology blog called Ecogeek.  The purpose of this vlog is for the brothers Green to avoid textual communication for the entire year and to therefore communicate largely by use of these videos.  Every week day there is a new entry and they are all quite hilarious.  They also give an interesting view into the lives of these two brothers.  This is especially interesting for YA librarians since John is an award winning YA author.  You actually get to see some intimate moments detailing his experiences in the world of YA lit.  The site has developed an extremely large audience, so I am assuming that many of you are already regular viewers, but if you aren’t you should give it a look.  You won’t be disappointed.  I would however suggest starting with the early archives from the first week or two just so you have an idea of what the site is about.

Although it has already been mentioned over on the Yalsa Blog I felt it was time to throw in my support for the new Myspace Channel called Impact. This is a very interesting new channel, which provides myspacers with links to the myspace pages of presidential candidates as well as a link to a page that will help someone register to vote online. There are other things the page offers, such news, videos, and more, which relates to making an impact in the world.

Channels like this could have a big impact on our youth. It gives politicians a means to try and reach an age group they hadn’t previously been able to communicate with very well. Now a teenager can simply get on myspace to read about candidate’s issues, and even comment on the page or send a message with a question to them. Even better, this has the potential of spreading quickly because every teen that is interested in a candidate or issue, can add links to their profile, include that candidate as a friend, or mention it in their blog. For more info about the channel and the impact it could have check out this recent NY Times article.

So what does this mean for us as librarians? Well, as librarians obviously we should be excited about anything that helps provide information to the people who need it. So something that connects youth and political information should be worth a look. There are a lot of ways we can try to get the word out about this source. Link to it on your websites, mention it in your blog, have a program centered on politics for youth, or even create a bookmark or pathfinder with political info for your teens. If you have a myspace, mention it there and add a banner for the register to vote page. Also, when you are talking with your teens simply mention that you saw this cool new site. This is a great new site which goes along with other resources such as Rock the Vote, which we need to be encouraging our youth to check out. Don’t forget many of our 16 year olds right now will be eligible to vote in the next election.

This past year I have been taking part in a variety of fantasy sports leagues for the first time. I started with a fantasy baseball league last spring and now I am hooked. I learned that in addition to being very fun fantasy leagues are often free. So why not create some sort of library program around a fantasy league for the teens in the library.

This would be a very easy thing to do. You can find these leagues through a variety of sources such as Yahoo, ESPN, CBS, as well as a host of other places, and as I mentioned above, many of them are free. The librarian would have to establish the league and act as commissioner, which means they control the league settings and rules. Then it is simply a matter of getting an email address for any teen that wants to play and inviting them to join the league. This is all that is necessary to have a fun ongoing program throughout the season of whatever sport you are using.

There is however a lot more that could be added to make this even more fun. The commissioner can choose any type of draft they want for the league. This could simply be an automated random draft. However it can also be a live draft. Live drafts can take two forms. One has nothing to do with computers, the players would all simply meet together and choose their fantasy players and then the commissioner can send in the information. Perhaps the best way, however, is an online draft. All the players simply need to log on to the fantasy league at the same time and they can participate in the draft. The computer will automatically pick the best available players for anyone who can’t find the time to get to a computer during the draft. So why not host a live draft using the computers at your library. Invite everybody in the league to come in and draft their players live. You could offer food, and even have sports magazines and books available for people to use for research.

One other thought would be to have a local professional athlete come in for the event. I live in Michigan, so I think it would be great to have one of the younger players on the Tigers come in to talk about what it is like to become a major league baseball player, or their experience playing in the World Series. This athlete visit could be great before or after the draft. It would be even more fun if you could somehow convince the athlete to take part in the fantasy league, although I would admit this idea might be a little far fetched.

These are just a few of many great ideas that could surround a fun fantasy sports league for your library. It could be a great opportunity to draw in some high school athletes who, do to time constraints, are often hard to get into the library. If anybody out there has used a fantasy league for programming please leave me a comment as I would love to hear about it. I hope to try this in the spring for the next baseball season and more ideas would be very helpful.

During the month of October a group of YALSA Bloggers spent time looking at social networking sites. Everyday they added a new post talking about a new site or group of sites and how libraries or schools can positively use them. If you missed these posts I suggest you check out the recently released pdf, which includes all of them.

Anyway, I wanted to take a second to mention a few other sites that I think are a lot of fun and have some good potential for libraries. The first site I want to mention is www.bookcrossing.com . According to the site, and also now the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, a bookcrossing is “n. the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.” If you’re still confused as to what Bookcrossing is then the “3 Rs” of Bookcrossing should help.

1. Read a good book (you already know how to do that)
2. Register it here (along with your journal comments), get a unique BCID (BookCrossing ID number), and label the book
3. Release it for someone else to read (give it to a friend, leave it on a park bench, donate it to charity, “forget” it in a coffee shop, etc.), and get notified by email each time someone comes here and records a journal entry for that book. And if you make Release Notes on the book, others can Go Hunting for it and try to find it!

Basically the idea is to create a worldwide library and to share books. This has potential for some real fun programming that could promote reading. You could host a program, or maybe try combining it with a Teen Advisory Board meeting, that involves teens bringing in a book to label and write a journal entry for. Then you send them all out into the community to release the books. From there you simply keep track of the books online and see what happens to them. Or better yet, the librarian can release a bunch of books into various places in the community and record where they are on the site. Then your teens can use the hunting feature to go find them and read them. If you can think of a more fun way to get teens excited about reading a good book than a community wide scavenger hunt I would like to hear it.

The next site I want to mention is a little more obscure and does not apply to libraries quite as directly but it is my personal favorite social networking site so indulge me. It is called Frolf Caddy. According to the creator “Frolf Caddy is a user driven disc golf community, which aims to bring frolf players together.” For those unfamiliar with it disc golf is a sport very similar to regular golf except you throw discs or Frisbees toward a basket rather than hit golf balls toward a hole. Basically Frolf Caddy is a website where disc golf players meet online to share scores, courses, stories, and anything else disc golf related. The site will keep track of all your scores every time you play and give you all sorts of stats so you can analyze your game as well as compare it to your friends. So how does this apply to your library? Well that depends on your community, if you don’t live near any disc golf courses then it doesn’t, but chances are there are at least a few courses near your area and you can use the sites course locator to find out. If that’s the case why not have a program based around Frisbee golf for your teens. You can have a local player come in to talk about the game, the equipment and of course the site. Or if you know some of your teens are frolfers then simply tell them about the site, they are bound to love it. Be creative, there are many ways you could use this site if you think your teens would find it interesting. If you are still unsure trust me, it is huge across the country, especially among high school and college students so use the site to find a player in your community and see if they have any ideas.

The main thing that you should learn, both from the Yalsa pdf, and from my rantings on social networking sites is that they come in many different varieties and they have many possible applications for your library. They don’t need to be a scary or foreign thing; they are simply online communities for people who share interests such as books, disc golf, or anything else. So, find a site that would be interesting to your teens, explore it, and find a way to use it at your library.

The end of Teen Read Week is approaching quick, and I hope that it has been a successful week for all of the libraries out there that have been participating. For the last two weeks or so we have been posting a series of ideas for TRW. Librarians from across the country have emailed in the plans for their libraries and they have been posted here. Following is the last of those emails.

Michelle, a Librarian at a Junior High School in IL writes:

“This is what I am putting on the website for my students:
All Week
-Try the daily trivia question (posted at 6:00 a.m.) on Mrs. Glatt’s blog, Mission:READ @ http://cjhsimc.edublogs.org. Write a comment with your answer. All comments will be held until 6:00 p.m. and everyone with correct answer gets in a drawing to win Freshen’s smoothies, shakes, etc.
-Pick up a Halloween coloring sheet in the IMC and enter our “coloring contest.” All entries are due by 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Two “most creative” artists in each grade will win Ben and Jerry’s ice cream pints, to be distributed at lunch on Friday.
-Melancholy Monday
Help us celebrate THE END of the Series of Unfortunate Events. Check out at least one book and get an eyeball tattoo, just like Count Olaf. Enter a drawing to win a copy of THE END, book 13 (and the last?) in the series; winner announced Tuesday Morning.
-Timer to Read Tuesday
If you are checking out a book in the IMC when our timer rings, you win a free Monical’s personal pizza.
-Weird Wednesday
Come to the IMC at 8:00 a.m. and listen to some strange stories read aloud by Mrs. Glatt.
-Thank Goodness it’s Thursday
Have an overdue book? Turn it in today and the fines will magically disappear.
-Fine Arts Friday
“Coloring” contest winners will be displayed and announced, and winners will get their Ben and Jerry’s.”

Thanks again to everyone who wrote in over the last few weeks with their plans. I want to encourage you to use the comment feature on the posts to let us all know how your programs, events, and promotions went. Good luck to everyone who still has something going on for the last two days of TRW. If you missed out on some of the earlier posts feel free to check out the original post and updates #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5.

For the last week or so I have been posting the TRW plans of various libraries across the country as they have been sent in to me. We are now three days into TRW and I hope that things are progressing smoothly for all of you out there in library land. If we posted something about your library please feel free to let us all know how everything that was posted about went via the post comments. The following are TRW plans for two more libraries.

Sally, a Youth Services Librarian in KY wrote in saying:

“Here is what we’re doing for Teen Read Week:
*Movie Marathon (we’re showing Batman Begins, The Chronicles of Narnia and Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Event…the kids in this area are all off school the day of the marathon)
*Survivor : Dragon Island (based on TV’s “Survivor”)
*Whose Line Is It? (based on TV’s comedy improv show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”)
*Dance Dance Revolution party
Also, throughout the first part of October teens can submit a form, which includes their information and their favorite book. The form will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win two prizes. We are giving away 4 $25 gift certificates to the local mall (one for each of our system’s branches) as well as 1 $100 gift certificate to Best Buy. The most popular books will then be put on a bookmark. This is our variation of YALSA’s Teens Top Ten.
For promotion we asked a local middle school’s STLP (Student Technology Leadership Program) to help us put together a DVD to show to local schools. My co-worker and I put together a bare bones script then the group did all the directing, filming and editing and it turned out fantastic! It is definitely something we’ll be doing again.
We’re all really looking forward to the events; it’s going to be a fun week!”

Laura, a librarian at the Camden Library in MI writes:

“Camden Twp. Library is hosting a Teen Game Night on Oct. 14th to kick-off Teen Read Week. (We can’t do activities during the week with teens due to school sports conflicts.) Our TGNs have become very popular. They are held after regular library hours. We have board games and card games, music to listen to, and snacks to share. Most of the kids just enjoy time to get together and chat. It’s a time of no TV, video games or computers - just teens getting together to hang out.
We began a Teen Advisory Council last spring and they are the ones who suggested TGNs. We have held 3 so far - each one brings more teens in and lasts longer. In fact, at summer reading close, we did a TGN Lock-In - it was great!!”

Thanks again to everyone who has sent in there plan for TRW. There are still one or two more emails that I will post this week. If anyone else out there still wants to get their libraries plans shared they can email me at jberns89@gmail.com and I will try to get it up before the end of the week. Otherwise good luck to you all as the week continues and make sure you also check out the original post and updates #1, #2, #3, and #4.

Teen Read Week is officially upon us. Today many of you will be hosting programs or beginning weeklong promotions. While you’re doing that you can check here to continue reading about what other libraries will be doing. Here are a few more TRW plans I have received over the last few days.

Margaret, a Youth Services Librarian in Algonquin, IL writes:

I just started my professional career when I started at the Eastgate Branch of the Algonquin Area Public Library District about six weeks ago! I did not have a lot of lead time to put together a program, and am just beginning to develop contacts in the community. Fortunately the YA librarian at the main library is very helpful, and has many wonderful programs that can be promoted during TRW. So I got creative. I am making several displays, one of them a magnetic poetry display for teens to play with, which will tie in to promoting Eclectic Café, our monthly poetry group. In addition, a handful of books used in the TRW display will be secretly marked (in the item record) so that when they are checked out, the circ staff is notified to give the patron a prize: Gift certificates to Best Buy! In addition, the Teen Advisory Board is running a contest for teen programming ideas, with prizes (Barnes and Noble Gift certificates) for suggestions that get selected. I am putting out a ton of literature directed at getting teens active at the library—promoting the TAB, poetry night, etc. And my book display will feature books that promote other activities, like volunteering, yoga, crafts, study skills, activism, cooking for teens, etc. The graphic artist at the library made up special posters and flyers as well. It’s not much, but maybe next year when I get to know the kids better, or with the help of the TAB, I will do some programming.

Karen, a librarian from St. Louis Co Library, MO wrote in saying:

At the Jamestown Bluffs branch of the St. Louis Co Library we are having Dragon Fever! All week the teens have a Drawing Contest. The teens pick up an application and design a dragon. It can be funny, serious, or unusual. Use imagination and have fun! They can win a dragon prize.

Mon Oct 16, at 7pm
The teens will come and paint and design a pewter dragon to take home. Registration is required with a limit of 20. Age 12-18
Sat Oct 21, 2pm
Teen Week presents “Dragonheart“. This movie will make you believe! The last dragon and a disillusioned dragon slaying knight must cooperate to stop an evil king. (103 min) Starring Dennis Quaid and Sean Connery. Refreshments and door prizes. Ages 12-18. Sign up at the desk.

It sounds like we have a whole lot of very different and creative ideas out there that will be employed this week. I am very impressed by the variety programs, promotions, and ideas I have received over the last week or two and I have more yet to post. Good luck to everybody with the beginning of the weeks events. If you haven’t already read them feel free to go back and look at the ideas in the original post and updates #1, #2, and #3, and stay tuned for more ideas.

Here are a few more of the wonderful TRW ideas, which some of you have sent in to me. If you haven’t read the original post that started this off check it out here.

Phyllis, a High School Media Specialist writes:

“I will be giving one point credit slips for each time a student accomplishes one of the five tasks. The student needs to sign his/her name to the slip and turn it in to me.

1. Every time a book is checked out he/she will receive 1 point.

2. All the adults in school will be on the lookout for anyone reading anything that is not a class assignment. When a student is found, the adult will give a one point credit slip.

3. When a student recommends a book and fills out the form to tell me why he/she wants a friend to read this book, a credit slip will be given.

4. There will be a “Who Am I” Contest. I will put up the poster of Q’orianka Kilcher. Every entry will receive a credit slip.

5. I have started two new sections in the library, a new books display and a book’s of interest to teen’s area. Any student that can discover the two new things will get 1 credit slip.

The following Monday I will have the slips tallied and will be handing out prizes. The more entries one makes the bigger the prize.

Last year the students enjoyed when I did “Find the Book”. I gave clues each day in the daily announcements and I had the clues printed in the library. I gave five clues for each book. Each day was a different book. When the student found the book I gave a bookmark.”

Judy Nelson, a librarian at the Pierce County Library in WA and current president of YALSA sent us a press clipping for her library that says:

“Suburban Times

Oct. 5, 2006

Teenagers get active @ PC Libraries

Teenagers Get Active @ Your Pierce County Library, is the theme for this year’s national teen read week at all Pierce County Libraries, Friday, Oct. 13-Saturday, Oct. 21.

“Reading can be active, and with many teens the more they are active, the better readers they are or can become,” said Judy Nelson, coordinator of youth services for Pierce County Library System. “We want to get teens in the libraries and reading. With fun, interactive activities we hope to bring them in.”

This year’s teen read week is all about getting active—a combination to get kids reading and healthy. Pierce County Library plans to get teens musical, literary, drawing and physical. All libraries will highlight teen reading throughout the week and eight libraries will offer free programs.

Get musical —Lakewood Pierce County Library, 6300 Wildaire Rd. S.W., Friday, Oct. 13, 7 p.m.—Bloodhag in concert. This regionally acclaimed heavy metal band’s music encourages reading.

Get literary — University Place Pierce County Library, 7315 27th St. W., Suite D, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 7 p.m.—Panel discussion with teen book club. Local author Randall Platt will meet with University Place teens to read and discuss their favorite poems. Participants are encouraged to bring their favorite poems, songs, jokes and other writings to read and discuss.

Refreshments will be offered at all programs. Registration may be required for some programs; teens should contact library branches for details.”

Thanks again to all who have contributed to this series by sending in their TRW plans. There are more posts yet to come so stay tuned, and if you have an idea you want to share send a short blurb to me at jberns89@gmail.com. If you haven’t already read them check out the ideas in the original post and updates #1 and #2

A few days ago I posted about what my library is doing for TRW and I asked all of you to email me at jberns89@gmail.com with a short paragraph or two about what your libraries are doing for it. As of yesterday morning I only had one response to post but all of the sudden I got five or six more so I will post a few today, a few tomorrow, and I will keep going as long as people keep sending them in or until TRW is done. Here we go.

Randa, a Media Specialist from Sumter, SC wrote in saying:

“I am trying a new experiment for Teen Read Week. Are you familiar with Bookcrossing? It is an “open” world-wide library. Book lovers register books on bookcrossing.com and receive a unique bookcrossing number akin to an ISBN for that book. They then mention where the book is “released” and the person who finds the book is to do the same. This way the book’s travels can be traced throughout the world! The books can be tracked by title, city, or bookcrosser.

We will adopt the strategy to limit the “travels” to our school campus. It will be fun to track the travels from room to room, grade to grade, and the related Arts areas. If the books travel outside our school, who cares as long as they are read! This promises to be a fun way to promote and encourage teens to explore books.”

John, a Teen Librarian at the Franklin Township Public Library in NJ, writes:

“I have Libba Bray coming in for a reading/discussion about her series of books that currently includes A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY and REBEL ANGELS (she just turned the third book into her publisher) on Tuesday October 17.

Then on Thursday, October 19, we are going to make an 8-page zine out of one sheet of paper. I publish a sci fi zine called Electric Velocipede, and I saw a cool Flickr photo set showing how to take one sheet of paper and make an 8-page zine out of it. Since I have a background in zine-making (and there’s the cool book: Whatcha Mean, What’s a Zine? : The Art of Making Zines and Mini Comics) I thought this was a good match. I was going to spend the week making a zine, but this will be better since we can get it done in one evening. Here’s the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elizabethgenco/sets/72157594276405114/. She also gives a link to the PDF of the files used in the examples. I’ve made some blank templates in Publisher (and printed them out) so the teens can use the blanks and make one unique zine with cut-outs from magazines and catalogs, or we can make one electronically and make multiple copies of the same thing.

This last one is actually found in a zine published by Megan Johnson, a Teen Services Librarian at the Rochester Hills Public Library in MI. I received a copy of the Zine at The Michigan Library Association Conference yesterday during a wonderful seminar she gave on getting teens into the library, which I hope to mention more at a later date. Any way, here is what her zine says about TRW:

“This year’s theme for Teen Read Week is Get Active @ Your Library. We have several events planned for this year’s events, including DDR night and Capture the Flag on Saturday, September 21, from 5:30-7pm. You will need to register for capture the flag if you want to play. If you have not already registered, ask at the reference desk to find out how. We are also having a martial arts demonstration on Wednesday, October 18 from 7-8:30 pm. There are lots of things you can do to celebrate Teen Read Week. You can join a club, or volunteer. You can play a game of kickball, or race your friends to the manga section in the library. Whatever you do, get active!”

As I said, I will post a few more tomorrow, the next day, and so on, as long as people continue to send me their plans and TRW hasn’t ended. If you haven’t already read them check out the ideas in the original post and update #1. Thanks to all who have written in so far. Stay tuned for more.