Passive Program: Oz the Great and Powerful

Before I came to the library, the Library Assistant started a partnership with the local movie theater.  As part of the partnership, they give out 2-4 tickets to specific shows that are coming out.  The newest one they offered was tickets to Oz the Great and Powerful.  To give out the tickets, we devised a library scavenger hunt at two of our libraries.  We hid 10 paper hot air balloons with key phrases on them in the teen and children's areas.  Below is a picture of a hot air balloon I made for one of the branches (the LA at the other branch made those and are not pictured):

Kids were instructed to fill out entry forms with those key phrases as well as their names, ages and phone numbers and they would be put into a raffle to win a ticket.  The scavenger hunt ran for 2 weeks and we had nearly 200 applicants between the two branches.  Kids could enter more than once, but those are still great numbers, duplicates aside.  

My lovely display at branch #2:

Can you tell there's a tornado with a balloon, a horse and a cow in it?r

Preschool Storytime: Colors

This week, I did a colors storytime.  It has become my habit to ask the kids what they think the theme is before we start.  It came as no surprise that they had difficulty with this theme.

Here's what I had planned:

1. Hello Song: Glad to See You by Peter and Ellen Allard

2. Pictures and Letter of the Day: C for Colors!

3. Read Book: My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss

Compromises

I have a confession to make, I often take on more than I should in the attempt for perfectionism.  I stubbornly persist in doing too much, even when I realize that I can't handle everything myself.  Such is the case when it came to preschool storytime at my library.  Prior to my arrival, storytime was mostly conducted by volunteers.  When I came on, I decided that the volunteers would not be consistent enough for my perfectionist ideals (even though I really had no experience myself), so after each individual came through, I kindly advised them that I would be conducting storytime myself and would call them if I needed back-up.

One volunteer was noticeably upset.  She had done storytime every other week for quite a long time and was quite upfront about her displeasure.  I'll admit that I felt a little fear of her and bent to her will a little, allowing her to come back another time.  I thought that by then, I'd be better at dealing with what I thought was her unpleasant manner.  

A week later, I had a change of heart.  I had done my first baby storytime (Mother Goose is on the Loose) and was trying to figure out how to add another Mother Goose (ours is way too crowded), plan for preschool storytime and balance all of the other responsibilities of my job (which includes my first ever Summer Reading Program).  I decided that having some help would be very welcome.  I advised the volunteer that I would love to have her for all of the time she was willing to give.  This made her happy (though a little suspicious at first) and I decided that open communication on what I wanted and needed from her would be better than trying to do it all myself.  It probably won't be perfect and not a forever solution (she is a retiree and may eventually tire of it), but it's a good compromise and I feel better for it.  

Point one for compromise!      

Teen Advisory Group (TAG) Meeting

I attended my first Teen Advisory Group (TAG) Meeting.  Such a great group!  It has been run by our Library Assistant, Cindy, who has done such awesome things before I joined the library.  Currently, the only teen programming my library has is TAG.  This is something I plan to change in the future, but it's at least a start.  

We talked about many things, but my favorite time was discussing what the teens want to do with their teen area.  It's currently just a corner of the library and adults visit it more than teens because there are electrical outlets in the area.  The furniture was probably the original furniture from the 90's when the building was built.  Needless to say, the teen area is not teen friendly and this needs to be fixed.  

We had a great brainstorming session about those things they would want if they could have anything in the teen area.  Many things were predictable like having their own space, gaming systems, comfortable seating and bright colors, but I also learned that the group is very artsy.  Many wanted space and materials to do art.  Others wanted areas to play and arrange music.  One girl wished that we could have an underground area where they could do loud stuff (like an underground club) and keep the above area quiet for those who wanted to study.  It was such a fun and invigorating discussion.    

We also had the TAG members look through some furniture catalogs and pick out a few of the items they liked best.  There were a few surprises there as well.  

Of course, we can't make all of their wishes come true, but I'd really like some of the basics like dedicated space (a glass wall/partition would be great) and teen-friendly seating.  Complying with at least some of YALSA's teen space guidelines would be fabulous.  I'm not ashamed to admit that teens are my favorite age group to work with and I really would like them to feel they have ownership in the library.  A compliant teen area is a good start.  I have big hopes for updating the space, but we'll see what we can do with the money we've been given.  

Next month, TAG will be going on a field trip to the local bookseller to purchase materials for our shelf.  I'm looking forward to seeing what the teens pick out.

Preschool Storytime: Dinosaurs!

Tuesday's storytime will be Dinosaurs!  Here's the plan:

1. Hello Song: Glad to See You by Peter and Ellen Allard
2. Letter of the Day: "D" 
3. Read Dinosaur Roar by Paul Stickland