Where in the World (Non-Fiction section) is Carmen San Diego (Melvil Dewey)

Okay, now that we've got that out of our systems...

I've been wanting to do a scavenger hunt in the non-fiction section for a long time. I just wasn't sure how it was going to work. Then I saw Miss Ingrid's post on how her library does a Melvil Dewey scavenger hunt and I loved it so much that I stole it wholesale, right down to the smokin' hot picture of Dewey (seriously, what a fox) and the glitter accents.

Ingrid (I read her blog enough that I feel like we're friends and totally on a first name basis) doesn't have prizes for her kids who play the Dewey game. Just the satisfaction of a job well done. Which I think is fantastic. BUT. We have so much crap  leftover summer reading prizes in our back room, including some Chipotle coupons that will expire at the end of the month, that I basically look for excuses to give kids stuff.

I've also really been wanting to have a non-fiction party. Now that the Common Core is really a thing, I think there are so many cool applications for Ripley's Believe It or Not, hands on science experiments and crafts drawn from our non-fiction section.

So with those two things in mind, I've tweaked Miss Ingrid's Melvil Hunt to fit our needs.

"Today I'm in the 400s, books about languages"

This is Melvil Dewey. He invented the Dewey Decimal system. Melvil hangs out on the easel on the back of the flannel board, near the children's desks on Saturdays. Each Saturday he hides in a different part of the non-fiction section, as indicated in his speech bubble. Anyone can come, check him out, grab one of the entry forms and a golf pencil, and head off to find good ol' Melvil. 

"Now see if you can find... How do you say hello in 3 languages?"

When they find the smaller Melvil, he's asking more specific, yet still open ended question about the section that he's hiding in, encouraging the kids to look through some of the books. And since I "laminated" this picture with packing tape, we can use it like a dry erase board to write and re-write the weekly question. The piece of paper that they answer the question on serves as a raffle entry- so they can answer the question as many times and in as many different ways as they like- and at the end of the day we draw for a bunch of prizes.

At the end of the semester we'll have a non-fiction party instead of a big to-do for the holidays. There will be trivia drawn from the cool facts that the kids supply us with through their answers, hands-on stations from featured Dewey sections (like an animal print identifying table! I just got really excited about that possibility, please excuse excessive use of exclamation marks) and the usual snacks and goodies that accompany a party. 

In October our library system is going to extended hours, and in conjunction with that, we're being asked to plan programming for both Saturday and Sunday (as well as story time every day, but that's a different story for a different time). As most librarians know, programming on Saturday is a tricky beast in that no one comes. Ever. And I imagine Sundays are even worse, with all the pressure to do neglected homework before Monday. A low-key, drop-in program like this seems to be just the ticket to complying with administrative edicts while still maintaining our sanity.  

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

I'm speaking in cliches today because while imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, an image is also worth a thousand words. Which means 104 images edited together rapid-fire style must be worth 104,000 words. And that's a lot.

And here are a few up close detail shots of the wall. Do you see any of your favorite books amongst our Baby Mouse collection?

  

 

 

Aren't our kids talented?

2013 Reading Challenge

It started when the girl who has read Tuck Everlasting six times said "I'm going to read 50 books in 2013." "Okay" I said, "I'll read 50 books too. We'll have to figure out a way to keep track though."

After some debate we came up with the rules- I'd read 100 books, she'd read 50 and rereading favorite books didn't count, they had to be 50 (or 100) unique books finished during the 2013 calendar year. And I would figure out a way to keep track. A very visual way of holding ourselves accountable

First, let me say that I think setting arbitrary number of books reading goals is silly. I could read 100 picture books or 100 Baby Mouse books in about a week. When people do things like this, I immediately wonder how much enjoyment and enrichment they're sacrificing for pure quantity and bragging rights. I also know that I read very, very quickly and so reading 100 books isn't the same kind of big deal to me as reading 50 books is to a girl who loves to read but goes slowly.

Second, I don't care about number 1. I still like this idea. It's important to me for the kids to see adults actively reading and it's important for the kids who do read to have a place where they can be publicly recognized for their accomplishments. 

Third, inspired by this post on pinterest, this is our 2013 Reading Challenge wall.

The text reads:

"Every time Miss Lucy and Ms. E finish a book in 2013 they will put a colorful dot on the wall. Watch our progress as the year continues and the wall fills up!

Want to join us? Pick a color and start reading! Dots can be added to the wall for every finished book OR every 20 minutes spent reading!"

Right now each kid who participates picks their own color so they can see exactly how much they've read. We'll soon run out of unique colors so we're also asking them to put (or have an adult put) the name of the book they're working on and their name. And to recognize the kids who do read, but read a little slower, we're also putting dots on the wall for every 20 minutes spent reading.

We put up the wall on January 2nd with three dots- two from the girl who read Tuck Everlasting so many times and one for an Elvis and Olive book. It's only been 3 weeks and look how far we've come! I can't wait to see what the rest of 2013 has in store for us!

I Could Have

I could have spent the time in between story time and the kids getting out of school shelving books. I could have spent it weeding the 900s. I could have been planning programs for the new year. I could have been cleaning off my desk.

There were a whole lot of thing I could have done with that time. I made this instead.

Happy Holidays Y'all.

Fall Displays

Fall is a busy time here at the library. Kids go back to school, leaves start to turn colors and displays need to change. There'll be more, many more, display changes before winter rolls in, but for now our library looks a little something like this...

Fall books go under the tree. I originally wanted the puffs below to serve as the leaves on the tree, but I couldn't figure out how to make them stick in a way that actually looked like foliage. Crumpled up butcher paper it is!

After the outer space mobiles of the summer I realized that this big, blank wall really does need something on it and my requests for a giant cork board or bulletin board keep going unanswered (much like my repeated requests for a changing table. C'mon people, we need a changing table in the bathroom. But I digress...) Anyway, I love the way the puffs hang and twist on their fishing line. I think I'll use a rotating cast of puffs with different, seasonally appropriate colors, on this wall until I can figure out something better.

Back to School books were out for about a week before they were cleaned out entirely, which was perfect because it let me use that space for a display on Books About the Library, Just in time for Library Card Registration Month!

The below picture entirely gives away where I work, but I don't think it's a huge deal. Plus I'm extremely proud of my giant fake library card, it looks just like our vintage cards!

And lastly, the display that I'll be taking down today to make room for High Holidays books, the DIY crafting section.

Themeless Thursday: July Displays

We had a special guest for story time last week, so no Theme Thursday or craft to report this week. But I wanted to show off some of the current displays and since I've got my Tuesdays (where all the random stuff goes) scheduled for the next 3 months, this seemed like a great excuse.


Ramadan snuck up on me y'all! It starts tomorrow and if I hadn't been in a training on Monday where someone mentioned it, it would have passed me by. We don't have a whole lot of books on Ramadan so I supplemented with books on Islam and this giant green crescent and star. And yes, I know that the crescent and star aren't actually symbols of Islam, but it's really hard to find visual representations for a religion that eschew symbols.

Due to my total lack of knowledge about Ramadan and its timing, I've resolved to become more aware of world holidays and better about informing our users about them. To that end, here's my new Celebrate and Learn board with a space to rotate the holidays as they happen. I like the concept, but not the outcome. The light blue butcher paper is seriously faded and it just doesn't pop. Maybe after Ramadan is over I'll revisit the execution.

My new favorite display is Good Movie? Great Book! I've been trying to figure out how to stage it for a while because we have so little actual display space. I eventually cleared off a shelf in the DVD section and set up shop there. Since the space is so small, the DVD and book pairings are constantly changing, so maybe this way it'll stay fresh longer. I think I've had to fill in four pairs since this picture was taken on Tuesday.

I was going for a movie theater look with the heavy red curtains and glittery marque letters. Do you guys know about Rachel Moani's blog? Because her displays are a constant source of amazement and inspiration and I stole the technique for the red curtains directly from her.

The air conditioning at work has been broken for the past two days. And it is miserable in the building. Particularly upstairs in the children's room. In fact, today the temperature reached over 90 degrees and we had to shut down the room. So I spent most of my day manning the adult reference desk after most of the staff left early due to heat exhaustion. I'm not even joking. As a result, my third big display for the month isn't quite done. Tomorrow. Maybe.

Until then, here are a few in process pictures, including the concept sketch. I love summer road trips, don't you?

I have little popsicle stick tags for (most of) the states and will be filling in the display with books that take place in different states. 50 books is probably ambitious, so I'll do about 15 at a time, filling in as they get checked out. 

I'm also playing around with making this a drop-in program. Prizes for reading a certain amount of state books, state trivia questions, naming all 50 states (which is a lot harder than you would think. I couldn't and as a result am missing tags for South Carolina, Kansas and Rhode Island. I have two degrees and my grandmother lives in South Carolina. That's pretty bad, y'all.) But the programming aspect is still a ways off.

Here's the Piece de Resistance  in progress, a gigantic cardboard cutout of the United States of America. Hey Eastern Seaboard, looking good.

I'll update with more pictures once the display becomes final.

 Updated!

Make Your Own: 3 Dimensional Sign

A few weeks ago I decided to make a bulletin board to advertise our upcoming programs. We have fliers, which are all well and good, but very few kids actually look at them. And then everyone is surprised when they walk in after school and we have something set up for them to do. In order to draw attention to my beautifully constructed bulletin board, I created a 3-D sign to go with it. And now you can too, in 10 simple steps.

Step 1) Glitter the bejesus out of some poster board letters. I like to get the right side up all glue-sticky and then rub it around face down in a plate of glitter. The glue stick spreads evenly and doesn't let the glitter clump like regular Elmer's does.

Step 2) Mod-Podge over the glittered letters. Don't worry, it'll dry clear and the mod-podge seals the whole thing so you won't constantly be vacuuming up falling glitter.

 

Step 3) Cut out your sign. I went with the comic book Ka-Pow shape and I chose to use contrasting colors. I also made the piece that's going in the back slightly larger than the top one for more flair.

 

Step 4) In which we create the dimension. Using poster board, card stock or a manilla folder cut out at least 3 fat strips. Score, evenly, both sides of each strip.

The space between the blue lines (and the cuts) is how tall the 3-D sign will be/ how much it will stick out.

Step 5) Bend the scored poster board in alternating directions. By the time you're done, it should be able to stand up by itself.

 

Repeat until all your strips have been scored and folded.

 

Step 6) Using strong glue ( used tacky, but hot glue would probably work best if you can move fast enough), glue the strips to the bottom/back piece of the sign. The scoring should allow for the pieces to bend and form a more or less complete circle around the board. Take care that the circle isn't bigger than the smaller top piece.

 

Step 7) Let it dry. Completely.

Step 8) After putting glue on the tops of the folds, carefully lay the top piece down and use your fingers to squish the poster board and the folds together.

Step 9) Let it dry. Completely.

Step 10) Affix your letters to the top of the board. I used a glue stick for this, but stronger glue would have been better.

Here it is in action, hanging next to the coming soon board on the wall as you come up the stairs into the children's room.

And here's a shot of the actual board. I ended up going with a plain background that I attached tightly pulled ribbon to. Using paper clips I'm able to easily put up and take down upcoming event advertisements without having to make a new board every week. These two, almost completely different, boards were done within 1 week of each other. As soon as something is over I can take it off and make room for the next event.

Summer Reading Decorations

It's summer reading time! And since it's my first summer at the branch and my first summer as a real live public library librarian, I want it to rock extra hard. There'll be program updates throughout the summer as they happen, but for now check out what I've done to make the room a little more special.

There's a loooooong wall in the back of the room that leads to the restrooms. I've been wanting to do something with it since I showed up, but I just wasn't sure what. The very pleasant surprise find of 12 rolls of different colored butcher paper in a back room gave me the means and the summer reading theme "Dream Big. Read!" gave me the inspiration.

As the summer goes on and the kids turn in their completed hour sheets, they'll get a di-cut star to write their name on. Then we'll use the stars to finish the background of each picture.

Downstairs, I've also been working on the big, plate-glass window behind the circulation desk. In addition to providing a preview of what one can expect with the summer reading program, it cuts waaaaaay down on the 5:30 glare that's so obnoxious.

The tempera paint I used is already beginning to crack and flake. I'm not sure if the problem is the age of the paint (super old), the heat that's hitting the window (we've had some scorchers) or how thick the paint is, but I think I'll be doing touch up through-out the summer.

And lastly, we have two night themed book displays to start off the summer. Every children's librarian can tell you that one of the most common questions that get asked is "Where are the scary books?" The first display is "Books that Go Bump in the Night." There's a collection of scary picture and chapter books, as well as a few graphic novels.

                       

I'm calling the second display "Sweet Dreams" and it's a collection of bedtime stories, fantasy and night time books. There's no signage, but I love the hanging garlands and think that they get across the general idea pretty well.