Artwork by John LeMasney, lemasney.com

Today I’m participating in Show me the Awesome:  30 Days of Self-Promotion, co-hosted by Kelly, Sophie, and Liz.  All this month, librarians are showing us what makes them awesome.  Thank you for this wonderful series–I’ve gotten a lot out of reading the posts so far.  If you are interested in seeing posts from some awesome librarians, I’ve linked to Kelly and Sophie’s intro posts above.

I work in the Youth Services Department in my library, which means interacting with babies, kids, tweens, and teens on a daily basis.  To avoid saying “babies/kids/tweens/teens” in this post, I’ve chosen the term “young patrons” which includes anyone from birth to 18.

I believe that patrons are the future of libraries.  Sure, someday we might go completely digital and the shelves will be empty, but that doesn’t mean the library will be.  Programs are one of the most exciting parts of library life because they provide the opportunity for people to get together, make connections, and learn.  So, what’s the best way to promote your awesome programs to your community? (because, after all, it might be the most awesome plan in the world, but if no one shows up, it won’t matter).

1.  Listen to their opinions and try to incorporate them as much as possible

Some of their ideas will be inspired and fantastic—ideas you never would have come up with on your own. Other ideas will be crazy (and, in most cases, not feasible for the library setting). If the ideas are doable, by all means, try to implement them! This will give your young patrons a greater sense of involvement and even a sense of ownership for the program. If the idea is way out there (reading on the roof of the library comes to mind), applaud the creativity of the idea and explain why it isn’t feasible at this time (or ever). Sometimes crazy ideas have a good idea at the center, so if you can remove the more outlandish aspects, there might be something great there. So, maybe reading on the roof is out, but reading on the front lawn might be an excellent plan.

2.  Be flexible

What do you do if you’ve planned a book club meeting and hardly anyone has actually read the book? Don’t despair! I think that it’s important to be prepared for a program, but flexible enough to throw that plan out the window and talk about a book that everyone has read, or ask everyone for one reading recommendation. It may not have taken the turn you had expected, but it’s still a great book club meeting, because the group is sharing a love of reading and discussing books. Go with it.

3.  Don’t have a specific outcome in mind at the beginning

This goes along with #2. I always try to have more activities than I need in case something doesn’t work. I bring an agenda to most programs, mostly to keep myself organized and to make sure that I don’t forget to share important announcements with the group. Lately, I’ve noticed that I usually have an activity or two left over due to a later start time or an activity early on that captures their interest (and our time) more than I expected it would. Instead of being disappointed that we didn’t get through everything on “my plan”, I take it as a compliment that the kids were so absorbed in what they were doing, we didn’t have time for everything. There will be a program in the future where you can use leftover ideas (or repeat activities that were a big hit the first time around)

4.  Give your patrons control

Young people are busy.  They have soccer practice, piano lessons, drama club, and a million other things to fill their schedules (not to mention homework).  So, why would they want to take time out of their lives to come to a library program?  They’re not going to get in trouble if they don’t go.  It’s not required.  And that’s exactly what gives a library program the advantage.  There are no requirements.

Here’s an example from my library:

When the 5^th grade book club members moved up to 6^th grade last year, they grew out of the age bracket for the book club (which spans grades 3-5).  They needed something different, and not necessarily an older version of book club.  So, I lobbied for an undefined middle school group that would meet once a month.  With the support of management, we had our first meeting.  The program was new and unformed, and even though I had many ideas that I would like to explore (Graphic novel club!  Short story discussions!  Read-a-thon!) I held back and asked the kids what they wanted from the group.  I tried to leave as many of the decisions as I could up to them.  What should we name the group?  What is our purpose?  What would we like to accomplish?

I found out that a couple of them wanted to read a book each month to discuss, but the majority was not interested or did not have time for this.  The group included amazing artists, filmmakers, musicians, and scientists.  All of them were avid readers.  The group was named (after much debate) The Bibliophile Read-a-force.

We are still finding our way and trying to decide where we want to go.  This month, we will be participating in a 6 hour Read-a-thon fundraiser, which will benefit the group.  When we start up meetings again in the fall, we’ll have our own budget to make movies, draw comics, or do whatever else strikes our fancy.

I still suggest ideas, but I’m careful to judge their reactions and let my idea serve as the jumping off point.  For example, the Read-a-thon idea was mine, but I thought they would want to do a 2-3 hour session.  Boy, was I wrong!  They convinced me that 6 hours was much better, and we went with their decision.

The Bibliophile Read-a-Force Logo
Copyright 2013 E. Henry

It may not be realistic to completely hand over program planning to young patrons, but they will love the chance to have a say in what goes on whenever possible.  Letting them name the group, create a logo and slogan for it and give their opinions about activities is like saying “I want to hear what you think.”  Giving them a chance to participate will make them understand that the library belongs to the community.  It’s also a good way to ensure attendance.  After all, how can you miss a program that you helped create?

5.  Remind yourself of the program’s purpose:

-to have fun

-to learn (without adhering to learning results)

-to foster a sense of community

-to give patrons a chance to actively participate.

Making sure to keep all of these points in mind will ensure that:

Patrons will promote programs they enjoy

It can be challenging to promote library programs, especially when there isn’t much of a budget for it. Using the library’s website and facebook page with the occasional radio or TV ad is a good place to start, but I’ve found that patrons will promote programs they enjoy to friends and family.  Pretty soon, a small group of kids has grown to include their friends and siblings (plus others who have heard about the program through other means).  When thinking about program promotion, never underestimate the power of word of mouth.

We discussed the book and talked about what I think of as the “Jean Valjean question”:  is it ok to steal food if you’re starving?  Jack resorts to stealing a couple of times in the book, so this was an interesting question to debate.  Some of the kids were completely opposed to stealing, under any circumstances while others thought it was ok as long it was the only option.  Other kids had creative solutions to Jack’s hunger problem:  he could live off the land by eating blueberries, or he could have asked for the food instead of taking it.

Jack’s favorite animal in the book is the elephant and there’s a lot of interesting information about them.  Elephants and humans have quite a bit in common.  Elephants mourn the death of their loved ones, for example.  Some elephants can even paint, which is where the next part of our meeting came in.  The kids used paint brushes attached to sticks to replicate using a trunk and painted in an elephant outline.  I got the idea from this great blog: Adventures of an Art Teacher.  Thanks for the idea!

The finished elephant (drawn by Emma ) turned out great.  I will get a picture and post it soon.  Happy Friday, everyone!

Related articles

• be active: paint like an elephant (thejolynproject.com)

Susan and Nancy from Maine Savings Federal Credit Union were our guest speakers at today’s Bibliophile Read-a-force meeting.

They came to speak about the important things to know about money.  Here are a few of them:

1.  Keep your money in a safe place.  This means keeping your purse/wallet with you and not leaving it unattended.

2.  Don’t show or tell people how much cash you are carrying.

3.  Never tell your PIN to anyone and especially don’t say it out loud in public.

4.  Keep personal information, like your Social Security card, at home, where there’s less of a chance it will be stolen.

After the presentation, the group did a crossword puzzle, a word search, and matched the presidents with their denominations.  We also learned how to fold a dollar bill into a ring! (instructions)

We rounded out the afternoon with a rousing game of Rock Paper Scissors, which is always a crowd pleaser:

What are your tips for being smart about money?

In addition to talking about the book, we also tried some different styles of poetry.  Many of the group members were already familiar with haikus, acrostics, and limericks.  One girl mentioned Cinquain poems, which I had never heard of before.  Everyone chose a style they were comfortable with and got to work.  Here’s an example of a shape poem:

We found that these are fun to write, but repetitive to read out loud!  We also made some magnetic poetry by choosing some words from a magazine and gluing them to cardstock.  We attached magnets to the back and voila!  DIY magnetic poetry.

How are you planning to celebrate National Poetry Month?

Image from goodreads.com

At first glance, The List by Siobhan Vivian seems like any other teen girl book.  It’s full of drama, cliques, and back-stabbing.  I started this book expecting a quick read that I would soon forget.  While it’s true that this book does have many of the same elements as most teen chick lit, it also questions the concept of “pretty” and the role that appearance takes in our lives.

The List is set in Mount Washington, where every year before homecoming, a list of the four prettiest and four ugliest (one of each from each grade) is posted all over the high school.  The list is stamped with an embossed seal to ensure its veracity.  No one knows who is writing the list, but everyone takes it as gospel and those eight girls who are lucky/unlucky enough to see their names in print are immediately treated differently by the student body.  The book is written in the third person but each chapter focuses on one of the eight girls, so the reader gets multiple perspectives on this week after the list comes out.  To be honest, I felt that some of the characters were shallow and forgettable.  A few of the characters, however, were deep and had something original to say.  By the end of the book, I felt horrible for all girls on the list (both pretty and ugly) and was shocked to find out who had created it.

I think this would be a good book to use for a teen discussion group.  It would be a good way to start a conversation about bullying, discrimination, and self-esteem.

Recommendation:  4 out of 5 lupines

This is the Eiffel Tower (upside down)

A mini marshmallow dumbell

After all of that brainstorming, we decided to head outside to let off some of that creative energy (it was Friday afternoon, after all).  Spring is definitely in the air, and it was fun to get outside for a few minutes.

Are you ready for Spring?  What’s you’re favorite outside activity that you’ve missed all winter?

Everyone searching for the perfect piece to complete their creations.

One Lego builder made this futuristic vehicle.

One Lego builder took one of my challenges and built this bridge in 5 minutes, only using one hand!

Here are some more creative creations:

What is your idea for a creative Lego creation?  I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Related articles

• Lego Club Inspires Creativity for Youth (goodsamaritantx.wordpress.com)

That said, blogging can take a back seat for me when things get busy.  I am taking an online course this semester and this has taken a toll on blogging.  Fortunately, Nicole Ouellette from Breaking Even Communications is hosting a blogging challenge for the month of March.  Each day, I will (try to) complete one post based on her challenge.  I’m already a little behind, so I thought I would tackle a few of the challenges I missed in the same post!

Alright, so far, the challenges are as follows:

Day 1:  Introduction (Here’s my first post on the blog)

Day 2:  Photo Post

Day 3:  A “how-to” post

Day 4:  Food Post

Day 5:  Video Post

Ok, getting challenges 2-5 in the same post will certainly be a challenge, but here goes nothing.

How to eat well in Portland, Maine

(Disclaimer:  “eating well” is definitely a subjective thing, so let me clarify.  How to eat well (if you are vegan/vegetarian/gluten-free) in Portland, Maine).

If you are vegan/vegetarian/gluten-free, Portland has got your back.  There are a lot of options for alternative diets in this city.  Here are the strategies I used to find the best food to refuel while wandering the streets of Portland.

1.  Do your research ahead of time

I’ve been vegan/vegetarian for a couple of years now and I’ve learned that it’s a lot easier to do your food research before you go on a trip.  I love eating this way, but it can be a challenge to find foods that I can eat.  Shawn, my boyfriend, was coming along for the trip, and he sticks to a gluten-free diet.  Trying to find vegan food or gluten-free food can be tricky, but both?  I thought it was a long shot.   A few days before the trip, I started looking for restaurants in Portland, Maine that would meet both of our needs.  I did this mostly by Googling “vegan and/or gluten-free restaurants in Portland, Maine).  The search returned more hits than I had expected.

2.  Look for menus online

Thankfully, many of the prospective restaurants featured full menus online.  That was a big help in narrowing down the choices.  Sure, a restaurant may claim to be “gluten-free friendly”, but after a little investigation, it turns out they have a couple of appetizers or a salad that fits the bill, not an actual entree.

3.  Have a couple of back-up options

I knew that if all else failed, Whole Foods has a vegan salad bar and Hannaford always has options for alternative diets.  I actually ended up getting a spring roll for a snack at Hannaford…delicious as usual.

4.  Even if it seems unlikely, check for vegan/gluten-free options

We went to the Nickelodeon to see Silver Linings Playbook and I thought it would be the last place I’d find gluten-free snacks.  Wrong!  We spent so much time trying to decide which cookies we wanted, we missed the first part of the movie.  (The cookies were worth it, though!)

5.  Don’t be afraid to try new places

We settled on a restaurant called Silly’s for dinner and it exceeded our expectations.  They had a variety of vegan/gluten-free dishes that all sounded amazing (and the meals we settled on were great).  We also enjoyed the funky vibe of the restaurant.  It’s definitely a fun place to eat.  We (sort of) joked that if they served breakfast, we would have slept in the booth and eaten there the next day, too.  Here’s their site, if you want to see for yourself:  http://www.sillys.com/

The food on this trip was so good, I didn’t pause to take pictures before digging in.  Here’s a picture of Shawn and me at a wonderful tea place called Dobra Tea, suggested by our friend, Nissa.

Photo credit: Nissa Marenius

Do you have any favorite places to eat in Portland?  I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

Maybe in the future I’ll post more about this trip (especially because I have pictures of Shawn next to Big Foot).  Now I just need a video.  Here’s one that has nothing to do with this post, libraries, or Maine, but is still awesome and something I think everyone should see (if you haven’t already).  If you need a pick-me-up, here’s the video for you!

After sharing a little about our subjects, we wrote autobiographies in the style of Mad Libs.  Who knew so many kids from Maine had learned to roller-skate on the ceiling before they were 3 years old???  (Full disclosure:  these may have not been 100% factually accurate, but they were pretty creative!)

We topped off the meeting with a healthy snack:

What do Graham crackers, Monterey Jack Cheese, and many types of apples have in common?  They are all foods that were named after people!  Thanks to Ginny for thinking up a theme for this month’s snack

Next month is National Poetry Month, and we’ll be discussing Love that Dog by Sharon Creech!