Godzilla Movie Marathon... Now With Haiku!

Well.  I did it, guys.  I faced the inevitable reality that Summer Reading is coming close and the thought that I should probably start planning events yesterday.  I looked at a chapter from the CSLP manual yesterday, that has to count for something, right?  Right.

I'm in charge of bringing the Chapter Six: Science Fiction & Fun into life for the annual Summer Reading Program workshop hosted by the Ramapo Central Catskills Library System on Monday, so the next few posts are going to either be directly related or additional ideas building on the science fiction theme.  How on earth did the manual contributors miss a chance for a Godzilla movie marathon?!  First of all, the new Godzilla movie is scheduled to debut in May 2014, just before Summer Reading kicks off.  Second of all, have they seen Godzilla Haiku?  Have you?  No?  Check these guys out:

If you have a creative writing group I would like to first inform you that I'm super jealous because I've tried to start one at my library more frequently than Gretchen Wieners tried to make "fetch" happen and it still won't stick. BUT if you have alchemical processes working in your favor and have a successful writing group (or would like to start one) might I recommend making your own Godzilla haikus?   You can find stills of the old Godzilla movies and have the teens write their own.  There are many ways you could execute this and as it has been a while since I've had the opportunity to profess my love for bulleted lists, I will do so now to demonstrate the possibilities: 

• Passive Program: Create a bulletin board of 3-5 Godzilla still frames asking for Godzilla haikus.  Provide smaller examples from the tumblr so teens have an idea what you are looking for. Create a haiku printable (doesn't have to be too fancy) and provide a submission box so no one can read the poems already entered.  Label each Godzilla screenshot with a number or letter so that teens can easily communicate which picture corresponds with their poem, fully knowing at least one teen will mess up and yet another will ask you relentless questions no matter how easy you attempt to make it.  Once you have enough submissions, slap those haikus over the appropriate image with meme font, also known as Impact in white with a black outline.  If you do not have Photoshop, might I recommend using Ribbet?  
• During the Movie Marathon: This one is less exciting, but you are more likely to get a bunch of results. You can print out the Godzilla screenshots with lines underneath them so the teens can write them in as they watch the movies.  While you are almost guaranteed more haikus this route, you will miss out on the opportunity to use the completed product as a marketing tool for the movie marathon. 
• Teens as Content Creators: The ideal situation involves using Web 2.0 apps, like Ribbet, to allow the teens to create the content themselves.  You can either offer them some sort of SRP club credit for creating it online and emailing it to you or you can have a program using library computers that allows them to do it in a group all together.  The latter suggestion would not work in my library, so I am aware that it might not work for you.  I'm talking in ideals here people! 
• Contest: Using any of the above ideas or combination thereof, you can make a contest for the best Godzilla haiku.  Teens are competitive. Having a prize at the end of the haiku tunnel might help some reluctant poets enter the mix. 

Make Waves: Sea Glass Candy Recipe

Those of you looking for aquatic themed activities for your library this summer might want to check out Not So Humble Pie's Sea Glass Candy recipe. As far as equipment goes you only need a stove-top (or hot plate), a sauce pan, candy thermometer metal pan and a mallet. If you can muster those items up--not to mention the limited ingredients--you should definitely consider this for your summer reading program because it looks like it is going to be a smash. ... Sorry--I had to. (Thanks Craftzine!)

DIY for you

Disney has what appears to be a very easy to refurbish cardigan up on Ruffles and Stuff. Does it not just scream awesome librarian cardigan or what?

10 for 2010: Craftiness Explosion!

Here are some of the best links that were gathering virtual dust in my Google Reader. I've hand picked ones that I believe will work in most public library settings.

1. This one is practically cheating. The Long Thread collected the Top 100 Craft Tutorials of 2009. Whether you're more interested in mastering your technique before trying out some crafts at your library or looking for the next big purse tutorial sure to win your teens over, this list is surely going to have something for you. (Thanks to Craftzine for the link!)
2. I don't personally have a knitting club for my teens because I'm quite abysmal really, but I dream of one day having one. If you share this dream or already have one this ThreadBanger video featured on Craftzine detailing how to make a styling and easy crochet headband will be a welcome winter treat!
3. If your library is anything like mine, you have all your spring plans in place already. Why not start thinking summer thoughts then? This watermelon soap tutorial from Candle Tech's blog is an interesting twist on the handmade soap program. (Thanks to Cut Out + Keep for the link!)
4. Whitney of Youth Services Corner has just the right solution for the overgrown weeded book pile. Who doesn't need an awesome book clock?
5. Looking for an easy way to push Lewis Carroll's Alice stories before Tim Burton's movie debuts in March? Why not make up a display of the books with these Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum paper toys as the perfect compliment? Thanks for that, Toy a Day!
6. FREEZE! Don't forget to check out these t-shirts created by Craftster user fluffypants from freezer paper stencils! Check out this step-by-step tutorial for more information on how to create these excellent customized shirts.
7. Still Dottie is one of my favorite fashion bloggers. Check out her tutorial on how to embellish plain t-shirts with glitz and glam...
8. ...and without.
9. These leg warmer spats are easy peasy and if you don't want to try them out with your teens, you might want to try them out for yourself. Just sayin' Oh Craftster, you are the best!
10. Last one! Since I'm jealous of anyone that has a teen knitting club, I'm going to live vicariously through you guys until I get one of my own. Here's a star crochet pattern found (but of course) on Craftster.

BONUS JONAS: Shrink jewelry is a fun one to make for yourself or with the teens. Since this involves selecting images in advance I'm not sure how well it will work with teens, but this tutorial was too awesome to pass up. Enjoy! (Thanks Threadbanger for the link!)

10 for 2010: Favorite Programs of 2009

Not one for end of the year lists, I thought I would instead come up with a few for the new year. For the very first list (not to mention my first post of the new year) I thought I would start off with a reflection of my favorite 2009 programs. I know what you're thinking, isn't that just an end of the year list a few days late? Probably, but I like thinking about what worked best last year when developing ideas for the coming year so to me it's a start of the year process.

Below are some of my favorites linking (if available) flyers with more information, and blogs that inspired the program or ones that contain similar information:

1. Bento Boxes! -- The teens ate this up (literally--yuck yuck yuck). I found Lunch in a Box to be so helpful that I even printed out the page on gap filling for the teens to take home.
2. Fashion Forward -- One of the ways I battled a depleted budget was to harass convince my friend Christina to talk about her time at Fashion Institute of Technology and her post-graduation job working with Ralph Lauren.
3. Jam Session -- Recycling records into bowls was a smash hit. Halfway through we started sending off the records by playing a track from the album on YouTube as it melted in the oven.
4. When Zombies Attack! -- This one was yet another product of harassing convincing my friends to help out the library. I harassed encouraged her to combine her love of zombies with her theater training to create a most excellent interactive presentation.
5. Gift Workshop * -- This was an epic two parter. At the first workshop we had three projects going on: 1) Everyone turned Delias catalog pages into star-shaped gift bows and then either 2) made duct tape wallets or 3) decoupage magazine pieces onto little boxes.
6. Gift Workshop (2) -- At the second gift workshop we converted old CD cases into frames.
7. TAG -- Working directly with my Teen Action Group has been some of the most rewarding time I spent this year. I blogged back in November detailing a fun activity we did.
8. Writing Festival -- More harassment (oh whatever, we all know it was harassment at this point) on my behalf where I gathered some of my favorite writers to host stations and go over manga, fan fiction and a really awesome haiku game I learned in high school.
9. Rock Band -- I inherited a fabulous gaming program at my library featuring head-to-head tournament play. It was nice taking a break from that and watching everyone just playing instruments.
10. Candy Sushi -- This summer my Teen Cafe regulars rolled out some Rice Kristipie treats and Swedish Fish to some delicious results. Definitely revisiting this one in the next few years.

Leave some of your best 2009 programs in the comments!

* Sorry for the head tilt! Towards the end of the year I switched to vertical signage to be able to advertise more programs. It prints lovely, but is a bit annoying when looking at on the screen.

No one takes Shakespeare up a notch quite the same way as McSweeneys. Previously, there was Hamlet Facebook Newsfeed. Now they bring you Shakespeare Police Blotters. Hat tip to Bib-Laura-graphy for the link!

I WANT THIS SO BAD!!!! It's no secret I'm an anglophile, but I want nothing more than to use a classic red phone box for a library. Boing Boing, you completed my life with this information. Thank you for your services.

Speaking of things I want... this dictionary + me = rapture:

(via this Super Punch post that also has a nifty steam punk lego curiosity cabinet)

Potential program ideas:

• Zipper rosette headbands
• Duct Tape no-sew fabric totes (too cute!)

Reviews that made me want to read the book yesterday:

• Dark Banquet by Bill Schutt reviewed on The YA YA YAs
• Ash by Malinda Lo reviewed on Librarian by Day

BONAS JONAS*: Super Punch has been linking a lot of fabulous art lately that you need to see. Click here. And here. Initial over here.

*I almost thought I was over these johnsons, but then I remembered how brilliant it is that someone living and breathing right now is dubbed Bonas Jonas.

New Blog Alert! 4YA

Ever since Andrea Graham posted a link to her blog 4YA on the ya-yaac list-serv a week or so ago I have been in love. When I log in to my Google Reader it is the first blog I look at these days. I must admit that a little smile pops up on my face every time I see the bold text indicating that she posted again.

Her tagline, "Inspiration for Youth Advocates" is truly accurate in more ways than one. 4YA inspired me to create Movie Mondays on the SCLS Teen Blog with a single post. Beyond that, the scope is so broad and spot on that it is difficult to put into a simple synopsis. You want craft ideas? Rather have video game suggestions? Well you are in luck because 4YA does this and more. Go. Now. Read it all! Her backlog begins in September so you have plenty to catch up on.

Here are two of her posts that have most definitely inspired happenings at my library in 2010:

Eco Fashion Craft -- Soda Tab Belt
Teen Cafe -- Percy Jackson Nectar Shake

P.s. Her blog design will knock your socks off, too.

Post-Pottertastic

So I went M.I.A. for a week. I figured once I graduated and settled into my new job that I would dive right back into blogging. Little did I remember that moving all of my stuff from school back into my already full room at home takes up a boatload of time. Oh well.

Last week, however, I was conspiculously absent. How could I, Kristi(e), NOT post on the eve of Half Blood Prince's opening day?! Because everyone else was. That's my cop out answer. I'm waiting until it opens in IMAX to get the good stuff. I want some 3D 12 minute opening scene action. I want to be the same size as Daniel Radcliffe's nostrils. I want stuff to blow up all around me and give me a migraine. So... until then I will be quiet on Tuesdays. Shhhh!

BONAS JONAS: It's been a while since I've done one of these. I've been looking up crafts for future library programs and stumbled across this bad boy. While we can't do it at the library, the Potter love evident in this purse needs to be shared with my fellow Potterphiles.

Melt-o-rama!

So this week I took a page out of Frank Buffay Jr.'s page and melted a bunch of stuff. The first experiment was only meh because it turns out that the TAG members are not into crafts. A newbie to TAG made a shrink film dog and a ring with her name in Korean, but that's about it. An older teen wrote all over a sheet, but didn't like the Chinese characters and abandoned the idea. Oh well--you win some, you lose some.

Last night fared much, much better. Only two people attended the DIY Record Bowl program, but we all had lots of fun. We gave most of the records a final farewell by playing a track from the record (thanks to YouTube) as we melted them in the oven. A grand time.

I'm glad that I found a job that is so awesome. :D It almost makes the torture of library school worth it. Almost. I'll get back to you one that...

Apparently this is program idea week?

Booo to censorship! Yay to staying on top of these silly shenanigans and trying to prevent them from happening again!! Thanks, YALSA.

Also from YALSA: Let's hear it for distraction! (i.e, the story of my sad, procrastinating life) and the YA Bookshelf Project. Check them out!

Where the Wild Things are papercraft via Toy-A-Day.

Super Punch, as per usual, produced some gemtastic gems for potential programs. First up is found item sculpture. While the teens may or may not generate such stunning works as those featured on Super Punch, it would be a great way to get rid of junk. Next week I'll provide you with the second link, mainly because I had plans to post something similar but I'm not quite there yet. So instead I will tease you and let you know that it exists and it will soon be yours to view, but not quite yet. Mwahahaha!

Quick! The library is about to close!

And then I will be home without interwebs. So I must post some possible program ideas quickly that you may or may not have use for.

First on deck is a mini little jobber for use in a Twilight program. I know what you're saying, the books are all done and the movie licensing cost is through the roof, what sort of program can I do? Just because you can't show the movie doesn't mean you aren't allowed to hype up the new one with a little program johnson. Anyway, forks into vampire teeth are pretty ridiculous and a fun sidebar.

Second: You say trash, I say art! Who knew that those hard multi-colored playdoh bits could be of use? Not me, that's who.... until NOW!

Also on The Object Project is this nifty little purse that seems vair vair simple to make.

Lastly, this wouldn't fly with my current patronage, but perhaps you could make use of this link, either for yourself or for a library event. Hands free book pillow?! Clearly this is a necessity. Thanks Craft blog!

BONAS JONAS: I want this shirt like woah. It came up in the same slew of links but didn't have a place to call home so bonas jonas time it is!

Nobody's perfect!

I gotta work it again and again til I get things right!

Case in point, I am a 23 year old woman that enjoys Hannah Montana, proving once again that no one is indeed perfect (because, you know, without that itty bitty factor of liking Miss Cyrus I'd be totes perfect and all...). That said, check out these Hannah Montana crafts if your library is looking to draw in crowds for some fun times and awesome tunes! The movie is only moments away so this would be a great time to capitalize on the great crafts, like the guitar pick bracelet (seen below).

If your Hannah Montana books haven't been circing as well as you'd like considering the large amount of them published, you can definitely decorate the room with them and I can guarantee you that at least one will be checked out, if not all of them, by the end of the program.

Express yourself @ Your Library

Schiorgasboard of program ideas for this year's young adult summer reading theme:

• Zee shows us how to paint with coffee by making a neat replica of Westerfield's Extras
  
• This is more of an (anti)Valentine's day craft, but whatevsky. It's awesome, you need to see it--works out like magic. Thanks, SuperPunch! You're the greatest!
• I associate LOLcatz with library science. I never saw them before grad school, now they are everywhere. Therefore, it is a splendid idea to make LOLcat purses as a teen library program, no?
• Perhaps instead of having a bland ::point::click::enjoy:: style photography program, spice it up by having teens bring in or print their digital photos, then turn them 3-D?
• What do teenage girls love more than earrings? RECYCLING! ... They don't? Whatever, because now they can make free earrings and recycle at the same time and there's nothing they can do to stop it. ... besides not go to the program, but why on earth would that happen?
• Fabric boxes seem super easy and super-duper awesome!
• We have a knitting club at my library, but you might have a sewing club. Or you could potentially have a sewing circle. Either way, if you wish to have a sewing program, this blog post of sewing term definitions is a must have print-out. Thanks U-handbag!

Unless otherwise noted, links come from Craft: blog.