Card Catalog of Creativity

How To Heal A Broken Wing

2009-04-24T06:47:00.000-07:00

For the first time in a long time I found myself missing working with small children. Yesterday I came across a new picture book by one of my favorite authors, Bob Graham. If you are not familiar with him I suggest you check out some of his books. All of his books are about modern young families that combine compassion and appreciation of the small things in life in an urban setting. In Jethro Byrd, Fairy Child a child finds a small family of fairies living in the empty lot next to his apartment building. I am one of those people who can see broken glass as fairie dust sparkling on the asphalt and I love that this book teaches children there is magic everywhere even amongst cement and weeds. In Let's Get A Pup Said Kate the family cat dies and the family decides to go and get a dog to fill the cold spot on Kate's bed. The family gets the perfect Pup but how can they leave Rosie, the older sweet dog at the pound? The family is unconventional and realistic. The parents have tattoos and piercings and the house is a bit of a mess. In Oscar's Half Birthday a biracial family set out from the city on a long trek to a grassy spot to celebrate Max's Half Birthday. The story is full of love and is sure to melt your heart.
I was quite pleased to come across How To Heal A Broken Wing as it is a classic example of how wonderful Bob Graham's books are. This is a story about taking some time out of your busy urban life to focus on nature and how hope and compassion can heal. Being a city parent and having a child who has a very big heart when it comes to animals this book touched me deeply. The story begins with a busy urban scene, people in greys hustling on the street talking on cell phones and looking straight ahead. One of the great things about Graham's books are his representation of all people. In the crowd you can find elderly people, woman in burkas and people of all colors. No one noticed the bird that flew into a building and fell to the ground... except for Max. Max is in bright colors standing out from the rest of the dingy city scene. He and his mother take the bird home where Dad helps to make a safe place for the bird to heal. Another great thing about Graham's books are the details he puts in to add depth for the parents reading it to their children. The book doesn't have a lot of words and in the graphic novel like pictures we see Dad lining a box with a newspaper depicting pictures of war. This is subtle but represents how even in times of great difficulty hope can heal. They help the bird to heal with time (we see the calendar squares marked off and the moon change phases) and they return to the street to set him free.
Bob Graham's books are a sweet reminder about the simple things and I suggest reading them with someone, old or young, that you love.

Did You Know? It Will Blow Your Mind.

2009-03-31T09:38:00.001-07:00

Did You Know? It Will Blow Your Mind.

Posted using ShareThis

Express Yourself: DIY Shrinky Dinks

2009-03-12T19:10:00.000-07:00

These are the coolest things ever!
Honestly, I could not write up better instructions than this person, Paper Tart's Shrinky Dinks, so just visit their site.

The supplies are simple

Recycled #6 plastic (ask your local deli manager to donate some and ask your co-workers to recycle with you)
Sharpies
Scissors and a Heat Gun

To put it simply, you draw a cool image on the plastic with the sharpie and cut around it. (Keep in mind, it shrinks to about 1/3 the size.) Cut a small hole in it if you plan on using it for a necklace or keychain. Heat it with the heat gun on a heat resistant surface (I use an old cutting board). Because the heat gun blows, you can hold the plastic still with pliers. (Don't worry when it balls up, just keep heating it.)

Express Yourself: Steal These Ideas!

2009-03-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

Packing Tape Wallets
What makes these really cool is that you can use anything under clear packing tape! Popular items are foreign newspapers, maps, graphic novels, sheet music.

All of the instructions are right here in the pdf file. Just right click the file to save it.

Altered Mint Tins
I always saved my mint tins, hoping I could find what they were good for. I finally found it!

The collage paper will stick to the tins wonderfully if you apply the glue to the paper and stick it to tin. I use Mod Podge as a glue and sealer.

Secret Book Boxes

Using book glue, paint the outside edges of the book. Use a Xacto knife or box cutter to cut out the middle of the book. Coat the inside of the 'box' with the book glue.

Locker Magnets

Key Tag Choker
I actualy "stole" this idea from Dragon*Con. (They gave those following the YA Lit trac these necklaces)

Express Yourself: Bottle Cap Pins

2009-03-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

I have used and re-used this craft program at my library. It is always a huge success, even with teen guys!

Supplies:
Scissors
Bottle Caps rinsed with water and dried (ask your co-workers to help you collect some)

although having an assortment of different brands is cool, if it may be an issue at your library that some caps are from beer, you can lay them out and hit the backs with a quick coat of spraypaint.
Pin Backs

Industrial strength glue

Mod Podge

Collage Items (colored paper, magazines...)

Save some fun clip art or slogans on to your computer as jpeg files. Print them out using the thumbnail setting. This will make them small enough to fit into the bottle cap. They can also cut small pictures out of magazines.
Brush the Mod Podge on to the paper and place inside the bottle cap. You may also want to brush a layer of glue over the intire image for protection.
Using the industrial strength glue, glue a pin on the back.

Express Yourself: Graphic Stationary

2009-03-12T10:55:00.000-07:00

The Envelope:

Find a small-ish sized envelope and carefully open it up. This is your template.

Recycle a page from a weeded graphic novel. Be sure it is large enough to fit the template. Trace the template on to the sheet and carefully cut out.

Using the template as a guide, fold the sheet into an envelope.

Use a glue stick on the side edges of the bottom flap and let dry.

The Card:

Cut a peice of paper or card stock to fit the envelope. (Trace around the envelope and then cut it just a bit smaller)
Find a cool cell from a page out of a weeded graphic novel. (It can be from the same one you used for the envelope or not... the choice is yours.)
Glue it on your card.
Use white out on the inside of the speech bubble.
When dry, write in your own message.

Express Yourself: A Novel Idea! Paperback Wallets

2009-03-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

Supplies:
Covers from weeded paperbacks (these can be popular, well loved YA books weeded from your collection or retro donated copies of classics and pulps)

Contact paper

Velcro

Needle and thread (optional: if you choose to use this, you will want upholstry thread and a strong sturdy needle)

Directions:
1. Cover both sides of the Novel Cover with contact paper.
2. Fold the wallet into thirds to create the wallet shape.
3. Either sew the sides with needle and thread or use a small strip of contact paper to hold the pocket together.
4. Attach the velcro to make a closure for the wallet.

Express Yourself: Altered Book Club

2009-03-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

How To Have An Altered Book Club In 5 Easy Steps

1.Start going through your library's donation box and gather up a bunch of books. Think about what would make a cool altered book. I like books that inspire a cool theme for the project. I selected a book of etiquette for my project.

2.Make a cool flyer to promote your program using torn book pages. Tell the teens you will have old books for them to use but they can bring their own book if they have one they want to use.

3.Start collecting odds and ends for "altering" your books. Checking the lost and found is a good place to start. You never know what you'll find... old photographs, bookmarks, newspaper clippings, etc. You can also go through the youth services craft closet and gather neat sheets of paper in different colors and textures that they have left over from other projects. Keep old weeded magazines and graphic novels for collage purposes. You might want to add bits of string and ribbon, broken jewelry, fake flowers and other odds and ends. You'll be amazed at the things you'll find to use. You can find great things at the craft store, but spending money on collage materials is never neccessary.

Another great resource is to print out public domain images or clip art.
Check out:

http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/vintageresources.html for vintage labels and photographs

http://www.squidoo.com/artistfreebies great free collage image resources

Keep everything in a bin with file folders so that the teens have all kinds of inspiration in one spot.
You will need some other supplies like:
scissors (if you have fancy edge scissors, those can be fun to use.)
glue sticks (you'll need A LOT!)
Mod Podge glue (for attaching things that are heavy or have dimension.)
white out, markers, hole punch, paint and other basic craft supplies.

4.The first meeting should focus on the basics. When the teens arrive they should choose their book. They first step will be to teach them how to tear pages out and glue pages together. This is important because they book will need about 1/3 of the pages removed in order to close properly and by gluing the pages together you give a sturdy place for your work and make the book a bit stronger as well.
Then just have fun! Let their imaginations run wild! Collage and paint the pages.

Have books available for them to look through for inspiration. My favorites are:
ALTERED BOOKS WORKSHOP
ALTER THIS

Incourage the kids to start a collection of collage items they would like to add to their book. They can cut out images from magazines and bring in small items that mean something to them to add to their book at the next meeting. Be sure to talk up the "project" you'll be leading them in next time.

5.At the following meetings, all you will need to do is teach yourself a technique from one of the books such as the ones mentioned above. Don't worry! Many of the techniques are very easy. You can find lots of beginner level techniques and move up with confidence as you have more meetings.
You can make a page pocket by folding the paper, making holes with a hole punch and sewing!

Another great idea is hole punching the edges of several pages and using fabric scraps to tie them together. It makes the book look cool from the out side as well.

The most important thing is to practice before you get in front of the teens. You'll want to give them tips and tricks and work out the kinks before they are staring right at you. Be sure to gather all the supplies you will need! After they complete the mission they can have time to work on whatever their heart desires! I would encourge them to take a few items home with them for working on their book between meetings. It might be nice to start the third meeting off with everyone sharing what they have done so far. Be sure to keep a supply of books for new teens to use! You may also want to check with local craft stores to see if any Altered Book Groups meet and would like to teach a lesson to the teens. I found a great woman from PANOPOLIE come and show our teens how to do several different techniques. She even brought supplies! It was nice to have someone else lead the group and it gave me a chance to participate with the teens. She tought us some cool stuff!

There you have it! 5 easy steps to a great reoccuring teen craft program!

Hooray Valerie!

2009-02-12T08:43:00.000-08:00

One of my co-workers deserves some applause!

Valerie H. Nicholson wins YALSA’s 2009 MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens

Amanda Palmer

2008-11-18T13:54:00.000-08:00

This was an excellent show! One of the best I have been to in a long time.

The intro was amazing! The whole concept behind this project, aptly titled "Who Killed Amanda Palmer" is based on graffiti under a bridge in Boston that read "If you see Amanda Palmer in the street, kill her" under which someone wrote "That way she'll live forever". To kick of the show the intro/description was narrated by Neil Gaiman. Here's a little video:

After the narration, Amanda came out in a wedding dress/death shroud-esqe costume, was hoisted in the air and began some mean piano playing! Her first song was Astronaut, which is one of my favorites and my daughter's most favorite. I wasn't sure how the set would sound with just piano and all but I was blown away! It sounded full and rumbled my body!

(I decided to go ahead and post this since it has been in my drafts for a long time and I am obviously never going to get around to finishing it.)

Dewey Yourself!

2008-11-13T16:38:00.000-08:00

sarah campbell's Dewey Decimal Section:

013 [Unassigned]

Class:
000 Computer Science, Information & General Works

Contains:
Encyclopedias, magazines, journals and books with quotations.

What it says about you:
You are very informative and up to date. You're working on living in the here and now, not the past. You go through a lot of changes. When you make a decision you can be very sure of yourself, maybe even stubborn, but your friends appreciate your honesty and resolve.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

The Halloween Blog Post

2008-10-31T10:02:00.000-07:00

Here is my costume! I slept in rollers to assure my hair was authentic. I am very proud.

Here is a link to information on haunted libraries

We held a "Librarians Go Goth" program as part of our Teen Read Week festivities. When the teens voted for the Teen's Top Ten, we added a spot to nominate a librarian to go goth! We took some before photos and the teens got a big kick out of this. Here were our results:
The winners:
Mrs. Valerie runs our Printz Club and works at the Youth Services desk.

She became "V", our angst-y goth.

Mrs. Honey is our Youth Services Manager.

She became our perky goth.

Mrs. Mary is famous for her family story time.

She became our sexy goth!

These ladies got into the part and did a fantastic job. I highly recommend this program idea.
I think it would have been a bit better if we had the teens dress up the librarians with their clothes, make-up etc.
This cost no money to do. The prep involved creating the voting display, finding victims, er, um I mean volunteers and arranging days for them to dress up.

Barack the Casbah

2008-10-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

Today Barack Obama came to Raleigh. I happened to have the day off so I decided to walk the two blocks down to the rally. I was really excited because this was the first rally I had gone to. I think I read that 25,000 people were at the event. Everyone was smiling and there was a great energy surrounding the whole affair.
Everyone was pleasant. There was no pushing and shoving and everyone remained in the lines they put us in. I always have a problem with lines. I feel herded and controlled.
The crowd's energy was great and people of all kinds were represented. His speech was inspired and passionate.

I am thrilled that I had the opportunity to participate in this landmark event.

Amazingly there was only one protester. He had a large sign and on the back of it he had printed FREE SPEECH in large letters. Although I didn't agree with his sign I knew that he had just as much right to be there as we did. I was glad he was permitted to silently walk with his sign.
I was also obsessed with the security. It was crazy to spot guys in the crowd and on top of buildings.
Another crazy aspect of the rally was the "vendors". I would much rather give my money to the campaign itself and not the guys making their own version of merchandise. I did enjoy the stencil artist in the cool bus. Kudos for actually making a buck on something that isn't just a cheap imitation.

I also thought this was cool. Look closely and you can see where someone drew Obama's face in the dust on the glass. Pretty cool.

Where has the Dark Faerie Librarian gone?

2008-10-23T17:34:00.000-07:00

I am still alive. I promise. I am just adjusting to a new life. I promise to return with great things.

I am at Dragon*Con!

2008-08-31T06:45:00.000-07:00

Please read about my adventures here:

http://mommyndarkfaerie.blogspot.com/

The Ogre that stole my heart

2008-06-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

One weekend morning, our YS Manager arrived to find a huge Ogre on lawn of the library.

Questions circulated as to why this Ogre found his way to the Library... A student art project? Trash? A prank? He was moved into our workroom while we tried to solve the mystery. Seeing him everyday, I have become quite fond of him...
Unfortunately, not all of my co-workers feel the same. They have discussed painting over him or throwing him away. They called him ugly and they called him trash.

We finally found our answer as to the origin of the monster on a local teens deviant art page. (it can be found here: http://www.beckeez.deviantart.com/)
This instantly made me think of the book P.L.A.I.N. Janes by Cecil Castelluci. (If you haven't read this, you really need to)

I feel honored that we were chosen to be a part of this teens artistic mission.
I am fighting to keep the monster in the library.
I would hate to see something happen to a piece of art that anyone worked on. It is about 7 feet tall and took time, tools, sweat and a vision to create. I think it would be disrespectful to paint over it or trash him. I am even more passionate about this because a teen made it. Not many teens really commit so strongly to an artistic mission like this one. I hope I can convince my library (or another library) to display this monster and I hope it encourages the teen who made it to continue with her art. I will certainly keep my eyes open for it.

I think this monster fulfilled his artistic destiny. He aroused questions and emotions. He confused us, angered some of us and even made a few of us giggle.

VIVA LA MONSTER

Steampunk

2008-06-01T17:28:00.000-07:00

What is Steampunk?
It's a movement, it's a genre, it's so much more than you ever knew.

With a scene present in the local area, I thought I would experiment with a few ideas surrounding this underground phenomenon.

First I set up a display of Steampunk Literature. This included a booklist, books, a captains hat with goggles, some large gears, an old book from the early 1900s and a technical steampunkesqe drawing.

This actually attracted a lot of attention. One woman checked out a majority of the display moments after I had set it up. While checking out she mentioned that she was glad to see the display and get a booklist because she was having a discussion with a friend about the "Steampunk Genre" and her friend didn't believe that it existed.

I also threw a little steampunk into a program we were doing. My co-worker found a great program idea on another blog and we did our own version of A Great and Terrible Tea.
The idea is loosely based on the Libba Bray books A great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels and A Sweet Far Thing. I promoted the event with tea bags. I just stapeled our event information on the end of the string and put them out in a mug.

My co-worker also made a great flyer that a few teens mentioned caught their attention in the evaluation.

The event was a blast! We had a quiz on which Great and Terrible Beauty are you. I had a blast making the quiz. (Which I can email anyone who wants to have an event like this.)
We then talked about Victorian Calling Cards and the teens made their own calling cards using an assortment of supplies.

Here are a few:

We then had tea (in our own favorite teacup)
and homemade scones (lovingly baked by my wonderful co-worker and amazing supervisor). I played my Sleepy Hollow Soundtrack and one of the teens borrowed it from me. We then played this amazing version of Mystery Date Gemma Doyle style that my co-worker created. Watch her blog for details about her fabulous creation!

We also awarded prizes for costumes. I love costumes and dressing up, so we have these at programs a lot. Here are the winners:

Animazement

2008-06-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

We want teens to come to the library.
We get the books they want to read.
We hold events we hope they'll want to attend.
We go to the High Schools to tell them about these things.
But what else can we do?
Getting the word out and letting the teens decide on their own that it would be cool to go to the library is hard. How can we do effective outreach to teens?
My co-worker came up with a great solution... Set up a booth at an Anime Convention!

We not only promoted our library's collection and events, but we obtained other literature from cities within a days driving distance. We also handed out sheets on how to get a manga/anime collection started.
I must say this was an amazing experience. LOTS of teens came up to our table. A lot of adults came up to our table. We met librarians from all over and exchanged ideas and stories. We bonded with our local teen patrons who are anime fans and met new ones. People were excited to know about our events and anime clubs. Some we're excited to learn that libraries offered such things!

We raffled off a Ramune and bag of goodies every hour and one of the highlights was seeing the teens get so excited about their goodies.
Another great surprise was to see the teens I worked with at my old library in Boone. It was great to see them and hard to believe it's been 2 years and they are graduating and going to college!

I made a steampunk costume for the event because I love any reason to dress up!

I also met other people in the community who would love to donate their time and talent to the library. I must say that I left the event inspired and excited to come back in future years.

Ren Faire

2008-04-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

Our annual family trip to the Ren Faire is always fun. Despite all the money Ian and Kevin spent at the Faire last year, neither of them wore their costumes. I'll be sure to remind them of this when they feel the urge to buy costumes again.

This year we battled the rain, but it added a bit of authenticity to the day. This made Kevin happy as it ment many trips to the Mead Tent to dry off. They have great bawdy entertainment which begins with the disclaimer that "if the kids get the jokes, it's not their fault."

All and all we were soggy, but had a good time. Phaedra got some Baby Dragons (2 anoles) and named them Rose and Thorn and we are going to have more baby dragons! Joy!

I leave you with my Knights in action.

...I laughed and laughed

2008-03-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

At this:
for all your library etiquette needs

Candy Girl A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper by Diablo Cody

2008-03-19T09:10:00.000-07:00

I have a confession.
This was the first adult book I have read in a long time.
I even felt a little guilty that I spent time reading something that I wasn't going to recommend to a teen at work. Then I realized how retarded that was and realized I only spent 1 night (yes, it was that good. I haven't read a book that fast in awhile) and I was going to recommend it to my friends, and it was damn good!

I love her voice and wit, and I must admit, I think I have a crush on Diablo ;)

Seriously, I really enjoyed this little memoir and you might like it too. (But only if you don't blush easily, because it is a bit... um...dirty.)

Now, here are some songs to take your clothes off to.

Eva's Next Top Libarian

2008-03-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

Ha! My co-worker and I had a 'photo shoot' for our Librarian Trading Cards today. I was fooling around with them in photoshop and I really like this one.

Teen Tech Week!

2008-03-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

This is my post about TTW 08

First of all, I just finished BEIGE by Cecil Castellucci. I enjoyed this book, but by far, the thing I enjoyed most was how each chapter was the name of a punk song. There were some great songs! Don't believe me? Here, listen for yourself:

I found a very cool website called Project Playlist (www.playlist.com) You get to create your own playlist and post it anywhere just like I did above! I think I am going to start making book playlists. This seems like a great way to market books to teens.

Here are some photos of my TTW display. I think it turned out great and I wish the pictures captured it better.

I also had a CD Swap Party. Teens brought in a mixed CD, we made cool collaged covers for them while listening to music and discussing our favorite songs. We then swaped them and had all new music to bring home!

Wow! Teens take the pictures for YOYA's covers!

2008-02-21T22:32:00.000-08:00

It's true!
Here is a link to the info so your teens can send in photos.
I think I feel a program in the works.

Anti-Valentine's Masquerade Ball

2008-02-19T12:10:00.000-08:00

This was, for sure, a very successful program. We had a large turn out, 40-something teens on a Friday night and I learned a LOT.

We had about 6 of the older teens arrive at about 7 to help us set up. These were teens who helped from the start... they brought cds of music to play, helped bake the cookies and hung christmas lights. The space looked really nice. I also had a co-worker score us some half-dead roses from the grocery store. We set up the cookies and drinks and dimmed the lights(just a little).

The teens wanted an old silent film to play on a projector as ambiance, but unfortunately, the laptap we were given wasn't able to play dvds. grrr. but i smiled and moved on.
We had 2 activities. One was to make a mask. we had plain white masks, feathers, ribbon, glitter and hot glue guns.

We also had a "vandalize a romance novel" area. This was a huge hit.

The teens danced and goofed off...

as you notice, the pictures have turned to black and white... this is because, just like the masquerade scene in Labrynth, it was a surreal. This is what happened...

Thankfully, they all cleaned up the majority before they left and a few older teens stayed to help even longer.

This introduces the biggest lesson I learned. It should have been divided by ages. The difference in behavior was obvious. The younger teens made a mess out of the crafts, one boy getting burned. They tore apart the roses and novels and threw them around. The older teens carefully made elaborate masks. Giggled and censored and drew in the novels.
Do't get me wrong... the event was still a success, and everyone had a great time.