There was a great article in this weekend’s New York Times about NYPL adding video games to their collections and services for teens. They’ve also added gaming space in a bunch of their libraries. Check it out!
BTW, Jack Martin, who is quoted often in the story, will be here to do a workshop on serving GLBTQ teens on May 12. Cool!
Add comment March 24, 2008
Just in! New professional titles:
Best Books for Young Adults, Third Edition. Edited by Holly Koelling
Sizzling Summer Reading Programs for Young Adults, Second Edition by Katharine L. Kan
They can be requested via CW/MARS - enjoy!
Add comment February 29, 2008
During the February school vacation, librarians at the Chelmsford Public Library in northeast Mass did a fun math-based program. Yes, that’s Fun and Math in the same sentence! They are doing a lot of math-based programming this year, and, inspired by the book “All of the Above” by Shelley Pearsall, decided to construct a Sierpinski tetrahedron. It became an all-ages program, that anyone in the community could work on.
Volunteers spent many, many hours cutting out 4,000 tetrahedrons on the Ellison machine. Library patrons taped them together to create small, 3-sided pyramids. During February vacation teens took all the individual tetrahedron shapes and glued them together to form large structures. The end result is amazing.
You can read about it in the Chelmsford newspaper, and see an excellent explanation of the whole project on YouTube . They also have photos on their Flickr site.
Congratulations to the teens, staff and volunteers who made it happen!
Add comment February 29, 2008
Do you have aspiring songwriters at your library? They should definitely check out this contest! It’s for teens ages 15-19 who are unsigned songwriters and/or producers. The deadline to submit their original songs is March 10, 2008. Judging will be based on innovative lyrics that convey a positive message, as well as melody and composition.
And get this, winners will attend the 2008 Berklee Five-Week Summer Performance Program (July 12–August 15), which immerses students in performance, music theory, and music technology, with electives focused on songwriting, music synthesis, and music business. Two of the three winners will receive the grand prize of a full scholarship, including tuition and room and board (each valued at $6,930). The second-place winner will receive a tuition-only scholarship (valued at $4,130). These three winners will also perform at the 2008 Peace Hip-Hop Festival on August 2 at Boston’s City Hall Plaza.
Here are the details:
Essence’s Take Back the Music campaign and Berklee College of Music are again looking for the next generation of hip-hop stars. Since 2005, Take Back the Music has examined the ways in which black women are depicted in popular music and videos. The campaign continues to promote balance in mainstream hip-hop’s messages, and remains the inspiration behind the third songwriting contest.
Entry forms and contest details are posted at Essence.com/takebackthemusic and Berklee.edu.
Add comment February 27, 2008
I just read an article in eSchool News about teachers who are incorporating geocaching into their curriculum with kids. How cool is that?! If you’re not familiar with it, geocaching is like a scavenger hunt using a handheld GPS device. Caches are hidden all over the world, but like the official website says, it’s one thing to find it on the GPS and another to actually find it wherever it’s hidden. Caches usually contain a logbook for you to sign, and sometimes small items for you to take. (The general rule is if you take something you’re supposed to leave something of equal value for the next person.) A quick scan of their site today showed 213 caches in Massachusetts alone! Each listing gives you the coordinates and sometimes a description of where to find it.
Wouldn’t that be a fun program for teens in the summer? Maybe a local orienteering group or geocaching group could lend their expertise and/or their GPS units!
Add comment February 12, 2008
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