Thursday, March 22, 2012

2012 Teen SRP Ideas

Ohh it's that magical time of year again. Time to start thinking of all the fun things I want to do over the summer and then figure out how I can turn them into a library program.

Here is my running list of possible programs for teen summer programs:
  • Insanewiches Insane sandwich fun
  • Yoga classes for teens
  • Shrinky Dink Jewelry
  • Steampunk jewelry
  • Constellation T-shirts Clothing refab events always go over well
  • Angry Birds Bowling- Possible fun activity to bring to the middle school with me
  • Iron Chef Part II
  • Cake Pops
  • Frankenplush- Cut up old stuffed animals and teens sew different pieces together to make a frankenanimal.
  • Tiny food art out of polymer clay. Okay fine I really just want to share my love of tiny food with the word!
  • Candy sushi
  • Fuse bead Nintendo art Use the pixel appeal of fuse beads to make beloved video game characters! I did fuse bead jewerly with my teens a few years ago, mondo fun!

Monday, March 12, 2012

Pinterest Teen Programs

I have made a choice to not join Pinterest. No matter how fun and adorable it looks I will not cave in. No I do not have a fundamental problem with Pinterest I am just afraid if I cave in it will consume all my freetime. I already lurk on etsy late into the late, really should not take on another venture. That doesn't stop me from admiring all the amazing work librarians are doing on Pinterest though?

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Transliteracy in Teen Summer Reading

I recently worked with two other librarians (Chrissie Morrison of the East Greenbush Library and Kaela Wallman of the Schenectady Public Library) on a presentation of incorporating transliteracy into your teen SRP. Transliteracy is the ability to be literate across multiple forms of media (books, radio, internet, tv, etc.) This Teen SRP challanges teens to complete quests rather than following the model of just tracking books or minutes read.

Teens will complete x number of quests and for each quest they get a raffle ticket. You can chose to have the raffle at the end of the summer or raffle off one item per week. To view our presentation click here

We created quests that use the various media in and out of the library. Kaela put some of the quests we brainstormed into a little book that the teens will use to records their quests over the summer.{ Booklet } In order to keep stats make each quest equal to a number of minutes if you report minutes, or a number of books if you ocunt books. Comment on this blog post if you have more Quest ideas! I love to read the creativity of librarians!

Quests:



  • Watch a movie (fiction or documentary) based on the lifeof a musician, singer or band
  • Write your own ghost story (at least 1 page long
  • Read a book of your choice
  • Using the website http://www.bartleby.com/100write 2 quotes you like and why
  • Create a piece of art (photo,drawing, collage, painting,etc)based on a dream
  • Read a book with the word star in the title
  • Read a book about a famous musician, actor or athlete.
  • Borrow & listen to a music CD from the library.
  • Borrow and read a magazine from the library
  • Write your own poem or song lyrics inspired by the night sky.
  • Research a famous person from your town. Write things you learned about his or her life.
  • Discover 2 famous people who share your birthday. How are you and they similar or different?
  • Take a picture of yourself in front of a historical marker. For extra credit use the libraryto learn more about the site you chose
  • Go star gazing and identify at least 3 constellations -- bonus raffle ticket for borrowing a book about stars/constellations from the library
  • Become a fan of the library on Facebook and post on our wall the title of a book you recently read and write a review of it.
  • Make a video about the Teen Space in the library and let us post it to our YouTube channel
  • Take a photograph at night
  • Build a reflective solar cooker & experiment by cooking a marshmallow in it to make s'mores! Instructions here http://stardate.org/teachers/activities/cooker
  • Find out what the night sky looked like the on the evening of the day & year you were born
  • Read a book that was recommended to you by a friend or librarian
  • Visit another library in our library system and borrow a book from them with your library card
  • Read a book published in 2012
  • Read at least 2 books from your schools recommended summer reading list
  • Listen to an audiobook