Pinterest Interest: 2016 Summer Reading Club!

Did I go there too soon? Well, I can't help it! With an upcoming program theme revolving around sports and fitness - I was drawn to Pinterest to start locating inspiration. Because before we know it, the snow will be falling, and you will be sitting at your desk, sipping coffee and perusing the summer reading catalog. So why not start out here, with our 2016 Summer Reading Club Board?

milk carton ball toss craft

library mini  golf!

library PAC MAN!!

September 21 Summer Reading Wrap Up Meeting

Book Trailers and Youtube

I recently saw a Tweet from author Joelle Charbonneau (The Testing Series) that said she was attending a school visit where a librarian was book talking in conjunction with showing the kids and teens book trailers. 

The librarian here is using book trailers to grt these kids excited about the books she's talking about. Wow does it work.

— Joelle Charbonneau (@jcharbonneau) April 27, 2015

Many publishers have YouTube channels where they are consistently uploading trailers for some of their newer more popular titles or something they are trying to build a lot of interest in. Admittedly some book trailers are better than others, but none-the-less they will add another dimension to any school visit or other piece of outreach you are doing. Since summer reading is right around the corner you might consider throwing some of these publisher branded YouTube channels in your utility belt!

Harper Collins:

https://www.youtube.com/user/harperteen

Penguin Teen:

https://www.youtube.com/user/PenguinYoungReaders

Random House:

https://www.youtube.com/user/RandomBooks

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt:

https://www.youtube.com/user/hmhbooks

Little, Brown:

https://www.youtube.com/user/LittleBrownBooks

Simon & Schuster

https://www.youtube.com/user/SimonSchusterVideos

Teen Summer Reading Training

Registration is open!

TEEN

SUMMER READING

WORKSHOP

Suffolk Cooperative Library System

Monday February 23, 2015

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

(9:30 AM for coffee and books)

Do your teens have hidden powers that need to be unleashed to save the world?

Join us for summer reading tips and tricks to help Unmask! your teens’

hidden potential.

We’ll discuss programming, crafts, and other projects that will aid your teens in having a super summer at the library!

Register by clicking the date on the calendar at: http://calendar.suffolknet.org or contact Kim Androlowicz at kim@suffolknet.org; 631-286-1600 ext. 1380

If you would like to be a part of the program and share your ideas with your fellow librarians be sure to email me - derek@suffolknet.org

Super Graphic Diversity

Looking forward to our 2015 Summer Reading Club themes which are all about superheros and then looking back at this past year's We Need Diverse Books campaign I was pleasantly surprised to see that our graphic novel sections may be teeming with a mix of the two. I have always been one for diverse reads and have realized the importance of different folks seeing themselves in the pages of books. This past year at NYLA I was able to hear both Jacqueline Woodson and Charles R. Smith Jr. speak about the importance of diversity in books for their readers. On top of all of this I am nerd. I grew up with weekly trips to the comic book store, waking up at 6AM to watch Sailor Moon before school and I now attend New York Comic Con where, as you all know, I may or may not be in costume. The comic/graphic world for young readers is now starting to diversify and here are three of last year's shining stars. 

The Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang & Sonny Liew

Gene Luen Yang is best known for writing American Born Chinese which was the first (and only) graphic novel to win the prestigious Michael L. Printz Award. In 2014 he released old school superhero graphic novel with Sonny Liew, The Shadow Hero. What's interesting about this read is that it based on an already existing superhero The Green Turtle. In 1944 Chu Hing, one of the first Asian Americans to work in comic books, created the character. The rumor is that Hing wanted the character to be Chinese, but his publisher at the time said there was no market for an Asian superhero. A few issues were made, but he had no success. The back matter of The Shadow Hero goes deeper into Hing's story. Yang and Liew decided to take this forgotten character, give him a full origin story immersed in Chinese tradition, and release him out into the world. When speaking of his new diverse comic to SLJ Yang said, "As a superhero fan, I find myself reading more diverse superheroes, maybe because more of them exist now." He's definitely doing his part to diversify comics. (Read the full SLJ interview here)

El Deafo by Cece Bell

This autobiographical novel is one of my favorite books of 2014. It tells the story of young Cece who lost her hearing due to meningitis at four-years-old. I reviewed it earlier this year for the blog and am so happy to see it receive tons of praise. It has made numerous best graphic novel lists and inspired me to write this post. School Library Journal interviewed Bell about the success of El Deafo, why she wrote it, and why bunnies! She answered, "Bunnies have giant ears and excellent hearing. My portrayal as the one rabbit whose giant ears did not work—that’s kind of the way it felt. Exaggerated? Sure. But I wanted to convey the feeling of really standing out when I didn’t want to stand out at all. I’m finding out now that the whole bunny-instead-of-human thing helps the book resonate with kids of all ethnicities, too. I love that. And, like you say, bunnies are adorable. You can’t go wrong with bunnies." What's more diverse then a bunch of different colored bunnies and one who is hearing impaired? (Read the full SLJ interview here)

Ms. Marvel Vol. 1: No Normal by G. Willow Smith and Adrian Alphona

While attending Comic Con I was able to sit in on a panel featuring G. Willow Smith, the writer of this new progressive Ms. Marvel series. The new Marvel follows the adventures of 16-year-old Kamala Khan. Kamala is the first female hero of her kind: she is Muslim, Pakistani and awesome. She is a normal teenage girl who is caught in a strange fog one night while sneaking out to a party that her traditional parents forbade her to attend. The fog gives her the ability to change her body to fight evil. The diverse comic had an immediate following and is resonating with young Muslim girls. At the Comic Con panel a young Muslim woman stood up at the microphone and ended up in tears professing to Smith how important it was for her to see this story be told. To have herself reflected off the pages of a super hero comic and Kamala. It was quite moving and even more proof of how important diversity in books is. I've read Ms. Marvel and am definitely a fan. In an interview with Vulture.com Smith says, "I write about real life as it is lived by the young American Muslim women that I've had the pleasure of meeting throughout the course of my travels as a writer." (Read the full Vulture.com interview here) Kamala is real, current and a comic you should absolutely check out.

As we head to Summer Reading this year let's keep our eyes peeled for even more super graphic diversity for our patrons.

2015 Summer Reading Workshop

Sure, the polar vortex is making a comeback this week with bone chilling coldness, but here at SCLS-YS we are in the heat of summer - summer reading programs that is! Join us on Thursday, January 22nd at 10:00 am (coffee and books at 9:30 am) and get yourself supercharged and ready to be a SUPER HERO at your library this summer! Do you have a great idea that you want to share with your colleagues utilizing this year's theme? Call or email me at lisa@suffolknet.org!

Meeting details are below:

Longwood is READioactive!

Longwood has shared their fun-tastic Fizz, Boom, Read displays with Project Yawesome. They slimed up their desk in the Story Laboratory and decorated the walls with the names of their readers in the form of stars and robots. Speaking of robots check out the silver robot heads they transformed their computers into! A cardboard box, tin foil and creativity go a long way! Defintiely "READ"IOCATIVE!

Patchogue-Medford library Fizzes, Booms, and READS This Summer!

Check out this great promotional video for Fizz, Boom, Read! from the Patchogue-Medford CAPS Librarians!

Also, check out some of their cool room decorations:

More Fizz!

We are excited to be able to show off two more libraries' Fizz Boom Read creativity! Take a look!

Deer Park

"Beakers were here, there and everywhere at the Deer Park Public Library. Participants decorated their individual beakers which were displayed on a giant bulletin board which featured a poem describing the many kinds of scientists. Rusty the Robot acted as the library mascot and was quite pleased to see how popular the theme was this year."

North Shore

North Shore takes a lot of space and utilizes it with fun and colorful displays! There is a mad scientist and an exploding book volcano. Plus, some one-on-one robot reading time. Their children's photo op is super clever. Who wouldn't want to pose as a summer scientist?

Thanks so much for sharing. Keep sending us your great ideas!

We Fizzed. We Boomed. We Read.

This summer team Yawesome decided to get up and go to visit a few of the libraries out here in Suffolk. We were so excited to see all the wonderful things and ideas you all had for this year's summer reading themes "Fizz, Boom, Read" and "Spark a Reaction". We have been sharing some of your ideas throughout the summer and here is a round up of some more great decorations and community service projects!

Smithtown - Nesconset

A talented clerk at Smithtown - Nesconset created this mad scientist! Parents and kids alike went crazy over him.

West Islip

In West Islip they had molecules made from foam balls and slime made from lime green table clothes. Their pièce de résistance was a robot named Fred created from left overs from their craft closet! Bowls, tin foil, umbrellas, paint and more made up this rockin' robot!

Southold

Southold made their teen bulletin board come to life with lightning bolts and a good bit of glitter! Traveling across the ceiling of their children's area was a DNA strand made of pipe cleaners! 

Center Moriches

Center Moriches had aliens visit as well as beakers used to mark off all the kids who completed the summer reading challenge. They also had their amazing posters made by teens for community service hours. Pizza was included in the program package!

West Babylon

West Babylon took beakers to a whole new level! When their kids signed up for the summer reading club they became a bubble in their fizzy bulletin board. The librarians also used the SCLS 3D printer to print out atoms for decoration! They also had a Fizz, Boom, Read prize display case adorned with awesome summer reading treats and, of course, a bit of construction paper slime.

Babylon

Babylon made sure they were decorated from top to bottom! With kid scientists, a hazmat suit, and a periodic table they were covered. Plus, what lab isn't complete without its own hand-crafted minions?

Harborfields

Harborfields' teen department doesn't take the term "go big or go home" lightly. As you can see they went TREMENDOUS with their summer reading desk. They used laundry hoses, caution tape and more to get this mad scientist lab up and running. Is that a minion in the back there as well? Not to mention it lights up!

We were so impressed by everything all of your have done! Congratulations on a super scientifically successful summer!

There's still time to send in photos of your library's summer reading displays. If you have a picture of something you've done in your library send it and a short sentence or two to derek@suffolknet.org. We'd really love to see something from all of our libraries!

Science Buddies Kits - There's still time!

If you are interested in borrowing a Science Buddies Kit there is still time to request. Any block that is not filled in is up for grabs! Take a look at the topic the kit covers across the top and the weeks they are available along the side. Email me at derek@suffolknet.org if you would like to reserve a kit!

Spark a Reaction 2

Here is another awesome display for summer reading's Spark A Reaction. This time it comes from Kim over at The Hampton Library in Bridgehampton. She designed the Periodic Table of YA Books and sent it here to SCLS to be printed! She wrote, "I don't have a ton of space so I wanted my display to be both decorative and useful!" Looks like you hit the nail on the head!

Please send more of your awesome ideas to me so I can share them on the site.

Spark a Reaction

As we all know Spark a Reaction and Fizz, Boom, Read are our summer reading themes this year. Science programming and maker spaces galore have been full steam ahead for about a month now. Getting our teens and children interested in science themed books and programming may take a little more effort than hanging up a poster and throwing safety goggles at them! (DISCLAIMER: Do not throw safety goggles at patrons even if it is in the name of science) I have been impressed with the amount of effort, and craftiness, our fellow librarians have been putting into their displays for summer reading this year. Take a look at two below!

Brookhaven's Spark Book

Made from a discarded book it now has new life! The team over at Brookhaven, including librarian Jennifer Rocco, used card stock as support while gluing sections of pages together. They let one section dry and then moved on to the next. After that they had bouquets of sparkling gold spindles that they glued into the binding of the book. The more sparkles the better! 

Shelter Island's Golden Gears

Librarian Jennifer Blume really has her gears turning with this one! She wrote me and said, "The page/intern cut them out of paper plates. (The really cheap thin kind). They're spray painted brass and glitter. The letters are just printed on card stock. It's supported by mounting tape and Popsicle sticks."

If you have an awesome display that you would like to share with everyone send it my way with a picture and a small description about how you made it! Email me at derek@suffolknet.org and I will post them to Project Yawesome. Thanks again to Brookhaven and Shelter Island for their spark-ly ideas!

Science Buddies Kits!

Science Buddies Kits at SCLS-YS

They're here! As part of the NYS Family Literacy Services Grant awarded to SCLS-YS to support this year's summer reading program, STEM based kits are now available for libraries to use in programs. These kits can be used a variety of ways: children's programs, drop in family programs, teen volunteer "science buddy" programs, etc...

The following themed kits are available to borrow via SCLS-YS for a short loan period (kits are sent out on Mondays, and need to be ready for pick up by Friday night)

• Amazing Magnets
• Colors and Patterns
• Counting and Measuring
• Easy Engineering
• Noticing Nature
• Sink and Float

The kits are designed to be used with children ages THREE and up due to small pieces that are included in some kits. 

Interested in borrowing a kit? Email Derek at derek@suffolknet.org to book a kit for your library today! We still have a few spots open for the summer, although spots are filling up fast! Date Availability by week:

1. June 30th - July 4th
2. July 8th - July 11th
3. July 14th - July 18th
4. July 21 - July 25th
5. July 28th - August 1
6. August 4- August 8th
7. August 11- August 15th
8. August 18 - August 22nd
9. August 25 - August 29th

McDonald Certificates are in the Mail! Really!

It is perfectly ok to admit that you have been stalking the SCLS delivery van, waiting for the delivery of your SRC McDonald certificates. As a former department head, I know the feeling of wanting to get all those last minute details finished and "put to bed" before the official launch of summer reading.

Well, I'm happy to report that we put the first round of certificates in the delivery bins this afternoon - so be on the lookout!

PLEASE NOTE: We shipped children's and YA orders together in one envelope to most libraries, directly to the Children's department head. Please open up your envelopes to see if you have another batch within bearing the YA librarian's name.

We anticipate getting all of the orders (35,000 certificates were ordered for Suffolk County - so that is A LOT of counting and rubber banding to do!) out and on the trucks by Friday, June 13th.

IF YOU ORDERED CERTIFICATES AND DON'T RECEIVE THEM BY JUNE 17th, CONTACT LISA at lisa@suffolknet.org