Pinterest Interest: Teen Spaces

No matter how large a tweak - some new furniture, an expansion, or a complete new room - it is always exciting when I hear that a Teen Space is getting some work done. When thinking about Teen Spaces as a whole I always have a Field of Dreams moment and hear a voice from beyond whisper, "If you build it they will come." So mysterious! Not sure if you all have a soft spoken disembodied voice that reaches out to you, (maybe you do, but it might say something different) but they offer some good advice. What design elements should we be thinking about when it comes to designing or redesigning our YA areas? If you are curious to see what other are doing take a look at our Teen Spaces Pinterest board. You'll find tons of ideas! In these pins you will see different types of libraries of varying shapes and sizes from all over the world. My favorites cover fun accent walls, collaborative work stations, and the all important movable comfy furniture. Also, take a look at some of the links and articles below that offer some great advice for remaking Teen Spaces in libraries.

SCLS-YS Teen Spaces Pinterest Board

https://www.pinterest.com/sclsyservices/teen-spaces/

YALSA's National Teen Space Guidelines

http://www.ala.org/yalsa/sites/ala.org.yalsa/files/content/guidelines/guidelines/teenspaces.pdf

New Teen Spaces from Coast to Coast

http://www.slj.com/2015/11/teens-ya/new-teen-spaces-from-coast-to-coast/

Amazing Reading Nooks

http://www.slj.com/2014/04/public-libraries/look-a-nook-create-a-cozy-haven-for-reading-with-inventive-space-design/

Sprucing Up My School Library for Less than $600

http://www.slj.com/2016/01/resources/sprucing-up-my-school-library-for-less-than-600/

Pinterest Interest: Sensory Activites

April is National Autism Awareness Month! As we gear up for our training in Autism Spectrum Disorders on May 9th, funded through the Autism Speaks Long Island Chapter grant, (register on the SCLS Gateway) we created a new Pinterest board with tons of ideas when it comes to sensory learning activities that are easily replicated at the library. On the Autism Speaks blog they shared, "[...] many individuals with autism have difficulty processing and integrating sensory information. These sensitivities can create great barriers to participating in daily life for those with autism and their families. As a result, interventions that address sensory difficulties are among the most requested by parents of children with autism." If you are looking to run a sensory story time at your library or just want a few activities/toys/tools to have on hand check out the Pinterest board. From sensory bags to bins to beans to rice to slime to sand to paints to bottles and more there are a plethora of ideas to make your own during National Autism Awareness Month!

For our Pinterest Board go here: https://www.pinterest.com/sclsyservices/sensory-activities/

For more on National Autism Awareness Month go here: http://www.autism-society.org/get-involved/national-autism-awareness-month/

For the Autism Speaks Blog regarding sensory integration go here: https://www.autismspeaks.org/blog/2013/12/03/sensory-integration-changing-brain-through-play

The Library in Minecraft

One of the fastest growing trends in libraries is the use of Minecraft servers. Here patrons can build towers, castles, houses, and more! Within these digital worlds patrons can also play games and in some cases visit the library. Two teens at Harborfields Library, who introduce themselves as Sam and Jack in the video tour, took their library into virtual territory. The pair spent over fifty hours working on recreating all of the spaces in the building. "It just shows how industrious teens can be when challenged," said Harborfields' Young Adult department head Linda Meglio. "We hope to have their virtual library on all our computers in the Teen room so that they can play in the library within the library." The teens will have the virtual library equipped with two different games that visitors can play and are looking to add more! What an amazing feat these two have accomplished. Take a look at some screenshots below and follow the link at the bottom of the post to see the entire tour of virtual Harborfields!

The Teen area in Minecraft!

Even the reference desk in the Children's section has been included.

A visit to the library's virtual gallery anyone?

Brick by brick they built the library!

For the complete tour visit this link: http://harborfieldslibrary.org/HPL.mp4

Update: Quick Picks

Nominees on our Mock Quick Picks 2016 list have been updated!

 As you all know we take our nominees from the actual list of nominations when they are updated at the start of every month. After their meeting in ALA there was a bit of a lag on updating the list by YALSA's Quick Picks committee. On September 1st the group posted their newly updated list and Renee and myself went and chose two titles for July, August, and September! 

Below are the six new titles and for a complete list of our Mock QP nominations you can check out this page (http://projectyawesome.blogspot.com/p/mock-quick-picks-2016.html) right here on Project Yawesome!

Albertalli, Becky. Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda. 2015. HarperCollins/Balzer & Bray, $17.99. 9780062348678.

Cass, Kiera. The Heir. 2015. HarperTeen/HarperCollins, $18.99. 9780062349859.

de la Cruz, Melissa. The Isle of the Lost. 2015. Disney-Hyperion, $17.99. 9781484720974.

Harmon, Michael. Stick. 2015. Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, $17.99. 9780385754361.

Helms, Rhonda. Promposal. 2015. Simon Pulse/Simon and Schuster, $17.99. 9781481422321. 

Stevenson, Noelle. Nimona. 2015. Illus. HarperTeen, $17.99. 9780062278234.

Youth Mental Health Training in October

Out of twenty spots available for our Youth Mental Health First Aid Training half have already been reserved! Register with Patty Klos at patty@suffolknet.org

“Mental Health First Aid is an 8-hour course that teaches you how to help youth who are

developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. The training helps you identify, understand, and respond to signs of addictions and mental illnesses.

Youth Mental Health First Aid is primarily designed for adults who regularly interact with young people. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including AD/HD), and eating disorders.”

*Registrants must attend both sessions to receive certificate of completion.

Reviews: Galley Group - August 6th

Reviews of soon-to-be published YA reads

 by Galley Group*

August 6th

Brian from Patchogue-Medford

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie

This is a good old fashion ghost story. It is really creepy - there's a haunted house, possessions and scary noises. I wanted it to be a standalone, but it is a series. There haven't been many scary titles recently, but this one is definitely creepy. Good ghost story. 
3 stars







The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

Suzy's best friend drowns and it affects her profoundly. She just cannot understand how her friend could drown since she was such a strong swimmer. Suzy comes to think that her friend must have been stung by a jellyfish and decides to look for the world's best jellyfish expert. This book has some sad moments and is well written with a strong main character. 
4 stars






Even When You Lie to Me by Jessica Alcott

This book is about an elicit teacher/student relationship. The story was pretty well done, but the writing was was odd at times. Ultimately it was enjoyable. 

3.75 stars








Don't Call Me Kit Kat by K.J. Farnham

Fourteen-year-old Katie suffers from an eating disorder after being made fun of for being overweight. The author creates a great cast of characters.
3.5 stars









Paper Weight by Meg Haston

Stevie finds herself at a treatment center for teenagers with eating disorders. While there, she decides she wants to die the same day her brother died. The brother she feels she has killed. Slowly through the story you get clues as to why she is responsible for his death. The book focuses more on suspenseful parts where you are trying to figure out if she really caused her brother's death rather than focusing on the eating disorder.
4 stars

Kristen from Brentwood

Last Year's Mistake by Gina Ciocca

This title goes back and forth between two different times: before freshman year and senior year. Kelsey and David were best friends, but then he starts having feelings for other girls at the start of freshman year and they grow apart. Now in senior year she has moved away and is super popular. She has a hot boyfriend and great friends. David soon moves to her new town and disrupts her life.
3 stars





Proof of Forever by Lexa Hillyer

Joy, Luce, Tali, and Zoe are four different girls who were best friends growing up - they did everything together. Out of nowhere one of the girls cuts the other three off. In the process the other three girls' bond falls apart. Later on they attend a reunion and step into a photo booth which zaps out and brings them back in time. They are reliving the summer before they went their separate ways, and start uncovering secrets they never knew about each other.
4 stars





The Summer After You and Me by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

Right before super storm Sandy Jersey Shore native Lucy finally hooks up with the boy who spent his summers down at the beach. After the storm they don't talk for an entire year and Lucy is hurt. Things fall apart even further when her brother turns all her friends against her after finding out about her quick summer relationship.
4 stars

Lisa from SCLS

The Nest by Kenneth Oppel - see her review here!

Jan from Longwood

Valiant by Sarah McGuire

This is a rewrite of the fairy tale "The Brave Little Tailor". I took this book several places trying to read it and fell asleep twice. It is boring. The main character is a girl whose father, a tailor, passes away. She has to disguise herself as a boy and tailor because a female can not measure the king. It would be indelicate! There are occasional snatches of good writing and clever ideas, but they don't quite make it. The book could have been edited. There are only so many descriptions of cloth than I wanted to read! 
2 stars





The Magician's Dream by Shawn Thomas Odyssey

This is the third mystery in the series. The book made me want to go back and read the first installment. Oona is a magician's apprentice and lives in a magical land. Her parents have been murdered and she wants to find out who did it. The B story on the novel is about women's rights! It had a lot of charm and can stand alone.
4 stars

Becca from Longwood

Illusionarium by Heather Dixon

Steampunk, dystopia, fantasy, and a hint of King Arthur all meet in this book. Jonathan lives in London, now a floating city, where a disease is killing all of the female members of their population. When the woman contracts the disease she dies six days later. The king comes to London to meet with Jonathan's father, a scientist, in hopes of discovering a cure for the disease. When they meet a fellow scientist, Lady Florel, they discover that there is an herb that once inhaled can make illusions come to life. With this power they discover an alternate universe where there is more of this herb and the only way to get it is by making illusions. Lady Floral says she will help him get the cure if he helps her make more illusions for more herbs, but she is a bad person and a lying liar who lies! I liked this book. There is a lot going on but it all fits together.
4 stars

Khan from Port Jefferson

Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods by Hal Johnson

This is definitely for the younger set, but feels almost like nonfiction because of how real he makes the creatures seem. There are short chapters about all the different creatures and tales of how people who come into contact with them never make it out alive. Good pictures. Very inventive. These are whimsical tales of nightmares and adventure.
3.5 stars






Powerless by Tera Lynn Childs and Tracy Deebs 

The book is very in the moment and doesn't offer much description of the world. Everyone is a superhero in her except Kenna. She works with her chemist mom to help heal superheroes from the effects of villain powers. When villains break into the lab and uncover secrets Kenna finds herself not knowing what is really going on or who is good and who is evil. This book reminds me of Disney movie Sky High with a female protagonist.
4 stars





*Galley Group is a group of young adult librarians that meet about every 6-8 weeks to discuss ARCs, or galleys, they have read in the interim. They discuss plot, age group, writing, audience, opinion, etc. The group was made to help with collection development and reader's advisory for our teen patrons. If you would like more information about Galley Group contact Derek! The reviews contained in this post were written from notes I took during the group's meeting.

Media Monday: What's World Book?

Continuing on my trend about vlogging from last week I thought I would post this fantastic episode of Teens React which focuses on Encyclopedias. On this YouTube channel groups of people (teens, children, seniors citizens, etc.) are asked to react to all sorts of different things: videos, fashion, music, etc.

In this particular installment a group of teenagers have World Book Encyclopedias stacked in front of them. Most of their jaws drop at the amount of books they have been given. Their initial reactions vary from some knowing exactly what they are to asking if they are almanacs. It is incredibly interesting hearing their thoughts on how they do their research, whether or not they think these are a valuable resource, and which side of the print vs. digital debate they fall on! The video is entertaining and even thought provoking. If you are ever wondering what teens think about anything subscribe to this YouTube channel and then see if the teens in your room feel the same way!

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

Cards for Hospitalized Kids @ Lindenhurst Memorial Library

Suffolk County Teen departments are busy, busy, busy with service projects this winter! Lindenhurst Memorial Library’s teen and children’s departments work together to have local patrons create cards for a worthy project called “Cards for Hospitalized Kids.”

Cards for Hospitalized Kids (http://www.cardsforhospitalizedkids.com/)is an organization that collects and distributes cards to children in hospitals and at Ronald McDonald houses with chronic and terminal illnesses.They have a set of guidelines and suggestions on their website that librarian Rosalia Milan, who runs the program at Lindenhurst,  downloaded and adapted for use within the library (http://tinyurl.com/l3cej6r). 

The teens came in for a card making session after school where Rosalia went over the guidelines with them to make sure everyone understood them and then the teens got to work!  Occasionally one of the teens pops over to the librarian to make sure that they are following the guidelines correctly.  At the end the cards are all collected, read through to make sure they're alright, and then mailed off to Cards for Hospitalized Kids in Chicago.  Simple and easy!

Holiday Treats at Hampton Bays

This festive season we are asking all of you to send in any holiday service projects you are running at your library. Book, mitten, or food drives fit the bill! We want to see what you and your patrons are doing to create the warm and fuzzies in your library. Hampton Bays ran a fantastic program with their teens earlier this month.

Teen Service Manager Theresa Owens writes, "On Thursday December 4, our Teen Department and the Life Skills class of the Hampton Bay Middle School, worked together at the library to make holiday treats and snacks. Teens with special needs were paired with teen volunteers and worked in teams to create take-home gifts of decorated chocolate and caramel candy pretzels. They also learned how to prepare yummy holiday inspired red and green sandwich pinwheels. This program was facilitated by Selina Pasca, co-founder of the East End Children’s Theater Company. Volunteers received 2 hours of community service credit for attending and 24 teens were in attendance!

Hampton Bays Middle School Life Skills Mission Statement: To help students become happy, successful individuals at school, home, and in the community. To provide education that fosters acquisition and utilization of knowledge and skills, meaningful and satisfying interaction with others, appropriate self-advocacy, social conscientiousness and participation, and life-long healthy life styles."

Thanks so much for sending this along Theresa. If you have photos and a small write-up of a holiday service program you are running at your library please send me an email: derek@suffolknet.org.  

Award Season

As ALA Midwinter is creeping closer and closer the special few for some of the major awards (aka the good ol' sticker books) are being released! It is the job of the committee members to read hundreds of books and narrow it down to a well-deserved lucky few. Recently the finalists for the Morris Award were released, and just yesterday the Nonfiction Award finalists. Take a look at the titles below. Did some of your favorites make it?

THE MORRIS AWARD

"The William C. Morris YA Debut Award, first awarded in 2009, honors a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature."

THE NONFICTION AWARD

"The YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a Nov. 1 – Oct. 31 publishing year."

For more information about the Award and the titles selected click on the links embedded in the name of the award!

We just had our Mock Caldecott here at SCLS and will be holding our Mock Printz on January 8th and our Mock Newbery on January 14th! Hope to see you there.

Commack's "I matter" Reception

After months of photo taking, peer sessions, fund raising, and shopping center visits with their super pumped-up lime green shopping cart all of Commack Public Library's hard work has come to fruition. Congratulations to the Head of Young Adult Services Joanne Albano and her amazing group of teens! Their pictures and "I matter" statements are now hanging proudly in the windows of the Commack Public Library. The group held the reception for their project last Friday November 14th to celebrate their wonderful achievement. The library was decked out in green and purple and many were in attendance. Rob Goldman, the founder of the project, and Assemblymen Andrew Raia and Chad Lupinacci, along with library director Laurie Rosenthal and President of the Board of Trustees Steve Hartman were there to celebrate this wonderful project. We can all be inspired by the photos and the reasons why these teens matter! 

Fall in Love with Shelter Animals at the Library!

Throughout this past September & October, the Teen and Children’s departments at the Hampton Bays Public Library hosted their second annual “Fall in Love With the Shelter Animals” program, facilitating several events to raise money for the Southampton Animal Shelter. The goal was set to fundraise $2,000. Sound ambitious? Well guess what, the community exceeded the goal and raised over $3,300 for the shelter!

The Teen department facilitated various events including shelter animal sponsorship, a donation box, an adopt-a-thon and a celebration party. Teens and tweens were able to choose an adoptable shelter animal and raise $10 or more for their animal. Once they raised $10, they were able to attend a party at the library on Friday, October 24.

The party featured a visit from shelter staff members Linda Goldsmith and Gina Martini, who raised awareness about the need for fundraising. Teens were also encouraged to become shelter volunteers. Dessert, a DJ, goody bags, and enrichment projects were also featured at the party. Several local businesses generously donated prizes that were raffled off at the party.

On Saturday, October 25, the library presented its second annual Adopt-a-thon on the front lawn of the library. The shelter showcased many animals that were available for adoption.

The Hampton Bays Public Library was presented a Top Fundraiser Award of 2014 by Maria Mora, Event Manager of the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation. All events held were a huge success. Teens and library staff members presented a check to the animal shelter on Sunday, October 26. We even had a special Southampton Animal Shelter themed cake made prior to the event!

Theresa Owens, Head of Teen Services coordinated this successful event, with help from Jackie Dunn (Teen librarian), Danielle Rosone Kozikowski (Children’s Department Manager) and Kelly Sheridan (Children’s Librarian). Several staff members also helped out at the weekend’s events. Want information on how to set up a community service event like this with YOUR town shelter? Contact Theresa at Hampton Bays for more information.