Ten Years of Twilight

Celebrate 10 years of Twilight with a complete reimagining from Stephenie Meyer. http://t.co/0y9BtfZWVc #Twilight10 pic.twitter.com/bXMJt3lgdD

— NOVL (@TheNovl) October 6, 2015

Four books, five movies, and countless Edward Cullen tattoos later (I swear, look it up!) shows the imprint that the one and only Twilight Saga made on hearts all over the country. It basically created Twilight hungry monsters that ate up all versions (graphic novels included) of the franchise. Today marks the ten year anniversary of Twilight and the day I must admit that I was also hypnotized by the sparkly world of vampires. 

Now, I for sure devoured all four books and stayed up late for one or two midnight showings, but I have never gone to extreme body art or fan fiction lengths. Although maybe I should have seeing that one of the most famous pieces of Twilight fan fiction is a bestseller and a movie, Fifty Shades of Grey. I was absolutely swept up in the craze and was, at the base of it all, excited to see books drive people mad. I was late to the paranormal party seeing that all of the books had been published when I picked it up. I had first read an article in Entertainment Weekly which centered on how bookstores all over the country were being packed with folks of all ages who wanted to meet the author Stephanie Meyer. 

The article tied in to the the movie release and featured two gaunt looking actors who would soon be staring at us from our own book shelves and READ posters. Ten years later the craze has died down (at least at my house), but today a new 10th Anniversary edition has been released that includes bonus content called Life and Death with gender swapped roles: Edward is now Edythe and Bella has become Beau! Whether you loved or hated Twilight I am sure you had an almost never ending hold list. To keep up with thoughts and memories of the last ten years look for the hashtag #TWILIGHT10 as seen above!

Pinterest Interest: The Mock Lists Are Coming!

Ah, October. The leaves are changing, apples are being crunched, and youth librarians everywhere are starting to make predictions about which 2015 titles will make it to the top of the top: the MOCK AWARDS ARE COMING!

Check out our mock Newbery and Caldecott suggestions so far at our Pinterest page. What do you think? What are we missing? Comment on the blog with your predictions for Newbery and Caldecott gold. And remember, we will know the winners this year sooner than most, since ALA Midwinter takes place from January 8th - January 12, 2016.

Join us at SCLS on December 1 (Mock Caldecott) and January 4 (Mock Newbery) by registering here.

News and Trends: Tween Training this October 2nd at SCLS

There is still time to register for our workshop on Friday, October 2nd on Tween Programs and Services. Tweens are children aged 8-12 (or, in my mind 9-12 years old because I can't quite fathom a third grader as being a "tween" yet.) and they want to rule the world! Well, not really. But they DO have definite opinions, likes, and dislikes - and they are at the age where they will still willingly share their thoughts and opinions with adults! So youth librarians should take advantage of that fact and do some surveying in their libraries to figure out: exactly what do tween users want from their library?
It is just one of the topics we will be discussing on Friday, so hurry up and sign yourself up here:

Finally, this is a really interesting video of REAL LIFE TWEENAGERS talking about "Being 12: The Year Everything Changes." Take a look before Friday, and comment below - what do you think?

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

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.

News: Tween Training Date for October!

Tweens are trending everywhere these days - especially in libraries. Join us on Friday, October 2nd at SCLS to learn about programs, collections, and services to draw and maintain this unique audience in your library's youth department.