Last week, my coworker and I supervised eight teen volunteers as they revamped all the bulletin boards in the library's Children's Room and teen area! It was a long four hours, but all the teens seemed very serious about their projects. At the end of the day, all the bulletin boards were looking fresh and fabulous. We are going to have this volunteer shift every other month, so the high-traffic areas of our library stay maintained and looking new to regular patrons. Look what a great job they did!
Goofing around with the camera - look at all those supplies on the table!
Working hard
Work in progress
"Did you just take my picture?"
"Smile!"
"Libraries are for Everyone" board
"Libraries are for Everyone"
Rainbow Fish/Pfister books board
Super creative idea - the gills Velcro shut and open to show books!
Harry Potter - "When in doubt, go to the library" Hermione quote
"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" board
All the creative teens in front of their interactive "Self Love Letters" board
Working on "Fantastical Books" board
"Fantastical Books" board with 3D fire and a hand-drawn dragon!
"Leer es Muy Divertido" Spanish section board
"Welcome to Mesa Red Mountain" at the Children's Room entrance
Tonight our library hosted Harry Potter Book Night, part of a nationwide night of celebration of the series. The program was originally thought up by my youth services partner Sara, and worked on by several members of our staff. We set it up as stations throughout the library, mostly in out collaboration space called THINKspot and the Children's Room.
Stations included "potion" making (tasty juice and soda with food coloring), wand painting, "howler" paper crafts, sorting kids into their houses, and a costume contest. I had limited involvement with a lot of the planning, so I'll let my coworkers report on the specifics on their blogs if they wish. However, I was free and able to travel downtown to the Arizona Midday studio to appear on a segment promoting Harry Potter Book Night to the whole valley. So, I am famous again!
I am not able to embed the video, but it is immortalized forever on the Arizona Midday website.
Visiting the TV studio was a surreal experience. The closest thing I've experienced in the past is a recording studio as a kid. Everything was on platforms, which were themselves on wheels, and nothing was as sturdy as it looked.
The studio from my perch in the waiting area
My shooting location with my props on the table
Teleprompter
Me and the host after shooting the segment
This is a video showing how to make the Howler craft. It isn't nearly as complicated as it looks.
This is an example of the wands. Basically, you make a design with hot glue on the fat end of a chopstick and let it dry, then paint over it.
Also, our local newspaper Nearby News stopped by for the event and ran this short feature on it.
The program itself went great with over 100 people in attendance. Harry Potter is always a slam dunk!
