YAAS: Inaugural Meeting

The first-ever meeting of this program I've been planning for six months and talking up to anyone who will listen is FINALLY HERE!!! I am so excited, and so proud of myself for all the work I've done to make this program a reality. I was honestly surprised by how many people showed up. I would have considered six or seven participants a success, but we had a total of TWENTY-ONE! If you've ever sat in a room with cold pizza and a single volunteer, you know that number is basically unheard of for a teen program. Not only were participant numbers through the roof, about half of them were kids I've never met before. They weren't past or current volunteers, nor did I recognize them as library regulars. That means all the flyers I've been passing out and all the word-of-mouth advertising I've been doing WORKED!

If you'd like detailed info about what YAAS! is all about, you can refer to the What is YAAS? entry. It will hopefully answer most of your questions. If it doesn't, feel free to email me. My work email is all over the city on hundreds of flyers now, including the flyers on this blog, so it should be pretty easy to track down.

ANYWAY.

If you click this link, you can view my First Meeting PowerPoint in full. There are a few epic animated transitions that don't translate to that website, but all the info is still there. Here are screenshots of the more interesting slides in case you're not feeling up to opening a new tab and flipping through 12 slides right now.

Up as youth are walking in and getting oriented.
The intro and icebreaker questions are also listed for easy reference.

Important to explain what this group is
and why they should be excited about it.

Explanation of the four main programs we'll be exploring monthly.

Getting the youth involved in making the rules of the group
gives them a sense of ownership of the group. They'll keep coming back
if they were one of the original members and made these norms.

Is it even one of my programs if there's not a Broadway reference?

I feel it's important to give the youth ownership of their space.
If they make the rules, they're more likely to follow them.

Important to add that as group members change, the norms might also be amended.

Bribery always works

Since the above is basically an overview of our meeting, I'd like to share some pictures from the first meeting that show the plan in action!

The angle on the presentation photos is weird because I took them from a tiny, squishy chair very close to the ground.

The youth came up with a great list of group norms. Almost every person thought of one to contribute. While they took a break, my adult volunteer Sebastian and I went through the list and picked what we thought were the six most important ones to assign to the groups. Here's the list in full (norms they presented in blue):

• Write the book you're currently reading on your name tag each week
• Everyone tries to read weekly
• Communication among YAAS members - "don't yuck my yum"
• Actively participate
• Respect each other
• Have fun
• No swearing
• Always be respectful of other cultures
• Come to YAAS with a chill mindset
• Don't bring unnecessary drama to group
• Be on time
• Don't use your phone during YAAS
• Don't touch things that don't belong to you
• Okay to step outside if you need to
• Give a compliment to someone each week
• No throwing shade, and keep inside jokes to a minimum

After reading this list, how can anyone not love teens and young adults like I do?? They are so thoughtful and smart, and covered everything necessary to create a fun, safe, worry-free space every Tuesday evening. I couldn't have come up with a better list of norms myself.

If you viewed the full PowerPoint, you might have noticed there was a "Who Am I" activity listed. I was planning to do that activity, but we ran out of time just as the norm presentations were wrapping up. It was a bummer because it's a fun getting-to-know-you activity, but it might also make a good icebreaker to begin next week's meeting.

YAAS is off to a great start! I hope these participants continue to come, and that word spreads until we have a huge group of enthusiastic library youth!

Display: January 2019 Teen Bulletin Boards

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

YAAS! Young Adult Action Society

I started a new weekly teen group!

Mission Statement

Encouraging young adults to become life-long library users through the promotion of participation in library programs and community engagement, and to assist the library in developing and implementing programs which serve local young adults.

Vision Statement
YAAS’ vision is to provide the youth of Mesa with community service opportunities inside and outside the library so that the youth feel engaged in their community and empowered with leadership skills.

Who, What, and Why?
The idea came from several different sources. First, I wanted to cut down on my one-time programs in 2019 in an effort to lighten my workload and make the programs I do present extra great. Second, I wanted to get more teens and emerging adults into our library since our Teen Advisory Board disbanded in early 2018 due to low or no participation for months on end. Third, I have been volunteering at One N Ten for over a year and noticed that the structure of their weekly satellite location meetings really works and keeps the youth coming back week after week. A lesser reason is, I hate when 18-year-olds have their magic birthday and are suddenly expected to be Adults 100% of the time. I had no clue how to be a grownup when I was 18, and don't expect our teens to either. They can still benefit from the guidance and camaraderie that programs like this provide, even if they are "grown" in the eyes of society.  

Each month, I try to have at least one week focus on each of the following broad topics:

• Librarian-lead library program
• National day of recognition
• Community service and outreach
• Group discussion

I also hope to host at least one guest presenter per month. I have already confirmed two guest presenters for January, February, March, and April (and they're all FREE except one!). The guest presenters are especially necessary for the national days of recognition (Black History Month, Women's History Month, LGBTQ+ Pride Month, National Pet Day, etc.) because these are subjects I am not necessarily an expert on. I wouldn't feel right presenting on behalf of a culture I don't belong to; I'd rather bring in a guest who is immersed in that culture and can talk about it with authority.

Running this program weekly has proven to be a huge undertaking, but I'm so happy with the direction the planning has taken. I can't wait to get a core group of YA's involved and write about the program each week!

Baby Lapsit January 2019

Lifelong friendships starting in storytime! 1/22/19

My Baby Lapsit formula is:

Intro and hello
Board Book #1
Lap Bounce Journey ("Bumpy Road/Smooth Road" and two recorded songs)
Board Book #2
Movement song or another lap bounce song (optional, depends on time)
Peek-a-Boo
Goodbye
Bubbles and Community Playtime

January 8th

Board Book #1

Rainbow Fun by Emma Dodd

Lap Bounce Journey

"Bumpy Road/Smooth Road"
Grownups are instructed to seat their baby facing forward on their laps and bounce along with me as I demonstrate with a roughly baby-sized teddy bear. Here is the chant:

Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Smooth road, smooth road. (Move baby smoothly back and forth)
Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Smooth road, smooth road. (Move baby smoothly back and forth)
Rough road, rough road! (Bounce baby higher than before)
Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Rough road, rough road! (Bounce baby higher than before)
Hole! (Hold baby under armpits and let them fall between your legs)

"Hurry, Hurry, Drive That Firetruck"

"B-I-N-G-O"

Board Book #2

I Know a Lot! by Stephen Krensky

Movement Song

"One, Two Hands"

January 15th

Board Book #1

Opposites by Sandra Boynton

Lap Bounce Journey

"Bumpy Road/Smooth Road"

"Humpty Dumpty"

"Milkshake"

Board Book #2

Baby Party by Rebecca O'Connell

Movement Song

"Happy and You Know It"

January 22nd

Board Book #1
Out of Shapes by Ashley G

Lap Bounce Journey
"Bumpy Road/Smooth Road"

"Noble Duke of York"

"Pop Goes the Weasel"

Board Book #2

Wheels at Work: Construction by Cocorette

Movement Song

"Baby, Put Your Pants On"

We did pants/leg, shirt/arm, and hat/head.

January 29th
Two books and one song are about birds, so I guess this one is accidentally themed on birds *shrug emoji*

Board Book #1
Penguin Misses Mom by Michael Dahl

Lap Bounce Journey

"Bumpy Road/Smooth Road"

"This is the Way the Ladies Ride"

"B-I-N-G-O"

Board Book #2

The Pigeon Loves Things That Go by Mo Willems

Movement Song
"Two Little Blackbirds/I'm a Little Teapot"
I happened across the above version, which actually has both songs in one since they are the same melody with different words. For a visual, here is Jbrary doing the same movements I use in storytime for these songs.

Book Review: Heather Wells Mystery Series

Series Info:

Book 1: Size 12 is Not Fat (2006)

Book 2: Size 14 is Not Fat Either (2006)

Book 3: Big Boned (2007)

Book 4: Size 12 and Ready to Rock (2012)

Book 5: The Bride Wore Size 12 (2013)

Author: Meg Cabot

ISBNs: 9780060525118, 9780060525125, 9780060525132, 978-0061734786, 978-0061734793

Plot Summary of Book 1 (From Goodreads)
Heather Wells Rocks!

Or, at least, she did. That was before she left the pop-idol life behind after she gained a dress size or two — and lost a boyfriend, a recording contract, and her life savings (when Mom took the money and ran off to Argentina). Now that the glamour and glory days of endless mall appearances are in the past, Heather's perfectly happy with her new size 12 shape (the average for the American woman!) and her new job as an assistant dorm director at one of New York's top colleges. That is, until the dead body of a female student from Heather's residence hall is discovered at the bottom of an elevator shaft.

The cops and the college president are ready to chalk the death off as an accident, the result of reckless youthful mischief. But Heather knows teenage girls . . . and girls do not elevator surf. Yet no one wants to listen — not the police, her colleagues, or the P.I. who owns the brownstone where she lives — even when more students start turning up dead in equally ordinary and subtly sinister ways. So Heather makes the decision to take on yet another new career: as spunky girl detective!

But her new job comes with few benefits, no cheering crowds, and lots of liabilities, some of them potentially fatal. And nothing ticks off a killer more than a portly ex-pop star who's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong . . .

Author Meg Cabot

Brittany's review of the Heather Wells Mystery Series
My senior year of high school, I was on my school’s newspaper staff for a semester. I quit after the first semester because I got upset that the advisor seemed to dislike my “book reviews” section idea because the books I was recommending weren’t new.

Like, excuse me, I’m a senior with multiple AP courses, I do not have enough time to read and recommend 5 books that are NEW.

But now, Jeselyn’s letting me write a blog entry for her and I CAN REVIEW WHAT I WANT. SUCK IT, DALTON.

I mean...I’m not bitter about something that happened over ten years ago. Nuh-uh.

ANYWAY. I have been a longtime lover of Meg Cabot since I started reading the Princess Diaries some time in middle school. I’ve read the majority of her work (I think there’s one teen series I just wasn’t interested in, and that’s not her fault). Recently, I decided to revisit one of Cabot’s other series, the Heather Wells Mysteries. The main plot of each book is basically: “Twentysomething former pop sensation Heather Wells is now making her way in the world by working as assistant director at a residence hall and living anonymously with her ex-boyfriend’s private detective brother in New York City when *gasp* a murder happens in the dorm building!”

The rest basically goes the way you would expect a book in this vein to go: lots of accidental stumbling on clues, risky choices, and eventually solving the murder without the help of the police, much to their chagrin.

Unlike most other mystery series (in my opinion), the Heather Wells Mysteries are *FUN.* Like, obviously the murdery bits are fairly gristly, but Heather, like most of Meg Cabot’s heroines, is funny, smart, and snarky. Because the books are written in the first person, we get so much of her internal life, where she worries about the things you’d expect a regular twentysomething to worry about: boyfriends, ex boyfriends, the fleeting fame, your hot roommate, vanity sizing, donuts, beautiful sugary coffee concoctions...you get the picture. Additionally, The supporting cast of characters are diverse, hilarious, and genuine. My favorite (besides aforementioned hot roommate--Meg Cabot is just real good at making sexy love interests) is Magda, the sassy Dominican cafeteria attendant with amazing airbrushed nails. She adores the students that live in the residence hall, and provides a lot of the funniest lines in the books.

Also, even though I’ve read these books multiple times (well, ok...I think I’ve only read the fourth one once), the murderers were complete surprises until pretty close to the end. So that’s pretty cool.

The one criticism I have about the books after this reread is that, because Meg Cabot is a really heavy pop-culture referencer, it’s easy to tell that the books were written several years apart, even though they only cover the span of about a year. They also might end up seeming kind of dated because of that, even though they were written between 2006 and 2012. Hey, you young kids can get an education about late augts-early teens pop culture the same way i got my eighties and nineties pop culture education: reading books with lots of references.

But, look. These aren’t books you’re going to read for learning or anything (although if you’re a writer, you could totally learn from her character building). They definitely fall in the “Brain Candy” category of literature. If you’re looking for a book to laugh your ass off too, then “aw” over, and feel like you’re helping to solve a murder, I 100 percent recommend this series.

Display: Teen-Made Bulletin Boards

This is just a very short appreciation post for the bulletin boards our teen volunteers made in 2018. We are currently working out a schedule to have teens change out the boards every other month, so there will hopefully be more posts like this to come. I just wanted these works of art to be immortalized on the internet because they've been brightening up our library for the last few months!

Eric Carle display above the board books

Board advertising movie musicals in the teen area

A celebration of diverse and inclusive books in the teen area

Movie display in the Children's Room

Movie display in the Children's Room

Music Lab for Kids: Textured Noisemaker

The Project: Noisemakers from Pool Noodles
We've all seen the musical instrument that looks like a wooden block with a piece of sand paper glued to one side. When you rub two together, they make a satisfying sound that adds depth to a musical combo.

The real version of sand blocks is also a great musical tool for preschoolers. The only thing they don't do when you make them out of pool noodles is loudly clap together...but like the teacher in the above video mentions, that sound is the enemy of every adult in the room. So maybe it's okay if our noisemakers can only be rubbed together.

If you're an avid reader of my blog (which almost no one is, so don't feel bad), you might remember this project from last summer when we made it during our huge Build Your Own Musical Instrument program. Since there were several options for instrument projects at that program, I made this poster to explain how to turn a pool noodle into a safe, fun, and easy noisemaker:

Today's group was much smaller and more attentive, so I was able to verbally explain the directions and there was no need for a sign.

To prep this craft, all I did was cut pool noodled into 3-inch pieces. I left them otherwise intact, leaving the splitting in half to the kids and their grownups. I figured it was a good opportunity to develop some fine motor skills. And don't worry, I handed out very dull plastic knives so there were no injuries to tiny fingers.

After everyone had cut their noodle in half, we learned two chants and a song that you can use the instrument with. 

Chant 1: Rain on the Rooftop

Learning this chant happened in several stages.
1. Practice counting to four on an even beat (one-two-three-four-one-two-three-four etc.)
2. Each time you say a number, scratch your noisemaker one time.
3. Change it up; scratch the noisemaker on "one," "two," and "three," and put them on your shoulders on "four."
4. When thee group mostly gets that down, say the rhyme instead of counting out loud.

If you're musically inclined, you will recognize this as being in 4/4 time starting on the down beat.
Here is the rhyme, showing where each number of the beat falls:

Rain on the rooftop
   1     2         3    4
Rain on the tree
   1     2         3     4
Rain on the green grass
   1     2         3        4
But none on me!

         1     2    3     4

And here it is with Xs showing when you should scratch your noisemaker:

Rain on the rooftop
   X   X         X 
Rain on the tree
   X   X         X   
Rain on the green grass
   X   X         X     
But none on me!

         X     X   X   

With this exercise, I gave the parent tip that breaking down simple 4/4 rhythms by counting is a great way to start understanding how rhythm works.

Song: B-I-N-G-O

Our second exercise was one everyone knows. After the mind-bender that was Rain on the Rooftop, we needed something fun and easy. We sang the song B-I-N-G-O, but every time we dropped a letter, we scratched our noisemaker instead of clapping. The group loved it! I hung up this visual aid to help the grownups (and any kids already reading words) follow along.

Chant 2: Hippo on the Bus

Even though the kids were getting pretty wiggly by this point, we had ten minutes left in the program and I had one more chant up my sleeve. I've used it before and it's always a major hit. Instead of the usual method of making a beat by slapping our thighs, today we made the beat with our noisemakers. We tried out a few different speeds, including a super fast one that was just for fun. This seemed like the perfect way to end the program.

A hip, a hip, a hippopotamus
Got on, got on, got on a city bus
And all, and all, and all the people fussed...
STOP SQUISHING US!
(On that last line, squish your cheeks in from both sides so your mouth looks funny and speech is distorted, as if you were being squished by a hippo. Today we squished our faces with the halves of our noisemakers, which made it extra funny.)

Even though running this program kept me busy, I was able to get the group together with their noisemakers for a picture at the end. I'm so glad they had fun!