December Events and Book Review

Wow--didn't realize I haven't updated the blog in almost three weeks!

First of all, library business:  we'll close at 6 this Wednesday (November 26th) and then be closed Thursday the 27th for Thanksgiving.  We'll reopen Saturday at 10 with regular hours (until 5).  We'll also be closing at 6 next Tuesday (Dec. 2) for the Rome Christmas Parade--which leads to.....

"Utterances" (the teen creative writing workshop hosted by Berry College students).  The original date for the final workshop was Tuesday the 2nd--but since it doesn't start til 6:30, the library's closing at 6, and traffic downtown will be awful, we've rescheduled to Wednesday, December 3rd--still 6:30-8PM, still in the Coosa Room :)

The following day, Thursday, December 4th, will be our next TAB meeting--7PM in the Children's Department office.  We'll have some type of snack (I'm open to suggestions!) and do things like:

*Choose a logo design contest winner (if you want to enter, there's still time--just make sure your submission is in by closing on Saturday, November 29th).

*Finalize the plans for our Teen Christmas Party on Saturday, December 13th (from 2-4 PM in the Oostanaula Room).  So far we've got an Ugly Christmas Sweater contest, White Elephant gift exchange, and cookie decorating.  We were going to do classic Claymation cartoons in the background, but the screen and projector are in the Coosa Room, which is already booked.  At our last meeting, we also talked about doing cards for soldiers--I'll look into that and see what I can do :)  Any other ideas you have, bring them on!




Now for the book review--this one comes courtesy of Hailey, age 12.  Her review is on 'The Fault in Our Stars'.  She gave it 5 stars.

"The book was about a girl who had cancer and she meets a guy and they become best friends. I liked it because it had a lot of detail to it and it was sad at the same time."

I had to take a line out of her review because it's a huuuuuge spoiler--but she recommends it for a sixth grader :)


I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving!

'Utterances' and TAB

The second 'Utterances' workshop is tomorrow, November 4th, from 6:30-8 in the Coosa Room.  If you didn't make it last week, no worries--come this time and join in the fun (and work toward your NaNoWriMo goals!)  Can't make it this week?  Next week's workshop will be next Thursday November 13th, since the library will be closed Tuesday the 11th for Veterans' Day and staff inservice day.  Same time, same place, different day of the week :)

Our next Teen Advisory Board meeting is this Thursday, November 6th, at 7PM in the Children's Department office.  We'll have a hot chocolate bar and make plans for a possible December activity, as well as an entry for the Summer Reading Program's nationwide video contest.  Come and bring a friend :)

1st 'Utterances' tomorrow!

The first 'Utterances' creative writing workshop presented by Berry College will be tomorrow from 6:30-8 in the Coosa Room.  It's for students in grades 9-12, and all materials are provided at no cost.  If you can't join tomorrow, no worries--it's a drop-in thing that you can come to once or as many times as you'd like.  The other meetings will be on November 4th (next Tuesday), November 13th (it's a Thursday, since we're closed on Tuesday the 11th for Veterans' Day/staff in-service).

To get to the Coosa Room, you can either a.) come to the Children's Department and cut through the theater or b.) take a left when you first come into the library--then another left and a right--the Coosa room is straight ahead and to the left.

In other news, our next Teen Advisory Board meeting is next Thursday, November 6th at 7PM in the Children's Department office.  We'll be judging entries for our logo design contest (if we have any by then) and possibly making plans for a national summer reading program organization's Teen Video Challenge--the theme is 'Unmask' (since the program theme is superheroes).  Bring your ideas and join us for a hot chocolate bar and other goodies!  

Teen Read Week celebrity endorsement!

Teen Read Week starts Monday!

Remember that next week (Mon. Oct. 13-Sat. Oct. 18th) is Teen Read Week--here's what we've got going on

*Candy for all teens who show their library card at the desk in the Children's Department

*A scavenger hunt throughout the library--I've decided to do it more like the reference/internet scavenger hunts we do during the summer, so grab your answer sheet on the bulletin board in YA, answer the questions, and put your name in our drawing for a prize of....food!  Okay, not actual food, but coupons and gift cards from places like LaScala, Bojangles, Chick-Fil-A, and Panera.

*Mystery book check-out--they'll be wrapped up with only the barcode showing, with just a few basic facts on the cover--check one out and then unwrap it for a fun surprise :)

Hope to see you all (and some new faces!) next week!

Berry writing workshop--Utterances!

The video didn't want to embed, so here's the link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqGDHIkAuQc&feature=youtu.be

The flyer at the end is blurry (and I couldn't get my PDF in a format that the blog platform would accept)--so here's what it says:

A workshop for young adults on finding your voice and
exploring the genres of creative writing.
9th-12th grades
Sara Hightower Regional Library – Coosa Room
6:30 – 8:00 pm
(Materials provided)
For more details go to:
www.facebook.com/utterancesworkshop
Utterances
A young writers workshop
Tuesday, October 28 --- Tuesday, November 4 --- Thursday, November 13
Tuesday, November 18 --- Tuesday, December 2
(Join us for one session or come to them all!)

All of the meetings are on Tuesday evenings, except November 13th, which is a Thursday (since the library will be closed on the 11th for Veterans' Day/staff in-service day).  I think their plan is to have a party and reading on the last day.  And we didn't plan it that way--but November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)--so it's a great opportunity to participate and get some feed back on your work!

Event Success, Design Contest, Teen Read Week

Our luncheon on Thursday was a huge success!  We had 25 participants at the pizza lunch, and 12 at the Teen Advisory Board Meeting!  We got some great ideas for future events sponsored by TAB, and several things to add to our Teen Read Week happenings--as well as something that starts right now!

That would be our Teen Advisory Board logo contest.  It starts today (Monday, Oct. 6) and will run through Saturday, November 1st.  I'll be sending the details out to all the high school middle and high school art teachers, and will put up posters at the library.  TAB members will vote on the winner at our meeting on November 6th, and we'll use the winning logo for TAB social media, print materials, and hopefully T-shirts at some point :)  The winner will also get a prize (I'll give the specifics when I know more.....)

As far as Teen Read Week, since this is such a busy time of year for sports, band, etc., we're not going to do any events at a set time.  Instead, we're doing a drop-in scavenger hunt that can be done at any time during the week (Oct. 13-18).  It's similar to our Summer Reading Program scavenger hunt in that we'll have clues that will lead you to different places--but they'll be around the library instead of around town. Everyone who participates will get a smallish prize, and be entered to win a yet-to-be determined bigger prize......

The Berry group didn't show on Thursday (most of them had classes at 2) to talk about their Creative Writing class, but my director is supposed to email me a flyer--and I'll post it here (and in the library) as soon as I have it :)