TAB next week and Summer

Hi, hope everyone had a great holiday season (and break from school!) Our time before the break was dominated by moving everything (almost) out of the Children's Department so we could get new carpet and shift everything around.

Now that it's mostly taken care of (the big stuff anyway),  we're gearing up to start our preparations for the Summer Reading Program--the YA theme this year is 'Unmask!', and the general theme is heroes. We're getting our contact list ready for donation requests (how we get most of the prizes we give away in our weekly drawings!) and tomorrow Jeanne and I will be going to Fayetteville, GA for the South Metro Performer's Showcase--which is exactly what it sounds like--an opportunity to watch different performers that we might be able to get for shows this summer.  We usually try to book at least one or two for teens for afternoon shows--hopefully we'll be able to get some really good performers for all of you :)

Because the showcase is two hours away and starts so early, I'm making the executive decision to move TAB from this week until next week, the 15th, so that we'll have a chance to go through all the information we're given and get an idea of some of the performers that might work for teen shows.

Also, I'm considering changing the meeting time to something earlier, if it works for everyone.  Some of our members have marching band or sports practices in the fall, but at least for now, there's not as much going on after school.  If we could meet from 5-6, that would get everyone home sooner--which would be great since it's starting to get really cold!

Hope to see everyone who's available next Thursday for our meeting--bring your ideas for summer activities, Teen Read Week, or anything else you can think of :)

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!