Thai has been asking us for a Yu-Gi-Oh! event for ages. So, finally the librarians told him that he should write a proposal. The proposal was amazing, so we decided to create the gaming club as a summer activity. It meets every Friday from 4:00-5:30 and currently has about 30 members. Gretchen is technically the librarian in charge, but Thai is the instructor. He teaches new card combinations, strategies, and tournament rules. We are planning a mini-tournament at the end of the summer for the participants. If the summer schedule is successful, we will continue the club into the school year and possibly mount some real tornaments.
If you would like to join the Yu-Gi-Oh! Gaming Club, please contact Sellers Library at 610-789-4440. You must have a signed permission slip on file with the library before participating.
6.28.2004
6.27.2004
British Invasion Night
On Thursday, June 24, we had a British Invasion Night teen event. We explored all things British, including language, travel, music, books, and films. At the DJ station, people took turns playing classic and modern British music for everyone. Others stations had activities to match British and American words, explore Internet sites, plan vacation destinations, and read books by British authors. Prizes were given to Jeff for the best British accent and to Adriana for having the most correct answers on a British spelling test. However, the highlight of the evening was definitely a few Monty Python sketches shown on the big screen. (Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spammity Spam!!!)
If you missed this event, here are some websites you might enjoy:
To Experience Britain--
http://www.britainusa.com/4kids/
To Learn More Briticisms--
http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/usgbglos.html
http://www.effingpot.com/
http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blbritam.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1443007.stm
To Move Beyond Python--
http://www.cinerhama.com/britpage.html
http://www.britmovie.co.uk/
http://www.aardman.com/
To Find Out About Music--
http://www.britain.tv/entertainment_britishmusic.shtml
http://www.jaggedmusic.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/
http://slate.msn.com/?id=2065252
To Go Shopping--
http://www.everythingenglish.com/
Reading books by British authors is another excellent way to find out about our friends across the pond. Try these favorites:
***Realistic Fiction Series Authors***
Cathy Hopkins (Mates, Dates, and… series)
Anthony Horowitz (Alex Rider Series)
Katie Maxwell (Emily series)
Louise Rennison (Georgia Nicholson series)
Sue Townsend (Adrian Mole series)
Jacqueline Wilson (Girls In Love, Girls in Tears, etc.)
***Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors***
Douglas Adams (The Hitchhicker’s Guide to the Galaxy, etc.)
Joan Aiken
Brian Aldiss
David Almond
John Christopher
Susan Cooper
Kevin Crossley-Holland
Peter Dickinson
Neil Gaiman
Brian Jacques
Diana Wynne Jones
C.S. Lewis
Alan Moore
William Nicholson (Wind on Fire trilogy)
Terry Pratchett
Phillip Pullman
J.R.R. Tolkien
***Mystery Series Authors***
Fiona Buckley (featuring Ursula Blanchard at Queen Elizabeth I's court)
Colin Dexter (featuring Chief Inspector Morse of the Thames Valley C.I.D.)
Ellis Peters (featuring Brother Caedfiel)
***Nonfiction Authors***
Simon Cowell (I Don't Mean to be Rude, But... about the first two seasons of American Idol)
Lynne Truss (Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation)
If you missed this event, here are some websites you might enjoy:
To Experience Britain--
http://www.britainusa.com/4kids/
To Learn More Briticisms--
http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/usgbglos.html
http://www.effingpot.com/
http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blbritam.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1443007.stm
To Move Beyond Python--
http://www.cinerhama.com/britpage.html
http://www.britmovie.co.uk/
http://www.aardman.com/
To Find Out About Music--
http://www.britain.tv/entertainment_britishmusic.shtml
http://www.jaggedmusic.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/
http://slate.msn.com/?id=2065252
To Go Shopping--
http://www.everythingenglish.com/
Reading books by British authors is another excellent way to find out about our friends across the pond. Try these favorites:
***Realistic Fiction Series Authors***
Cathy Hopkins (Mates, Dates, and… series)
Anthony Horowitz (Alex Rider Series)
Katie Maxwell (Emily series)
Louise Rennison (Georgia Nicholson series)
Sue Townsend (Adrian Mole series)
Jacqueline Wilson (Girls In Love, Girls in Tears, etc.)
***Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors***
Douglas Adams (The Hitchhicker’s Guide to the Galaxy, etc.)
Joan Aiken
Brian Aldiss
David Almond
John Christopher
Susan Cooper
Kevin Crossley-Holland
Peter Dickinson
Neil Gaiman
Brian Jacques
Diana Wynne Jones
C.S. Lewis
Alan Moore
William Nicholson (Wind on Fire trilogy)
Terry Pratchett
Phillip Pullman
J.R.R. Tolkien
***Mystery Series Authors***
Fiona Buckley (featuring Ursula Blanchard at Queen Elizabeth I's court)
Colin Dexter (featuring Chief Inspector Morse of the Thames Valley C.I.D.)
Ellis Peters (featuring Brother Caedfiel)
***Nonfiction Authors***
Simon Cowell (I Don't Mean to be Rude, But... about the first two seasons of American Idol)
Lynne Truss (Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation)
Library Survivor
On June 17, we held a Library Suvivor Lock-In from 8:00 to midnight. Forty-four teens competed in many challenges to win points for their tribes, which they named The Red Devils (red), The Dragons (green), Los Diablos (yellow), and The "W" Untitleds (blue). The teams began the evening with a hunting challenge, in which they had to follow clues through a series of books all over the library. Later they participated in other challenges like Tribal Dance, Head Covering,
The Limbo, Bat the Birdie, Medicine Man Trivia, and The Fruit & Chopstick Relay.
The best part of the evening was not the pizza delivery, as you might expect. As it turned out, the most exciting activity was Bite the Bug! The tribes passes a rubber snake around a circle until the music stopped. The person who was holding the snake got to select food from a tray. The foods were legitimate Korean items, and were assigned point values based on their "gross factor." Of course, the highest amount of points were given to the tribe member who would eat the pickled bug!
The members of The "W" Untitleds ate four bugs, which helped them win the entire Library Survivor event! They won water slingshots for their efforts. Everyone got a free movie rental pass and popcorn for participation. We hope to run another Library Survivor or Library Fear Factor event again in the near future.
The Limbo, Bat the Birdie, Medicine Man Trivia, and The Fruit & Chopstick Relay.
The best part of the evening was not the pizza delivery, as you might expect. As it turned out, the most exciting activity was Bite the Bug! The tribes passes a rubber snake around a circle until the music stopped. The person who was holding the snake got to select food from a tray. The foods were legitimate Korean items, and were assigned point values based on their "gross factor." Of course, the highest amount of points were given to the tribe member who would eat the pickled bug!
The members of The "W" Untitleds ate four bugs, which helped them win the entire Library Survivor event! They won water slingshots for their efforts. Everyone got a free movie rental pass and popcorn for participation. We hope to run another Library Survivor or Library Fear Factor event again in the near future.
Sgt. Monkman's Visit
On Tuesday, May 11, we held our last meeting of the crime scene group. Sgt. Monkman, a detective with the Upper Darby Police, came to talk about his career, to explain some interesting cases, and to answer questions. He was only supposed to stay for one hour, but he ended up staying for two because of all the great questions and discussion.
The coolest thing I learned was that the UD police used to have an undercover car that was a taxi. They were trying to stop some purse and wallet theft in the 69th street area. Unfortunately, people kept hailing the taxi because they could see it didn't have any passengers. So, the police department assigned a second officer to ride in the backseat so it would look occupied. This plan helped the department cut down on crime in the area!
Sgt. Monkman volunteered to help us out with another program like this in the future. We are planning on running a series of programs about the forensic sciences again, probably next year sometime.
Until then, here are some books you might want to check out of the library:
Ballistics by Barbara B. Rollins and Michael Dahl (J 363.25 R)
Blood Evidence by Barbara B. Rollins and Michael Dahl (J 363.25 R)
The Bone Detectives: How Forensic Anthropologists Solve Crimes and Uncover Mysteries of the Dead by Donna M. Jackson (J 363.2 J, Oversize)
Cause of Death by Barbara B. Rollins and Michael Dahl (J 614 R)
DNA Fingerprinting: The Ultimate Identity by Ron Fridell (614.1 F)
The FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation by Tristan Boyer Binns (J 353 B, Oversize)
Fingerprint Evidence by Barbara B. Rollins and Michael Dahl (J 363.25 R)
Juvenile Crime by Marcia Satterthwaite (J 364.36 S)
Sensational Trials of the 20th Century by Betsy Harvey Kraft (J 347.7 K)
Teens in Prision by Gail B. Stewart (J 364.3 S)
Also, examine these websites:
http://www.fbi.gov/kids.6th12th.htm
The FBI Youth website gives you an inside view of agents’ work. You might want to follow a case through the FBI lab or experience a day in the life of an agent.
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/handbook/intro.htm#topintro
This is the real field guide for FBI agents dealing with forensic investigations. Click on the links
across the top to learn about different aspects ofevidence collection and analysis.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0402_030402_tvwildlifecrimes.html
This National Geographic news article explains how forensic investigators solve wildlife crimes such as illegal hunting or selling of products made from endangered species.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sheppard/analyze.html
Learn about DNA fingerprinting by doing a virtual experiment on this site from PBS.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/andes/
Five centuries ago, a teen-aged girl was sacrificed in Peru as an offering to Incan gods. Her frozen body was found preserved in ice a few years ago. See how forensic anthropologists investigated her life and death using CT scan images.
The coolest thing I learned was that the UD police used to have an undercover car that was a taxi. They were trying to stop some purse and wallet theft in the 69th street area. Unfortunately, people kept hailing the taxi because they could see it didn't have any passengers. So, the police department assigned a second officer to ride in the backseat so it would look occupied. This plan helped the department cut down on crime in the area!
Sgt. Monkman volunteered to help us out with another program like this in the future. We are planning on running a series of programs about the forensic sciences again, probably next year sometime.
Until then, here are some books you might want to check out of the library:
Ballistics by Barbara B. Rollins and Michael Dahl (J 363.25 R)
Blood Evidence by Barbara B. Rollins and Michael Dahl (J 363.25 R)
The Bone Detectives: How Forensic Anthropologists Solve Crimes and Uncover Mysteries of the Dead by Donna M. Jackson (J 363.2 J, Oversize)
Cause of Death by Barbara B. Rollins and Michael Dahl (J 614 R)
DNA Fingerprinting: The Ultimate Identity by Ron Fridell (614.1 F)
The FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation by Tristan Boyer Binns (J 353 B, Oversize)
Fingerprint Evidence by Barbara B. Rollins and Michael Dahl (J 363.25 R)
Juvenile Crime by Marcia Satterthwaite (J 364.36 S)
Sensational Trials of the 20th Century by Betsy Harvey Kraft (J 347.7 K)
Teens in Prision by Gail B. Stewart (J 364.3 S)
Also, examine these websites:
http://www.fbi.gov/kids.6th12th.htm
The FBI Youth website gives you an inside view of agents’ work. You might want to follow a case through the FBI lab or experience a day in the life of an agent.
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/handbook/intro.htm#topintro
This is the real field guide for FBI agents dealing with forensic investigations. Click on the links
across the top to learn about different aspects ofevidence collection and analysis.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0402_030402_tvwildlifecrimes.html
This National Geographic news article explains how forensic investigators solve wildlife crimes such as illegal hunting or selling of products made from endangered species.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sheppard/analyze.html
Learn about DNA fingerprinting by doing a virtual experiment on this site from PBS.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/andes/
Five centuries ago, a teen-aged girl was sacrificed in Peru as an offering to Incan gods. Her frozen body was found preserved in ice a few years ago. See how forensic anthropologists investigated her life and death using CT scan images.
6.01.2004
Welcome to Our Blog!
Hi Everyone--
This is our newly-created space for sharing ideas and information. Please join the blog so that you can post your thoughts and opinions. I do not want to be the only one making comments on here, although I do love to talk. Enjoy!
--Gretchen
This is our newly-created space for sharing ideas and information. Please join the blog so that you can post your thoughts and opinions. I do not want to be the only one making comments on here, although I do love to talk. Enjoy!
--Gretchen
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