Random-A-Thon 2014!!

Last Saturday we had our annual Random-A-Thon fundraiser! 11 teens showed up for the event, which required a minimum donation of $10 to enter. Almost everyone stayed for the entire program, which ran from 10 to 3! We started things off with some Dance Dance Revolution by hooking up the Xbox 1 (like, an original Xbox, not the Xbox One!) to a projector. The tables were set up with duct tape crafts, with a few iPads set to YouTube pages of duct tape instructions to follow along with. Although it didn't take long for some of the iPads to be hijacked for playing some Spaceteam on them, which is a riot to watch four people play at the same time.

After DDR we used the projector for a trivia game where everyone had to test their knowledge on a variety of topics such as "name that cheese", "2013", "celebrity yearbook photos" and "candy". Afterwards we broke for lunch where you could make your own peanut butter and jelly (or marshmallow fluff) sandwiches or get a Cup Noodles. During lunch there was Rock Band playing in the other room, then we brought out the Connect 4 for a short tournament where Alex was undefeated. We ended things with some Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart.

I'm still waiting for some people to hand in their fundraising packets, so I'll update again when there's a final tally, but right now I think we're at around $350! The person who raises the most will get a prize as a way of saying thank you. Overall it was a great way to spend a Saturday at the library!

trivia time!

starting the day with DDR

Chess on one side of the table, Spaceteam on the other

Random-A-Thon and other upcoming programs!

Our big fundraiser for Sellers Library teen programs, the Random-A-Thon, is just a week away! Next Saturday from 10 to 3 we'll be hosting all sorts of events, from anime to Connect 4, from papercrafts to Super Smash Bros, there's something for everyone to check out! It's a $10 minimum donation to enter.

On Wednesday, March 5, we'll be doing temporary tattoo crafts at 3:30. I'll have some designs on hand for anyone to use, such as the Deathly Hallows symbol and the Hunger Games Mockingjay, but you're welcome to bring in your own or just freehand it if you're feeling brave!

On Wednesday, March 12 we'll be making 6-second book trailers for Teen Tech Week! We'll have some iPads on hand to use, or if you've got a Vine-enabled device you can use that too. We'll plan out and make some 6-second book trailers, then at the end we'll show them on the projector for a mini-marathon! Come with a book in mind, and if you have any props you'd like to use, feel free to bring them too.

March 19th is the third Wednesday of the month, and that means it's the Anime Club! Each month we vote on a title to watch while we hang out and talk manga, anime and anything else!

Pokemon Night will be Friday, March 21 from 6 to 8. We'll be having a tournament for the X and Y Pokemon games, as well as free play on older console Pokemon titles. Come in costume for a chance at a prize!

March 26 will be the Tabletop Gaming event, a personal favorite of mine, where for two hours we'll be offering a ton of board games to choose from! From classics to new titles, we'll have a little of everything. You're welcome to bring your own games as well!

I hope to see lots of you at all these upcoming events! And if you're around Saturday, make sure to stop by the Random-A-Thon fundraiser, which helps us raise money to do all these teen programs!

Final Report: 2012 Random-A-Thon

I finally tracked down the last few teens who owed money from the Random-A-Thon, so now I can give you the results!  

We raised a total of $887 dollars.  We didn't quite get to $1000 as I had hoped, but that's still really good!  Also, it saved my hair from being mohawked.  I don't want to thank you for not raising as much money, but I will say that you have made my mother very happy.

Our fundraising winner again this year is Billy!  He raised $150, which is awesome.  Billy wins a gift basket from the Teen Advisory Board with a $25 gift card to Amazon.com, as well as snacks and library swag.  Honorable mentions go to Alex R., Colin, and Grace for each raising $50 or more.  

Thanks to everyone for making this year's Random-A-Thon a success!

Billy's gift basket

2012 Random-A-Thon!

Last Saturday, 40 teens descended on the library for our third annual Random-A-Thon!  (Were you there in 2010 or 2011?)  It was our best attendance ever.  We've only raised $748 so far, though, so keep working on it!  I will seriously cut my hair into a mohawk if we can get to $1000.  You have until March 11 to turn in all of your money!!

The Random-A-Thon has a loose schedule of events just to help people know when to show up if they're not staying all day.  We brought back some favorites from last year, like watching childhood cartoons, doing duct tape crafts, playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and having a Connect Four tournament.  Genni had some tough competition, but ultimately won in Connect Four.  (Extra thanks to Owen for volunteering to take care of the brackets for me during the tournament.)  We added some new video games and DVDs, as well as fun crafts like license plate journals.  We had also planned some things that didn't happen, like beaded crafts and bingo, so we'll save those for another time!

Lunch this year was grilled cheese or peanut butter/jelly/marshmallow fluff, with veggies and dip and chips, and soda to drink.  Of course, there was much snacking all day and people were stuffed by the time they left!  Throughout the day, we had pop-up activities from the Jar of Randomness.  We did everything from dancing the Cha Cha Slide to decorating cupcakes to making sand art to eating Ring Pops!  Special thanks to Grace for making Pop Culture Jeopardy as one of these random additions.  It was very cool.  Some of the activities involved prizes, and here are the winners:

• Siaka won the candy jar guessing game with an exact guess of 87
• Nikki won a soft pretzel maker in a random drawing
• Genni and Alex each won a tic-tac-toe tournament

Winners got real prizes, but we also had our infamous Prize Box of Randomness.  I filled it will bizarre donated items, leftover prizes from other events, Happy Meal toys, weird swap-rack books, and anything else I could find.  The Prize Box of Randomness must not be looked upon; it will bestow upon you the item that is right.  Everyone got something from the box throughout the day by reaching in with eyes closed!

Thanks to all of the TAB members for contributing snack food to the Random-A-Thon.  Extra thanks to Laurel, Emily, Billy, and me for bringing in homemade goodies!  And huge thanks to Kara Naklicki for spending her college volunteer hours with us.  I seriously couldn't have survived the Random-A-Thon without her help!

 Just Dance

 Duct Tape Crafts

 Sand Art

 Apples to Apples

License Plate Journals

Exciting and New

Here are the latest purchases for the teen section at Sellers! A few of these are things I ordered, but most of them were chosen by teens who designated their Random-A-Thon fundraising money to purchase new books.  Special thanks to Teferi, Christelle, and Nikki for their suggestions!

FICTION

• Eleventh Grade Burns by Heather Brewer (Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series)
• Ninth Grade Slays by Heather Brewer (Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series)
• Tenth Grade Bleeds by Heather Brewer (Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series)
• Twelfth Grade Kills by Heather Brewer (Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series)
• Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
• How to Deal by Sarah Dessen
• Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
• That Summer by Sarah Dessen
• This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
• The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen
• Cloaked by Alex Flinn
• Shine by Lauren Myracle
• Evermore by Alyson Noel (The Immortals series)
• Night Star by Alyson Noel (The Immortals series)
• Shadowland by Alyson Noel (The Immortals series)
• Vampire Kisses:  The Beginning by Ellen Schreiber 
• The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld

NONFICTION

• Kawaii Bento Boxes:  Cute and Convenient Japanese Meals on the Go
• The Twilight Saga:  The Official Illustrated Guide by Stephenie Meyer

Blue Hair!

Last Thursday was blue hair day for me, thanks to everyone who participated in our Random-A-Thon fundraiser!  Because we raised over $1000, I got blue streaks in my hair.  OK, it's not completely crazy, but it was for me.  I have never dyed my hair any color before, let alone blue.  So, my friend Becca (who has years of wild hair dyeing behind her) went with me for moral support and picture-taking.  Here's the evidence:

Being goofy for the camera while arriving at American Mortals. 

 I actually had the rest of my hair dyed brown while lightening the area for the blue streaks. I figured I didn't need both blue and gray highlights!

 This is me thinking "What have I done!?" while getting ready to have the hair stripped a second time. I have never seen any shade of blonde hair on my head!

 Here is the stylist applying the blue dye.

 Waiting for the dye to process.

 Drying the hair.

Becca and me!

Finishing up the cut.

So, you can tell in that last picture that the blue dye didn't take so well.  They wanted to dye it again, but I had already been there for three hours and had to leave!  I promised to re-dye it myself, so they gave me a discount, which was really nice.  I added some blue Manic Panic dye last night, and it worked pretty well.  I'll have to take a few more pictures!

BLUE!!!!!

It's official.  All of the Random-A-Thon money has been turned in, and we reached $1008!!!  (Nitha and Christine put us over the top this week.)  Thanks to everyone who participated:  John, Kevin, Le, Genni, Alyssa, Owen, Nikki, Kaitlyn, Judy, Christine, Elena, David, Christelle, Billy, Saranjeet, Laurel, Maranda, Nathaniel, Georgia, Matt, Anas, Arig, Emily, Colin, Teferi, Ross, Jasmine B., Katie, Jamie, Conor, Christa, and Nitha.  Congratulations to you for reaching the goal!

Our top fundraiser was Billy, who contributed $160!  Billy gets a prize basket with a $25 gift card to Borders, candy, and snacks from the Teen Advisory Board.  Runners-up are Nitha with $89 and Christine with $65.  Good job!

The winning hair color?  BLUE!

Here's how the votes broke down:
Blue:  24
Purple:  19
Rainbow: 10
Pink: 9
Burgundy: 7
Turquoise:  6
Greenish-Brown: 2
Traffic Cone Orange:  2
Pikachu Yellow: 1
Prussian Blue: 1
Green:  1
White with Black Stripes: 1
Don't Dye It: 1

Look for the new hair color sometime in the next week or so.  :)

Random-A-Thon, 2011 Edition!

On Saturday, 31 teens showed up for our second annual Random-A-Thon fundraiser!  Everyon had to raise at least $10 in donations, then attended the event for as long as they wanted.  Most people stayed for several hours, and thirteen people were there all day!  We had a general outline of activities planned, but (of course) it was adaptable.  There were three or four things going on at once all day long and it was crazy. 

In the morning, we watched people's VHS tapes of their favorite cartoons, played board and card games, did bookswap, had a Connect Four tournament (David won), and played Dance Dance Revolution.  We took a lunch break with cup noodles, PB&J (or fluff), carrots and celery with dip, chips, and snack cakes.  (Special thanks to Laurel for making a random pie and to Maranda for randomly running home to get something to cut it!)  In the afternoon, we played WarioWare:  Smooth Moves, Just Dance, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and various editions of Rock Band.  There were also crafts, more board and card games, and an ice cream sundae break. 

Interspersed among all of that were activities from the Jar of Randomness.  We did everything from dancing the YMCA to all wearing peace sign necklaces to singing TV show theme songs to coloring pictures made from library teen photos!  Some of the activities earned people prizes from the Prize Box of Randomness, which was hilarious.  I filled a paper box with an assortment of stuff and people had to just reach in blindly and grab a prize.  The only rule was that they had to keep what they got, which made for some pretty funny combinations of people and prizes!

So far, we have raised $761 in cash and checks, with about $200 more in pledges due.  This puts us VERY CLOSE to the $1000 goal!  If we reach the goal, I will be putting colored streaks in my hair.  People got a vote on the color for every ten dollars they raised.   Right now, blue is in the lead, but not by much.  Other people still have to vote when they turn in their money, so that might change.  In addition to the money raised by teens, we've had a few anonymous donations from my coworkers.  They want to see me dye my hair as much as you do!!  All donations are due by March 12, so I'll update you as the money comes in.

Want to know more about the Random-A-Thon?  Check out the posts from last year's event!

Playing cards

 Connect Four tournament

Duct tape crafts included a woven wallet, a ninja animal pencil case, and a crown.

I found some random masks in the attic for the girls to decoupage.

People showing off their random crafts:  duct tape projects, a giant flip flop, and library photo coloring sheets!

Random-A-Thon Final Report

The final total for the teen Random-A-Thon Fundraiser is in! Altogether, we raised $932.75!!! That is an amazing total for our first effort of this kind. Huge thanks to our 24 teen fundraisers: Kaitlyn, Christine, Genni, Ross, John, Tommy, Laurel, Nitha, Nikki, David, Avis, Billy, Alexa, Owen, Georgia, Jasmine, Leslie, Matthew, Anas, Morgan, Emily, Colin, Conor, and Elena.

I can now officially award the fundraising prize to Nitha! Nitha raised $204 by asking her favorite current and former high school teachers for small donations. Go Nitha!!! Nitha wins a $25 gift card to Borders and a basket of reading goodies from the Teen Advisory Board. Billy gets an honorable mention for raising $150 in just one week.

All participants could designate where their fundraising money went in my budget, and gaming was the overwhelming winner with $256 donated. Gamers are already enjoying new games, new equipment, and good tournament prizes with this money.

We are definitely doing this again next winter! Thanks again!!! All participants will be receiving a thank-you note in the mail soon. Please share it with everyone who donated to you.

Random-A-Thon!!!

Even though the date was rescheduled, our first-ever library teen Random-A-Thon fundraiser was a huge success! Over the course of the day, 24 teens attended, and many stayed for the whole thing. We have raised over $700 already, and several people still have to turn in their money. I am amazed by that amount, having expected something in the $400-$500 range. Huge thanks to everyone who participated, no matter how much you raised. The top fundraising award will be announced after the March 19 donation deadline.

The Teen Advisory Board came up with the idea for the Random-A-Thon by combining a lot of our regular library programs into one long marathon event. The idea was that people would raise pledges and donations, then come stay as long as they could at the library on a Saturday. We've done lots of bake sales and yard sales, but we've never tried anything this big. We had no idea it would be so successful!

In the morning, we had DDR and Rock Band on the projector, and Monopoly and other board games at the tables. We took a lunch break to pig out on grilled cheese, PB&J (or fluff), carrots and celery, chips, cupcakes, and soda. Then it was on to an afternoon of chess and checkers, origami, crafts, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

In addition, we had many random things going on. I had prepared The Prize Box of Randomness, and brought it out at odd intervals and distributed prizes based on arbitrary questions and activities. A group hooked up the GameCube, Laurel practiced her katakana strokes from an iPod app, a group tried out my German Monopoly game, some guys played Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic: The Gathering, Nitha ran around harassing people with MadLibs, and several people did their homework.

Special thanks to Laurel for bringing homemade bread, to Nitha for running home to get a knife to cut it, and to Maria for staying late while I cleaned up at the end of the event. And happy birthday to Genni and Owen, who both attended the rescheduled Random-A-Thon even though it fell on the actual date of their birth.

Making Sharpie tie-dyed shoelaces!

Some completed crafts: origami, scratch-painted CD magnets, and a necktie belt as headwear!

"We all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine..."

Chess

Monopoly

You never know what The Prize Box of Randomness will bestow upon you.

Teen Random-A-Thon Fundraiser!

On Saturday, Feburary 27, the Teen Advisory Board is hosting a Random-A-Thon Fundraiser to support teen events at the library. Just collect pledges and donations ahead of time, then hang out and have fun on the day of the event! Activities will include video games, crafts, board games, and more. It will be from 9:00 to 5:00, and everyone in grades 6 to 12 is invitied to come when you can and stay for as long as possible.

Register now and pick up your fundraising packet! A complete schedule of activities and a lot more information about the Random-A-Thon is included with the registration materials. If you have questions, please contact Gretchen Ipock at 610-789-4440 or yaservices@udlibraries.org.