Summer Stats

I could tell it was a busy summer here just by looking at the teen shelves. They are usually bursting at the edges, but all summer long there was plenty of space. I even brought extra books out of storage to fill them up! And what books were on the shelves were always a mess, which means people were in there looking for things. Now I have proof of what a busy summer it was.

Guess how many books were checked out of our teen section from June 1 to August 31, including fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, and audiobooks. Come on, just guess.

More than 1000.

More than 2000.

More than 3000.

The total is 3205!!!!

This is about 600 more than last summer and almost 1000 more than summer 2007. With 151 teens reading 2687 books in our summer reading club, it's good to know that a lot of them came from here! You are amazing readers.

Please don't stop coming in just because school is starting. We are always getting new books, so drop by and check something out every once in a while!

Thanks to Our Summer Sponsors

I just wanted to give one last public thank-you to our teen summer reading program sponsors for 2009. We couldn't have had such a great summer without their support!

We gave away a lot of books this summer. We stocked our prize cart with paperbacks and used hardbacks for weekly and end-of-summer prizes. Four publishers provided donations of books:

• HarperCollins Publishers (they sent us five boxes!)
• Candlewick Press
• Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
• Random House Children's Books

Several local businesses provided us with food for prizes and programs:

• Drexel Hill McDonald's donated the free hamburger and free McNugget coupons
• Drexel Hill Dairy Queen donated the free cone coupons
• Swiss Farms donated six gallons of lemonade and iced tea for our Prize Party

Finally, we had a lot of other support:

• Delaware County Library System provided us with the iPod Shuffle for our Prize Party, as well as a lot of summer reading materials like bookmarks, pins, and posters
• Six Flags Great Adventure gave us two tickets for our Prize Party
• The Brandywine River Museum gave us two tickets for our Prize Party
• Wynnewood Lanes gave us six tickets for our Prize Party
• Nancy Hallowell, director of Sellers Library, let me exceed my summer budget when we needed more books to give away on the prize cart
• The Sellers Library Teen Advisory Board contributed $50 to our Winter in July program
• Genni planned all of our summer crafts
• Kara, Marissa, and Caitlin ran our Project Runway fashion program

Prize Party Winners

On Friday night, 53 teen summer reading participants came out to our Express Yourself prize party! It was a madhouse, but lots of fun. I'm glad we didn't have more people there because they wouldn't have fit in the room. This year, our teen program had 151 participants who read 2687 books, way more than any other summer since I've been here!! During the program, we watched a slide show of photos from summer events, booktalked some great fiction and graphic novels, and, of course, gave away a lot of prizes.

We gave away everything from small to large, and everyone who attended won something small. We started by giving everyone a pin, a bookmark, and a water bottle with a little prize inside, and then a lot of people won drawstring backpacks. Then we gave away things like glow bracelets, triangle games, and keychains. I also had some Sellers Library mugs that I filled with school supplies.

We took a break for snacks, and then I put every single slip from the summer in a box to do the rest of the drawings for the medium and large prizes. Our medium-size prizes included hardcover books, kits, and DVDs. Then, it was on to the big stuff: tickets to local attractions and the iPod Shuffle. I have some phone calls to make, but the person who won the biggest prize happened to be at the party, which always makes it more fun. Katie E. was this year's winner of the iPod, and she was super-excited! Sarah E. won two tickets to Six Flags Great Adventure, Christelle won tickets to the Brandywine River Museum, and several other people won local bowling tickets.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the teen summer reading program this year. You made it our best year ever!!!

The Craft Closet Is Cleaner

Last Wednesday, 11 teens dropped by for our end-of-summer Craft Closet Cleanout event. I put out materials for two crafts from this summer, Message in a Bottle and Scratch-Painted CD Magnets. Everything else was too messy to do indoors! People did a lot of older projects, though, such as the Washer Zipper Pull, Toaster Pastry iPod Cozy, Funky Beaded Tiara, and Necktie Belt. We even had a few people do last summer's Flower Power paper flower project. Everyone went home with at least one completed craft, and several people made three or more! Look for another CCC on the fall schedule.

Last Week for Teen Summer Reading!

This is the final week for our teen summer reading program, so turn your slips in by Friday! Our summer prize party will be held this Friday, August 14, from 6:30 to 8:30. Anyone who has turned in at least one slip all summer is eligible to attend. You can bring slips with you to the party, but I'd appreciate getting them earlier in the week if you are able.

Don't worry if you can't come. If you win something, I will save it for you and give you a call! Of course, people who attend get more free stuff, food, and fun activities, so plan on being there if you can!!

We Made Ice Cream!

Today was our last and most delicious outdoor craft...we made ice cream! Genni and I prepared for 30, but only 18 people dropped by to do it. It worked out, though, because everyone who stayed until the end was able to make another batch if they wanted to! We did it like the classic school science experiment: ice/rock salt in a big bag, whole milk/sugar/vanilla in a small bag, place small bag in big bag, roll/squeeze for a few minutes, and voila! We had toppings like sprinkles, chocolate syrup, and M&Ms to make it taste extra good.

Here are a few tips if you decide to do this at home:

• Use freezer bags instead of regular bags. The added thickness helps prevent either bag springing a leak. Alternately, you could place the bag of ice cream mixture inside a can with a lid.
• Wipe off the inner bag, especially around the closure. Eat the ice cream out of the bag. Both of these things help keep salt out of the ice cream.
• Double the recipe provided in the link. More ice cream is better!

Getting ice from the coolers. (Thanks for bringing the coolers, Genni!)

Squishing and rolling are the best techniques for making the ice cream.

Some creative mixing!

Adding toppings to the finished product.

Enjoying the ice cream!

The speaker penguin provided us with some musical ambiance.

Winter in July

We held our Winter in July marathon movie event last Friday from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m., and 35 teens attended! It was crazy, but a lot of fun for everyone. We watched cold-weather movies, including The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Cool Runnings. During the movies, we did crafts and trivia. I bought a bunch of hats on clearance at the end of winter, so a lot of people won them as prizes throughout the event. We also ate a lot! Our snacks included hot chocolate with marshmallows, chips, candy canes, and lollipops. Around 6:00, we had dinner, which was ramen noodle cups, bread and butter, tangerines, carrots with dip, lemonade, and homemade brownies for dessert. It was a lot of fun...maybe we should celebrate summer in January!

Everyone had the opportunity to paint an ornament or ceramic figure.

Here's another table working on their painting.

Some people wore their winter clothes!

Two girls showing off their winter clothes, along with a craft and a prize.

Two sisters, a knitted snowman, and my icy book display.

Dance Like an Egyptian

Last Wednesday, we were pleased to welcome Habiba (a.k.a. Barbara Siegel) to teach us about traditional Egyptian dancing. The program was arranged through the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, which has a really wonderful outreach lecture program. I picked this program to tie in with the summer theme of Express Yourself, and 12 brave teens came out to learn how to dance like an Egyptian villager. Habiba teaches dance at her studio in Philadelphia, so you could even take another class with her sometime! I personally had a great time dancing in this style and would love to do it more often.

Habiba tied a traditional turban on this guy, but he was too tall to wear the clothes that went with it!

To set the tone, Habiba dressed up two teens in some traditional Egyptian clothing.

Habiba taught us about the arm movements immortalized in the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. They are much more fluid than the stone carving style would lead you to believe.

In addition to teaching us, Habiba did a demonstration dance.



Something new on our blog...I took a little dance video! This is a dance movement based on the idea of greeting.



Here's another video of the group doing some movements in a circle.

Scratch-Painted CD Magnets

Last Wednesday's outdoor teen craft was Scratch-Painted CD Magnets, and 19 people dropped by to make one. Genni found the scratch-painting idea online, then we added the magnet to make it more exciting. Basically, everyone painted the shiny side of the CD with acrylic paint. When it dried, they used pencils and paper clips to scratch a design into the paint so the shiny part would show. Then, I glued on two magnets to each one. They will look great in your lockers when it's time to go back to school! Don't worry if you missed it, though, because it will be available at Craft Closet Cleanout on August 12 (3:00 to 5:00 pm).

Next week, August 5, is our final outdoor craft. We're going to do that science experiment where you make your own ice cream in plastic bags!

Meanwhile, here are some pictures from the scratch-painting project:

Painting the CDs.

It took intense concentration.

Some finished products, stuck on our tent pole!

Some teens with their finished products.

We had bonus snacks this week because I had tons of leftover watermelon from Ben's birthday party!

Our Own Project Runway

Last Friday, 17 teens showed up for our fashion design program that combined a presentation by college-age art and fashion students with a Project Runway-style challenge! Grown-up library teens Kara Naklicki, Marissa Hanker, and Caitlin Cieri are all studying art and fashion in college, and told the attendees a bit about their studies, showed some of their projects and books, and showed how to draw different styles of dresses. The teens practiced drawing dresses, getting ideas from magazines, books, and their imaginations. Then, they got in groups for the design challenge.

The challenge was deceptively simple: create a formal dress using the designs they had drawn. Groups could pick one, or combine elements from several. Each group had unlimited access to black and white trash bags, clear packing tape, black/white/gray duct tape, and scissors. Each group also got a bright color of duct tape and matching sticky gems so we could tell their creations apart, as well as a giant sheet of bubble wrap. Groups had 1/2 hour to assemble the dresses, with advice from myself, Kara, Caitlin, and Marissa. Then, the groups modeled their dresses and the college students judged a winner. The winning group members all got a $5 gift card to Claire's to buy themselves something fabulous!

Here are the pictures...

Kara and Caitlin talking to the group.

A table sketching some ideas.

Cutting open a trash bag to make "fabric."

Creating the top of a dress.

Kara helped a group lay out some trash bags to make a layered skirt.

It looked like a slip-n-slide!

The group assembling their skirt.

The final creations from the four groups in their model poses.

The winning group!

The winning dress with the three judges.

Fashion Books

I put together a display of fashion books for the Project Runway program last Friday, and almost all of them got checked out! The books ranged from clothing craft books to career books to style books, so there's something for everyone. If you want to look for them in the future, here are the titles...

• I Wanna Make My Own Clothes by Clea Hantman
• Fashion Careers: Finding the Right Fit by Jen Jones
• Fashion Design School: Learning the Skills to Succeed by Jen Jones
• Fashion Design Secrets by K.C. Kelley
• Second-Time Cool: The Art of Chopping Up a Sweater by Anna-Stina Lindén Ivarsson, Katarina Brieditis, and Katarina Evans
• Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-Shirt by Megan Nicolay
• Influence by Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen
• Fashion by Ursula Rivera
• Save This Shirt by Hannah Rogge
• Seventy-Five Years of Oscar Style
• Fashion 101: A Crash Course in Clothing by Erika Stalder
• Styles of the Stars
• Trendsetter: Have You Got What It Takes to Be a Fashion Designer? by Lisa Thompson
• Gothic and Lolita by Masayuki Yoshinaga
• Sew Teen: Make Your Own Cool Clothes by Sheila Zent

Tie-Dyed Shoelaces!!

Last Wednesday, 27 people stopped by our outdoor teen craft station to make tie-dyed shoelaces. It was messy, but great! We had some samples available, but a lot of people tried their own patterns. The library provided all of the materials, but the teens had to take their laces home to rinse, wash, and dry them the next day. We will definitely do this again in the future.

A lot of people had questions about tie-dyeing during the event. To help you in the future, I arranged the photos in order below, so you can see the steps of the process we used. When you tie-dye, you must use 100% cotton items. Many things you buy at the store are blends, so you have to be careful. Also, when I orginally bought our tie-dye materials, I bought this kit at A. C. Moore, which included a helpful DVD. Try tie-dye at home with all kinds of stuff!

Here are the pictures...

The first step is making a pattern on the laces with rubber bands. We used the tiny rubber bands meant for hair braids, and they worked perfectly!

More teens preparing their laces. After being rubber banded, laces went in a soda ash soak for 10 minutes.

After that, it was time to go crazy with the dye bottles! Actually, this project didn't take much dye at all.

Another group getting started with the dye bottles.

Everyone wore gloves to prevent stained hands.

Laces after dye was applied.

More dyed laces, ready to put in bags to set for 24 hours.

Genni and I made some extra laces for prizes at the teen summer reading party. I took these home and did the finishing work myself, and they all turned out well.

Two people wore their laces to the library on Friday!

So Yesterday Book Discussion

Today, 11 teens attended our special book discussion of So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld as part of our "Passion for Fashion" block of summer programs. The group was a good mix of people, with some members of our Read & Rant and Book Grub book groups attending, as well as some people who are not book group members.

We talked a little bit about the plot, but the book discussion really centered on ideas of fads, consumerism, and why we dress the way we do. We also talked about how photos of both people and foods are manipulated in advertising. And if you think the cool-hunters and corporations in So Yesterday are far in the future, think again. Go watch The Merchants of Cool from the PBS show Frontline right now.

As an homage to the book character Jen, an Innovator, we also did Sharpie tie-dying on some shoelaces. Now, check out Ian's Shoelace Site to find a creative new way to use those laces!

Bubble Painting

Last Wednesday's outdoor craft was bubble painted wrapping paper, and 21 teens dropped by to do the activity. To do bubble painting, you mix bubble solution with tempra paint in a small cup or bowl, then blow into it with a straw until bubbles spill over the sides and onto your paper. When they pop, the bubbles leave interesting imprints. We did the project using 30" x 36" pieces of white art paper, and people used multiple colors to create really cute designs. It was a lot of fun, but really messy!

Drop by next Wednesday between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. to make a pair of tie-dyed shoelaces!!

Mixing the paint and bubble solution.

Getting ready to paint.

She went crazy with blue bubbles!

Adding another color.

A finished product.

Unexpected consequences...

Our First Accessory Swap

On Wednesday, we held our first-ever accessory swap! It was just like a book swap, only with fashionable items to trade around. About 35 things were swapped by 13 attendees, including sunglasses, earrings, scarves, belts, necklaces, purses, (new) tights, bracelets, and pins. During the program, we watched Bringing Up Baby, as well as clips from other movies that were nominated for Oscars in the costume design category. Bringing Up Baby is a black-and-white comedy from 1938 that features Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, a leopard, and some great clothes! Everyone enjoyed it, even though it isn't the kind of movie we usually watch at teen programs. We will definitely do another accessory swap, and it will probably be scheduled during winter break. Look for it on the next teen schedule!

Board Game Blast

Yesterday, 27 teens showed up for our summer Board Game Blast event. All I did was provide snacks and prizes, and everyone amused themselves for 2 hours! I put out some of the library's games, but a lot of people brought their own and we had a good variety. People orgainzed themselves into groups to play everything from chess and Scrabble to mancala and Clue. I gave a box of movie candy to the winner of each game played, as long as the group followed the rules and the person won by playing the game until the end. (Winners of two-player games could only get candy for their first win.) I also did a drawing for a free board game, which included everyone's names. We will definitely do this again!

Pokemon Monopoly...who knew?!

Chess is a (mostly) serious game...

Trying to pick a winner in Apples to Apples.

They're not usually this focused!

String Painting

Today, 19 people stopped by our teen drop-in craft. That's one more than last week, and just enough to use all the supplies we had! This week's craft was string painting on wooden plaques and birdhouses (donated by Genni's Girl Scout troop). We used glitter paint so they would look extra cool. Once the paint dried, I sprayed them with a waterproof acrylic. We also made some improvements in our set-up this week...we used the library's canopy tent! It provided a lot of shade and no one got sunburned.

The early birds got the birdhouses!

"Helping"

Finished projects