It's like a New Year's Resolution

For the past couple of weeks I've been finishing up my thesis. Since I didn't have any class for the month (that's me, classless!) I spent most of my time writing, revising, or just thinking about that paper.

I've also come to the conclusion that I don't think I'm going to try for a TAG anymore. A thought that may surprise many librarians... I'm glad I don't have the grant at my branch (Wallace) that requires me to run a Teen Advisory Group. When I started at my branch last May, I dove right into Summer Reading. From there I tried to build a Teen Advisory Group, but to no avail. It's so incredibly frustrating to set the time, resources, and effort forth for no one to show up repeatedly. For now I think I'm going to operate solely on a program-basis, with input from the program attendees. If a TAG emerges, so be it. If not, I think that will be OK too... I'll just have to find enough crafts and stuff to fill one session per week (required).

Recent Reads (most recent first): Burned by Ellen Hopkins, Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls by Bennett Madison, The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn, Avalon High by Meg Cabot

conferring

Many of my colleagues are at ALA Midwinter at the moment. Since I'm still finishing up my thesis and am not on any committees, I'm still at work and plugging away on that mammoth of a paper. I do plan, at some point in time, to get myself on one of those committees. I figure that when I'm not worrying about some class assignment, I may have time for more books. More books!? ;)

I am, however, planning on going to ALA Annual Conference in June. Some of us here in NYC are planning to enter the Book Cart Drill Team competition. Our goal is to be the sauciest ones there!

Saving Nine

I've been trying to get Sajata Epps to come to the branch to do the Knit Wit program. Since Teen Central got first dibs, she should be coming to my branch in the end of February/beginning of March. Or so I thought...

Seems wires and lines got crossed and A.J. Sister Black has also been scheduled for our branch, but for the end of January/February. It was either keep both and move knitting back to March/April or just do one at the original time. I thought long and hard about whether or not I was going to keep both programs. What if no one was interested in either? It'd be a long time to have two similar programs running with low attendance. Both knitting and crocheting are considered to be "girlie" crafts and I didn't want to turn the boys off from programs.

So I decided that I was going to keep them both and offset the girliness with extra game nights. Then, in May, I want to have a comic book/manga drawing program to bring in both genders (hopefully attract more boys) as well as coincide with Free Comic Book Day (for which I plan to distribute a list of places to get free comics). Who knows? If the crocheting/knitting is a hit, perhaps I can get a Stitch n' Bitch (will be renamed) going... maybe even work with the Adult librarian for multi-generational nights.

Ahhhh, optimism, you smell so sweet and alluring. Foul temptress!

psst...

I ended up stopping by the Frank Warren event on Tuesday night. I didn't stick around for too long though. A while back I went to the same Barnes & Noble to see Amber Benson do a Q&A for Ghost of Albion (I said I was a Buffy fan!) and it was a lot of fun. Amber talked about what it was like to write the book, her writing process, Buffy, and read from the novel; what you would expect from a Q&A.

However, the PostSecret was lacking. Yes, Frank talked about how the project happened (which you can read about on the website or in the book) and how it feels to receive these secrets (which interesting), but he also read some of the secrets aloud. I found that odd considering these were a) pieces of art and b) secrets written by others. Granted, I booktalk this book in classes I visit and it goes over well, so I too am reading other people's secrets... I guess I just find it weird to consider him "the author" when really he is only the editor.

Next on my reading list:
Avalon High by Meg Cabot (my first Meg Cabot, believe it or not!)
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn

Free ain't easy

My good friend over at Typewritten Teacup alerted me to the fact that Frank Warren, of PostSecret fame, will be at the Park Slope Barnes & Noble tomorrow, Tuesday, January 9, at 7:30 p.m. I wonder if I can sneak this into tomorrow night's plans...

When searching for the link to the event, I noticed a somewhat disconcerting trend. The events at Barnes & Noble aren't limited to author visits and signings. There is storytelling, knitting, read-alouds, writing workshops, etc.; the same sort of things that libraries are offering. If this is what the people want then the library should be overrun. I mean, our books are FREE! So why Barnes & Noble instead of NYPL?

Coffee.

Maple-hood?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/02/nyregion/02library.html?ei=5070&en=954c51bc14b566e8&ex=1168405200&emc=eta1&pagewanted=print

A library in Maplewood, NJ, will be closing its doors on weekdays between the hours of 2:45 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. The librarians will still be working (processing, ordering, paperwork, etc.), however no patrons will be allowed in the building.

The reason? To keep the 'tweens and teens out of the library. According to this article, the teens "fight, urinate on the bathroom floor, scrawl graffiti on the walls, talk back to librarians or refuse to leave when asked. One recently threatened to burn down the branch library. Librarians call the police, sometimes twice a day." This is, of course, not all of the teens, but as J.D. says in Heathers, "the extreme always makes an impression."

I worked for a half a year or so in the Bronx. It wasn't pleasant and I was subjected to that sort of behavior daily. I got called all manner of obscenities and racial slurs, had signs and books thrown at my head (even though they missed), and even participated in a "drive around" with the cops. That experience really called into question my desire to be a young adult librarian; how to deal with those situations was not taught in library school. It was also my first experience as a librarian.

Did I want to close the library then? Yes. Without a doubt. I don't expect any library in NYC, except for the research and academic ones, to be quiet like the stereotype. I do, however, expect to work in a safe environment; if I didn't, I probably would have decided to work in law enforcement.

The solution isn't simple, just as the problem behavior doesn't have a simple root. And I wish that I knew the answer.

Vote for Me!

Ah, the pleasures of having one community room for the whole library... We have registration for ESL (English as a Second Language) classes tonight. They're setting up in there at 5:15, which will cut my TAG meeting short.

I think, however, that I'm going to try a different tactic. Maybe one or two tweens have been popping in for the meetings (since September), so I really need to get more people in (I'll admit this is disheartening). I've got a few bags of holiday candy leftover and I've made a "What can a TAG do?" flier, so I'm going to rove the library handing out candy and fliers.

It feels like high school elections, when people would hand out lollipops with their names on the tags to promote themselves...

Team Edward

Over my winter holiday vacation I got the chance to read both Twilight and New Moon by Stephenie Meyer, which was recommended to me by just about every other YA librarian I know. Being a Buffy fan, I had the feeling I would love the novels, and I did so very, very much. Thankfully, for my tastes, it wasn't too gothy or Anne Rice-ish, to which it will draw comparisons from others. I'd hate to write more about Bella and Edward's story and ruin it for others, though. I will say that Forks exists in my mind very clearly and reminds me much of Ashland Nature center in Hockessin, Delaware (weird, eh?). And Edward reminds me of a couple of the boys I've fallen hard for in the past. Which means Meyer got it right!

Have the first TAG meeting of the new year, today. This is one thing that's not going so well for me. I can't seem to get kids to show up. I want to bribe them with the PS2 and XBOX-360, but I'm afraid it will just turn into Game Night. Also, I have no idea what to do with the TAG if they show up and we don't game. Yeargh.

My thought today is that if anyone comes up to the room for TAG, I'll try to have a discussion with them and bargain the games for TAG time... I feel like I'm doing this wrong. :(

Currently Reading: The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld (I need to read some non-vampire/non-Westerfeld books soon!)

Here's to waiting!

I read somewhere that from when J.K. Rowling announced the title for the last book, it was another year and a half before we saw the text on the shelves. But I can wait...

At least we have 7/13/07 to look forward to!

Also... I just finished David Levithan's Are We There Yet? It was not what I expected at all. I've never read any of Levithan's books before, but I was expecting a slightly sillier tone. Are We There Yet? was thoughtfully written: third person narration often does that, but this seemed more serious. Maybe because of Danny's somber undertone.

Up Next: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Inaugural Post

What may come of this blog:

• Book Reviews
• YA Program Ideas
• Happenings at "my" branch
• Musings/challenges/successes

And of course, any suggestions people may have...

Just Finished: Are We There Yet? by David Levithan
Currently/Soon-to-be Reading: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer