Culture Shock

Last week, the YMCA kids came back to the library.  Since we had such success with the crime scene program, we decided to go with an impromptu style program for their culture theme.
Unfortunately, this time we had no planning time.  So, what did we do?

1. We introduced the kids to language.  We taught them how to say "Hello" in 20 languages!  Countries were on cards, and one of us said the greeting.  The kids who matched the country to the greeting got a frisbee.

2.  We explained how the same word can mean something different in a different country.  On a handout, we listed American English words and British English words; the kids had to match them.

3.  Moving on to other countries, I gave out clues to 10 different countries that were progressively more specific, working from what continent or climate it was to something very specific to that country.

4.  Finally, we had the kids put the world together by using cutouts.  I know that you might be thinking that the older kids were bored, but they were actually really into it!

When all was said and done, we had successfully hosted another impromptu program that entertained the kids.  The best part is that they learned without even realizing it.  A parent talked to me afterwards and said that they asked what their daughter learned.  "Nothing" was her response, but sure enough she was excited later on when she could tell her parents how Cambodians say "Hi!"

All of this was planned in roughly 24 hours, and I definitely could not have done it without the people at Red Bridge.  Cheers to sneaky learning!

Mission Y-Possible

June is a crazy month at the library.  Besides the Summer Reading Program, there is also an inundation of people coming into the library for other programs.

One such group of people is the YMCA kids.  They have a summer camp that lasts throughout most of the summer, and each week they have a theme.  Before Summer started, their leader came in and spoke to me about their future visits so that we would have books out for them and be prepared in general.
Well, they came in on Thursday, and we took it a step further.  For 35 kids, we designed a criminal observation program.  We asked the kids to use their keen skills of observation to find 3 pieces of concrete evidence in order to bring the culprit to justice.

I got to wreck the page area, and then we left behind a fingerprint, a shoeprint, and a message written in code.  After fingerprinting themselves and identifying what types of prints they had, they had to match the fingerprint to the prints of four suspects.  They also had a copy of four shoeprints which they had to match to the one at the crime scene.  Finally, they had to decipher a code to figure out what the secret message said.  We planned on making the clues easy, but as it turned out, they were way too easy.  Every kid was able to figure out who committed the crime, and they all had fun doing it.  As I'm not well versed in programming, I ended up deferring to the more experienced staff at the library.  At the end, I got to clean up the page area, and the kids got to keep a copy of their fingerprints.  All in all, it was another big success!

They'll be back in two weeks for Culture Shock!  I haven't figured out what to do then yet.

You're Like a Hero

On Tuesday, I put our new outreach program into action.

Sara, Roxy, and I travelled to a local elementary school so that we could share with them our Summer Reading Program and other library services.  Armed with 6 totes (600 books), two laptops, scanners, a receipt printer, and a display, we ventured to make a difference in students' lives.

When I first came up with the idea, I wasn't sure how it would go over.  I knew that a lot of the students in this school district did not have a way to get to the library, and probably more did not have internet access.  Without these vital things (that we all take for granted), they could not participate in our Summer Reading Program.

We packed up and arrived at the school at 8 am.  Finding our own area in their library, we set up everything and waited:

On Monday, I made the comment about us being really bored or really slammed.  The latter was true.  Before 11:30, we had seen at least 150 students.  There are 375 students enrolled in Summer School.  It was non-stop action.  We signed up 56 kids for library cards, and they checked out 120 books.  Of those books, a third of them were graphic novels, effectively draining our initial supply.  School libraries don't typically collect graphic novels yet.  They LOVED them.

If the next 3 weeks are even half as successful as this week, I will be elated.  Even if no students come in, I will be happy.  I think that this is a big first step in keeping these kids reading, and making it fun.  They even ransacked my display on different countries!  Thanks to those that contributed pieces, by the way.

When we got back to the branch, we were exhausted.  We barely had time to do anything but register students for cards at the school, but it was well worth it.  This is the kind of thing that I've always wanted to do through libraries.  I say that realizing that I've only been in libraries for 4 years.  If just one of these students goes on to make a difference in the world, it could be because of us.  It sounds airy, but I think that it is true.  They may not remember me specifically and they may not even remember that the library came to their school, but the knowledge that they may gain from this endeavor will have shown through in what they accomplish.

One of my friends commented "You're like a hero!"  I don't think I'm a hero.  I'm just doing what I love to do, and what I feel needs to be done.  That same friend also said that I make being librarian sound rad (or something to that effect).  I don't make it sound rad; it IS rad.

Next week, I put my Mo Willems stylings into action.  Stay tuned...