Where in Town is This?

As part of our Summer Reading Program, Miss Ami zipped around town taking pictures of things you probably pass by every day - so often, in fact, that you probably don't 'see' them any more! We'll have a different shot or two posted at the Library, as well as on our blog, each week. If you recognize one, go ahead and name it in the comments!

To start us off, we have an easy one (we think) and a harder one:

Of course, if you're not from around here, neither of these will look familiar. Fear not - some of our future shots include buildings commonly seen across the country:)

Guestbooking

As geocaching becomes more popular, we looked into having a cache hidden here at the library. We discovered, however, that we are too close to some other caches in town. Letterboxing is fun, but hiding a box of toys in the library could also turn out badly - or at the very least, require frequent maintaining.

Guestbooking, on the other hand, requires no special equipment or coordinates. You simply hide a guestbook of some sort at your location and disseminate a hint as to where to find it. When people do find it, they sign the book, perhaps adding a quote or picture of some sort. That, we can handle! As we 'speak', our guestbook is being made ready to hit the shelves. If you are familiar with the location of our library, we invite you to stop by and see if you can find it - and as a hint, just think about how you would find anything else in the library! (And no, we don't mean ask Miss Ami.)

Teen Cafe - T-Shirt Redesign (or) See, I Knew I Was Saving That for a Reason!

We don't usually blog about events before they happen, but we are hoping to snag a few more ideas from our brilliant readers:) Since Miss Ami is, as they used to say, in a delicate condition, and may or may not be around for the latter half of Summer Reading, we are trying to prepare as much as possible beforehand. This particular program is slated for the end of July - just don't ask us what's for supper tonight, 'kay?

The general plan is to provide ideas and supplies for teens to redecorate/redesign/repurpose old t-shirts. Because many of the regulars to Teen Cafe are also SRP Volunteers, and they have a whole stash of shirts from previous years, and because we also had a stash of SRP shirts that were never picked up last year, those are what you will see featured here. We are mostly looking for no-sew ideas, as the idea of supplying 30 or so sewing machines doesn't seem too feasible.

First, because Miss Ami was a child of the 80's, we have this one:

You can also fringe the sleeves.

Another very simple one - wear a different color tank under it. We may cut more slits around the collar. If you are better at cutting than we are (no opposable thumbs, remember!) you can try cutting shapes instead of just slits.

A necklace/scarf made by cutting horizontal stripes about 1" thick and then pulling them tight to make them roll up. We connected them with a strip cut from the bottom, but we're not sure how to describe the loop-and tuck method...you can just hot glue the ends if you like!

These two are made from the same shirt. For the necklace (or belt) we cut off the bottom hem, then cut around and around so we had one long continuous strand about 1" thick. We cut that into thirds and braided them, then added chunky wood beads that have been sitting around forever.

We didn't want to waste the top picture, so we used fabric glue to attach it to posterboard, then added jewels and glitter. This would be fun to do with a t-shirt that had a funny saying, or a favorite rock band on it. We are trying to find our scrap cork board to make a bulletin board this way.

This is the one that started the whole project. Miss Ami (when she is not fat) and Miss Lisa both like 'skinny shirts', but the SRP shirts always come in 'boy cuts'. Just cut an inch or so off each side, make some slits, and voila! You can lace it or tie it - yes, both look kind of weird together, and the pretty ribbons don't exactly match the shark motif, but you get the idea. Wouldn't those bright yellow shirts for this year's theme look awesome with yellow and red ribbons?

We had seen ideas for shopping bags that required sewing the bottom, but then Karl from Tulsa sent us this idea - just fringe and tie the bottom. That looks even sturdier than sewing. Use strips from the sleeves as added handles. We left the hem on, but you can cut that off and add pony beads to the bottom. 

That gave us an idea for a pillow we wouldn't have to sew, either. We did 'cheat' and hot glue the neckline, but that would be pretty easy to hand sew. Again, we left the hems, but you could take those off and add beads.

Most of these only took a few minutes - the braiding took forever because we kept getting tangled! (Thumbs!!!) Thanks to everyone who sent ideas and web sites to check out - now, what else have you got for us???

Teen Cafe: Decorating Book Ends

For last night's Teen Cafe, we decided to spruce up some of the book ends in the Children's Room. We gave them the option of painting or making collages with magazine pictures. Most chose to go with the collage idea, which somewhat surprised us.

Half the kids are still milling about the snack table

For some reason, body parts were very popular.

We did tell them not to worry about the edges, Miss Ami would trim them with a razor once they had dried. She felt no pressing need to hand out objects sharper than scissors.

THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD GET YOUR OWN OUT!

Sheesh. Before you city slickers freak out, remember, this is New Mexico. Everyone carries a knife. But we did make him put it away and use scissors.

This one turned out great...until she realized she had done the wrong side. Oops!

The finished products, which turned out better than expected. Nice job, guys! We'll trim up the edges and coat them with shellac. Definitely a project to do again.

Homemade Lit Bling

We just have to show off how very talented one of our teens is:

If you are a Rick Riordan fan, you will recognize both the beads and the shirt. If you are not a Riordan fan, well, then, you are no friend of ours.* Yes, she made them herself, and we think she should make us some now:)

* Seriously. Go read the books, and then you can talk to us.

Family Fright Night

Last night we held our annual Family Fright Night at the library, and we thought we would share some pictures of the very cool costumes we saw:



Miss Ami always wanted to be a flapper, and is very covetous of this dress!

Great minds think alike!

Putting together one of the craft choices (spooky refrigerator magnets)

A Paper Bag Princess with the attitude to match!

Collecting our treat bags on the way out.

Pippi Longstocking, another literary figure, yay! Ghostbusters has made a huge  comebeck - we had THREE Ghostbusters...

...including this HOMEMADE costume, complete with little brother Slimer! Too cute! (And very authentically slimey)

We don't know about you, but the one on the left scares us the most.

Our favorite kind of art project, the Picasso.

For those interested, we read:
There Was an Old Monster, by the Emberleys
Monster Baby by Dian Curtis Regan
My Mama Says There Aren't Any Zombies, Ghosts... by Judith Viorst
Pog by Lyn Lee and
When a Monster is Born by Sean Taylor

Hope everyone has a fantastic Halloween!!!

    

Turtles Being Productive, or, a Cybils Picture Puzzle

There are those souls who, when faced with a number of importanttasks, quickly prioritize them and get to work. And then there are those who immediately think up a semi-related, unimportant but interesting extra task, and get to work on that, instead. Guess which group turtles belong to?

As you know, we are judges for this year's Young Adult Fiction category of the Cybils Awards. In looking over the ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY YA books nominated, some similarities have begun to appear. For example, eleven covers show a couple kissing. Many more show people from the back (is that so we can imagine our own face, thus putting ourselves in the character's shoes? Or are unattractive models cheaper?) Speaking of shoes, lots of legs here, many without shoes. Rather dangerous with all the broken glass on the other covers.

So, to make a backdrop for our display of nominees (see! It really is work related!) we have put together an "I Spy" oops - copyrighted name...a "picture puzzle" of all 180 covers. Yep, there is a piece of every single cover in this collage. Can you find them all? Here are the pictures:

And some close-ups:

Note to publishers: holding hands is a bit overplayed.

(Note: Our computer is being stubborn and won't add the second picture - possibly the reult of typing with wet flippers - we will try again later)

Click here for alist of the nominees (and a small version of the cover). Of course, if you're local, you can just come on in with your handy microscope and search away!

And Tango Makes...a Really Cute Costume!

While most of you are aware of the Miss Ami who types our words of wisdom, you may not know of "The Other Amy" (note difference in spelling), who is President of our Friends of the Library Group.

Having two people with the same name can be confusing, and they are always having to stop people in the middle of a long speech or question to tell them they have the wrong one. The simple solution would be for one of them to change her name. Unfortunately, our Miss Ami insists she was here (at the library) first, but Amy-with-a-y insists she was here (in the community) first, and neither will budge.

At any rate, despite her stubborn refusal to change the name she has had for XX years, we are very glad to have Amy-with-a-y here, only in part because of the wonderful programs she arranges! This week she hosted a Banned Books Gala, where people could dress up as a character from their favorite challenged book.

Are they not absolutely adorable?!

The winner was from one of our favorite challenged books, The Handmaid's Tale:

Lots of fun, and we didn't have to lift a flipper - that's our kind of program:) Thanks again to the Other Amy!

Teen Cafe - Talk Like a Pirate Night!

Ahoy, readers! We be realizin' Talk Like a Pirate Day were actually last Sunday, but since Miss Ami insists on takin' her day of rest, we had to wait until last night for our revelries. This year around 23 young pirates split into three crews and designed their very own pirate ships. Each crew was given a box (thank ye' Baker & Taylor) and a semi-identical set of supplies, along with the following guidelines:

Each ship must have a flag.


The boys chose yon bonney lass over the Jolly Roger. Erm...okay...

Each ship must have pirates.

Restin' up after a long day of maraudin'

And each ship must be capable of firing marshmallow cannonballs.



Bottom half a balloon stretched over the bottom of a plastic cup. Capable of shooting great distances, like across the multipurpose room, into the back of Hannah's head. Hypothetically speakin'.

Above ship was created entirely by the lone Captain Mickey, and what it lacked in detail (due to time constraints), it made up for in fire power.

This ship, on the other hand:

had an entire crew of creative lasses. With perhaps a wee bit of a bad attitude towards the male species. Detail from another angle:

The boys, on the other hand, lost interest once they had secured the bonney lass:

although, Pirate L. did a fine job of creatin' the hidden weaponry here (it works, trust us.)

All in all an enjoyable evenin' for everyone. The ships are now on display in the Children's Room, so if ye be local, stop by in the next week and take a gander!

Talk Like a Pirate!

It's almost here! That day when lads, lasses, and terrapins alike can break out the eye patches and tricorns, and get away with all sorts of scurvy deeds, all in celebration of International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

This year our favorite holiday lands on a Sunday, which could make church services rather interesting (note: plundering the collection bucket would be slightly bad form). Here at the library we will be celebrating with the teens Thursday the 23rd, at 6PM - watch for pictures! In the meantime, a tutorial from the head guys themselves to get yer speech in the right mode!

Candy Land!

Always in search of something new and different to do with the teens, this week we promised "Candy Land - like you have never played it before." To begin with, we had the game board:

Thank-you, Mykela and James, for taping all of those down!

The finish line:

Yes, the same castle we used for the Fancy Nancy Tea Party - why reinvent the wheel?!

The instructions:

And the game pieces:

The crowns weren't part of the game, they were just feeling special :)

We always have snacks for Teen Cafe (whispery voiceover: if you feed them, they will come) but didn't want everyone traipsing back and forth and losing their place. We decided you could get drinks when you reached the Gumdrop Mountains, and snacks (lots of candy, of course) at the Lollipop Woods. We chose not to feature every single part of the game, mainly because of our limited artistic talents!

In the regular-sized game (in case it has been a few decades since you played), players take turns picking cards to tell them where to move next (not a great game of strategy, Candy Land). With 40 or more kids spread throughout the room, this would have been a logistical nightmare. We had one basket with the color cards, and then one with strips that read things like, "If your birthday is in April," or "If you were a junior last year." We drew one descriptive card and one color card, and our announcer read those out, then the kids moved accordingly. That worked pretty well - everyone was bunched up at first, but got spread out fairly quickly. If you are interested in doing this yourself, let us know, and we'll give some tips on the descriptors.

The pink character spaces were photocopied and blown up, and they kept things from getting too predictable - a couple times someone almost reached the end, then got sent back to "the chick with the cupcake" (Miss Ami had trouble remembering any characters' names). The only problem? We got so involved in the game, we completely forgot to take pictures during! Here is one of our winners, enjoying the spoils along with another participant:

We had twelve giant lollipops, so about 1/3 of the players won something. We just played until the lollipops were gone. The other problem? Miss Ami liked using the microphone. A lot. She says she wants it available during all Teen Cafes. We aren't so sure that is necessary - or a good idea - but we have the feeling we are going to lose this one.

Summer Readers

Summer Reading is, of course, nothing without  its summer readers. There are those who decimate the shelves, reading everything in sight and requiring luggage to transport their choices:

And they say kids don't read any more...

The artists:

The regulars:

Sporting shirts from two other summers!

The large groups:

The small groups:

Where else can you make snowflakes in 100 degree weather?

The creative:

And those whose parents may want to consider therapy:

Seriously, girls? Guess we should be glad there weren't any marshmallow turtles around...

All of them are terrific, and we are thoroughly enjoying our summer with them!