February 16, 2013

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Fresh Paint: A New Building, a New Team, a New Me

By on January 15, 2013 Leave a Comment
11613freshchanges

My father is a Marine, so by the time I was eight I was quite adept at packing up my things. I vividly remember when we moved to Beaufort, SC. It was 1996, and it was the first time I ever took advantage of a move. Instead of trashing my old clothes and childish toys, I fixed up parts of my personality that needed improvement and tried out some new traits. I asked people to call me “Al”, giving the role of tomboy a spin. I also spoke up a little more and put myself in more social situations. I used this experience to invent a whole new me.

Filed Under: Buildings & Design, Librarians & Media Specialists, Professional Reading, Programs & Programming, Public Libraries, Teens & YA Tagged With:

Libraries with No Bounds: How Limitless Libraries transformed Nashville Public Schools’ libraries

By Tricia Racke Bengel on January 14, 2013 4 Comments
Limitless libraries logo

An ambitious partnership between Nashville Public Library (NPL) and Metro Nashville Schools has resulted in a successful program called Limitless Libraries.

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Pictures of the Week: Belleville Library Hosts Three Kings Celebration

By on January 11, 2013 2 Comments
CAPTION

The Belleville Public Library in New Jersey recently celebrated Three Kings Day.

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That Collaborative Spirit: Changing times demand more complex partnerships | Editorial

By on January 8, 2013 Leave a Comment
Photograph by Thomas Strand.

Who wouldn’t want to work with the two librarians on our cover? To me, their joyous, open faces welcome engagement. I want in on the action—in this case, the series of projects they pull off to bring more to the kids they each serve.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Librarians & Media Specialists, Programs & Programming, Public Libraries, Students, Teens & YA Tagged With: , , , ,

Partners in Success: When school and public librarians join forces, kids win

By Marta Murvosh on January 1, 2013 1 Comment
SLJ January 2013 Cover

School library and public library collaborations are making a huge difference in kids’ lives.

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Pictures of the Week: Stuffed Animal Sleepover at Darien Public Library

By on December 21, 2012 Leave a Comment
dogbear

Librarians at the Darien Public Library organized a Stuffed Animal Sleepover. Children ages 2-6 left their toys at the library overnight and returned to see photographic evidence of the mischief that their stuffed companions wrought.

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Apply Now for the 2013 Innovations in Reading Prize

By on December 19, 2012 Leave a Comment
Innovations in Reading Prize

Each year, the National Book Foundation awards a number of prizes of up to $2,500 each to individuals and institutions—or partnerships between the two—that have developed innovative means of creating and sustaining a lifelong love of reading. This is the fifth year that the Foundation is offering the 2013 Innovations in Reading Prize, sponsored by Levenger. Wouldn’t you know it? One of the 2012 winners, Bookends (Poudre River Public Library District, CO), found out about the competition right here, in SLJTeen.

Filed Under: Awards & Contests, Industry News, Programs & Programming, Public Libraries, Publishing, Teens & YA Tagged With:

Fresh Paint: Teen Volunteers—Priceless

By on December 18, 2012 1 Comment
Gum Spring Library

Volunteers are a critical component of the public library organization. At my branch, nearly 20 percent of the shelving is completed by adult and teen volunteers. Each month teens log an average of 125 volunteer hours, which is comparable to having an additional staff member. We have volunteers at work nearly every open hour during the summer, and on evenings and weekends during the school year. Their dedication is tireless. Their value? Priceless.

Filed Under: Buildings & Design, Programs & Programming, Public Libraries, Teens & YA Tagged With:

Pictures of the Week: BookUp Program Participants Visit NYPL; Author Shirley Glubok Attends Ezra Jack Keats’s Celebration

By on December 14, 2012 Leave a Comment
Participants of the National Book Foundation’s BookUp program, an after-school reading program led by writers, will visit the "Lunch Hour" exhibition at the New York Public Library as part of the program’s monthly field trip to literary sites around New York City.

Participants in the National Book Foundation’s BookUp Program took a field trip to the New York Public Library, and author Shirley Glubok attended a 50th Anniversary Celebration for Ezra Jack Keats’s “A Snowy Day.”

Filed Under: Authors & Illustrators, Public Libraries Tagged With: , , , , , ,

From Exploring Tolkien’s Symbolic Language to Making Furry Feet, Teachers and Librarians Gear up for ‘The Hobbit’

By Sarah Bayliss on December 11, 2012 1 Comment
A copy of a letter J. R. R. Tolkien wrote in runes to a fan requesting an autographed copy of The Hobbit. Photo credit: Margie Hanssens.

As librarians and teachers prepare for the release of the new film “The Hobbit,” they’re incorporating Tolkien-related activities and events into their libraries and classrooms.

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In Sandy’s Wake, Library Systems Help City Keep Students Connected

By Hiten Samtani on December 3, 2012 1 Comment
Photo courtesy of the Queens Public Library.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the New York, Queens, and Brooklyn Public Library have partnered with the city to provide online courses to students displaced from their homes.

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Pictures of the Week: After Sandy, Queens Library Takes in a Raccoon, Provides Supplies to Residents

By on November 9, 2012 Leave a Comment
Rocky the Raccoon takes shelter at the Queens Library at Baisley Park after Hurricane Sandy. Children who visit the library named him, made him a home, and read to him through the window glass of the library's atrium.

After Hurricane Sandy, Queens Library provided some much needed services for residents, from taking in a raccoon who found his way to the branch at Baisley Park, to providing supplies at Far Rockaway.

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Pictures of the Week: Teens at Princeton Public Library in Hurricane Sandy’s Aftermath

By on November 2, 2012 Leave a Comment
Teenagers take shelter at Princeton Public Library in New Jersey on October 31 in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Teenagers take shelter at Princeton Public Library in New Jersey on October 31 in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

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Libraries Respond to Hurricane Sandy, Offering Refuge, WiFi, and Services to Needy Communities

By on November 1, 2012 9 Comments
New_Canaan

Libraries along the East Coast are stepping up to the challenge, providing a range of services, as well as a place to converge and power up, in Sandy’s wake. New York City schools sustained damage, though the school library situation is still being assessed, according to Richard Hasenyager, director of library services for NYC’s Department of Education

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Fresh Paint: Works Well with Others

By on September 19, 2012 Leave a Comment
91912libprogram

The public library is an information center providing resources that the community needs and wants. To know exactly what the community needs and wants the library relies on comment cards, conducts online surveys, and closely follows local issues and trends. But what if there are no customers to poll, no users for librarians to have a discussion with? This is exactly the situation that my library system is currently facing, because we are building a library where there has never been one (for many, many miles) and therefore there are no statistics, surveys, or discussions to base our collection, preliminary programming, or resource needs.

Filed Under: Budgets & Funding, Buildings & Design, Public Libraries, Teens & YA Tagged With:

Coming Soon: Fresh Paint!

By April Layne Pavis, Loudon County (VA) Public Library on September 5, 2012 Leave a Comment
9512freshpaint

There’s a new column coming to SLJTeen – Fresh Paint: Notes from a Public Library. We’ll hear from April Pavis, teen services librarian, as she prepares to move into the eighth library branch in Loudoun County, Virginia, the Gum Spring Library which will deliver 40,000 square feet of space for materials, programs, education, and entertainment to an area of the county that has never had a library.

Filed Under: Buildings & Design, Industry News, Programs & Programming, Public Libraries, Teens & YA Tagged With:

NY’s Queens Library Brings In Youth Services Champion to New Post

By on August 29, 2012 Leave a Comment
Tracie D. Hall

If one theme runs through Tracie D. Hall’s career, it’s the passion she feels for young people and

Tracie D. Hall

ensuring they have the resources to succeed. As Queens Library’s  newest director of strategy and organizational development, she’s involved in the library’s customer service priorities—but she’ll also ensure that youth services remains a priority.

“I’m always in awe of the raw potential in young people,” says Hall, who came aboard on July 16. “Institutions can either squash that and try to [...]

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Locals Create ‘People’s Library’ During Seattle Public Library Closure

By on August 23, 2012 Leave a Comment
peopleslibrary

Just because citywide budget cuts have forced the Seattle Public Library to close its doors for a week starting Monday, doesn’t mean kids will be left without good books or fun things to do during that time. A group is organizing a “People’s Library” in the Central District—and it needs children and YA titles.

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Chicago Kids Read a Record 1.5 Million Books as Part of Rahm’s Readers Summer Reading Program

By on August 22, 2012 Leave a Comment
rahmreaders

Some 60,232 Chicago kids read more than 1.5 million books this summer, thanks to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Rahm’s Readers, the Chicago Public Library’s summer reading program. Studies show that children who participate in summer reading programs maintain or improve their reading skills and start school ready to learn.

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DC Public Libraries Serve Up Books—and Lunch, Too

By on August 14, 2012 2 Comments
dclibrary

Literacy isn’t the only thing Washington, DC, public libraries are offering kids this summer. They’re also serving up some lunch.
“We wanted to make sure they had a reason to come,” says Ginnie Cooper, chief librarian for the District of Columbia. “Sometimes the kids will come for the lunch, and sometimes they come for the program.”

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