Bottled Messages

On Wednesday, 18 teens dropped in to make a Message in a Bottle, the first craft in our six-week Outdoor Art offerings. Everyone was able to write a letter, then put it and some fun thematic elements in the bottle. We had different "recipies" like The American (patriotic glitter, sequin stars, and a flag), The Gardener (flowers, Easter grass, and seed beads), and The Romantic (rose petals, wedding confetti, and lace). After completing the bottle, you have to do is glue on the lid, slap on an address label, and take it to the Post Office!

Five people made an additional bottle to send to Governor Rendell to advocate for libraries during the current budget craziness. They wrote letters with five reasons to love libraries, then filled the bottle with foam hands and beads. I took the bottles down to the Post Office on Thursday morning, and they cost just $1.39 each to mail. The postal worker was a bit confused but willingly sent them! I purchased delivery confirmation for one bottle, so we'll see if/when they arrive.

The five bottles I mailed to Harrisburg.

Favorite Gadget Blog Poll Results

Recently, 26 readers voted in our blog poll about favorite gadgets. Not surprisingly, people love their iPods and other mp3 players the most. Here are the results:

Nintendo DS/DSi--6 (23%)
cellphone--2 (7%)
digital camera--1 (3%)
laptop/netbook --4 (15%)
PSP--1 (3%)
digital videocamera--0 (0%)
GPS--0 (0%)
mp3 player (iPod)--9 (34%)
Kindle--1 (3%)
PDA (Blackberry)--0 (0%)
I am addicted to another gadget.--2 (7%)
I am a Luddite.--0 (0%)

Outdoor Art is Happening

Yes, it rained last night. Yes, it's supposed to rain late this afternoon and into the evening. But right now it is fine! So we are planning to go ahead with the Outdoor Art project today. Come on down!!

Outdoor Art Starts This Wednesday!

Did you know that you can send strange and random things through the mail, even if they are not in envelopes or boxes? We are going to put the US Postal Service to the test. This week's teen drop-in craft is Message in a Bottle! That's right, you are going to write a letter, put it in a clear plastic bottle, and add some crafty theme items to make it look cool. Then, tape it shut, add an address label, and take it to the post office! Sorry, we're not paying postage. But think of how surprised your friend will be when a bottle shows up in his or her mailbox!

Stop by anytime between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to make a Message in a Bottle on Wednesday, July 1.

New to You

The teen section is expanding like crazy, so come in and check out these new items:

FICTION

• The Silenced by James DeVita
• Top 8 by Katie Finn
• Memory Boy by Will Weaver
• Mind Rain by Scott Westerfeld

NONFICTION

• Ripley's Believe It or Not: Totally Bizarre!

Library Budget Cuts Already...

Anyone who has done real internet research* at the library, at school, or even at home knows that we have access to some great materials through the POWER Library of databases. These subscription-only resources are the modern answer to looking through stacks of magazines and journals when you have to do a project or report. However, because they are virtual, they seem easy to cut when times are tight. And that exactly what is happening now.

Although the Pennsylvania state budget for 2009-10 has not passed yet, four databases will be gone as of July 1. Another 31 are on the chopping block. This is terrible news because there is no way our schools and libraries can afford to purchase all of these materials in print.

If you value the research services you have at your school and public libraries, CONTACT THE GOVERNOR AND STATE LEGISLATORS NOW. Both the Democrats and Republicans want to cut library funding, and the research databases are hard-hit in the budget proposals.

* Real internet research is not done on Google or Wikipedia.

Summer Reading by the Numbers

I just got compiled some quick statistics from the teen summer reading program, and Sellers Library's teens are reading like crazy. So far, 71 teens have reported reading 721 books! We just started our fourth week out of the ten-week program, and we have a lot more participants than usual. Go readers! Keep those slips coming!!

Book Swap

On Saturday, 12 people came to the Book Swap and Disney event. Some people dropped in just to trade, others came just for the movie, and still others did both! A total of 18 books were swapped. We sang along with Mary Poppins, but the real action started with Disney Scene-It. There was some serious competition, so much so that next time we have a book swap we may just play different versions of Scent-It! Look for another book swap in October.

Nintendo Night Report

Last Friday, 41 teens showed up for our summer Nintendo Night! We do this event three or four times a year, but the summer one is always the largest. Our Brawl tournament had 37 participants, and our DS Pokemon tournament had 15! In Brawl, the final match was among Ranier, Andrew, David, and Edgar. In Pokemon, the final match was between David and Katie. And, as luck would have it, David won both! He completely deserves it, not just because he is a great player, but also because he has put a lot of wear and tear on his own equipment by bringing it to our club over the years. David won a total of $35 in Game Stop gift cards. All of the other finalists got candy as a consolation prize.

The event was not without its technological issues, so huge thanks goes out to library employee, Ben, who went above and beyond to help the event happen. With 15 minutes to go before starting time, he sprinted home to get some speakers. And when the one Wii wouldn't read disks, he dealt with that while I started the tournaments. And he worked out the controller issues when we were getting cross-interference. We couldn't have done it without you, Ben!!

Book Swap Tomorrow!

Book Swap and Disney Sing-Along
Saturday, June 27, 1:00 to 4:00 pm
Trade in your old books for new reads, sing along with Mary Poppins (G), play Disney Scene It?, and eat food! Stop in just to swap, or hang out for the whole event. Swap books should be intermediate or young adult fiction in good condition.

More Love

Today, 17 more letters were turned in by teens for our state legislators! About half were from people who came to the event yesterday. The rest were written during Anime Club this afternoon. Instead of our usual thematic drawing contest, we had a letter-writing contest while we watched anime. At the end, though, I decided that everyone who wrote a letter should get a prize, so I have to round up more prizes!! Anyway, that makes a total of exactly 25 letters from teen library users making their way to Harrisburg. Thanks everyone!

If you haven't written yet, take time to handwrite or email a note of library appreciation to your legislators. Look them up on the Pennsylvania General Assembly website.

Library Love

Yesterday, 8 teens came out to write letters to our state legislators to support library funding during the state budget process. Five members of the Teen Advisory Board and three other teens made a great effort. During the program, we wrote 12 letters, and everyone took home extra supplies to keep writing! If you love our library and the services it offers, please take a minute to write, call, or email our representatives. Just go to the webpage for the Pennsylvania General Assembly, and use the box in the upper right to look them up.

Teen Reading Winners

61 people participated in teen summer reading this week, and I just did a random drawing for two winners:

Ananya H., grade 11
hardcover copy of The Loser's Guide to Life and Love by A. E. Cannon and a set of Express Yourself pins

Mohamad N., grade 7
flame bag with soda, candy, and a set of Express Yourself pins

Library Letters TODAY!

Don't forget to drop by the Board Room (upstairs in children's) between 1:00 and 4:00 to write some letters to our state legislators in support of public libraries! All materials and snacks provided.

Nintendo Night tips

Hello everyone! It's me Tommy with some usefull tips on the Super Smash Bros. tornument. Now here is what i belive the rules are from my memorie of past tornaments.

5 stock
4:oo miniutes each round
no items
random stages from a select few that are dubbed fair
you may change your character each new round but the name you choose must be the same

Here are some helpfull tips,
(The stakes are high your wholife has been about video games and you lose the first round listen to this and you can prevent this.)

First the fairly dubbed stages will probally be flat with little to none possibilty of being stuck no trap doors or anything. So who would you use on these stages here is a list of possibilitys but it always depends on what type of gammer you are.

These stages are dupped fair by me and are not a defenet choice for the tornament. To learn more about stages check my reviwes or goto the smash bros. dojo a link is in all of my previus post.

Finall destenation
Picked because its a one level flat stage it was also chosen because of the fact it looks awsome.
some characters to choose is
Kirby
Kirby can easily float under above and alomst anywhere around the stage because of nothing blocking its range you can also use kirbys down b in air with confidens you wont hit anything.

Ike,fox,falco,wolf
Like I said for kirby there is plenty of room for there side B's and up B's with Ike's strong impacts in a wide area it will be easy to smash someone outta the way and with fox, falco and wolf with there speed and agility you can rule the battlefield.

Ill update more as we get closer to the tornament.

Library Love Letters on Thursday!

Remember to show up on Thursday between 1:00 and 4:00 pm to write letters of support for our public library to our state legislators in Harrisburg! Stop by the Board Room (upstairs in children's) anytime. All materials (and snacks!) will be provided.

Also, join our Facebook group, Library Funding in PA.

Teen Outsmarts Doctors

This is a great story of science class ingenuity! Basically, this girl took it upon herself to investigate her illness in her AP class because, despite years of suffering, her doctors hadn't been able to figure it out!!

Reminder

This is just a reminder that I am on vacation from today through Wednesday. There is NO GAMING CLUB on Monday. I will be back in the library on Thursday, so try to survive without me until then. :)