Eye-catching image for a craft event, part of June Happenings at Fairlee’s Escape the Ordinary Summer Reading Program.
June 26th at 7pm
Summer Reading Program
Bring your own shoes (or anything else) you would like to decorate with comics. We will provide the comics and other supplies.
A sci-fi/fantasy book club at the library? Pierson and Geek Mountain State collaborate. There’s a registration form online at Geek Mountain State, where readers indicate interest in science fiction, fantasy and horror. Meetings are the first Thursday of the month at the Pierson Library. Publicity is on websites and Facebook for Geek Mountain State and Pierson Library. Books are available at local libraries and the Flying Pig Bookstore in Shelburne. Love the pizza featured at club meetings too!
Sam Maskell offers a Minecraft Middle School event with printables for swords and hilts, scavenger hunt sheets, and design sheets, here Minecraft IRL
Attendees made swords of poster board (floppy enough to discourage sword fights) and then competed in the scavenger hunt. Sample questions:
Find three books turned into movies
What are the names of all the Weasley children?
What book won last year’s DCF award?
After the hunt, kids worked with beads and perler pegboards on Minecraft projects like the stone pickaxe. Afterschool fun at of the Rockingham Free Public Library!
Where can you find a prom dress in Highgate, Vermont (pop 3535)? According to a Facebook post March 12, the answer will soon be the Highgate Public Library. Way to explore new horizons!
“It’s PROM SEASON and we are trying to help make this event a memorable event for youth in our area. If you have a bridesmaid dress or prom dress just hanging in your closet and you want to clean house- we will take it (as long as it is of current fashion and clean). All the dresses that we collect will be available (for free) to girls in Franklin County to come and try on– and hopefully find one that will make their night perfect!”
Valentines for veterans
Heres the Poultney Public Library:
What do you love about your Library? February is Library Lover’s Month! Please stop by the circulation desk to fill out a valentine heart or post on our Facebook wall to tell us what YOU love about the Poultney Public Library. Share the love by recommending our Facebook page to your friends. Right now 182 people “like” the Poultney Public Library. Let’s see if we can get that number over 200 by the end of February!
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
For the book clubs I chose a popular series and had three meetings. For two of the book clubs (Percy Jackson and Twilight) I did related crafts at the first two meetings and then did pizza and a trip to the movies to see the film version at the last meeting. This did require some planning ahead to make sure that the movie was going to be released at the time we would be having the third meeting. The library paid for the pizza but the attendees were responsible for their movie ticket. For the other book club (The Hunger Games) I partnered with the Precision Valley Fish & Game Association to set up survival training for each meeting. Each meeting covered a different topic: archery, emergency shelter building, and fire making.
Burnham Memorial Library offers an informal SAT prep course to area HS students. Here’s youth services Gizelle Guyette (gguyette@colchestervt.gov): Princeton Review was willing to work with us. They provide the tests, which are actual SATs with current sections, scoring, rules and regs. We provide the venue and the proctor (me). We set the room and test conditions up as specified by SAT testing rules… we recreate as closely as possible the environment they will encounter with the real test, including timing and specific regulations regarding allowed utensils and equipment. After the exam, the tests are sent by FedEx to be scored by Princeton Review, and on the following Saturday, one of their instructors brings their scores and teaches a strategy session for individual sections, and then specific questions.
If the library is interested, talk to the Princeton Review. Gizelle’s contact is Shannon Shepardson, SShepardson@Review.com; phone: (800) 447.0254 x5630; mail: The Princeton Review 1340 Centre Street l Suite 104 l Newton, MA 02459
Paint the picture clearly– the library budget, opportunities for Young Adults, likelihood that students will be able to purchase courses. Burnham paid $500 in the initial year for the service and books, no charge to the students of course. The second year Princeton Review provided the course pro bono.
Gizelle again: Students who participated and gave us feedback told me that their scores between the Practice SAT and the official one improved 100-150 points, and that they went into the real SAT “feeling like they knew what they were doing.”
The Ilsley Public Library in Middlebury hosted a Living Books Program. Rather than having an author visit and talk about their book, they arranged for patrons to “check out” a person for a one-on-one conversation. Here’s the library description:
We make books come alive by inviting their authors to visit and talk with us. Now we’re going a step further.
On Saturday the 12th, we will feature living books. You check them out for up to 30 minutes, talk with them, and then return them. Have a coffee, sit down, it’s all about learning something new.
Each “book” is a person – local residents of different backgrounds (such as a retired FBI agent, a pro wrestler, and an animal rights activist) who have volunteered to be “checked-out” by readers for one-on-one conversations. Everyone stays in the library.
The Rockingham Free Public Library in Bellows Falls offered a series of workshops called “Job Search 101” for young adults ages 15 to 21. The workshop series was free; participants met each week.
This series gave participants basic information, skills and techniques to begin career planning.
The curriculum and format were designed by the group itself in order to meet their specific employment needs and interests. All aspects of finding a job were covered: resume writing, job search techniques, interviews and building positive, useful, and practical skills in order to obtain and maintain a job.
The Fletcher Free Library in Burlington is hosting a Harry Potter Read-A-Thon to celebrate the release of the “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” movie.
Harry Potter Read-a-thon. Friday, July 15th, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Stop by the library any time during the day to hear a dramatic reading of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to celebrate the movie’s release. Wizarding attire encouraged! Free. All ages welcome, but recommended for ages 8 & up. No preregistration needed.
Good Ideas from VT Public Libraries 