|
From: "PUBYAC: PUBlic librarians serving Young Adults
& Children" <pubyac@prairienet.org>
To: "PUBYAC: PUBlic librarians serving Young Adults & Children"
<pubyac@prairienet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2000 5:00 PM
Subject: PUBYAC digest 242
PUBYAC Digest 242
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) Junie B. Jones Challenge
by Kim Heikkinen <kim.heikkinen@mcfls.org>
2) RE: Statement of concern
by Andrea Johnson <ajohnson@cooklib.org>
3) Re: Statement of concern
by "Mary Johnson (amk)" <mjohnson@wls.lib.ny.us>
4) preschool program crowds
by "steve webber" <mstomper@hotmail.com>
5) Rendezvous ideas
by "Jodi Rocco" <jodi.rocco@alc.org>
6) Halloween activities
by "Nancy Bostrom" <NANCYB@lewis-carnegie-library.org>
7) re: series websites
by "Nancy Bostrom" <NANCYB@lewis-carnegie-library.org>
8) RE: PUBYAC digest 240
by Sue Ridnour <SRidnour@flower-mound.com>
9) Re: In the Night Kitchen complaint
by Jill Patterson <jillpatterson@yahoo.com>
10) Re: Bulletin Board
by "Susan Graf" <susangraf27@hotmail.com>
11) Tying Shoes
by Karen Daniel <karensdaniel@netscape.net>
12) Re: PUBYAC digest 240
by "Heather Stout" <hstout@lewiston.com>
13) Re: Statement of concern
by Karen McNulty <kmcnulty@avon.lib.ct.us>
14) Teen poetry cafe responses (long)
by Lori Hodges <ldhodges@cox-internet.com>
15) New Web Companion for Students
by "Libberton, Gayle" <GLibberton@plcmc.lib.nc.us>
16) "Tweens" magazine suggestions?
by library@telpage.net (Richardson
Memorial Library)
17) Stumper: a terrible tale
by Angelina Benedetti <angelina@kcls.org>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Kim Heikkinen <kim.heikkinen@mcfls.org>
To: pubyac@prairienet.org
Subject: Junie B. Jones Challenge
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Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 16:29:36 CDT
A patron just came in today and objected to Junie B. Jones because "she has
a bad attitude and uses horrible grammar". I gave her a reconsideration
form to fill out and am looking up reviews to show her. Has anyone else had
objections to Junie B.? If so, how did you handle them?
Thanks for any help you can give me!
Kim
*************************************************
Kim Heikkinen kim.heikkinen@mcfls.org
Youth Services Librarian
Franklin Public Library
Franklin, WI 53132 (414) 425-8214
*************************************************
------------------------------
From: Andrea Johnson <ajohnson@cooklib.org>
To: "'pubyac@prairienet.org'"
<pubyac@prairienet.org>
Subject: RE: Statement of concern
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 16:43:23 CDT
I would respectfully disagree with Mr. Stuart. I've always heard,
"Defend
the policy, not the book." Do you have the Library Bill of Rights in
your
policy? The Freedom to Read statement? If so, remind your board of
those
policies and of their importance. If you remove a book today for one
reason
(I'm assuming in this case that it's the nudity which raised the objection),
tomorrow it could be another reason (religious content, for example), and
sooner or later your whole collection is in jeopardy.
Also, contact the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual
Freedom. Call Beverley Becker at 800-545-2433, ext. 4221. It's her
job to
help librarians deal with challenges.
Andrea Johnson
ajohnson@cooklib.org
> Linda Fields writes,
>
> >We are a small, conservative (Utah) rural library. A patron
recently
> >complained about the bppk "In the Night Kitchen" by
Maurice Sendak and
> >filled out one of our statement of concerns. ... She wants it
removed
> from
>
Tom Stuart responds:
> I always find it difficult to respond to inquiries for thoughts about
> challenges or concerns which do not indicate what the patron is concerned
> about or
> finds objectionable. It seems to me that a response must be tailored
to
> whatever
> that is.
>
>
------------------------------
From: "Mary Johnson (amk)" <mjohnson@wls.lib.ny.us>
To: pubyac@prairienet.org
Subject: Re: Statement of concern
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 16:48:49 CDT
Linda, I don't know that you can say more than the obvious things about
censorship, really, since in trying to remove "In the Night Kitchen"
from
your library, your patron is determining what is fit for all children in
your community and also taking over your collection development job. She
has every right to keep this book away from her own child, but does that
give her the right to keep it from all the children in the town?
That said, I was told when a patron challenged our CD collection that one
must never become heated and never argue with the patron. To the board,
I might mention that Sendak is an internationally famous and award
winning author who is known for dealing with difficult and
psychologically complex themes in his picture books. Some children may
find these images disturbing, but others find them liberating and
healing, and it is essential for a library to serve the *whole*
community, not just part of it.
I think I'm stating the obvious at length here - almost certainly you've
already thought and said all this. But I hope it's moral support,
anyway. It is difficult to deal with censorship attempts, and I wish you
the best of luck.
Mary Johnson, YA librarian, North Castle Library, Armonk, NY
mjohnson@wls.lib.ny.us
------------------------------
From: "steve webber" <mstomper@hotmail.com>
To: pubyac@prairienet.org
Subject: preschool program crowds
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 16:54:51 CDT
We are an urban branch library with an enormous number of day-care centers
in the neighborhood. Currently we are running preschool story/film
programs
three mornings a week, with attendance ranging from 75-150 each day. As
you
can imagine, it's hard to engage such a large number of preschoolers at
once, at least it is when the film isn't running. We are trying to find
ways to get the groups down to a more manageable size. The big problem is
that many of the teachers have been bringing their groups for years (way
before I was here). We have talked about having each group come on
alternate weeks, but the problem here is getting them to come on the right
day. There will also be problems when a group can't come their week
because
of bad weather. My guess is that people will get upset at first, but
eventually they'll see that it works better with smaller groups. The
drop-in approach is clearly not working, especially when we are
short-staffed (which happens pretty frequently). If anyone has dealt with
a
similar situation I'd love to hear from you.
Steve Webber, Children's Librarian
Mt. Pleasant Branch
DC Public Library
"...go to a library and educate yourself."
---Frank Zappa
Any opinions expressed are my own.
_________________________________________________________________________
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------------------------------
From: "Jodi Rocco" <jodi.rocco@alc.org>
To: <pubyac@prairienet.org>
Subject: Rendezvous ideas
MIME-Version: 1.0
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charset="iso-8859-1"
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Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 17:00:20 CDT
Hello All
I need some ideas for a Family program we are doing in November. Our theme
is "Rendezvous" The Trapper, Trader, Indian kind of
Rendezvous. I have
several Indian stories and we have A Boy Scout troop coming to perform
Traditional Indian Dances. I need an inexpensive craft, some trapper/
trader stories and a easy game. We are also going to trade paper
Beaver
pelts (plews) for feathers, beads and other trinkets. Any thoughts and
ideas would be greatly appreciated
Thanks in advance
Jodi Rocco
Children's Library Asst.
Abilene Public Library
Abilene TX.
jodi.rocco@alc.org
------------------------------
From: "Nancy Bostrom" <NANCYB@lewis-carnegie-library.org>
To: PUBYAC@prairienet.org
Subject: Halloween activities
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Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 17:06:04 CDT
Hello Collective Mind:
My director just came and asked me to inquire if any of you can
suggest activities appropriate for a community Halloween carnival.
In the past, she has used "Ghoul School", which she gleaned from
Pubyac some years back. This is the traditional feeling-in-the dark
of eyeballs, intestines, etc. (grapes, spaghetti.) Since that can be
used only so many times, any other ideas or carnival-type game
suggestions? We have a haunted house already planned.
Thanks for your help.
Nancy Bostrom, Youth Services Librarian
Lewistown Public Library
701 W. Main St.
Lewistown, MT 59457
406-538-5212
nancyb@lewis-carnegie-library.org
------------------------------
From: "Nancy Bostrom" <NANCYB@lewis-carnegie-library.org>
To: PUBYAC@prairienet.org
Subject: re: series websites
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 17:11:55 CDT
Thank you to those who responded to my question regarding book
series websites. I had been hoping someone would provide the
address for Monroe County Public Library which I had lost and
Mary D'Eliso came through:
http://www.monroe.lib.in.us/childrens/serieslist.html
Other series links were:
Boy's/children's Series Books
http://members.aol.com/sharonr899/series/bseries.html
Girls' series web page
http://members.aol.com/sharonr899/series/gseries.html
Series Book Links
http://www.midcoast.com/~w1gql/booklink.htm
The Series Bookcase
http://www.series.net/links.html
Teen Series and Sequels
http://www.rbls.lib.il.us/bpl/services/series.htm
Here's the URL from the recently-posted message for YA series
titles:
By series: http://www.rbls.lib.il.us/bpl/services/series.htm
By title: http://www.rbls.lib.il.us/bpl/services/series2.htm
Amazon.com has a site with links to each book in the teen series
they
carry: http://www.coolteenbooks.com/
For adult series, try the "What's Next?" database at Kent District
Library: http://www.kentlibrary.lib.mi.us/whats_next.htm
For speculative fiction (SF, fantasy and horror), you have to try the
ISFDB (contains a series field):
http://www.sfsite.com/isfdb/sfdbase.html
Also for science fiction series, there's the Locus Index:
http://www.locusmag.com/index/
Thank you. What a wonderful resource.
Nancy Bostrom, Youth Services Librarian
Lewistown Public Library
701 W. Main St.
Lewistown, MT 59457
406-538-5212
nancyb@lewis-carnegie-library.org
------------------------------
From: Sue Ridnour <SRidnour@flower-mound.com>
To: "'pubyac@prairienet.org'"
<pubyac@prairienet.org>
Subject: RE: PUBYAC digest 240
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 17:17:45 CDT
In very quickly looking over the top 100 banned books of the decade on the
ALA website I see In the Night Kitchen by Sendak; also Little Black Sambo
and Guess What? by Mem Fox, which is my personal favorite -- sixth graders
will *love* looking at the illustrations. Note that these are
*challenged*
but not necessarily *banned.* The URL is:
http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/top100bannedbooks.html
Sue Ridnour
Children's Services Librarian
Flower Mound Public Library
3030 Broadmoor Lane
Flower Mound, TX 75022
972.691.0059
> -----Original Message-----
> From: KlandBooks@aol.com
[SMTP:KlandBooks@aol.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2000 3:49 PM
> To: pubyac@prairienet.org
> Subject: Re: PUBYAC digest 240
>
> Fellow Librarians
>
> I am looking for a list of picture books that have been challenged or
> banned
> for my sixth graders to examine and discuss during library class
> time...Anyone out there with a list of at least 15 I know The
Stupids,
> Halloween ABC and Sylvester and the Magic Pebble have been
> banned...Thanks
> Karen Land
> Greenport School Librarian
------------------------------
From: Jill Patterson <jillpatterson@yahoo.com>
To: pubyac@prairienet.org
Subject: Re: In the Night Kitchen complaint
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 17:23:21 CDT
Linda--
According to _Children's Literature Awards & Winners_, it was a honor
award winner for the Caldecott in 1971 and in 1970 it was one of the
winners of the New York Times CHoice of Best Illustrated Children's
Book of the Year. It has won other awards.
Jill Patterson
La Habra Blvd.
From: Linda Fields <lfields@state.lib.ut.us>
Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 12:43:27 CDT
Hi,
We are a small, conservative (Utah) rural library. A patron recently
complained about the bppk "In the Night Kitchen" by Maurice
Sendak and
filled out one of our statement of concerns. This, of course, will be
discussed at our next board meeting. The book has been checked out
many
times with nor prior complaints. She wants it removed from the
library,
which I, as the Librarian, am reluctant to do. Any thoughts I can
share
with my board about this, other than the obvious ones about censorship?
Thanks,
Linda Fields
=====
Jill Patterson, Manager
La Habra Branch Library, OCPL
221 E. La Habra Blvd. California
e-mail: jillpatterson@yahoo.com
TEL: 562/694-0078 FAX: 562/691-8043
__________________________________________________
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Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere!
http://mail.yahoo.com/
------------------------------
From: "Susan Graf" <susangraf27@hotmail.com>
To: pubyac@prairienet.org
Subject: Re: Bulletin Board
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 17:45:21 CDT
We have a series of six large bulletin boards around our Children's Room.
Last year I contacted art teachers at the local elementary schools. We set
aside two of the boards for their use, and invited them to display student
art for six weeks. We hosted an artists reception, inviting the art teacher,
principal and parents of the featured artists. Set out cookies and punch and
made a certificate for each artist, signed by the Library Director.
Everybody loved it--especially the cookies.
It was a good way for us to reach out to non-users and get them in the door.
Several familes got library cards, and we thought it worth the effort.
You could just have your displays set for three months at a time.
Susan Graf
Family Services Librarian
North Las Vegas Library District
2300 Civic Center Drive
North Las Vegas, NV 89030
(702)633-1070 FX (702)649-2576
susangraf27@hotmail.com
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------------------------------
From: Karen Daniel <karensdaniel@netscape.net>
To: pubyac@prairienet.org
Subject: Tying Shoes
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
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Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 17:52:03 CDT
Tying Shoes for Ages 3,4&5.I am looking for a pattern for tying shoes. This
is
a stiff pattern with lacing the shoe that the child can learn to do along
with
a poem. I have tried the internet and must not be putting in the right
keywords. Any and all suggestions will be helpful.
Karen Daniel
Children Programming
Johnson County Public Library
Paintsville, Kentucky
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------------------------------
From: "Heather Stout" <hstout@lewiston.com>
To: <pubyac@prairienet.org>
Subject: Re: PUBYAC digest 240
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 17:54:03 CDT
For a full list of banned &/or challenged books, check out the American
Library Association's website at www.ala.org.
Also, the watchdog group "People for the American Way" print a list
every
year. Two of the most controversial books, of course, are "Heather
Has Two
Mommies," and "Daddy's Roommate." ..........and, of course,
Sendak's "In
the Night Kitchen." Also, Mem Fox's "Guess What?"
Hope this helps and
Good Luck!!!
Heather Stout
Community / Youth Services Librarian
Lewiston City Library
428 Thain
Lewiston, ID 83501
(208) 743-6519
hstout@lewiston.com
----- Original Message -----
From: <KlandBooks@aol.com>
To: <pubyac@prairienet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2000 1:48 PM
Subject: Re: PUBYAC digest 240
> Fellow Librarians
>
> I am looking for a list of picture books that have been challenged or
banned
> for my sixth graders to examine and discuss during library class
> time...Anyone out there with a list of at least 15 I know The
Stupids,
> Halloween ABC and Sylvester and the Magic Pebble have been
banned...Thanks
> Karen Land
> Greenport School Librarian
>
------------------------------
From: Karen McNulty <kmcnulty@avon.lib.ct.us>
To: pubyac@prairienet.org
Subject: Re: Statement of concern
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 17:55:16 CDT
I can share a sentiment. When my son was 3 or 4, this was the first book I
read to him when I wanted to bring up the subject of "running around in the
buff", so to speak, which I don't do, but which he was doing alot! I
found
this story a gentle way of bringing up nudity (which did not go deep,
believe me) with a young child who had very simple questions that were much
more easily answered by myself than I had anticipated. I look at this book
as a tool for opening a conversation, but also, who can deny that you just
want to pick that gingerbread-looking airplane off the page and take a
bite? Needless to say, this book also got us hungry and led to another
first for my son, his first cooking lesson. I assume the "bppk" in
your
note to the list meant this (being in the buff) was the issue. If not, I
hope you get other replies. --KM
At 12:43 PM 9/11/00 CDT, you wrote:
>Hi,
>We are a small, conservative (Utah) rural library. A patron recently
>complained about the bppk "In the Night Kitchen" by Maurice
Sendak and
>filled out one of our statement of concerns. This, of course, will be
>discussed at our next board meeting. The book has been checked out
many
>times with nor prior complaints. She wants it removed from the
library,
>which I, as the Librarian, am reluctant to do. Any thoughts I can
share
>with my board about this, other than the obvious ones about censorship?
>Thanks,
>Linda Fields
>
>
------------------------------
From: Lori Hodges <ldhodges@cox-internet.com>
To: pubyac@prairienet.org, ya-yaac@ala.org
Subject: Teen poetry cafe responses (long)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 17:56:38 CDT
Here are the responses I received for my request on Teen poetry cafes.
Thanks to Susan Cargle, Ruth Shafer, Agnes Bury, Pam Henley, Mary Jean
Hartel, Amy Alessio, Mary McCarthy, Natasha Kahn, Micheal Dittman, Shilo
Thompson, Kimberly Hundley, Bonnie Wright, and Beth Strauss for their
input. All your suggestions and ideas were so helpful!
======================================
When I've done this, they've self-censored and stuck to 'safer' topics.
I've found its useful to be willing and prepared to perform a few poems
yourself at any time during the evening to keep things rolling. It also
helps to have a jazz cd playing in the background, and having coffee and
hot water (with tea and hot chocolate packets) to encourage the "coffee
house" atmosphere.
----------------------------------------------------------
I have readers sign up as they come in. If you have a reluctant group,
hand out a sprinkling of magnetic poetry words at each table, and let
them read the results. You can have prizes for best, funniest, etc. I
have also had theme nights - where I hand out 60's words, or food words,
and have them come up with rhyming poems.
Have cheezy poetry/skit books that should have been weeded available for
shy readers also. The worse they are, the more the teens like to read
them, because they can act silly.
Re content: First you should enforce the rule that only teens and staff
members can attend. I have actually had a few weird adults try to come.
Then I would wait and see if someone is excessively inappropriate, then
act. A few will throw in some bad language for shock effect. That
thrill will wear off quickly if you ignore it. If someone only uses
that kind of language, I would talk to them about the power of variety
in language, etc.
----------------------------------------------------
We had our first Poetry evening last April. We started off with cookies
and nifty one-of-a kind sodas purchased at cost from a wierd
coffee-house across the street. We had tons of coffee but no kids drank
it.
We had a clipboard at the door for kids to sign up to read as they came
in. About 12 kids attended and 5 of them read. A highschool student
read twice because there was time. Several adults called to ask if they
could come and I said no. One parent and younger brother stayed (I
asked the teen in privacy if that was okay--and it definitely was okay
with her.) Interestingly we had a local poet, the father of many teen
girls, speak for a while and one of his daughters also recited her
poetry. The evening was relaxed and lovely.
We heard some pretty powerful stuff and also silly stuff. I think it's
worth a try to trust the kids.
-------------------------------------------
Last year for Teen Read Week we had a reading contest with the high
school - kids just read up to 5 minutes from their favorite book. We
didn't take sign ups ahead of time, just whoever showed up. We gave
prizes to everyone and had a big prize for the best (which turned out to
be a poem!). In the past when we've had poetry nights (not limited to
YAs, just everyone reading a favorite poem) we have had people sign up
so we could manage the program better - not have several epic poems in a
row! This way you could preview the poems just to check for content if
you wanted. Good luck!
--------------------------------------------
I've had a number of programs with teens where they were allowed to
express themselves. And I am empathetic to not wanting to impose
restrictions. However, we are a family library and that's how I express
it, so I wish only things you would expose little bro or sis to. I
always get a chuckle or two, but I also always have compliance.
Poetry programs are very unstructured - a bit a prodding needed, but
then most want to share their "stuff." Be sure to have a few
poems
ready to step into the breach if need be. Good luck and have fun!
-------------------------------------
We just had our first Cafe NIght and it was wonderful. We had 20 or so
teens who read or listened. We had an anarchist and an ROTC recruit
(interesting mix) but they repected each others words, and may have even
chatted a bit. I didn't worry about language etc, thinking this is
public forum and in this country one can say what one wants (with in the
law). In fact, I don't think we had any curse words said all night,
except by the woman making coffee when she burned herself (only
kidding). We served fancy coffees and pastry (we are in the Pacific
Northwst, where everyone drinks lattes) and had a few choices of
non-caffine drinks as well.
We had each person who wanted to speak fill out a simple sign-up sheet,
asking their name and how they wanted to be introduced. All names were
placed in a hat and pulled out randomly so that the order of appearence
was fair. Each person was limited to 10 minutes max, but nobody used
more that 3 or 4. We had no music except one Karaoke style singing. I'd
say most of the teens either composed their poems as they waited for
their turn, or on the spot at the mike. One girl brought all her poetry
(and her Dad) and read several over the course of the evening. Those who
spoke took turns throughout the two hours and I think they all spoke at
least 3 times. Lots of people just listened, drank coffee, ate candy,
and colored on the table covers we supplied (with crayons) At the end,
all the teens chipped in to help us clean up. Nobody wanted me to throw
out the colored on table covers, so they are sitting in my office. It
all worked great! The library director was there to help and see how it
went. Before the end of the evening she was in tears with joy and
respect for the teens and with the staff.
I work with a committee of people from all dept. so there was "buy in"
from ref. and circ. We are lucky enough to have a staffer who was a
coffee slinger in her past job, so she has the experience of making
fancy drinks, contacts to get us stuff from Starbucks as a donation, and
the food handlers liciense required by the state of Washington.
-------------------------------------
I am also hosting a Teen Open Mike Poetry Nite in November. I would
love to see a posting of any hits you receive.
In preparing the promotional fliers, etc., I did come up with some
parameters. I am limiting teens to either 3 poems or 10 minutes (our
program is only an hour). I am also "encouraging" (but not
requiring)
teens to sign up in advance. Walk in poets are more than welcome to
share their poetry as time allows. I have thought about the language,
appropriateness, etc. issue, but I didn't address this in the fliers or
in the press releases. I feel that teens should be able to express
themselves in any way they see fit, even if their expression might
offend others. But, I do understand that others may not share this
view. I don't want to set out too many limits (which may encourage
teens NOT to participate), so I am going to just cross my fingers and
hope for the best!
---------------------------------------
I'm a performance poet who ran a reading series here in Northwestern
Penn. We had some gigs in libraries and we always attracted a lot of
teens. What we did was find two or three artists from each location who
we knew or who had approached us o had been recommended to us. We had
them as our "featured readers" and then had a sign up for the open mic
following the featured reader. Something that lots of places don;t
think about is taking a break every once in awhile, we put our break
between the featured and the open mic to keep people from getting too
restless (just the other day I sat through a four hour poetry reading
with no breaks. I thought I would go
crazy!) and imposing a time limit on readers, some of who want to read
for half and hour. . Regarding topics, it's a sticky wicket. On one
hand you don't want to censor and on the other,I have heard some works
that made my hair curl, and I'm no prude. What it comes down to is, if
you don't institute some sort of standards, no curses or whatever, kids
will go wild, there will always be one. While I wouldn't insist on
reading the works beforehand (at one venue, the owner did want to read
the works beforehand claiming that it was "a well known fact that most
people who write poetry and into Satan". God bless Grove City PA!), I
would make it understood that there are going to be subject material and
poems that will not fly. It's not censorship, I don't think, it's
knowing your audience, which is a very valuable thing for young artists
to learn. Also, as an aside, you can't do too much promotion.
--------------------------------------------
Hi. I saw your message about a poetry cafe. We have only had one
teen
poetry reading here at our library, but it went really well. We had it
in April for National Poetry Month and we served pizza afterward. We
called it Poetry/Pizza Night. We just let the teens volunteer to go
read whenever they wanted. There were no problems. They were a
little
slow starting out, but then they took turns and there wasn't hardly a
quiet moment. A lot of the teens kept going to find poetry books in our
collection to read once they finished their own. In fact, we kind of had
to stop them before they were ready because the pizza arrived and some
kids had to leave. We didn't have any problems with content. I think
they all knew what was appropriate and what wasn't. Hope yours goes
well!!!
-----------------------------------------------
We also had a very successful poetry series - two nights for the high
school (60 and 25 in attendance) and one for the elementary school (50
in attendance). This year, we plan to repeat those and add a middle
school evening or two. For the high school night, we asked a popular
English teacher to host the evening. He brought his guitar and played
Robert Frost songs set to his original compositions; some students also
brought their guitars and sang. The "kids" shared original poems
(some
very intimate and heartfelt!) or read their favorite poems from books.
We attracted almost every "group" in the high school, I think, and
they
were so supportive of each other- it was really amazing. They were very
grateful to have a place to go without the noise of Barnes and Noble
(where they had been having poetry nights) or the atmosphere of school
where there are implied rules about who gets along with who. We served
fancy desserts and coffee, with white tablecloths and china, etc. One
of the poems was a take-off on 10 Things I Hate About You - but was
absolutely hilarious and had the room in stitches. There were also
declarations of love (straight and gay), and some excerpts from plays.
We asked several teachers and local poets to award gift certificates and
poetry books to outstanding poets. The elementary group was a showcase
for a lunchtime poetry club started by a very talented local poet- they
presented their work in front of parents and grandparents. We've been
asked to run a night for adults also- I'm passing that one on to another
department!
--------------------------------------------
We have had two poetry coffeehouses, funded by a New York State Council
on the Arts grant, and we invited anyone who wanted to read their own
poetry. We had local musicians play some cool jazz/blues stuff in
between readings. We served refreshments and we had a speaker who would
introduce a poetry topic-e.g.) women's poetry- and give a brief talk
about it. By brief, I
mean 20 minutes or so. We didn't worry about language or content of
poems, and we had no problems. Many teens did attend, along with adults
and a few seniors. Those who didn't want to read could just listen.
People went up to read on a voluntary basis-I asked"-Is there anyone
who'd like to read now? " I had no trouble getting volunteers, as many
people are delighted to have an audience hear their poems. A few shy
teens had a buddy read their poem for them-that's OK,
too. We will have 2 more this fall-good luck!
-----------------------------------------------
I've found the phrase "library appropriate language only, please",
really helps. Hope this is helpful!!
Hi, I saw your query on the listserve and thought this excerpt from May
99
Today's Librarian teen issue might be helpful. Good luck!
<B>Haverville Public Library, Mass.<$>
Young Adult Librarian Beth Gallaway reports her recent Friday night
Poetry Slam & Coffeehouse drew 60 kids, most of whom were ages 11 to 15.
"It was a big success. I was stunned," she says. "I think the key
was
publicity. I made a bookmark-shaped handout and made sure every student
got one. I spent a lot of time in front of the copy machine, cutting up
paper, and delivering the bookmarks to the high school and three middle
schools." Teachers helped out by announcing the poetry slam in homeroom
and distributing the bookmarks. Students read original poems to compete
for business-donated prizes while Gallaway provided refreshments. "They
could basically get up and read whatever they wanted to," she says.
"We
only had one boy who had bad language, and I think I was the only one
who jumped a little bit when he spouted off the 'F' word." By the end of
the 7 to 9 p.m. event, teens were jumping up to read second and third
poems they'd quickly penned at their tables, and others who hadn't
intended to perform were taking the mike. "They wanted to keep going,"
Gallaway says. The result? The next morning, two kids who had
exclusively used the library for Internet access were scanning the
shelves for love poems. On Sunday, a boy came in and worked out a plan
with Gallaway to start a youth poetry group. Gallaway also scheduled a
creative-writing workshop every other weekend at the library.
<B>Weld Library District, Greeley, Colo.<$>
"A Book Feast: You Want Fries With That?" won enthusiastic kudos last
year from kids. The event, staged on the outdoor terrace of a local
sports restaurant, featured seasoned adult storytellers and free French
fries. The three raconteurs-a doctor, high school drama teacher and a
professional storyteller-took turns spinning five to 10-minute tales
that ranged from scary, funny and true. "We had about 75 teen-agers
gobbling French fries," reports Julia Taylor, community information and
marketing supervisor. "The title really got them in." Taylor says some
stories were tied to books available in the library, but the event was
mainly about generating interest in spoken expression.
Kimberly Hundley
editor, Today's Librarian
480/990-1101 Ext. 1667
Fax: 480/990-0819
Virgo Publishing
3300 N. Central Ave. Suite 2500
Phoenix, AZ 85012
www.todayslibrarian.com
-------------------------------------
We offer our teens a "Coffee House/Poetry Slam" the first Friday of
almost every month. It was originally a one time program, however, was
repeated by popular demand. Now, it is a regular thing. In answer to
your questions, as we are signing in the teens we ask them if they are
interested in performing (reading poetry, original or not, some sing).
Before all the fun begins we explain that library behavior rules
generally apply (no foul language, no unruly behavior, etc.), and that
while anyone is reading or singing quiet and courtesy are a must. We
always have music playing in-between acts. Some request for us to play
their CDs. We will not play those with "parent advisory" stickers on
them. Sometimes the kids take a while to warm up so we'll discretely ask
those on the list to perform. Once they start. it's hard to stop them.
One of the problems we have is with the beverages. We offer decaf
coffee, tea, soda and juice. There is always a group of boys that
thinks its fun to mix all the soda, coffee, milk and sugar together and
taste it. No matter how close we try to pay attention it happens at
least once. You'd think it'd get old, but........We also put out games,
milky pens, and pizza pie tins with those magnetic poetry words on them
for the kids to fool with. We have the room dimly lit and made little
lanterns out of flashlights that we stick to the middle of the card
tables we use. This gives the room a real "cafe" atmosphere. Since the
event lasts after library hours we tell the kids that they are not
allowed to leave the room, other than for bathroom. We also post a guard
in the front where the parents pick up the kids. It's more to keep the
kids from getting roudy than anything else.
-------------------------------------
I have only limited experience in running such a program. The first
time we ran our Poetry Slam it was during Teen Read Week, too. We ran
it in conjunction with a poetry contest and gave out prizes on two
levels: middle and high school (contest deadline and judging after
the
Poetry Slam which helped generate interest in participating). We did
not have teens sign up ahead of time to read at the Poetry Slam. It
operated fairly spontaneously. Because we specified that for the
contest poetry submitted needed to be "clean" (contain no obscenities,
profanities or otherwise sexually graphic content), the poetry they
chose to read to the group was clean, too. Some read poems they'd
written. Some brought favorites from books to read. Because we
weren't
sure if there would be enough kids wanted to share to fill the time (1
1/2 hrs.), I had a display of poetry books kid could browse through on
the spot during a "break" and then share poems they liked after the
break. We also had magnetic poetry kits out for kids to work with in
groups to compose their own poetry at the event. And, of course, we
served refreshments and also put ALA READ posters up to give the library
an after-hours coffee house atmosphere. We repeated this during Young
People's Poetry Week (which this year coincided with National Library
Week) this year, and it was successful again. A few teachers really
picked up the idea and encouraged their kids to come and participate. We
hope to make it an annual event in April every year. We aren't quite up
to doing it more often though probably could -- there are a lot of
kids out there who really get into poetry!
------------------------------
From: "Libberton, Gayle" <GLibberton@plcmc.lib.nc.us>
To: "'pubyac@prairienet.org'"
<pubyac@prairienet.org>
Subject: New Web Companion for Students
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 17:58:03 CDT
The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, NC is pleased to
announce the newest member to their family of web sites, brarydog: Your
Personal Library & Web Companion. (http://www.brarydog.net
).
This site is designed to provide students and Internet users alike with easy
access to the library's premium electronic resources and the best sites
found on the net. The brarydog site allows you to create a customized web
page with access to dozens of homework help & research resources
(encyclopedias, newspaper & magazine databases, etc.) as well as add links
to your favorite Internet sites and search tools. With brarydog, all your
favorite Internet resources and sites come together to create your personal
library on the web. Brarydog's so cool he even has his own song, the
"brarydog Rap". Brarydog it! today at http://www.brarydog.net
We welcome your comments and suggestions.
Press Release: http://www.plcmc.lib.nc.us/calendar/PressR/9_13_2000.htm
Listen to the brarydog Rap: http://www.brarydog.org/brarydograp.asp
Helene Blowers
Web Services Director
The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County
Check out the PLCMC family of web sites
http://www.plcmc.lib.nc.us/family/family.htm
------------------------------
From: library@telpage.net (Richardson
Memorial Library)
To: <pubyac@prairienet.org>
Subject: "Tweens" magazine suggestions?
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 17:59:13 CDT
Don't remember if this question has been asked before...can the collective
brain offer suggestions for magazines for the "tween" kids?
Those 8-9-10
year olds too old for Highlights but not really old enough (in the
estimation of parents in our conservative rural community) for what we
affectionally refer to as the "jailbait magazines", Teen, Seventeen,
Teen
People, etc. We get American Girl, Girl's Life, Ranger Rick, and a couple of
video game mags. Other suggestions? There must be others...email me
off-list and I will digest, etc.
Is there a searchable archive for this list yet? There SHOULD be.
Mary Geist
Richardson Library
One Spring Street
Emporia, VA 23847
library@telpage.net
------------------------------
From: Angelina Benedetti <angelina@kcls.org>
To: pubyac@prairienet.org
Subject: Stumper: a terrible tale
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 18:00:25 CDT
I have a patron looking for a poem that he remembers from
childhood. The poem's first line is: " This is the terrible tale of Paul
McGregor (sp?) James...". The poem is about a man who walks into a
revolving door and does not walk out.
I have looked in the usual places (internet, PoemFinder, etc.) but
have come up blank. Do any of you share this memory and know where I might
find a copy of the complete poem?
Angelina Benedetti
Angelina Benedetti
And you may ask yourself
angelina@kcls.org
"Well, how did I get here?"
King County Library System
-Talking Heads
------------------------------
End of PUBYAC Digest 242
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