Eat, Read, Repeat: Teen Edition – Cool stuff about the CCPL Teen Room

National Library Week

National Library Week is April 23-29 this year and the Campbell County Public Library has a lot to offer! Everyone knows that we have books at the library, but there is so much more to our story. We offer books, audiobooks, DVDs, vinyl records, and more for your entertainment. We also have 150 free databases for patron use and tons of programs for all ages. Here are some of the events we have to celebrate. Go to events for more information.

Teen Room

April 24-25, 3:30-5pm Teen Tech Petting Zoo Stop by the Teen Room and see all the cool technology we have available for teens to use.

April 25, 4-5:30pm Teen Chess Club

April 27, 4-5:30pm Teen Anime Club

Campbell County Public Library

April 27, 1-4pm and April 28, 12-3pm: Escape Room for Adults (ages 18+)

Gather your five-member team and see if you can solve the clues to escape the library! Fastest time wins gift cards, thanks to The Library Foundation! Sign up for a session: call 687.0115 or stop by the Reference Desk.

Saturday, April 29, 1:30-3pm: The Library Foundation 2nd Annual Cookie Wars

$5 at the door allows you to taste-test competing bakers’ cookies, view their creative decor, and vote for your favorite!

Want to be a baker for this event? Baker entry deadline is April 21, 2023. 14 spaces available, first come first serve. Adult and Junior (under 18) divisions. Rules and Regulations here: Cookie Wars

Saturday, April 29 -The Hunter Family:

Enjoy music in the atrium performed by Stan, Colleen, and family

All Week at Your Libraries in Gillette and Wright

Overdue fine forgiveness (up to $10) and free replacement library cards.

What’s all this about weeding?

I internally scream and clutch the pearls I don’t even own when Marcy tells me, “We’re going to start a weeding project soon.”

My world shatters. I knew this day was coming!

I knew one day, this dream job would test me in ways I might not be able to pass!

How?! How could I remove books from this beautiful space? How could I take these little tree-babies with souls and send them off to who-knows-where? What if they don’t go to good homes?! What if they, (and here, I gulp in terror and agony) get thrown away?!

Marcy didn’t seem to notice the crazed panic in my eyes, and I did my best to play it cool. “I’m a super cool teen librarian now,” I thought. “I gotta be tough.”

That was months ago; now the weeding is over. I’ve taken multiple deep breaths, and I even put away my still-don’t-actually-own-them clutching pearls. Things are better. Since I’ve reached such a healthy place, I thought maybe I’d let you all in on the secret-not-a-secret of weeding.

The Whats, the Whys, and the WHYYYYYYsss?!

The Whats

Weeding is the purposeful removal of certain books (or graphic novels, or audiobooks, or whatever, we’re just gonna use books from now on), from the collection, based on certain information, such as how often it gets checked out, how badly it smells or falls apart when you open it, or exactly how outdated that information is about the 1992 Chicago Bulls team.

Okay, but what happens to the weeded books?

A very small percentage have lived lives so full of excited readers, that it’s time to say goodbye altogether and put them in the trash. Most of them, though, end up at the Friends of the Library Book Sale in the fall, where they find new homes and new readers to love them.

The Whys

Libraries should be full of information that is vibrant, up-to-date, and interesting to the people who use it. There are lots of reasons a book might be weeded, but all of them interfere in one way or another with these goals. A library so full of old books that it doesn’t have room for new books is a library that has become stagnant.

The WHYYYYYYs

A book is a beautiful thing. Some books make a home in our lives and live with us forever. Some books come into our lives, say a lovely hello, and eventually a sad goodbye. And both are okay.

At the end of the Teen Room’s weeding process, I looked over the books that we weeded, and didn’t see any that I thought, “No! So-and-so reader would have loved this one!” (Those ones we kept!). “That one is so popular, we gotta keep it!” (Spoiler alert: we did.). Or even, “That one deserves one more chance!” (If a book needed one more chance, we gave it one.).

At the end of weeding, I looked around the Teen Room and thought, “Wow. There is so much more room for the next batch of adventures.”

If you’re interested in the full weeding policy, you can check it out here:

https://www.campbellcountywy.gov/DocumentCenter/View/16314/Collection-Development-Policy-FINAL

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Roses are red…

Violets are blue. If you like Wednesday, try these too! Are you obsessed with Wednesday Addams, Nevermore Academy, and all things spooky? Well, you’re in luck. Here are some books and shows to keep you in the creepy mood.

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

Dark Academia meets witchcraft in this twisting thriller. Felicity is returning to Dalloway School one year after her girlfriend died. The school is rumored to be haunted by five students, who were supposed witches. Ellis is the new girl at school, but already has quite the following. For some reason Felicity is drawn to her. But as the girls start digging in the past, history begins to repeat itself.

The Addams Family and Addams Family Values

This double DVD is guaranteed to give you a boost of nostalgia and keep you in the creepy and kooky mood. Lost uncles, first loves, new siblings, and a murderous nanny? What more could you want?!

The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

Rachel is a loner; she likes to keep to herself usually watching horror movies. She soon takes the interest of a mysterious student society called “The Mary Shelley Club.” They make her complete fear tests, each one worse than the last. As the tests escalate, the society and Rachel become the target of a serial killer.

Supernatural: The complete First Season

“Dad’s on a hunting trip, and he hasn’t been home in a while.” Two brothers are on a road trip searching for their missing dad. While they drive across country they hunt and kill monsters and save people. This show is addicting, so don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Tales of Mystery and Madness by Edgar Allan Poe

Can’t go wrong with Poe, he is one of the most famous Alumni of Nevermore Academy after all. This collection of short stories include color illustrated images to go along with each story. Each story is filled with the macabre, so prepare yourself for a spooky read. And maybe keep the lights on.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Volumes 1-3 by Sarah Rees Brennan

Sabrina Spellman knows her world is about to change; she turns 16 this October. She leads a double life, studying magic and spells with her aunts and attending normal school with her friends. Come her sixteenth birthday, though, she has to choose one and leave the other life behind forever. What choice will she make, and will it be the right one?

New Year, New Series!

Of manga, that is!

We’re very lucky to have an amazing collection of manga in our library, both upstairs and down. The Teen Room collects the manga we think you all will enjoy, including these new series:

Apple Black , volumes 1 and 2

magic

fantasy

saving the world

magically-gifted

Blue Flag, volumes 1-6

romance

unrequited love

love triangles

high school

growing pains

Given, volumes 1 and 2

music

romance

rock ‘n’ roll

Tokyo Revengers, volumes 1-6

time travel

revenge

gangs

friendship

Come check out these new series to celebrate the New Year, or swing by for some old favorites!

Winter Solstice Escape Room

The Winter Solstice is the shortest day and the longest night of the year for the Northern Hemisphere. People all around the world celebrate the Winter Solstice differently. There are festivals, feasts, and sometimes gift giving. It is not the same day every year, but falls on December 21, 22, or 23.

This year the Winter Solstice is on December 21 at exactly 21:48 UTC and the Teen Room is celebrating by hosting an escape room! Teens have 30 minutes to try and solve the puzzles before the sun sets on them. Sessions run from 2-4pm, call or stop by the Teen Room to sign up.

Want to stay in the festive mood? Here are some books you can read that happen during the Winter Solstice.

A little humor in the face of a flood

How the September/October basement flood happened, according to YA book titles!

It’s just a normal day in the hallway of the Campbell County Public Library basement!

The Valley and the Flood

Surely the water will only reach partway down the hall…

In Deeper Waters

Did someone leave their radio on in the basement?

Song Below Water

For the staff that stood between the shelves and the rising flood:

Between the Water & the Woods

If the flood had occurred during our “Oceans of Possibilities” Summer Reading program:

The Drowning Summer

What ultimately had to happen to all that water:

Flush

There were two titles that we couldn’t come up with a quippy explanation for! Would you like to help us out? Comment below with your suggestions for the following titles:

The River has Teeth

Still Waters

Read Some Native American YA Authors with Me!

Welcome back to the newly-drained Teen Room!

I recently bought a Book Challenge Activity Book, with little envelopes of “prizes” I can open when I complete the challenge written on the outside.

The outside of one of the envelopes says, “Read a book from an author of a different ethnicity than yours.”

That might have been a challenge for me once, but the Teen Room offers so many different diverse authors, I could easily open the envelope right away. But never one to cheat the spirit of the system, (and always one to outdo myself!) I decided to mindfully begin reading even more diverse authors.

And in honor of Native American Heritage Month, here’s a short list of YA books whose authors are indigenous.

Diversify with me!

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

The Marrow Thieves, and Hunting by Stars by Cherie Dimaline

Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask by Anton Treuer

Walking in Two Worlds by Wab Kinew

A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger

Man Made Monsters by Andrea L. Rodgers

For even more of an offering, come check out the book display in the Non-Fiction area of the Teen Room!

Jennifer A. Nielsen Author Visit

Jennifer A. Nielsen, New York Times bestselling author, will be visiting 7^th and 8^th grade classes at your school from October 24-28. She is the author of many historical fictions such as Resistance, A Night Divided, and her newest book, Lines of Courage. She is also the author of the Mark of the Thief and Traitor’s Game series. One of her more popular titles is Words on Fire, a historical fiction story following a family of book smugglers in 1893 Lithuania.

Anyone who loves reading, writing, history, fantasy, or just wants to pick an author’s brain will enjoy her presentations.

For those who may miss Jennifer at school, join us at Campbell County Public Library Thursday, October 27 at 7pm in the Wyoming Room for a presentation by the author!

If you are interested in purchasing a book, a selection of Jennifer Nielsen’s books will be available for purchase and autograph at all events throughout the week.

See you there!

For more information on Jennifer A. Nielsen visit her website at http://jennielsen.com/

Banned Books Week

September 18-24 is Banned Books Week, an annual celebration for the freedom to read. In 2021, the Office for Intellectual Freedom, or the OIF, tracked 729 book challenges. This was more than double the number of reported challenges in 2020, affected 1,597 titles, and was the most challenges in the history of the OIF.

There’s always been some confusion on the difference between a challenged book and a banned book. So, let’s take a look at what they are. Challenges are an attempt to remove or restrict a title for whatever reason. Banning books are removing them from the library completely. Even though a book may be banned or challenged in another state/library doesn’t mean it will be removed from your library. It simply means it was challenged/banned at that location. Challenging and banning books happens all over. In 2022, books have been banned in multiple states including Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.

Campbell County Public Library has not banned any books and believes in your intellectual freedom to read what you want. And that’s one of the best ways to celebrate Banned Books Week, read banned books! You can search online for popular banned books; you’d be surprised what’s on there (The Lorax?!?!). You can also ask the librarians at your public or school library for help as well. Meanwhile, here is a list of the most challenged books in 2021.

Harry Potter: Read for Your House

Calling all muggles, witches, and wizards! CCPLS is hosting a Harry Potter themed reading challenge from September 1-October 24. The Harry Potter: Read for your House challenge will be completely tracked in the Readsquared website/app. If you need your username and/or password, stop by the Teen Room desk and we can help you. Pick your house and start logging your pages/minutes to earn points for your house. All members of the winning house that log will receive a small prize and will be entered to win a bigger prize drawing.

Don’t know your Hogwarts house? No problem! You can take the Pottermore sorting hat quiz, any other Hogwarts house quiz, or you can just pick a house.

You can read anything, not just Harry Potter literature. Happy Reading!

Readsquared