Teen Room – Eat, Read, Repeat: Teen Edition

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information, such as how often it gets checked out, how badly it smells or falls apart when you open it, or exactly how outdated that information is about the 1992 Chicago Bulls team.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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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

Thanks for returning! The final post is entitled Lord of the Rings: Return of—wait. Wrong trilogy.

Bet you were excited though, right?

Nope, this last writing is called

Behind the Super Top Secret Door…of the office that is surrounded by windows and that teen volunteers go in all the time.

Now, the reason we Smaug-smuggle the following items into the office is that they take a little more time and require a little more involvement on the side of their operator (eh hem, YOU). Sometimes the Teen Room might be a little crazy or a shift change might be in the works, so these aren’t always available on demand. But on a quiet day, ask the desk librarian for one of these awesome things to try.

So if you read through my rant about the 3D printer, you won’t be surprised at how excited I am by the 3D Doodlers. They’re pens that extrude plastic sticks into designs you create. With these babies, you become the 3D printer. Bonus points if you sing while you work. There is a learning curve to the pens, but when isn’t there a learning curve? Experimentation is half the fun! Give these a try when you have a little time for the pens to warm up and make Glenda proud. (Glenda is the 3D printer. I named her. Just now.)

Now. Here’s where I’m out of my element. Up to now I’ve had some idea what I’m talking about, although it may not seem like it. But. We have these OTHER robots. They’re little. They’re cute. They’re completely unused in the time that I’ve worked here. So if you’re a robotics person, or willing to learn to be a robotics person, it would give me endless joy to find you at the desk, politely and excitedly asking for the Ozobots or the Spheros. Two different kinds of little robots even, I mean really! I can hand over the mechanical creature of your choosing and sit back to see what happens next.

This concludes my too-excited tour of the Teen Room. There’s obviously stuff left out, like our clubs, and programs, and volunteer opportunities. The magnets on the vending machine, just waiting for your poetry. The corkboards by the door, just waiting for your artwork. There’s just so much to explore down here.

I can’t give away all the secrets. Best leave some for you to find yourself.

Find some yourself, when you head down to the best part of the library to say hello.

Thanks for reading!

Lindee

Welcome back, internet besties!

Can we talk for just a minute about the Teen Room 3D printer? As the staff that runs it, I’ve had to approach it cautiously. Stay calm. Don’t let it smell fear. But I think (think, mind you), that I’ve befriended the tiny singing robot, and its friendship is A-MAZING! I’ve made a brooding Batman and a tiny turtleduck and a pretty real-looking LEGO brick so far, and I’ve only sustained one minor injury. So explore the free plans on Thingiverse, find something to print, and for 10 cents a gram you also can bond with the super-fancy singing glue gun. It melts plastic instead of glue, get it?

Now may I take a moment to note that the folks that designed the Teen Room really thought of everything. Have you noticed the charging station behind the desk? There’s a variety of cords for a variety of devices with little slots so there’s room for everyone. Have your own cords? There’s a charging tower with wall and USB outlets in the seating area with the super-comfy chairs. Plug in a laptop or tablet or phone and let your devices enjoy some delicious electricity.

Now, we’ve arrived at the board games: an offering near and dear to my nerd heart. Try Niya, a connect-four, tic-tac-toe cross that’s quick and easy to learn with tokens that are fun to clink together like Sir Hiss from Robin Hood

Or if you have a little more time, Kill Doctor Lucky is like reverse Clue. Instead of solving a murder, you race your opponents to be the first to kill off annoying Doctor Lucky. There’s a whole collection to be explored, and lots of ways to add your own twists if you get board (little pun for you there. You’re welcome). At least so says the creator of Who Wants to be a Trivial Three of a Kind. The world is welcome for that too.

Next to the board games, we have our take-home craft kits. No time to hang out in the makerspace? These kits can go home with you! Perler bead kits and glue gun kits come with included accessories, and paired with your own imagination (or Pinterest’s imagination, if you’re me), can make something amazing.

Whew! Outta breath. Running on too much excitement. I’m going to take a break and come back fresh with Part 3 of my trilogy.

Stick around!

Lindee

A Newbie’s Overly-Excited Tour of the Teen Room!

Hello, dear readers!

I’m your new sometimes-staff member, Lindee. I started working in the Teen Room right about the time it shut down for COVID, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to fangirl about how cool the Teen Room is. And maybe plug in a little reminder of what all the Teen Room has to offer.

So of course, there are the books. I think there’s just something special about young adult literature. It can tackle some of the biggest issues we face today, and it can do so without taking itself too seriously. If you’re going through something, we have books that can remind you you’re not alone. And if you need a little escape or just a little fun, we have books for that, too.

My favorites so far are the Avatar Kyoshi duology and These Hollow Vows. One’s pretty new, and one’s been around for a bit.

Avatar the Last Airbender: The Rise of Kyoshi and The Shadow of Kyoshi bring readers back to the world of the Avatar, before the GAang saved the world from the Fire Nation army. Kyoshi as the Avatar is not who anyone expected—she’s not even that good at bending her original element! But being raised away from the limelight and outside of the political machinations of her best friend’s mentor (as he teaches who he THINKS is the Avatar), might be the absolute best thing for the Avatar. Who else could save the Earth Kingdom, on the brink of war, but someone impartial?

Cover image for These hollow vows — These Hollow Vows

These Hollow Vows marries some classic fairytale elements with some high fantasy characters, when character Brie must attend a ball in the Faerie world to save her sister, Jas. Jas was sold to Mordeus, the uncrowned king of the Dark Throne, when Jas and Brie couldn’t pay their aunt their “life debts.” With love triangles, a smattering of unexpected magic, and TWO twist endings, you won’t be surprised to hear I was positively betrayed when I learned the sequel is still 6 months out!

Our nonfiction section has some really cool books, with my favorites being the themed cookbooks. Yep, themed. Like, Doctor Who, and Harry Potter, and general nerd cookbooks. There are tons of other topics in there too, y’know. History and mental health and programming. But somehow I always end up at the cookbooks.

Next there’s the makerspace, with a little bit of everything. Fancy teaching yourself to sew? There are sewing needles for hand sewing and even a sewing machine! (Does the Teen Room nonfiction section have books on sewing? Better explore and find out!) The Perler beads are always popular, and I’ve seen some excitement about the crochet looms. There’s an ever-shifting collection of creative outlets there, so feel free to dig around and make something amazing!

There are more adventures ahead in our tour of the Amazing Teen Room, so keep an eye out for installment 2!

Library Link: The Rise of Kyoshi

Library Link: The Shadow of Kyoshi

Library Link: These Hollow Vows

What a Year!

Can you believe it’s almost the end of 2021? This year has been very busy for everyone and the same can be said for the Teen Room. Here’s a recap of what we’ve been doing!

Teen Room staff hosted four escape rooms, a 3D printer workshop, and two Dungeons and Dragons workshops. We also partnered to do two Writer’s workshops with author A. P. Mobley, and two art workshops with Ava Art Center.

Teen Summer Reading was a huge success. We had over 180 teens enrolled in the summer reading challenge, and we gave out almost 3000 grand prize tickets.

This fall, author Nathan Hale presented a cartooning workshop, and author Steve Sheinkin visited the junior high schools. The Teen Volunteers ran the Scholastic Book fair in early December and raised over $1400 in funds. As a result, the volunteers donated over $700 in books to local youth service agencies.

In total, we had over 11,000 patron visits to the Teen Room this year! We can’t wait to see what 2022 brings us.

Happy New Year from the Teen Room!

Gillette News Record Photo

Bracket Wars: Pasta Edition

Have you ever wondered which pasta noodle is the best pasta noodle? Welcome to Bracket Wars: Pasta Edition! Each week teens can vote on their favorite pasta. The pasta with the most votes that week will advance to the next round. Winners are posted Wednesdays at 5pm. Teens who vote get entered in for a chance to win a $5 gift card! This last week penne beat out rotini for a place in the top four! This week vote between fettuccine and conchiglie.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Teen Room! We hope even with the craziness of COVID-19 that you had a great last day of school. One exciting event for our sixth graders is you are now able to come hang out in the Teen Room… well, under normal circumstances you would! When we are finally able to have patrons age 15 and under in the building, you are able to visit the Teen Room! We wanted to take a minute and introduce ourselves, the Teen Room staff members, to you!

Hi, I’m Sarah and I have been with the library a little over 2 years now. I have been in Gillette almost my entire life; before that I grew up in Guernsey, WY. I went to college in Bismarck, ND and Gillette, WY, focusing on early education. I am a fan of all things Whedon, Doctor Who, Supernatural, and Marvel. I like to read fantasy and horror novels; my favorite book is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I love to garden in my free time and cross stitch as well.

I’m Marie and I have worked at the library for 1.5 years. I will celebrate my 1-year anniversary in the Teen Room this July. I was born in Bergen, Norway but moved to a ranch in South Dakota when I was 3. I completed a bachelor’s degree in psychology from BHSU in Spearfish, SD and am currently working on a master’s degree in counseling from MSU-Billings. I love books and working for the library is my favorite job I’ve ever had. For me, trying to pick a favorite book is like trying to pick a favorite child; I just can’t. A YA novel that I especially love is The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier. Currently, I read a lot of non-fiction and am particularly interested in anthropology and esoteric philosophy.

Hi, I’m Marcy, I’ve worked at the library for the past 10 years. I absolutely love what I do. I grew up in the military and got to live in some pretty exciting places, like Germany and England, before my dad retired and moved us to Gillette to be closer to my grandparents. I’m a fan of Supernatural, Grey’s Anatomy and The 100. I have two doggies, Jason a 12-year-old Golden Retriever and Lucy a 3-legged, 5-year-old Lab. I’m currently reading A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs.

Hi, I’m Darcy, and I’ve worked at the library since 2006; prior to that, I was an English and Spanish teacher. I’m the Youth Services Librarian now, so I work with both the Children’s and Teen departments, but for the first eleven years of my job, I was exclusively in the Teen Room, so it’s still one of my favorite places in the library. I grew up in South Dakota; graduated from Carroll College in Helena, MT with my B.A in English and Spanish a very long time ago; and completed my Master’s degree in Library Sciences in 2016. I have six kids – mostly all grown – and one grandson. I read a little bit of everything; the YA novels I read most recently were Damsel and Red Hood by Elena K. Arnold, and I loved them. I enjoy hiking, cross-country skiing, gardening, and traveling.

What would you like?

The Teen Room is a place dedicated to the teens in Gillette. That being said, we want to know if we are not meeting your expectations. Is there technology you are using in school and would like to continue to use here? Or some technology that you’ve heard of and want to try here? Maybe what you want isn’t technology, maybe it’s something else, like video games or board games. Whatever it might be, we want to know. Drop a comment in the comment section; come down and talk to us; or put an anonymous suggestion in our suggestion box in the Teen Room.

A look back . . . .

As a new year begins, it is time to look back on the activities and fun we had in the Teen Room this past year. 2016 was a crazy year! Here in the Teen Room, we had fun activities each month.

In January, we accepted applications for our teen volunteer program. This program is so important to keep our library running. Every day we have volunteers run our teen clubs. Without teen volunteers, we would not have clubs. They also help with our recycling program as well as our children’s department activities, particularly in the summer months.

In February, we offered a Blind Date with a Book. We wrapped up books and the teens got to pick up a few to take home, unwrap, and read. This display allowed teens the opportunity to choose a book without seeing the cover.

In March, we had our annual Teen Tech Week. For a whole week we had our LittleBits, Legos, Robotics, and our 3D Printer Pens available in the Teen Room Maker’s Space. The teens were able to create things with these various electronic devices—anything from robots to 3D drawings.

April was a pretty quiet month for us. The entire library celebrated National Library Week, a week dedicated to celebrating libraries.

In May, we hosted 6^th grade tours. These tours allow us the chance to bring our 6^th graders in and emphasize what they can do in the teen room as soon as they ‘graduate’ from sixth grade. We’ve found there are still people who don’t realize the Teen Room exists and by hosting these tours, we hope to remind the young adults that we are here for their recreational and educational needs.

June through August saw our Summer Reading Program. This year’s theme was “Get in the Game.” Our goal was to offer teens information on various life skills every Wednesday. We taught them about looking for a job, personal finance, stress management, and how to take care of animals where a selection of pets were welcome in the teen room (please note: no pets were eaten during this program!).

In September we focused on National Banned Books Week. This year our big attraction was having the teens guess which banned book we shredded. You can read more about this event here http://ccpls.info/teens/2016/10/11/banned-book-week-2016/.

For October we held a few different events, the first being Teen Read Week; for this we hosted a Bring Your Own Book Club. Teens were able to bring any book they loved and talk about it. You can read more about this fun event here http://ccpls.info/teens/2016/10/26/teen-read-week-book-discussion/. Our last event for October was a Tim Burton Movie Marathon. We watched BeetleJuice, Frankenweenie, Corpse Bride, and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

November was International Games Day. We had a ton of fun! We created life-size Jenga and Checkers! Nothing beats watching a stack of soda boxes fall over.

Finally for December, we had a quiet month. We provided a drop-in craft for teens to create a book ornament, and a hot chocolate bar. Nothing says winter spirit like hot chocolate, good books, and great company. As the New Year begins we are excited to see where 2017 takes us, and we are excited that you are on this crazy adventure with us! Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!!