Daring to Be Different

It's May...which means that Summer Reading "planning" month is in full effect.  I feel behind actually, since the calendar of events for the younger kids and tweens is already full in my library, and the teen calendar is seriously lacking at the moment.

Planning the summer reading program this year has actually felt a lot like cleaning my room.  You know, you get really excited about how your room will look once you're done, and you start digging in, but before you know it your room is messier than it began and you find yourself sitting in a pile of trash wanting to say "never mind".  That pile of trash is my Pinterest board right now. LOL

I knew from the very beginning that I was not going to want to follow the state SRP(Summer Reading Program) theme.  I'm sure that "Own the Night" is perfect for some, but my teens and even myself if I'm being honest, would have looked at it with a lot less than enthusiasm.  No shade on anyone using it, but it just makes me think of a rape prevention event. :/

Our department decided to do our own thing this year, with a "What's Your Story" theme to highlight story, magic, fairy tales, folk tales, etc. For the teens, this will be the first year that they have their very own program, and I don't feel that I've been too ambitious.  At least not yet.

Pieces of Programming: Making Puppets with Drama Club!

When I first started at my current library, drama club was thriving.  The kids had posed in front of our green screen, made great videos, and did a lot of reader's theater with the former librarian who served as their teacher.  One of my predecessor's last activities here was actually a drama club premiere party, where they got to watch themselves on the big screen (our projector screen), and see what they'd done all year.  I was impressed, and excited, but greatly intimidated.

I'd done drama club as a child myself, and I LOVE performance art, but teaching kids how to do it is not as simple a feat.  Kids are not only balls of energy, but tweens specifically are balls of emotions, and sometimes the drama part of the club is all I knew I could expect to see.  There were also the task of redefining what the club was for and how it ran for me, as opposed to what they were used to with the other librarian.  Her plans and outcomes were great, but I needed to determine my own goals.