Gaming Review: Batman Arkham City

At the heart of every great game is one of two things:
1. A feeling of tangible success at reaching one of the goals.
2. A powerful and well-executed storyline capable of doing through action, what movies do through vision.

At the heart of every amazing game, is both.

The Premise
The story of Batman is not one we don’t know.  It isn’t some strange new imagining of the Dark Knight our parents used to watch or read.  No fanatical director has skewed the characters of our childhood into some fake replica that we can’t identify...(think the He-Man movie, or the “new” Smurfs).  Rocksteady Games stuck to the script, for the most part, and I’m extremely grateful that they did.

It's Here (and everywhere else): The Hunger Games Official Trailer

Yes, please.

Pieces of Programming: Zombie Week!

The idea for Zombie week started with the release of Dead Island, the ultra-horrific but greatly anticipated video game.  I knew my teens would love to get their hands on the game, and that it would have to be an after-hours event for them to really get the opportunity to play it in our teen room.  An exact week after I started working on their night, I got a visit from a dance instructor in the area who was trying to find ways to connect our library kids to her studio.  Her studio is actually a partner of our library, so I was more than happy to help in any way possible.  From chit-chatting with her, we finally decided to have one of her instructors visit the library during drama club and teach Thriller to my tweens!

Thus, Youth Services Zombie Week was born.

Though we called it a "week", the program really only consisted of two programs.  One for tweens and one for teens.  For the tweens, we had a very special Zombie edition of Drama Club, while my teens were treated to after-hours gaming that featured Dead Island{score}.

Our warm up games for Drama Club were Zombie based on this day and included a riveting round of "Don't Wake the Zombie"

Then came actually making our zombies.

Hootie on Location Part II: ILA Conf 2011

The Illinois Library Association Conference took place in Rosemont this past week.  This was my first major library conference.  Back at work, it was also what I felt to be my best week of programming this year, but more on that later. First,

The 2011 ILA Conference:

Hootie on Location Part I: Anderson Books YA Lit Conf

I've been away because I've been SWAMPED!
But in a good way.
First things first, I had the great pleasure of attending the Anderson Books YA Lit Conference in Naperville, IL.

I've seen so many other bloggers talking about it, and I wanted to be sure and shout it out as well.  What an outstanding group of authors and book lovers.  There were tons of things happening in the breakout sessions, but the two parts of this 1 day conference that have made lasting impressions on me were the "What's New in YA lit" session, the inspiring words of author Mike Lupica, and seeing authors Coe Booth and Jacqueline Woodson in person.

Librarian Noire: Thoughts on Being a Librarian

At a mere couple weeks shy of the big 3-0, I am surprised to discover how many of my family and friends are unfamiliar with the importance, value and enjoyment of libraries.

When I first hear that someone doesn't visit the library, I'm always taken aback.  I can't fathom how they got through high school, let alone college, without learning how to navigate and use a public or school library.  Now, I'll admit that I spent a good portion of my youth getting put out of the library with my boisterous classmates.

We'd be given some  assignment by well-meaning teachers who assumed our parents would take us to research, but we'd all get on the bus together and before you knew it, there came security.  But I thought even with that kind of experience that all of those rowdy kids would, like me, return later to finish those projects.  You had to know that the trip with your friends, or that study session with your boo was the practice round.  You ALWAYS, if you wanted a good grade, should know to re-study/re-research.

But I guess that's just my nerd showing.