Update

It has been a while since I have updated. I have a long time off between shifts, so sometimes it feels as if I had a vacation. It sort of wreaks havock with being able to return email in a timely fashion.

Yesterday was my first Teen Services meeting. It was very enlightening. I had a hard time keeping up, but I was able to give some good advice based on my experience writing contracts. At one point they were discussing things that we needed to know when we do outreach with a school (power strip, 1 adult to 10 students, etc.) and at another point what we need from groups coming to visit the library (behavior, expectations, etc.) and I was able to relate my experience working for Golden Age Dentistry. I ended up writing into our contracts exactly what we expected when we showed up to do dental work at the nursing homes--a room with no carpeting and a sink, a helper to bring and remove patients, etc. I suggested that we should have a list of expectations, so that they were understood from the beginning. It seemed so simple (obvious to me, since I have done it before) but everyone liked the idea.

I am doing a lunch table at the local Middle School in late October. I will probably try to tie it in with spooky stories or something of that sort. I also like the idea of "street fiction." That genre is what SPL will be tying in next year's teen read week with, including a visit from Sister Souljah. I think this type of literature will do well with the teens of the MS, since most of them come from some of the harder areas of Seattle and a majority of them would be considered a minority.

And the librarian there and I are going to start an after school book club. It is pretty exciting!