Chocolate and Roller Skates

Yesterday I went to The Theo Chocolate Factory for a tour and had a wonderful time--I recommend it for all of my friends and family that like chocolate, whether you live in Seattle or just come for a visit. Actually, even if you don't like chocolate--just abstain from the many lovely samples given out--it is still an amazing tour.


I went with the University District Youth Center, where I volunteer. Usually my day is Monday, but I start work at noon every other Friday so thought I would tag along on this. I had wandered by the Theo store during my ramble in April and thought that I should take their tour at some point and there was my opportunity! And I got to hang out with some lovely, down on their luck, teens. It is deeply satisfying to help this group, so if you have some time between Monday and Thursday 12:45-4, to help out, call Brynn at 206.526.2992. /plug.

Tonight Dr. T and I are going to a Jet City Rollergirls bout to see DiBrarian roll. It will be my first time and I really have no idea what to expect beyond tough girls on roller skates. Should be fun!

Now That's Impressive

We have had a little bit of pressure here at work lately since the mayor mandated a 3% budget reduction for all city departments receiving money from the general fund (including the library). We have all been wondering where the cuts will ultimately come from and the speculations have run wild.

Today the mayor announced salary freezes for senior city executives and a 7 day furlow in the few city departments where salary freezes will not be put into affect. This includes the mayor, and gives back a 4.5% cost of living increase that went into effect in January. He's got my vote. ;)

In other news, I got an e-mail today from KCLS that I could re-apply to their hiring pool and increase my "score." I am almost thinking about doing it for the interviewing experience.

Mentoring, Researching and Programming

Today my mentee is getting out of juvy. I don't know if she wants me there, but I am going to her release meeting at the Juvenile Rehabilitation Center, where she meets with her parole officer and members of the community who support her. A woman from the Orion Center will be there, and a drug and alcohol counselor. These are two parts of her life that she hasn't told me about, I don't know if it is because she thinks I won't respect her, or if she just doesn't feel that comfortable with me yet. I am both excited for her and scared, because so much can go wrong at this point. But she is out, and ready to start her life. She has to be an adult now, for her child. She has the right attitude for sure, and hopefully she will be able to follow through. I hope I can help.

I had a nice lazy day at Casa de la Dr. T, yesterday. I spent most of the day researching the Virgin Islands. It snowed here, and today it is sunny, but only 28 degrees. Something has soured the research process for me today, so I need to give it a day off before I make the plane reservations tomorrow. Edit: We gave the gift back. There was more information to be found about the situation, and we decided that it was more important for the grandparents to be there than us. We will likely take a trip this summer to Las Vegas that all of us can enjoy.

The Reading Marathon went great. We had between 70 and 100 middle schoolers all in one room, bundled up in sleeping bags and blankets, reading. There were many periods of complete silence, where everyone, including me, the teachers and the parents that came, were reading. We took breaks for snacks and pizza. I had an embarrassing moment when the first round of pizza came and it just wasn't enough. There wasn't a piece for every kid! The teachers banded together some literacy funds and ordered more, and I had a few more come later, so everyone got fed. I have half a page of notes on how to change it for next year, and number one is "order more pizza". The other branches doing this also had good turnout; 50 at one and 40 at the other, so the schools were pretty evenly represented. I feel like I got a lot of good face time with the kids that come into the library after school. They will feel more comfortable coming up to me now. I wonder how many new ones we will see.

Sutra and a short recap

Last night a few friends from work and I went to a neighborhood restaurant. We had been talking about it ever since the owner's house was burglarized in November last year and they had come in to print off their menus in the library. The woman is our neighbor and she and her partner run both Sutra and Rain City Yoga.

None of us that went are vegetarian, but the food at Sutra is, and is actually vegan as far as I can tell. At Sutra everything is created and crafted with a lot of care given to how the foods look, taste, and go together. Each dish was beautiful and tasty with a nice blend of flavors. Nothing tried to pretend to be meat, which is where some vegetarian places go wrong. Also, everything was fresh, much if not all of the food was locally grown and it was filling. (The full menu of what we ate is on their website right now, but will change next Wednesday). I didn't get hungry after I got home. The chef/owner was very welcoming as was the server. He seemed delighted that we were from the library and so had ties to his community. There was a moment of thankfulness at the beginning for, well, everything good including sustainable farming that was not awkward at all. The whole experience was wonderful. I would eat there more often if only I could afford it. My co-workers felt the same. Since I can't eat there often, I will recommend Sutra to everyone I know ;)

Since my last post, I have cut my hair off above the shoulder. Also a local endevor--I went to Dandelion in Wallingford. Lindsey is wonderful. I also went to Silent Movie Monday with Sister U and saw The Magician. I have only gone to one of these about a year or so ago, again with Sister U, but I really like them. They have a live organist and other musical back up to fill in for the silent movies, and while their datedness is comical in many ways, I like the feeling of watching history. The Magician originally came out in the 20's, so I suppose my grandmother might have seen it then.

And finally, Comixtravaganza at my branch is tonight. I am both excited and scared. My headliner for the night almost had to cancel due to illness, but now assures me he will be there with helpers. Everything is purchased and now I just have to get there, remember my camera and be a good hostess. Wish me luck!

Comixtravaganza Coming to a Library Near You!

You might have already seen the article in the Times, but it is that time again. Comixtravaganza time! We have a lot of cool programs in this series, including the Toon-In at the Queen Anne Branch tomorrow night. There will be several drawing workshops at various branches and it will all culminate at the Central Library on January 31st, where there will be a workshop with Davey Oil and Linda Medley (of Castle Waiting) will be discussing her work. Also, Seattle-based Slide Rule Comic Strip Slideshow Players will mix digital video and hand-drawn cartoons, live music and electronic sound, and animation and live performance to create a theatrical experience. For more information go here and put comixtravaganza into the search box.

It seems that University Branch will be the only library in the system that will have a Draw-a-thon contest. That is happening next Thursday, January 15th. Doors open at 5pm, short drawing workshop at 5:30, contest starts at 6 and judging happens at 7. Winners will be able to choose among prizes such as comic books, a comic artists art set and action figures. Door prizes will be drawn throughout the event and everyone will leave with a little something to make their inner comic lover swoon. Oh, and snacks. There will be snacks.

So yeah, you should totally come and check it out.

Why are Summer Reading Programs for Youth Important?

Here are some reasons put forth by a wise woman I work with (ooh, aliteration...)

• Research provides abundant evidence that summer reading setback is one of the most important factors contributing to the reading achievement gap between children of high and low economic backgrounds.


• Children who have fewer opportunities to read and fewer books to read over the summer are more at risk of failing in school.


• The reading achievement of poor children declines an average of three months over the summer, while that of children from middle-income families improves or stays the same.


• Studies have shown that low-income and minority students undergo larger summer reading losses than their middle-class and White classmates and that reading is the only activity that is consistently related to summer learning.


• The effect of reading 4-5 books on fall reading scores is potentially enough to prevent a decline in reading achievement scores from the spring to the fall.


• Children who have access to books also read more books over the summer.


• A summer reading loss of 3 months accumulates to a 2 year gap by the time poor children reach middle school.


• Evidence indicates that children from lower-income families have less access to books, both in and out of school than their more-advantaged peers.


• Research shows that public library use among poor children drops off when a library is more than 6 blocks from their home, compared to 2 miles for children from middle income and higher families.


• Better readers read more than poorer readers. The volume of reading is key to the development of reading proficiency.

More September Project

This is blog that I lurk on from Singapore Public Library.  The teen volunteers created a cool interactive game that used books in their system to give hints where to go next in the library.  The teens then blogged about the experience.  I find myself amazed that it is all in English--lucky us.

I knew that my online friend David Silver was heavily involved in the September Project, but what I didn't realize was that he was one of the co-founders when he lived here in Seattle.  I have always found him inspirational because of the scope of his classes and his interest in the community, but now he has given me a new faith in what an individual can do to influence the world.  Not everyone knows what the September Project is, but this is one of those things that I hope continues to spread until everyone does.  I will do my part to help.

I am going to try to make it to this:

Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer: 'The True Patriot'

Who gets to call themselves a patriot? In this presidential election year, the true meaning of patriotism will be widely contested. Join authors Nick Hanauer and Eric Liu for a lively civic discussion of what it means to love America and be a patriotic citizen.

6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, at the Capitol Hill Branch

I have always been interested in people's different definitions of patriotism.  Why is wanting an end to the war in Iraq unpatriotic?  Why is wanting our soldiers to come home bad?  I saw a bumper sticker on Monday morning that said "If you don't revere and respect this [picture of US flag] then you can leave."  Then it had the various miles from somewhere to Mexico, Canada, Cuba, etc.  I am sure there are folks out there that do not love our country for one reason or another, but it seems that most people just want our country to be the best it can be and that our opinions differ on how that would manifest.

Opening Day(s)!

Opening a branch is both exhilarating and exhausting. Our team came together and got the library in ship shape before the staff party on Friday night. We barely got the lights on though--at the last minute a bank of lights in the Juvenile room went off and only some fancy switch flicking got them back on in time. Our collections look beautiful. The butter colored interior paint makes the place glow warmly. All of our favorite people came and filled the place with laughter and smiles.

The next day was our reopening for the public. The ones that noticed the changes were impressed ;) The most popular item (aside from the computers) was the skylight that had been there since the original building went up in 1910. It was painted over during WWII to protect against flyovers and was only scraped clean during this renovation--there have been several since WWII. There are lights above the glass that give it a soft glow at night. There were lots of people from the neighborhood and a lot of new library cards issued. There was a band that kept people dancing, an improv group and a couple of local authors that spoke. Folks seemed to have a good time and I know we did.

Having today off is a bit of a let down after the wonderful weekend. I will be glad to get back to my teen collection tomorrow and see what has been checked out and what flyers have been taken. The first book gone was Extras by Scott Westerfeld--which I haven't even gotten to ready yet. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer was a close second with James Patterson's recent addition to the Maximum Ride series a close third. The graphic novel section is about 2/3's what it was before opening, and I am sure that will go down even more soon. It is a little like having a blog and checking to see how many visitors you have had. Exciting and a little addictive.

Such Good Stuff

Sometimes things just seem to come together. Yesterday was stellar. I rode my bike to work. I settled on the Burke Gilman Trail route and did 6 miles in a little over half an hour. I probably could have done it a little faster except that there was a detour and a hill tired me enough so I had to stop for a drink of water. I also walked a little way up a hill at the end, when I thought my leg muscles were going to burst (yucky thought). Today I am weary, but the soreness has not settled in yet. I am sure I will have that tomorrow. For various reasons I rode the bus home last night.

Cool thing number two: two meetings with teachers in my community. One was to set up a film night in connection with a school curriculum. That one is going to have some legal questions--can we cover the rights with Fair Use, or does she have to pay for them? The second meeting was even better. I met with a small school that functions out of the school district, but supports homeless youth and kids that can't go to other schools. It is housed in a support center for homeless youth. Meeting with them was like a shot in the arm. I used to work with a similar population during my undergraduate years of volunteering with the Office of Minority Affairs. (Did you know that single parents are minorities? Yes, I guess we are) These guys are doing wonderful things and it was exciting talking about the ways we could partner. That house might be something I would like to get involved in outside of my library persona.

Cool thing number three: a very open and creative discussion with my new manager. We discussed our ideas for the future of teen services at our branch. I know I am going to have all the support I need to pursue my ideas and he even gave me some new ones. I love this job and I mean to keep it.

Support and Summer Socials

I haven't been here for a while. I took a long weekend for camping with family, my son got burnt to a crisp--literally 2nd degree burns. Last time he refuses sun screen. We saw Harry Potter 5 (lovely). My sister is taking the Bar for Nevada as we speak. Go Meagan! You are gonna rock that test!

I have been amazed at the love I feel at SPL. I know I sounded all negative and angsty when I didn't get the job I wanted. I was disappointed. The scheduling with the change over has been, well, a nightmare, but it ended before it got too scary. Evidentally I woke up in time and everything has worked out.

What I want to say is that the level of support that I have gotten from individuals here has been absolutely amazing. Even the manager that rejected me has been a tremendous help. My fellow teen librarians have given me kudos and talked to managers without involving me, saying what a great employee I am. I have gotten emails from assistants that have scheduled sub-hours with me in the past and they are just glowing. Managers have given me advice and helped me pull through the "dark time." I just am so thankful for the people I work with. It really makes me feel like I can make the best of this situation and see this new position as an opportunity to do great things. /gush

Tomorrow I am staffing a table at our community summer social. I am looking forward to peddling the Summer Reading Program for all three age groups and all of our other wonderful services. And of course, sampling the ice cream, because what is a summer social without ice cream?