NOYS: Duplicate Copies

Some of you may have noticed that you are receiving duplicate copies of materials selected by youth services.  This is not a mistake and something we did intentionally as some of the popular materials can go out of print quickly.  You will most likely see this with popular books, video games and strategy guides.  If you have questions, please contact youth services.

NOYS: Virtual Homework Center

Good news! The children's and teen homework pages have merged into one virtual homework center. It's a one-stop shop for student help in grades K-12. Because we wanted to keep the content browsable, it focuses heavily on our databases and gives users just the best of the best of web links. Check it out by clicking on any homework link from our website, or going straight to www.fresnohomework.org.

NOYS: Spine Poetry

It's National Poetry Month! Have you encouraged your library's teens to submit a poem to our contest yet? Sitting down and writing out poetry can be difficult for some, but here's something anyone can do and it's a super easy on-the-spot program idea. Have teens go to the bookshelves and skim the titles on the spines. Which can go together to form a poem? Here is an example of spine poetry.


Every Girl Tells a Story
Just listen,
Word after word after word
My sisters' voices,
Nothing but the truth.
Wild girl
Outspoken
Tender
The courage to be yourself
Things left unsaid 
I hadn't meant to tell you this
Nevermind 
Her stories




Try it! It doesn't even have to be a program--you could do it yourself as a great 3-D display. Have fun, and take pictures--we can post them here and on the wiki. If you need help posting the photos you can always email them to anyone in Youth Services.

Happy National Poetry Month!

NOYS: Teen Poetry Contest

Thursday is April 1st, which means (aside from all the April Foolin' happening) it's the start of our annual teen poetry contest.The contest starts today and runs through the end of the month. More details on the website, but here are the basics:

1. All poems must be submitted using the online form.

2. Participants must fill out all of the required fields on the form.

3. There are two categories: middle school and high school. Participants must be between 7th-12th grade. One winner from each category will win a Borders gift card.

4. Only one poem per person will be considered for the contest.

5. Only one poem per person will be printed in the book.

Encourage the teens you know to participate!

NOYS: Stuff for the Teen Age

For 80 years, New York Public Library has been offering annually a list of teen-tested books called Books for the Teen Age. Last year it was renamed Stuff for the Teen Age and now includes movies, music and video games.

The new list was just released and it's filled with some great recommendations. The categories are:

• (Bad) Romance
• Deal With It
• For Real
• Freaks and Geeks
• Freaky Chaos
• Kick A$$
• Mystery
• New York
• ROTFL
• Zombies, Werewolves and Ghosts (Vampires are so 2008!)

When you have a free moment, check it out. We have almost all of the items on the list (just a few are on order or are video games that are rated M--and we don't buy those) and the categories are fun. You may find something to recommend to your patrons, or even to yourself!

NOYS: What's new in Youth Services

Lots to share!

• We are currently in the process of revamping the Youth Services wiki. As always, all FCPL staff are encouraged to utilize and contribute to the wiki; however, we now ask that you sign in before viewing the pages. If you don't currently have access to the wiki, just click on the button that says "Request Access" and we'll get you set up. That way our staff-sensitive information is available only to staff, but accessible from any Internet connection. 

• National Poetry Month is just around the corner. As a reminder, all Teen Poetry Contest entries must be submitted online. Beginning in April, there will be a link from the teen page for submissions.
   
• Are your shelves too full? Books looking torn and tattered? We can send you a weeding list of items we'd like you to pull. We will still weed your branch in person as its turn comes up on the rotation, but if you need space *now*, this is the way to go. Just email Jennifer Kish to get started. 

• Any suggestions for purchase or material needs can be sent directly to Kari Johnson (Children's) or Connie Urquhart (Teen). 

Other projects currently in the works: Dia de los Ninos, Dia de los Libros events; Family Place workshops; outreach at Baby City and school career days; summer reading program prep; and homework centers. If you have any questions about these projects or anything else, please contact any one of your Youth Services team.

NOYS: Teen Tech Week 2010

Teen Tech Week is back! During March 7-13th, teens can submit a review about nearly anything* and we'll put their name in a drawing for several Barnes & Noble gift cards. But that's not all! They can also friend us on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube or Twitter and we'll add their name again!

And why do we celebrate Teen Tech Week? Because we here at the library believe that Technology + Teens = Awesomeness.

*Nearly anything: books, movies, tv show, music, video games, magazines, comics/graphic novels, audiobooks, etc. Basically, anything you can get at the library.

NOYS: 10,000 patrons served

As the year comes to a close and we wrap up our fall outreach efforts, we'd like to share with you the number of kids & teens we've connected with this fall.

Daycare Bookmobile 
We visited 47 different day care centers each month, totaling 206 storytimes and serving 4,356 kids between the ages of 3-5. We saw 730 adults too.

Smartest Card presentations
In this hybrid "library intro / booktalking" presentation, we visited all grades K-12, totaling 28 visits and seeing 4,521 school-aged youth.

Add to these numbers the various family literacy nights, weekend community events, and branch program support--and we've seen well over 10,000 people this fall! Looking forward to the spring, when we'll turn our efforts to Big Read outreach, summer reading program promotion, early literacy programs for children ages 0-5, parents and their caregivers, and the establishment of a Family Place library at the Gillis Branch.

NOYS: Our favorite books of the year

It seems in recent years that books for youth have just been getting better & better, and 2009 was no exception. Here are the Youth Services Staff picks for our favorite books this year.

Lisa E.
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Liar by Justine Larbalestier
Soul Enchilada by David Macinnis Gill

Howard
The Nobodyby Jeff Lemire
Touch by Francine Prose
Ghost Town by Richard W. Jennings

 
Jennifer
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan

Faythe
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Fallen by Lauren Kate
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

Lisa D.
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
Clash of the Demons by Joseph Delaney
Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett*

  
Connie
Beautiful by Amy Lynn Reed
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
How it Ends by Laura Wiess
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins


Kari
Mama Will it Snow Tonight? by Nancy White Carlstrom
Chicken Dance by Tammi Sauer
Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
Jack and Jill the Miracle Dog with the Happy Tail to Tell by Jill Rappaport




What's your favorite book of the year?


*Lisa is still on the waiting list for Unseen Academicals but is fully expecting to enjoy it.

NOYS: Student Film Festival a success!

The Get Reel! Student Film Festival was Saturday, December 5 from 3-8 at the Tower theater. More than a hundred people came out to watch student films and cheer for the winners. It was so touching to see teens in our community being supported by their families and teachers. We met a father who drove in from Los Angeles and grandparents who came from the coast, plus aunts and uncles and cousins and siblings from all over the valley--all to see their loved one's film on the big screen. Most of the student filmmakers came dressed for an awards ceremony, with guys in ties and girls in dresses. It was really heartwarming.

Special thanks to Gina Becker, who chaired the committee and worked very hard to make sure every last detail was in place. Awesome job! Also to Faythe Arredondo, who spent hours upon hours prepping the films for the all-day screening and editing the films into tidy clip packages for the awards ceremony. Amazing! Other staffers who contributed to the event's success: Brian Guenther, Jonathan Waltmire, Lisa Eckman, Raelene Fleming, Les, Hiatt, and Jennifer Kish. Thanks!

Congratulations to all of the participants. Winner of the $500 Best of Show prize is:

Delivery Dash
Scott Callisch


See the other winning films!

-Connie Urquhart,
Teen Services Coordinator 

NOYS: Get Reel this Saturday!

Just a quick reminder that the FCPL Get Reel Student Film Festival is this Saturday at the Tower Theater. Special thanks to Gina Becker and Faythe Arredondo who are tirelessly putting together the finishing touches as we speak. See below for details and we hope to see you on Saturday!

3:00pm-5:30pm Screening of all films

• 
  
  Films will be shown by category, NOT age group, in this order: Animation, Commercial/psa, EECU commercial, Documentary, Feature Short, Music Video
  
  
  
• 
  
  Audience members will vote for their favorite for the $250 Audience Choice Award
  
  
  

5:30pm-7:00pm Reception in Lobby

• Meet other filmmakers, enjoy free food from Charlotte's Bakery, or take a walk in the famous Tower District

7:00pm-8:00pm Awards Ceremony

• 
  
  Clips of nominated films will be shown and prizes awarded
  
  
  
• 
  
  Door prizes will be given away between categories
  
  
  

Everything is FREE and open to the public!

NOYS: 'Tis the Season

Looking for holiday books to recommend to kids & teens? Try these:

Picture Books

Grumpy Badgers Christmas by Paul Bright

The Hanukkah Mice by Steven Kroll

Hoppy Hanukkah! by Linda Glaser


I Love Christmas by Anne Walker

Merry Christmas, Splat by Rob Scotton

Tyrannoclaus by Janet Lawler

Who Would Like A Christmas Tree? By Ellen Bryan Obed







Inbetweens

Candlelight for Rebecca (an American Girl novel) by Jacqueline Dembar Greene

The True Gift: a Christmas Story by Patricia MacLachlan
 
Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Writing Thank-You Notes by Peggy Gifford




Children's Nonfiction

Paper Crafts for Christmas by Randel McGee

Winter Lights: a Season in Poems & Quilts by Anna Grossnickle Hines





Children's Fiction

 
The Christmas Genie by Dan Gutman

Confessions of a Bitter Secret Santa by Lara Bergen

Forever Rose by Hilary McKay





Teens

Ex-Mas by Kate Brian

Jingle Boy by Kieran Scott

Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle

Mistletoe: Four Holiday Stories by Hailey Abbott, Melissa de la Cruz, Aimee Friedman, and Nina Malkin

The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Catherine Hapka

NOYS: Weeding YS collections...

...is a communal task.

I have inherited the opportunity to coordinate the weeding of our Library’s Children’s and YA collections, there are some changes being made to this process, and I want to give branch staff a heads-up about what the plans are:

1) To use a 3 year weeding schedule based on which branch has been weeded most recently. Basically this means that aside from Central (which gets weeded every year) the plan is to weed each branch once every three years in rotation.

2) To run a circulation report on Children’s and YA collections. This will be sent directly to the branch to help get staff started on pulling older and low circ items.

3) To follow up 1 to 2 months later with a visit to the branch by YS staff to help finish the weeding for that year, and assist in better planning what items will be replaced.

This has to be a collaborative effort, so that we can assist branch staff with information and help, and branch staff can provide vital input on their particular collection, because nobody knows their collections better than they do.

Watch this spot for more general weeding news in the future, and keep an eye out for e-mails from me outlining specific info for your branch in the near future (especially Auberry, Clovis, Kingsburg, Easton, Mendota, Sanger, and of course, Central).

Feel free to contact me with any questions about weeding, or really, about anything else you need to know.

Your Branch Support Specialist – Nancy Wirt

NOYS: Teen Read Week Reviews

While Teen reviews are submitted regularly on ReadWatchListen, the number of book reviews that Teens turned in during the month of October even impressed us!

There were more than 135 book reviews, which can be accessed here.

One of the reasons for such an increase is that during Teen Read Week (Oct 18-24), each book review that a teen submitted resulted in $2.00 being removed from their fines.

Remember that Teens can still review books, movies, music, video games...(whatever they'd like) at any time, and they send those here.

These reviews will be for the pure joy of information exchange, rather than library fine waiving.

NOYS: Teen's Top Ten Books

The voting results are in, and over 11,000 teens voted for this year's top 10 books in YALSA's annual Teen Top Ten event.

Paper Towns by John Green

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

Identical by Ellen Hopkins

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Wake by Lisa McMann

Untamed by P.C. and Kristin Cast

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

When you're trying to think of a good book to recommend to your patrons, suggest one of these since they are all “teen-tested and approved”.

NOYS: Tranquility FTW! (For The Win)

As you heard at the ALM, Tranquility led the way in boosting SRP participation this year with an 89% increase, from 44 participants in 2008 to 83 in 2009.
It was close this year - Ivy had an increase of 80%. Let’s hear it for the smaller branches!

Actually the total number of SRP participants dropped 16% from 12,415 in 2008 to 10,377 in 2009. These numbers are probably not accurate though since we only collected statistics online through Summer Reader, and if patrons did not return their registration slips, they were not counted.

Statistics are important, and not just because we'll have to do some guessing when calculating prize numbers next year. From the input we received from branch staff (and everyone involved) we know the SRP had more participants than our statistics show, but it will be more difficult to plan accurately for next year. Due to this issue and through popular demand, we will return to using the more accurate paper registration for next year and we will do our best to calculate how many logs/prizes/etc. we will truly need.

Thank you for your contributions and involvement in this popular program, and Congratulations again to Tranquility!

Have fun at your kick-off party in 2010!

NOYS: Teen Read Week 2009

Teen Read Week starts Sunday, October 18th and goes through Saturday, October 24th. To celebrate teens reading, ReadWatchListen (our teen website) is offering a special deal. Any Fresno County teen who reads a book and writes a review for it during Teen Read Week can get $2 deducted from their fines. Each review is good for $2.

Details can be found on our website here.

Youth Services will take care of posting all reviews and removing fines from library accounts.

What this means for you:

• Please spread the word to teens at your branch and help direct them to the review forms (online and paper—you can print this PDF if necessary).
• You should receive paper review forms in shipment in the next few days. Usually we require review submissions to be in online form but for this week only, we’ll accept the paper forms. Just make sure to send them to us in Youth Services as soon as possible.

Questions? Email or call Connie Urquhart at 488.3205. Thanks, and Happy Teen Read Week!

NOYS: Hello, Howard

Everyone please welcome Howard, the newest member of our team here in Youth Services. His arrival gives me the chance to revive an old feature here at NOYS: "I'll make you famous!"

Name - Howard A. Hamme
Title - Youth Services Librarian
Location - Central Library located in sunny, downtown Fresno!

What does a Youth Services Librarian do?
As a YS Librarian I get to go out to the schools and talk about how great the library is. Games, movies, BOOKS, homework help…all can be yours with the smartest card you will ever get a chance to get. I also go out on the daycare bookmobile reading stories to young kids. One thing I’ve learned thus far…Cosby was right, kids do say the darndest things. Other fun things include working on content for the children’s website and ordering children’s graphic novels and children’s video games.

What is your favorite thing about your job?
Co-workers, variety of tasks, talking to the kids about goofy and silly things.

What is something that people wouldn’t generally know about you?
I moved here from the east coast… grew up in south central PA, and lived in upstate NY for the past ten years. I graduated from Syracuse University with my Masters in Library and Information Science, having focused on archiving at various internship experiences. I’ve been married for 11 years. Two cats, Hal and Charlie, run our household as they see fit. I study aikido (still terrible at it), and I’ve been trying to create my own sitcom (called Stacks) about a busy urban library. Anyway, I like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain, I’m not much into health food, but I am into champagne. My father and Bugs Bunny are the major influences in my life. Strange, but true. That’s all, folks!

So...if you see Howard out and about (or here at Central!), say "Hi!"

In the future, you (yes, YOU!) could be the next person NOYS makes famous. Keep an eye out for a remarkably nosey email from me, asking you to tell us about yourself...

NOYS: Mendota Cultural Arts Festival on Saturday

On Saturday, October 3rd, from 11am to 3pm, there will be a Cultural Arts Festival at the Mendota Library.

Remind your patrons to come enjoy the always impressive Folklorico Dancers, musician Stanley Luceros as well as arts and crafts opportunities, storytelling, and artists at work at this year's cultural arts fair!

NOYS: Banned Books Week

Sunday is the first day of Banned Books Week (9-26 through 10-3), and ALA has some ideas for BBW displays at your branch.

Banned Books Week information is available on the YS wiki, and more ideas for displays are on the J-drive: J:\FHQYouthSrvc\Special Events\Banned Books Week