Dia de los Muertos for the Teens

In our library every afternoon these large groups of Hispanic teens come in and hang out. They sit and talk, never read a book, attend a program, rarely get on the computer; the library is just a hang out place for them. I have tried to invite them to programs but they look at me in a mixture of annoyance and confusion when I ask them to come.

Recently I communicated with other librarians in the state on possible ideas to get the Hispanic teens involved. They offered some good ideas but the main response I got back was "don't bug them."

However, finally I got the Hispanic teens interested in something! This week we celebrated Dia de los Muertos or "Day of the Dead" at our library. It is a holiday celebrated in Mexico around the same time as Halloween. One of our staff created this wonderful display (pictured above) and the teens contributed to it. The flowers on the display are made simply with crepe paper and pipe cleaners. I offered the supplies to make the flowers to the Hispanic teens not expecting a response but they went into it enthusiastically. They created whole bouquets of crepe paper flowers.

It has made me think that maybe the key to get the Hispanic teens involved is to offer more activities ethnically centered. Perhaps my programs are too "white" for them. Why I don't know what my exact next step will be, seeing the Hispanic teens interested in something has given me hope.

The Psychology of Teen Fights

A few weeks ago some teens planned to fight in front of the library. To plan a fight in junior high you must do three things:

1. Pick someone bad and cool to fight with to up your status
2. Make sure everyone in school knows where and when you're going to fight
3. Make sure everyone coming to the fight has video capabilities on their cellphones in order to post the fight up on YouTube

Usually the places picked are very public such as malls, public parks or in front of libraries. These are places where you won't even get one punch in before the fight is broken up by an adult. I have thought about why the teens pick such public places like the library to stage their fights and then I realized that they WANT to get caught. They are really having these fights for show. They want to prove they're big and bad without getting hurt. The teens that really want to do damage pick different locales for their fights and they don't want anyone to bring their cellphone cameras.

Books with Byte

Last week for Teen Read Week a few libraries in our system participated in this "Books with Byte" program. We videotaped teens talking about their favorite books and put it up on YouTube. You can see them at the link here. The ones in front of the bookcase are another library's.

It was a struggle getting most of my teens in front of the videocamera to talk about books. I bribed them all with candy and incentives such as waivers. Still, "talking about books?" one asked me and made a face. Perhaps if we talked about movies, boys, or internet there would be more interest. One was more interested in talking about skateboarding and I had to prompt him to list a few books. A few girls got the giggles and could barely keep it under control in front of the camera. One insisted that the reason that she liked Twilight was because "Edward was hot," which I guess is a valid point.

The other library down in a "better" neighborhood had some nice sedate teens who talked fluently and longer. I couldn't help but notice the contrast. But I guess the point is not that my teens talked longer or well it's that they talked at all.

Clever Babies

Babies are clever little buggers.

I do a baby storytime for newborns to toddlers once a week and those little tots keep me on my toes. This week there was a pair of twins, a boy and girl who I believe had devised a devious plan with each other before the start of storytime. These twins were a dynamic duo, moving around stealthily out of my vision while I did the songs and stories of the storytime.

I believe their twin conversation before the start of storytime went like this:
"Okay, now I'll go for that thing that makes the music that she's always messing with while you go around the back for those wonderful shiny things that Mommy always plays with."

So one twin distracted me by pounding on the CD player nearly stopping the songs and whilst I was paying attention to him the girl went around the back of the small table which the CD player was perched for my keys which were under the table. Their mission was completely successful. The little girl grabbed my keys and went back to her seat to (literally) drool over her trophy.

This has taught me two lessons: One is to put my keys in a higher place, and also that babies are clever little buggers.

Megaphone Jealously

Today there was a rumour of a fight buzzing around the junior high so half the school decided to congregate on the lawn in front of the library. (Because what better place to have a fight than in front of the public library which is across the street from the Sheriff's office?) So dozens of kids were gathering in groups waiting and waiting for the fight to begin and it was a regular lawn party.

Unfortunately as boring grown ups have to do, the sheriffs came in and broke up the party. They walked in with these megaphones and ordered the kids to either leave or come in the library. The kids immediately listened to the sheriffs and there was no rumble today.

Upon hearing of these megaphones I became jealous. I really need a megaphone at work. I tell kids to leave the library in my normal tone and they reluctantly comply but if I had a large amplified tone behind me I'm sure they would jump to attention. Also, at the end of the day I could get on my megaphone and say "There is five minutes to closing, please gather your items and head to the front desk." I would be sure to get out of work on time everyday if I had that power behind my voice.

Of course some people would say that megaphones shouldn't be allowed in the library; it's supposed to be a quiet place. For those naysayers I would have them try to get a half dozen hyped up 14 year olds to leave without raising their voice.