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Looking Ahead, Getting Ahead

by Mrs. Clark

Teens what do you plan to do with your summer? Fun with friends and time in the sun are most likely at the top of your list. Have you thought about how you will have money to spend for the fun your wanting?

Is a summer job in your near future?

If so now is the time to plan. If you wait until school is out to begin looking for a job you may be missing out on a job. Check out some of the resources at the library. Employment books are found in the non-fiction section in the 650’s. Sign in at the computer lab and search available jobs from a reputable local source.

Even before you have a lead you need to think about collecting the information that will be needed to complete a job application. It may look easy at first but the application asks you to supply a lot of information and most applications are now completed on-line so there’s no going home and looking for the answers or asking Mom or Dad to answer for you. Plan ahead and have all the information you will need written down neatly and bring it with you. While you’re thinking ahead begin to think about what adults you have had experience with over the years that might be willing to write a letter of recommendation for you. Be sure the person you’re asking has a positive perception of you and/or your work. Contact these adults now and let them know you would like to use their name as a reference on job applications for this summer. It is up to you to ask and remember that adult can say no. Don’t fret just move on.

One last thought do you want to work outside or inside? Outside sounds wonderful on nice weather days but can be terrible on hot humid summer days. Does a climate controlled store sound more your style? Think about all the locations people go for goods and services. What type of work appeals to you? Do you have the clothes you will need or will they be supplied to you?

By looking ahead now you will be getting ahead this summer and have the money to fund your summer fun.

Lemonade Day

by Cindy

Did you have a lemonade or Kool-Aid stand when you were a kid? My sister and I had a Kool-Aid stand one superhot summer day back in the 50s, and my granddaughters had a fairly successful lemonade stand last summer. Making and selling a cool refreshing drink in the summer can be a good way to make a little cash and learn some business skills at the same time.

I had no idea there was a national “Lemonade Day” until recently when a staff member from St. Mary-of-the-Woods College asked if we would be an official site where kids could pick up a backpack containing information and a workbook to help them organize a lemonade stand on Saturday, May 19. We thought this was a neat idea, so our Teen Advisory Board (TAB) will be participating with a stand here at the library that day. They are planning what flavors to sell and also plan to offer homemade cookies for sale. We hope you’ll come down and give us a try! All profits will be donated to the Friends of the Library as a thank you for supporting our programming throughout the year. It’s also the weekend of the ANNUAL FRIENDS BOOK SALE – THE BIGGEST SALE OF THE YEAR!!

For more information about Lemonade Day and how you can sign to participate, check out the official website.

Being A Teen

by Miss Alicia

It can sometimes be difficult being a teen. When I was a teen, I always had questions, but was sometimes too embarrassed to ask. Kidshealth.org is a great website to visit for information and advice about being a teen. Just go to www.kidshealth.org and then click on the link “For Teens”. Once on the Teens Health page, you will find information and advice on school, bullying, food, fitness, healthy relationships, your body, drugs and alcohol, self-esteem, and more.

Volunteerism

by Cindy

The top reasons most teens give when asked why they want to volunteer for an organization are to keep busy, help others, and give back to the community. But volunteering is a two-way street. While teens are busy helping OTHERS, they are also helping THEMSELVES. It’s a great way to meet new people, develop leadership skills, gain a sense of accomplishment, and get a little taste of what it’s like to have a job.

The library provides many opportunities for teenagers to become involved as a volunteer, especially during the summer. We need help preparing materials for programs and assisting with special events, teen programs, games computers signup, and Friends of the Library book sales.

If you will be going into grades 7-12 next fall and have not volunteered at VCPL before, come to a Teen Volunteer Information Night with a parent to learn more about our Teen Volunteer program. We have two sessions to choose from: Wednesday, May 9, or Thursday, May 17. Both are from 7:00-8:00 p.m. Applications and a list of tasks and times volunteers are needed will be available at these meetings. If you were a Teen Volunteer last year, you will receive the info in the mail.

The only caveat I want to mention is that volunteering because of pressure from a friend or relative is not really "volunteering," and the experience can prove negative for both the volunteer AND the organization.

VCPL Teen Advisory Board (TAB) [NEEDS IMAGE]

Used by Permission © Overdue Media, LLC

by Cindy

Some of my favorite people are teenagers. It wasn’t always this way, though. As a little kid, I "helped" in my aunt’s Sunday School class. I officially started caring for little children at age 9 when my baby sister was born. I actually LIKED changing her diapers! In 5th grade, I babysat the younger siblings of the boys in my brother’s Boy Scout troop during family meetings. One of them started calling me "Teach," so it wasn’t long before I set my sights on becoming a teacher. After college I taught Kindergarten and eventually administered and taught a preschool for several years.

In 1988, I joined the VCPL staff at the Plaza North Branch, doing the children’s programs, storytimes, etc. Since we had 30-50 kids at summer programs, I asked one of our middle school students to help out. From that one teen volunteer, I developed a group of twenty (all for North Branch!), and then the other branches and YP department started recruiting their own volunteers. Our first Teen Advisory Board consisted of two teens representing each branch and met two or three times a year. We now have about twenty members that meet monthly. In the immortal words of one, "Everyone should love us; we do a lot of work." This is absolutely true! These dedicated, AWESOME teenagers give us their opinions (officially known as advising library staff), plan programs for teens, help at Gaming events, Friends’ Book Sales, and many other programs and events all year ’round. I can no longer function without teenagers!

Never Too Early to Plan Your Career

by Barbara

When you're making plans for things to do this summer, think about what kind of career you would like to have; it's never too early to start thinking about a career. You could begin by looking into internships in the field you like, or volunteering and trying to make a connection that can be helpful when you need a letter of recommendation. One way to get ideas, and find out what you need to know for your career choice, is check out different career books and do some research. Where the Jobs Are : the Hottest Careers for the 21st Century by Joyce Hadley Copeland (331.702C) is a great place to start!

And when you're posting on your Facebook or other social networking site, think about what your future employer may be able to see or read about you. They DO search them!

Spare Time

by Mrs. Clark

I just read online about a young man in California, Cameron Cohen, who was playing games on an iPad while waiting to have surgery at a UCLA hospital. He found that playing video games helped keep his mind off the imminent surgery. This young man is now three years older and his surgery that day went well but he noticed other patients also had scary experiences and they did not always have the electronic toys he enjoyed.

Unable to participate in sports or do many of the things teens do while he recuperated Cameron worked on solving a problem. He had a hard time finding an app for drawing that was inexpensive and efficient. Cameron learned how to design an app and created his own drawing app. A little company called, Apple (you may have heard of it) was very interested in his efforts. Today, Cameron continues to give back to that same hospital where he had his successful surgery so others can take their mind off the events of the day and concentrate on having fun while getting better.

What do you do in your spare time? Suddenly I am feeling lazy.

Book or gadget?

by Margaret K

When I was a teen, the only option to read was to read a traditional book. We didn’t have audiobooks or gadgets that could be carried around with books downloaded onto them. Part of the pleasure of reading, for me, was to go to the library or book store and pick up a book and thumb through it, reading a passage here and there to see if I would enjoy it. I liked looking at the front and back covers of the book, reading the synopsis of the plot. I enjoyed looking at the photo of the author and reading about his/her background. I even liked the way the print looked on the bright white of the pages. This may sound funny, but I loved the smell of a brand new book; and turning pages back and forth, going back to reread a certain part, or skipping ahead to see if the story was going to go in the direction I hoped, was a pleasure for me. Books were something to be held, laid down and picked up again like an old friend.

I have tried audiobooks, but my mind wanders after a while and I find that I have missed half the story. I have tried electronic books loaded onto Kindles or Nooks or a computer and I didn’t get the same pleasure from reading that I get from a book in my hand. Because much of my work at the library is done from a computer, reading from an electronic device made it feel like "work". I couldn’t get comfortable. My mind wandered. And, ok, to be honest, my fingers kept turning pages before I was ready or I somehow touched something that took me away from the page of text and entered a land of unknown "apps" that I could choose to use. Not knowing what those "apps" were, I chose not to use them! Give me a good old, hardcopy book that I can lose myself in anytime, anywhere.

I am sure my parents must have been in awe at the use of a cassette player instead of a record player. They must have been scared about using the mysterious microwave for the first time. Going from watching old 8 mm home movies to smaller VCR tapes must have been quite an experience for them. I grew up with those things just as you teens are growing up in a much more technological world than I did. My point is, things change and the way we do things changes depending upon what new advances are made in technology. I can read my way. You can read your way. As long as we all keep reading and enjoying it!

P.S. If you don’t know what 8 mm home movies were like, you should look that up. You will get a laugh out of it.

St. Patrick's Day

by Mrs. Clark

This Saturday, March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day. You might be interested to know a little more about the holiday. It is more than a celebration of the coming of spring. It is more than just wearing green.

Saint Patrick is known as the Saint of Ireland because he worked tirelessly spreading Christianity to the people of Ireland. He began his work in 432 AD, working mainly along the North and West Coast of the country.

How did this man come to be in Ireland? Why did he feel so strongly about spreading his faith? It seems that Patrick was stolen from his family in Wales when he was 16 years old by Irish marauders. He was taken to Ireland and made to serve as a slave for six years. His work was hard but his faith in God deepened. Patrick believed God was telling him to run away from his captors. He fled, traveling by ship to his family in Britain. There he entered a monastery to be trained as a Roman Catholic Priest. After serving as a missionary Patrick felt called to return to Ireland to the same place he had been a slave. There Patrick’s influence led many Irish to become Christians. He was able to speak in the native language because of his time in Ireland working as a slave. This ability along with his faith and his humble nature greatly impacted the people of Ireland.

Some of those who celebrate St. Patrick’s Day today are remembering the priestly work of this man, others are celebrating the nation in which he worked, and others still are enjoying a fun break in their winter routine.

THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins

The countdown is on! Only 11 more days until The Hunger Games shows up in local theatres!! I think this premier will be just as big as Harry Potter.

The books in The Hunger Games trilogy are part of a growing number of dystopian young adult novels, portraying "a bleak world in which everything is pretty much hopeless." (The Hunger Games Companion, p.19) Others in this category include Ashfall by Mike Mullin, The Giver by Lois Lowry, Unwind by Neal Shusterman, and Susan Beth Pfeffer’s The Last Survivors trilogy (Life As We Knew It, The Dead and the Gone, and The World We Live In).

Find out if you would be able to survive the Hunger Games by playing the simulation game TRIAL BY FIRE.

If you’re in grades 6-12 and love The Hunger Games, come to our TEEN LOCK-IN on Friday, March 30 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. We’ll have special activities related to the book. Doors open at 6:15; parents should arrive promptly at 8:30 p.m. for pickup. Registration is required; call Young People’s Department, 232-1113, ext. 2294. Our teen programs are sponsored by the Friends of the Vigo County Public Library, btw.

Here’s a bit of trivia for you: Book 3, Mockingjay, pays homage to Fahrenheit 451 when Katniss is assigned to Squad 451.

Censorship and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

"Censorship" has been defined as: "The practice of officially examining books, movies, etc., and suppressing unacceptable parts." The first keyword here is "unacceptable." Who gets to decide that? Apparently the people in charge; the government, or some self-appointed individuals. The second word to look at is "suppressing" — keeping something secret from public knowledge. Military secrets…I can see why the general public doesn’t need to know those. But books? Please. If you delete portions of a book, you change the whole meaning. What is up with that?

This year’s "Big Read" is Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, one of the greatest novels about censorship ever. Ironically, it has been the target of numerous censorship attempts itself! Ballantine first published the book in 1953, then in 1969 they published a "special" edition for high school students in which they modified 75 passages to eliminate certain words, such as hell, damn and <gasp> abortion. The kicker is that they did not inform Mr. Bradbury — he found out years later from a friend — or even include a note stating it had been expurgated. (I’ll let you look that one up!)

Check out "Definitions of Censorship" and more on the PBS website for the show "Culture Shock."

Events, discussions, and other activities for the "Big Read" began in late February and will conclude with a "drive–in movie" at Ivy Tech on Friday, April 13! Read more about the Library’s Big Read and the Reader’s Guide to Fahrenheit 451 (National Endowment for the Arts).

TEEN TECH WEEK – March 4-10

Geek Out @ Your Library - Teen Tech Week Poster

by Cindy

Raise your hand if you got a Kindle or a nook for Christmas! Or if you already had one. Or an iPod or MP3 player. How about a PC? If you have ANY of those, then YOU can download eBooks or eAudiobooks to them FOR FREE. Yes, I said for FREE. No $$. And all because you have a library card! (If you need one, click here for information.)

Teen Tech Week is a national initiative sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) of the American Library Association (ALA). It was created to encourage teens to use libraries' nonprint resources for education and recreation, and to recognize that librarians are qualified, trusted professionals in the field of information technology. Well, we try to be anyway. Sometimes I think I learn more about technology FROM teenagers!

If you are in grades 6–12, you are invited to "Get Your Geek On at the Library!" as we celebrate Teen Tech Week for the first time since it began in 2007. Our event is planned for Monday, March 5, from 4:00-8:00 p.m. NO…you don’t have to come and stay for 4 hours!! Whew! Now that I got that cleared up, we hope you will come when you can, and stay as long as you can, seeing that it’s a school night and all. We have two activities planned. From 4:00-6:00, we will show you how to find and download those eBooks and audiobooks, and answer questions you might have about your devices. We’ll also have free snacks during that time. VIDEO GAMES will be available to play from 4:00-8:00. We have a Wii, PS3, and Xbox360, and Teen Advisory Board members will be around to help if you need it. Please call Young People's Dept. to register, 232-1113, ext. 2294. The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Vigo County Public Library (so go to their Book Sales on the 2nd Saturday every month!!)

Oh…you were wondering why the theme is "Get Your Geek On at the Library!" Please note that I did not make that up. Now that Merriam-Webster has added a third definition to the entry for “geek” and pop culture has turned it into a verb, I can freely admit that I geek…kids, cats, and books. What do YOU geek?

Are you ready to celebrate Fasching?

by Miss Holly

February 20 is Rose Monday, or Rosenmontag in Germany. Rosenmontag is part of the celebration of Fasching. I had never heard of Fasching until I moved to Germany and experienced it firsthand. One February afternoon, I was driving home when I came upon a group of teens and young adults in the road. There was a wooden barricade across the road. "Faschingszoll!" a teen cried, as he approached my car. "Faschingszoll!"

"What?" I asked nervously. I knew some basic German, but I didn’t know this word. "Faschingszoll!" he tried again. Then, "Geld?"

Now, "geld" I understood. That meant money. Was I being robbed? Tentatively, I held a couple of (American) dollars out the window, hoping that the teens would move and I would be allowed to continue on. Sure enough, once he had the money, the young man yelled to his friends and they moved the barricade out of the way.

When I got home, I called a German friend who explained that a "faschingszoll" is a sort of tax that teens and young adults in parts of Germany charge during the season of Lent. It is meant to be done in fun, as a way to collect spare change or candies from drivers who know what to expect at the barricaded checkpoints. During Fasching, people relax the rules and poke fun at authority figures. I went to a Fasching parade where people were throwing raw eggs at police cars and spraying them with silly string… and the officers were laughing about it! Can you imagine doing that?

Want to learn more about celebrations around the world? Visit our Lands and Peoples Database. It is an encyclopedia of countries, cultures, maps and current events. There you can discover more information about Fasching, as well as the celebrations of Mardi Gras and Carnival, celebrated for the same reasons, but in other parts of the world. The encyclopedia content is updated quarterly and the current events are updated weekly during the school year. You never know when the information you learn may come in handy! Check out all of our databases for more!

Rosen Teen Health Database

by Mrs. Clark

Hey Teens,

Have you ever had a question about your health but you were not ready to ask a parent or medical professional? A database may be a way to gain information giving you the confidence you need to begin a conversation. Did you know that the Vigo County Public Library has several databases that can be accessed from your home 24/7? You will need a valid library card to login into the library website. Just vist the Databases page! Scroll through the list to find the kind of information you are seeking. One resource that VCPL offers deals exclusively with teen health issues, Rosen Teen Health and Wellness. Check it out, and then let us know what you think

Social Networking… Is It Really So New?

by Cindy

Humans thrive on social interaction. Social networking is the "grouping of individuals into specific groups, like small rural communities or a neighborhood subdivision." It often involves grouping specific individuals or organizations together. People get to know each other, then get to know each other’s friends. It has always taken place in person, especially in schools or the workplace, but now, more than ever, it is a necessary part of our culture and economy. We need to be able to communicate easily with one another and participate in interactive conversations, both in person and over great distances.

Today social networking seems to be most popular online. There are risks associated with it, including data theft and viruses, but the greatest danger often involves online predators or individuals who claim to be someone they are not. Danger exists in the real world, too. Just like you should proceed with caution online, remember to take care when meeting strangers at school, work, or clubs.

Social media is the use of digital (and often mobile) technologies and Internet-based applications for exchanging or creating conversation. It is a form of mass media, and can be used for interactive, informational, educational or promotional purposes. Social media has come a long way, from drums, smoke signals, and beacon fires in ancient times, to the first "postal service" in Iran in 550 B.C., where horse riders and horse drawn wagons carried mail. From there we take a 2000-year flying leap into the 17th and 18th centuries! Thousands of short letters suddenly crisscrossed the small French city of Paris daily, much like Twitter posts zip around the world today. The telegraph came along in 1792, then the telephone and radio another hundred years later. All was quiet on the social media front from 1891 until it exploded in 1966 with the first Email exchange. (I was a junior in high school!!) ARPANET, a "grandfather to the Internet," was created in 1969 so that U.S. defense contractors and scientists could share research more efficiently. Bulletin Board Systems started in 1978, followed by Usenet (newsgroups). The late 80s saw the launch of Listservs (automatic mailing-lists) and Internet Relay Chat (IRC), the father of instant messaging as we know it today. Since 1997 when "Six Degrees" was the first modern social network, we have seen new formats practically every year: blogs and mini-blogs like Twitter, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, music, photo and video sharing, MySpace, Facebook, podcasts, streaming live video, and Skype. All this social media begets more new ways for social networking! What could possibly come next?

A Few Words about MySpace and Facebook:

I used to have a personal MySpace and one for the Teen Zone. I loved tricking it out with cool graphics and music. But that was more fun than the actual interaction with friends or teenagers. It soon became WORK to keep it up, so when Facebook came along and our Teen Advisory Board members said they preferred Facebook, MySpace was pretty much history for me! Now MySpace even bills itself as "the leading social entertainment destination powered by the passion of fans." Sorry, but ugh. I love FB because I can go on and off quickly, or spend as much time as I want. I don’t do the games (except for an occasional Farkle), but I enjoy the picture albums and reading in one place what my friends, and their friends, are doing. I’ve reconnected with old, I mean "former" high school friends I haven’t seen in years (and one who lives right here in Terre Haute!). We actually "talk" more on FB than in real life because we don’t have to make arrangements to meet somewhere, go out to eat, etc. Heck, we don’t even have to get out of our sweats! (So long as the video cam is turned off!

I found a couple video clips that do a great job of describing the history of social networking in two minutes or less. The first one, Social Networking in Plain English, gives a short introduction to the concepts behind social networking websites.

If you want a good laugh, check out The History of Social Networking: An Odd Todd Cartoon. It looks at everything from cavemen and ancient nerds to the modern Facebook.

Sources used:

The History of Social Media by Daniel Adams
What Is Social Networking?

Do Teenagers Need Book Reviews?

by Cindy

Of course they do! They GIVE them all the time.

Overheard in the hall of a local high school:

Teenager #1: Ohh, I just love Edward and Bella!
Teenager #2: Who??
#1: This girl Bella falls in love with an uber-handsome boy named Edward in the book Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Even though it turns out that he is a vampire, Bella still loves him. OMG, he is soooooo HOT!!
#2: Hmm, maybe I should read Twilight. Where can I get a copy?
#1: I got mine at the local library. Maybe the media center has it, too. Let’s go check!

If you enjoy reading what your friends are reading, or getting them to read what YOU are reading, then you might consider signing up at Goodreads.com, an online book information sharing community. Here are some of the activities you may participate in on the site:

Add friends to see what THEY are reading. Reading is more fun when shared.
Rate books you’ve read and Goodreads will recommend similar titles for you.
Find and add books to your shelves.
Read recent updates from the Goodreads community.
Give book recommendations, and ask for them as well.
Vote for your favorite books of the year.
Motivate yourself to read more books by entering the 2012 Reading Challenge; just set a goal for how many books you want to read this year and chart your progress.

The library would also like to post book reviews BY TEENS, FOR TEENS, on our webpage. Just click here and write about a book you have read. Please include the title, author, a short summary of the book, and what you think about it. Be honest, now!

GAME ON!

by Cindy

It’s been a long time since I was a teenager — 4 or 40 years or so — but I do remember that playing games was one of my favorite activities. My dad especially was a big game player and it rubbed off on us kids. I spent New Year’s Eve playing Risk with a group of friends my junior year in high school, and was introduced to Twister at a party my senior year! I also enjoyed playing pinball…but video games? Well…they hadn’t been invented yet. The first commercially successful video game was Pong which debuted in arcades in 1972, and we bought the home version when it was released in 1975. It was tons of fun! Space Invaders came along in 1978, and Pac-Man in 1980. With a 6-year old in the house, of course we “had” to have those games! I think you get my drift. Video games are here to stay, and the library is in it for the long haul by circulating video and board games and offering gaming events for families and teens, usually on the third Saturday each month from 11:00-2:00. We keep our Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3 busy the whole time, plus our assortment of board games, as well as activities for toddlers, gets regular use. (Can anyone say Apples to Apples?) The Friends of the Vigo County Public Library have generously provided the funds to purchase the games and snacks for events.

Some people question the purpose of having games and gaming events in the library. That’s a very valid question. Since the library’s mission is to "meet the educational, cultural, informational, and recreational needs of the community", we are committed to providing all types of media for our patrons; we even circulate Kindles and Nooks preloaded with eBooks now! Games can spark an interest in books; some games are created from books (e.g. Brisingr), and now, some books (Maze of Bones) are even being written based on games! Video games may also help people attain the digital literacy that is necessary in society, today and in the future.

I hope to see YOU playing games at the library soon!!

Teens' Top Ten

by Holly

When browsing the YA collection, you may have noticed a new spine label. This label lets you know that the book is a YALSA Teens’ Top Ten title!

The Teens' Top Ten is a "teen choice" list, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year! Members of teen book groups in schools and libraries nominate their favorite titles. Teens across the country then get to vote on their favorite titles. The results create the annual listing.

Visit the Teens’ Top Ten page on the ALA website to watch Cassandra Clare’s acceptance speech for the 2011 award for her novel, Clockwork Angel.

Read Any Good Books Lately?

by Mrs. Clark

I'd like to share information about a book written by an Indiana author. Last fall, I attended the Indiana Library Association Meeting for librarians who work with children and young adults. Always valuable information about programing and new books is shared at these meetings.

Of particular interest to me was a first time author's description of his book. Mike Mullin writes a believable story about Alex, a fifteen-year-old who has survived an earthquake near his city, in Ashfall. Alex must travel to reunite with his family who were away from home at the time of the earthquake. The book is part science fiction but based on facts known to be true in our world. This mix of "could be real" and "other world" make for a unique and enjoyable read.

What new book or new author have you discovered recently? Did you share your discovery with friends? Did you let the library know? When you visit Young People's, tell us about a favorite author. We like to know what you enjoy reading.

Winter Fun

by Mrs. Clark

When the temperature outside drops some teens search the house for their ice skates or ski equipment, while others want to stay inside. Why go out in that cold air? What do you like to do in the winter?

Maybe you enjoy trying out a new recipe. It's fun to have friends over to create together in the kitchen. Then, of course, the best part is sampling your cooking and enjoying the company of others.

I wonder if you have ever tried to knit or crochet. I have not gotten the hang of these crafts but if practiced I understand either can be a very enjoyable hobby. If you become proficient it might be a hobby with earning potential.

If you are looking for a new experience this winter, come browse our craft or cooking sections.