Hovercrafts!

I have been excited about this for weeks - Hovercrafts!  It was our last activity of the year and one I was a little worried about because it involved gun guns and flying objects.  However, it turned out to be the quickest project yet.

Students used glue guns to attach a push-pull cap to an old CD, then they choose a balloon to blow up and attach to the top.  Once everything was together, they brought their hovercraft to the flying table (given extra power by a fan on in the background) and popped up the cap making it hover.

Winning book trailer!

Planning to do this again next year.

STEAM in the library?

Next year our school is moving to 1:1 with Chromebooks & the role of the library (and my job description) is going to change dramatically.  I am trying to embrace the possibilities.

One of the most fun things has been adding some STEAM activities during our extended lunch hour.  I started with a paper airplane flying contest.  Invited teachers - math and science - to judge, used masking tape to create a runway from end to end of the library,  posted flyers all about & displayed the prize - a giant jug of cheese balls.

We had a great turnout and enthusiastic teacher/judges.  Even more students watched & cheered from sidelines.

The event went so well, one of the teachers who judged ask if we could do more activities. As a science teacher, he had lots of ideas and experience in running labs.  So we have 3 more planned for this year.

The next one was squishy skyscrapers - marshmallow & spaghetti towers.  Over 30 students participated, many of them girls.

1st semester Displays and Activities

A sampling of this semester's displays & programming:

October

Dr. Who Trivia
This was the 2nd time the teen service librarian had visited for trivia.  Last spring she held Sherlock Holmes trivia after school for book club members.

The stand-up T.A.R.D.I.S. was the prize & we got to have it on display for several weeks prior to the event.  We had a good turn out and hot competition!

Costume Creation Contest

Students signed up in teams & showed up not knowing what supplies they would be given. 

Each team was given a pre-made box with the same "costume supplies" (about 5 rolls of TP & 15 minutes to create the best contest.  

All the teams ran to different corners of the library and frantically created what you see here. I gathered teachers who were at lunch to judge.  The bride costume won the prize - a huge bag of Halloween candy, of course! 

November

Our large display case in the front of the library with all of the pumpkin pie drawing entries.  To enter, students wrote something they were thankful for on the front & their name on the back.  They were allowed to enter once a day - and many did!  The last day before our Thanksgiving break, we took them all down and randomly drew a winner.  

December

Dysfunctional family display  -  Teens love tragic books, so while these books are not funny, students love the theme.   What better to read over Thanksgiving break, but about a family crazier than your own! 

Book Trailer contest!

http://goo.gl/6JqPCC

New E-books on Overdrive

Try a sample of the NYT Bestseller Orphan Train: 

Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota, Orphan Train is a powerful tale of upheaval and resilience, second chances, and unexpected friendship.

From the Back Cover

Between 1854 and 1929, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by pure luck. Would they be adopted by a kind and loving family, or would they face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitude?
As a young Irish immigrant, Vivian Daly was one such child, sent by rail from New York City to an uncertain future a world away. Returning east later in life, Vivian leads a quiet, peaceful existence on the coast of Maine, the memories of her upbringing rendered a hazy blur. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past.
Seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer knows that a community-service position helping an elderly widow clean out her attic is the only thing keeping her out of juvenile hall. But as Molly helps Vivian sort through her keepsakes and possessions, she discovers that she and Vivian aren't as different as they appear. A Penobscot Indian who has spent her youth in and out of foster homes, Molly is also an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past.

Book Club tee + 1st title

New Book Club shirt! Just $10 for short sleeve, $12 for long on TeeSpring.  (small print underneath books says "This message provided by the students of WHS Book Club and their mascot Therapy Owl.")

Speaking of book club,  Everyday by David Levithan will be our 1st selection this year.  Copies available in library and soon on Overdrive, our new e-book provider.  

If you are picking up schedules this week, stop by & nose through new titles.  Looking forward to seeing everyone!