If Beavers built the Hoover Dam then Book Worms built the library! Right?

Tonight was my last Focus Group at TW, really makes it real just how fast this summer has flown by. The focus of tonight's activity was Summer Reading Club 2011. The county wants to do a scavenger hunt, either virtually or in person across the county. We also evaluated Whyville.net and talked about other online simulation environments. Of course, like all good things, it ended with cupcakes, chips and drinks:)

I know I want to work with Young Adults, but sometimes they say the darnedest things. Here was a sample of the party conversation with the Tweens.

Them: Is the library meeting room sound proof?

Me: Yes, that's why we paid the big bucks for the bullet proof glass.



M: Beavers build dams

T: So Owls built the library?

M: No, the worms did

T: oh, yeah, the Book worms

At least they catch on quick:)

Of course, I learned a ton from doing these focus groups. The best advice I can give is that you really have to have a minimum number of people in order to have the best possible results. Next time there will be a minimum number that must be met for the group to happen, unfortunatly this would have resulted in the Teen group not meeting. But, hopefully it would have encouraged them to bring others to make it happen.

It really is sad that the focus of so many of the kids was just to get their community service hours. I am a huge supporter of service, I have joined several organizations because of it, and I am a proud Brother of Alpha Phi Omega, a CoEd service Fraternity. But there is a huge difference in those who are just going through the motions and those who are enjoying to serve. I wish the County would rethink the mandatory service. Teaching this generation that service is something to get done, instead of letting them find the joy and love in it, is not doing them any favors. But that is just me, and I will step down off of my soapbox now.

Game On!! Hahahaha, Bring It!

Wow, yay for another successful day in the TU gaming lab! I only had 8 kids today, but they all had a lot of fun. I can't believe I only have one more of these. I am really going to miss the Gaming Lab.


I actually was really looking forward to tonight's TW Focus because tonight I had both groups in the computer lab. I also had a special guest, MP, our new Emerging Technologies Librarian. First we evaluated the Library's Teen page. Then I gave them a list of other teen pages from other library systems to evaluate for me. MP was a great asset, he knew so much about what changes the county was looking to make with the website the he was able to have great conversations with the kids. Especially the Teen group. This was the best time with the Teens I have had, and it was all because of MP! Man deserves an award. After they were done evaluating the website, I had them pair up and create surveys that could be posted online.

Overall, what a great intern day!

Game on: Day 3, with Focus again!

It has been an amazing day. The other class I am taking this semester is the Magic of Storytelling, and this morning KH was gracious enough to let me crash her story time for my third public performance. We did a team approach, with me starting off with The Frog Prince, and then her following up with The Frog Prince Continued by Jon Scieszka. This performance really was outside of my comfort zone, and because of that was probably my best of the three for the semester. Though, that's not saying much. My audience was completely different this time (not friends and family) so I really felt comfortable experimenting with props (a yellow ball) and voices. I need to work on my crowd interaction. The Preschool crowd though was great! Had 18 kids and 18 adults.



I truly love the Teen Gaming Lab. I was upset when it was two o'clock and I had NO KIDS! I actually breathed a sigh of relief at 2:15 when they started walking through the door. Even though, they were much more sluggish than normal, I had 10 kids by the end of the day and we all had a lot of fun.


Unfortunately, even my joy at completeling my storytelling and spending the afternoon in the lab could not overcome my fear of tonight's Focus Groups. Tonight I will focus specifically on creating marketing materials for Teen Read Week. Based on the marketing and promotion information I learned in the last group, I will have them create an email to send out to parents, an ad for school newspapers, and a banner for the library website.

However, like normal, my fear turned out to be completely unfounded. With all the hands on work, both groups went well. I have tones of material to turn over to PR, I am just not sure how much of it could actually be used.

Game On: Day 2, this time with Focus!

Its July! Today was another great day at the TU Teen Gaming Lab. Today's adventure, Counter Strike! Almost had a full lab, with 12 teens and 3 empty computers. Even though I will not be here for next week's fun, I am expecting a full lab when I return on the 15th. It continues to amaze me how the kids work together and police each other. All I have to do is give "the look" to one, and they immediately calm the room down, not just themselves. Not that I believe they have the Gaming Contracts memorized, but they do a great job following the "Check myself- the lab is neither a quiet nor party zone."


It saddens me that many adults don't try to interact with this generation of kids. They have such great ideas and passion for life, but they are different then even my contemporaries were ten and fifteen years ago. A little respect goes a long way with them, and they will give you even more in return.


Tonight was also my first Focus Group at TW. When setting them up, I wanted to separate the age groups so that I had the Tweens and the Teens separately. The only flaw in this plan seems to be getting the teens in the door. Well, I will keep my fingers crossed and hope for more in the next session.

The Tween group went really well! Eight kids and lots of interaction. An hour and a half may be too long to keep them focused, but it will be a lot more hands-on activities from here on out. The Teen group however, is a different story. I had three boys, who were obviously only there to get the service hours. If I don't get more teens through the door, I'm not sure how much good information I can squeeze out of those I do have. Looks like I have my work cut out for me.