The flow chart display wall has quickly become one of my favourite work projects. It’s big, bold, and fun. People stand in front of it and laugh to themselves. People wander around the library with their personalized booklist gathering items. People get to participate with a passive reader’s advisory tool. Theme In the past I’ve… Read More Flow Chart Display: Meet Your Next Literary BFF
I can’t believe I didn’t think of this display earlier! It’s such a simple concept. Some kids and teens might not grasp the difference between superhero universes, so this is a cool way to get them thinking about the differences between their favourite heroes. I used coloured printer paper (red for Marvel, blue for DC)… Read More Marvel vs. DC Graphic Novel Display
The force is strong with this one! Are you as excited as we are for the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens? If you like Star Wars, you won’t want to miss the Teen Star Wars Party at Clemens Mill! We’ll make lightsabers and Star Wars buttons, play a hilarious Star Wars game, watch… Read More Teen Star Wars Party
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… An Ontarian Librarian was struck with the sudden inspiration to make a display that perfectly mimics the opening crawl of Star Wars. Down to the very last font. At first I considered writing the text in Word, and applying a perspective affect to make it… Read More Star Wars Opening Crawl Library Display
School is back in session! And that means so are my 7:30am shifts. As I readjust to driving in with the sunrise, I reflect on all the fantastic books I’ve read this summer. My currently reading list is getting hazardously long, especially now that the Giller Prize longlist was announced (yay Andre Alexis and Heather… Read More What I Loved #13: The Martian, The Rook, Camping, Still Alice
If you liked Neil Gaiman’s adult fantasy novel, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, you might like this annotated booklist of similar adult fables. The Ocean at the End of the Lane Read-A-Likes Neil Gaiman’s most recent adult novel opens as a disgruntled middle aged man returns to his childhood home for a funeral.… Read More Read-a-likes: Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane
A picture book with no pictures might sound like the total bore, but believe me, it will have you and your audience laughing to tears. The Book With No Pictures by BJ Novak (also known as Ryan the Temp from popular sitcom The Office) tricks the reader into speaking in silly voices and saying some… Read More Interactive Picture Books
Video Games and libraries are a perfect mix! Video games are all about storytelling, fun, and artwork. Libraries can run dynamic video game programs for teens – and you don’t need expensive video game consoles to do it. I decided to run a Video Game Party for the end of the year maker lunch in… Read More Teen Programming: Video Game Party in the Library
We all know about Passive Reader’s Advisory: booklists, displays, posters. Book suggestions that our patrons can browse on their own time. These are extremely valuable tools to librarians – we can’t be everywhere at once after all! I, and most librarians, believe that a reference interview is usually the best way to match a reader… Read More Personality Tests in the Library
I recently wrote an article for the Teen section of the Cambridge Idea Exchange’s website entitled Why Poetry Is Way More Punk Than You Thought. It includes a short argument in favor of poetry as entertainment, highlighting some common misconceptions. It also includes a list of 4 ways to discover poems that will appeal to… Read More Poetry Reader’s Advisory: How To Find A Poem
Ontarian Librarian 