after-school.

In an effort to curb some of the difficulties at the Kearns Library, members of several Salt Lake County organizations, including Youth Services, Parks and Rec, and folks from the Mayor's office are in the process of planning after-school adventures at Kearns Jr. High School. In an effort to obtain input from our target audience, a few of us conducted a survey at registration on Tuesday morning. Seven-thirty a.m. to be precise. Have I mentioned that I'm not a morning person? So, after tallying the results, the collaboration will probably offer three separate activities: a sport element, a kick back element, and homework help, which will be provided by the school. Sounds good doesn't it? Next step? Funding. Keep your fingers crossed.

Being bookish types, you've probably already heard that Starbucks is getting into the book club business. Their foray kicks off with Mitch Albom's soon to be released For One More Day, which will be available at stores on October 3. In-store book signings and discussions will take place in 26 cites on October 26th. So why am I plugging a potential competitor? Because Starbucks will donate a dollar from every copy sold to Jumpstart, a national nonprofit early education organization that focuses on literacy and targets at-risk preschoolers to help them be ready to succeed when they enter kindergarten. Cool huh?

stiiirrrriiiikkkee

So God's been bowling and he's definitely rolling strikes and spares. Thunder, lightning, torrential rains, and yes, my friend, your eyes were not deceiving you, there was a flurry of pea sized hail. The good news is, they weren't golf ball sized, like these that fell in Castle Dale a couple of years ago. Up for a few rounds?

looking for a good read?

Okay, so I have a few suggestions for the elementary school aged crowd. First, if you haven't read Roxie and the Hooligans by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, you must. I insist. Here's the deal: nine year old Roxie is plagued daily by Helvetia and her gang of hooligans at Public School Number Thirty-Seven because of her unfortunately oversized ears. When the group finds themselves stranded on an island in the midst of a crime ring led by two particularly nasty thieves, Roxie proves her moxie, with a little help from her Uncle Dangerfoot and Lord Thistlebottom. An awesome spunky girl read. And don't miss Drita, My Homegirl, by Jenny Lombard. You'll get to know another set of spunksters in this tale of two ten year old girls working to find their place. Maxie is adjusting to a new life without her mom, while Drita, a refugee from Kosovo, is adjusting to a new life in New York City. And guess what? They both find that a new best friend is a perfect way to smooth the way. And the cover art is awesome.

an honorable profession...

While I was in Denver a few weeks ago I had an opportunity view an amazing traveling exhibition called "Fighting the Fires of Hate: America and the Nazi Book Burnings" at the Central Branch of the Denver Public Library System. The exhibit, created by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, relates haunting messages about the power of free speech and the harrowing consequences of censorship. It also highlights the important role libraries and librarians have taken to defend intellectual freedoms. This example from the exhibit: In April 1942, book publishers and booksellers formed the Council on Books in Wartime “to help win the war through books.” Sponsored also by the American Library Association, the P.E.N. American Center, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the American Association of Adult Education, the council adopted the slogan “Books Are Weapons in the War of Ideas.” It published nearly 123 million inexpensive paperback copies of 1,322 titles as Armed Services Editions for American troops, including works by authors whose books had been burned or banned in Nazi Germany. It also supported a host of home-front activities—radio programs, book burning anniversary observances, window displays, exhibitions, editorials, cartoons, articles, book drives and book fairs—all designed to emphasize the importance of books in wartime. So take a look. And be proud of your profession.

night out.

Well, the Kearns Crime Prevention Association's Night Out Against Crime was a success! The classic rock music from local band “Captain Obvious”, was excellent (they played a mean Thin Lizzy cover), and the Polynesian dancers were amazing. We gave out tons of pencils, bookmarks, Dum Dums and tiny shoe shine kits from the County. The latter were a big hit, by the way. We were also able to distribute loads of surveys to help us with future planning. My favorite booth? Bikers Against Child Abuse. They had awesome temporary tatoos.

tick, tick, tick...

This morning on the Diane Rehms show, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen the author of Remember Me: A Lively Tour of the New American Way of Death (available soon at your local library), related stories of a new take on the process of memorializing loved ones. My favorites? The skydiving rituals (including glitter), green ceremonies, the NASCAR casket, and of course, the lobster casket. Should you be feeling a teensy bit creeped out by my post, you may want to visit the Death Clock site for an estimation of your very own "personal day of death". Mine is October 30, 2039, which, frankly, I'm not too happy about... a bit close to Halloween.

zap.

Did you know that skateboarders in Kearns will be getting $1 million dollar park thanks to Salt Lake County's Zoo, Arts and Parks fund? Yep, it's part of $63.6 million dollars in recreation funds that will help to build new recreation centers, ball parks, and the Jordan River Trail. Cathy Harding, from the Kearns Crime Prevention Association wrote the grant, which will be voted on in November. Cool huh?

an update.

So, you're probably wondering how things are going at the library. As most of you know, we ended the school year with security and a pro-active introduction to our system's library use policy. While there were some disgruntled teens, the larger community of library users have expressed satisfaction with our efforts. The summer has been fairly quiet with just a few bumps here and there, especially in the last week or so, but still, there has been an improvement. With school starting soon, several County Agencies are working to develop some collaborative after-school programming to be held at the Jr. High School, though the details are still being sorted out. Keep your fingers crossed for positive changes for teens in the Kearns Community!

there was an old woman...

There are some days that the universe speaks in ways I'm not particularly fond of, and alas, today was one of those days. So, a few helpful hints that will let you know you're getting older: (1.) Your yearbook photo is in black and white. (2.) You send said photo, along with a current one, as requested, and receive an e-mail that says "I'm confused. I have one picture of you in black and white and another in color.They don't look at all alike. Which one is the real you?". (3.) Your life insurance company sends a letter stating that on your birthday your monthly contribution rate will double. (4.) You find not one, not two, but 300 new white hairs. (5.) You realize that you no longer recognize the people on the cover of People, but the women on the cover of More... well that's another story.

humility.

Small fry: "do you have a book about a dinosaur you probably don't know about that lived in the sea during the Ice Age? Me: "hmmm. I bet we can figure something out. Do you know it's name?" Small fry: "Well, like I said, it lived during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs (truly... no exaggerating here) and it's a really, really big shark, and they call it a Megalodon". Me: head down, typing furiously. Small fry: "I went to the big library with three floors downtown and they only had one book in the whole place." Me: sinking heart, but then, elation: "we do have a book, let's go find it." Phew.