CSLP Newsletter: February 2018

National Teen Lock-in: Rock Your World 2018!

by the National Teen Lock-in Committee

What is NTL? The National Teen Lock-ln began in 2011, sparked by the efforts of Jennifer Lawson of the San Diego County Library and her fellow teen services librarians in California. Since its inception, NTL has gone national with the participation of over 70 libraries from across North America in 2017. As a collective, NTL participants can leverage author visits and other resources that are out of reach for many individual libraries.

Since 2011, teens at participating libraries have had the opportunity to chat virtually with best-selling YA authors including: Nicola Yoon, Marie Lu, Marissa Meyer, Cecil Castellucci, Claudia Gray, Andrew Smith and many more. Participation in NTL is free for individual libraries and the organization of the event is completely volunteer driven. Planners are youth and teen services librarians and library paraprofessionals who serve on NTL committees in addition to their normal library duties, working to bring teens across the country together virtually with one another and with their favorite authors, to facilitate interactive gaming and competitions, and to promote library services to our teen patrons.

ln addition to the author chats, NTL committees provide interactive challenges such as Online Gaming (i.e. Minecraft, Roblox), 3D Design Challenges, Escape Rooms, Photo Scavenger Hunts and Minute-to-Win-it Challenges and give participants the chance to virtually meet with teens from other libraries through Online Connections. We share craft ideas, recipes, and science experiments. Participation in NTL connects you with a community of energetic and enthusiastic library professionals working toward the same goal – providing a unique and positive experience to teen patrons.

Co-chair Dawn Iocca holds an overnight Lock-In every year, from 8pm to 8am. She has held the overnight Lock-In at the Jackson District Library – Spring Arbor Branch for the past four years. It is an amazing event for teens that lasts 12 hours! It is their tradition to start off the evening with a water balloon fight in the local park behind the library.

(Kids pictured above having their traditional water balloon fight to kick off NTL at the Spring Arbor Branch of the Jackson District Library)

Then they go in and eat pizza, play Wii games, participate in author chats, have a Henna artist, play on computers with Minecraft or other games, Tinkercad for 3D Design, crafts, snacks, drinks, Nerf wars, dance contests at 3 in the morning, minute to win it challenge, photo scavenger hunt, board games, connections with other libraries having a NTL, trivia games, art on t-shirts, food, did she mention food, food and more food. She has 25 kids attend each year, which is the maximum number of attendees her branch can hold with the addition of 8 chaperones. They have a GREAT time every year! The kids do not ever get bored, some even READ! They have too many activities for them to get bored! They look forward to spending the night at the library with their friends and having so much to do while attending. They are already planning their fun filled event for this July!

(Teens pictured above chatting with Teens from an out of state library taking advantage of NTL’s “Online Connections”)

The National Teen Lock-In traditionally holds their event on the last Friday of July. Many libraries hold a Teen Lock-in as a finale event and reward for teens participating in the Summer Reading Program. This year the Lock-in will be held on Friday, July 27th with the theme “Rock Your World”. There is no requirement stating what time to hold Lock-in programming on July 27th, libraries do not even have to stay open after hours to hold an event. The planning committees are currently underway and working on the Wiki that is created for the event each year. Registration for NTL will open up on March 19th 2018. If you would like to contact NTL, please email nationalteenlockin@gmail.com, for volunteer opportunities as well as information on our upcoming event.

Committee members needed: Help improve the quality of health programming at public libraries!

Are you, or a librarian you know, passionate about creating health related programming for their library? If so, we need your help!

CSLP is partnering with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) to produce a unique, space themed, health programming addendum to the 2019 program manual. NNLM is dedicating two of their staff to this project, with the hopes of increasing the role public libraries play in sharing health related information within their communities.

To make sure this project is a success, we will be creating an Ad Hoc committee to support our colleagues at the NNLM. The committee will meet through video conferencing once a month, and be active from March through August. The committee’s charge is as follows:

The NNLM Health Programming Manual Addendum Ad Hoc Committee is charged with assisting with coordination for development of the NNLM Health Programming Manual Addendum. The Ad Hoc Committee is responsible for contributing content to the Addendum as well as vetting, testing, revising and improving the ideas that are submitted. The Ad Hoc Committee works closely with representatives from the NNLM to create an organized, creative and useful manual.

If this is something that sounds interesting to you, or someone you know, please send an email to Luke Kralik at luke.kralik@cslpreads.org

Summer Programming: School Library Journal

There is a wonderful article featuring CSLP and several CSLP libraries in this month’s issue of School Library Journal. Written by April Witteveen, the article details several programming ideas by librarians preparing for this year’s theme Libraries Rock.

If you are looking for some fantastic and inspiring ideas for this year, or are just interested in seeing what some of your colleagues are up to, be sure to check out: Summer Programming Ideas, from Ska Storytime to Outdoor Treasure Hunts

Is your Library Ready to Rock?

Do you have a great programming idea for this year? Have you started the summer early? Please send your photos and any informative details to Luke Kralik at: luke.kralik@cslpreads.org I would love to share them in our newsletter.

Looking for some ideas to use or share? https://www.pinterest.com/cslpreads/

CSLP Annual Meeting – Denver, Colorado – April 9 – 12, 2018

The 2018 CSLP Annual meeting will be held at The Westin Denver Downtown Hotel, in downtown Denver, Colorado. If you are planning to attend the annual meeting, please note that the deadline for registration is quickly approaching – March 1, 2018!

You will find all of the meeting information on the CSLP website at: https://www.cslpreads.org/membership-sponsorship-2/member-libraries/annual-retreat/ or you can use the links below to complete your plans. Please note that the Book Donation Project was recently added to the website along with preparing for Denver’s High Elevation.

• Registration, Travel, and Hotel Information
• On-line  CSLP Registration Form
• Hotel reservations
• Brief Agenda
• Travel Policy
• Travel Voucher
• Voting Proxy Form
• Denver Visitor Guide
• Light Rail Video
• Prepare for Denver’s High Elevation
• Book Donations

Spotlight on a Reading Superstar!

As any teacher will tell you, getting children to write can be a difficult challenge. There are many different skills to master, and there is always the prickly issue of capturing their interest. This is why Jake Marcionette’s story is so wonderful.

Encourage to write on a daily basis since he was very young, Jake is the youngest author to ever appear on the New York Time’s Best Sellers list with his semi-autobiographical book “Just Jake”. Taking it upon himself to find an agent and have his book published, Jake is truly an inspiration to both aspiring and reluctant young writers. “I think I’m a pretty good writer and I knew I had a message to tell people.”

If there a young reader (or writer) making a big difference in your state, please let us know! We would love to share these inspirational stories with the entire CSLP membership!

Please send information to: luke.kralik@cslpreads.org

What is on the horizon for CSLP?

2018: Theme/Music; Slogan/”Libraries Rock”; Artist/Brian Pinkney

2019: Theme/Space; Slogan/”A Universe of Stories” Artist/Leeza Hernandez

2020: Theme/Fairytales, Mythology, Fantasy; Artist/LeUyen Pham

2021: Theme/To be Determined; Artist/Salina Yoon