Oklahoma Librarian

This is part 2 of I found a book that gave me a delusional idea that I could make a giant scrabble game! Part 1 featured the 2 memory games I made .  The first step was buying the wood and getting it cut. Home Depot will cut your wood for free if you buy it from them! I needed 100 tiles, so I purchased enough wood to make around 120 4" x 4" tiles. I asked for the wood to be cut into even squares and chose the most affordable planks they had. They were too warpped for building furniture, but perfect for making a Scrabble game! Like the memory game, some of the wood was unusable due to how much had been cut off in certain areas. Overall, my experience with Home Depot was great! They were very helpful and answered all the questions I had. The next step was to sand the blocks down. I decied to do this all at once so I could put it behind me. It took a few hours with help. It's important to sand down all of the cut edges and wear a mask! Painting the letters was fairly easy. I...

  What is Herp and Invert Exhibit? This is an event where guests could learn more about animals like snakes by asking experts questions and getting to touch them.  Descrption: Come explore the amazing worlds of reptiles and invertebrates! Get up close with snakes, lizards, and more. This exhibit celebrates the incredible diversity of these cold-blooded crawlers and creepy crawlies. All ages welcome. What I did to prepare This started when Larry Daniel's from The International Herpetological & Invertebrate Society approached our library with the idea to have an expo. He's been running events like this for years and wanted to get back into doing more since Covid. He explained to us how it was done in the past and we put our own spin on it. We decided to do it in the afternoon and provided snacks like bagels and cookies for the people volunteering. The volunteers that would bring the animals were all contacted by Larry first then he gave them my contact information ...

What is End of Summer Party? I always loved the events that were all about the last hoorah of summer as a kid. Since I purchased outdoor games and other supplies for our Summer Reading Kickoff , I wanted to use them again before the weather started to change.  Event Description: Our outdoor end-of-summer bash will get you outside with our engaging games. Let's make the most of these final days of sunshine together! Please wear comfy clothing and sunscreen. Don't forget your water! What I did to prepare I had already purchased all the needed supplies so it was just a matter of gathering it together. I had jump ropes, hula hoops, ladder golf, giant scrabble, and  giant memory .  On the day of the event, it was pouring rain! I wasn't able to reschedule the event, and I really didn't want to cancel so I moved it inside. I kept everything I mentioned above but took away ladder golf and added coloring sheets. I found a pack of 12 balloons at Dollar Tree that I purchased becau...

What is a take home kit? A take home kit is where we put together crafts for guests to take and do at home. A library program in a bag with instructions if you will. These kits can range widely from soap-making for teens to gluing colorful streamers to a cloud for toddlers. I aim to make kits for elementary-aged kids from 6 - 11 years old. Below, I have the poster, description, and instructions. I found that I rarely get feedback on kits but I'll mention it if there was any. Feel free to copy any of these!  The Kits I found a lot of ideas for summer bucket lists on Pinterest and TikTok that made me want to have my library kids make their own. The kit included a short description as to why one would want to make a bucket list, tips to fill up a list, ideas to try, the list itself, and a fun pen . To hand them out, I paper-clipped everything together and let the kids (or staff) pick out the pen they got. I made 30 lits. I created all of this in Canva. You're welcome to use my des...

September is Library Card Sign-Up Month! During this time, public libraries, news stations, and social media come together to spotlight the incredible benefits libraries bring to their communities. The ALA provides signs and social media resources to help us promote this initiative. At my library, I love adding a touch of flair to celebrate both the ALA's efforts and the special connection we build with our guests. This year we are decorating a bulletin board and the front of our reference desk. The bulletin board will be enlarged images from ALA's marketing materials. You can see it below. For the reference desk, I'm featuring Optimus Prime surrounded by some of his quotes, adapted slightly to relate to libraries. I've tried to keep the essence of his words intact, with only minor changes.  Front of REF desk Bulletin Board Finally, I assisted a coworker in setting up a display for grab bag DVDs. The idea behind this display is to highlight that the library has somethi...

What is National Library Week?   This is an annual celebration highlighting the valuable role libraries, librarians, and library workers play in transforming lives and strengthening our communities. ALA picks an honorary chair and has posters and social media graphics that everyone can use.  Our library system wanted to do something speical to promote this week and a speical event called Literary Voices happening in Oklahoma. I made a passive program in the children's area that I called "Guess How Many Books are in the Children's Section".  What I did to prepare I did not count all the books! The system we use for inventory tells us how many books are in the collection. I just needed to run a report for each section such as Tween Fiction and Tween Non-fiction.  We have a white board that we use for passive programming that worked great for this. I put out some small sticky notes and pencils for guests to write on. The board said "How many items are in the child...

  What is a take home kit? A take home kit is where we put together crafts for guests to take and do at home. A library program in a bag with instructions if you will. These kits can range widely from soap-making for teens to gluing colorful streamers to a cloud for toddlers. I aim to make kits for elementary-aged kids from 6 - 11 years old. Below, I have the poster, description, and instructions. I found that I rarely get feedback on kits but I'll mention it if there was any. Feel free to copy any of these!  The Kits This is a cute spring time kit that was left over from our crafternoon event. I purchased some pattern paper  and cut them up into small squares. We had a lot of green paper from other crafts that I used as well. The colver that is used as a base was cut out by our Cricut. I put together 30 kits. Event Description: The word "shamrock" comes from the Gaelic "seamróg," which means "little clover." Make your own little clover with this kit w...

What is a take home kit? A take home kit is where we put together crafts for guests to take and do at home. A library program in a bag with instructions if you will. These kits can range widely from soap-making for teens to gluing colorful streamers to a cloud for toddlers. I aim to make kits for elementary-aged kids from 6 - 11 years old. Below, I have the poster, description, and instructions. I found that I rarely get feedback on kits but I'll mention it if there was any. Feel free to copy any of these!  The Kits I only did one kit this month but it's too cute not to share. This one requires a lot of white yarn, pony beads, and felt. I recommend using hot glue but liquid glue will work if you're willing to wait. The pictures in the instructions are very important for this kit since it can be hard to make a pom pom if you've never done it before. This one is perfect for the start of spring and kids can hopefully see real bunnies outside alongside the one they make. Ev...

I found a book while making a display that gave me the delusional idea that I could make a giant memory and scrabble game out of wood for our Summer Reading Kickoff event. I'm going to talk about the memory game here in case anyone ever wants to see how much work it would be to do this themselves.  The first step was to purchase the wood and cut it into squares. This was the easiest part since the book told me how much wood I needed, and Home Depot will cut wood purchased from them for free. I got 1 sheet of plywood that was 1/4 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. for about $30. I asked them to cut it into squares of 6 in. I worked with an assistant manager at Home Depot, and she offered to cut everything at her home workstation and text me when it was done. I was able to pick it up the next day and get started with the next steps.  I picked out the best-looking 30 squares and sanded the edges down. This particular wood has an issue with its layers peeling away which was frustrating. I would ...

Marcus Vega is quiet, 6 feet tall, looks like a teacher and he's only in eighth grade. His main goals in life are to help his mom, protect his younger brother Charlie, and meet his dad. When the nasty bully decides to call Charlie an insulting name in front of Marcus, all bets are off. The bully gets a bloody nose and Marcus gets suspended just before spring break. His mom wants the family to take a break and visit the place where Marcus was born, Puerto Rico. Which just so happens to be where his dad lives. He's on a mission to find his family and might learn some Spanish along the way.  This is an enjoyable book that hits many different topics like bullying, absent fathers, learning to accept yourself, and coping with change. It's character-driven with great development from our main characters. It's perfect for kids in middle school and adults who want an emotional and hopeful read.