apologue and conferral

Storytelling at Winkler
I recently did my yearly storytelling stint at one of the local elementary schools--I've been going out there ever since I started at the library here. I'd say this was the most relaxed I've ever been, and I'm not sure why that was. I told three stories, plus had an interactive activity: The Enormous Pumpkin, Lazy Jack and the Frog Prince. The interactive bit was a skit about Joe, who works in a button factory.

Storytelling is something that's really fun to do at schools that know me and are ready to respond when I'm telling stories. They laugh when they're supposed to and quickly jump into participation if there's a part for them. Plus, you hear them repeating their favorite parts when they leave the gym.

WLA update
The beginning of this month was the annual Wisconsin Library Association conference, and this year it was in Wisconsin Dells at the Kalahari Resort. Fantastic place! The only criticism I had was the sound systems were not working anywhere--so the luncheon with Kevin Henkes was hard to hear, as were some of the softer-voiced speakers.

I only went for Tuesday (a preconference about marketing) and Wednesday (especially for a couple of meetings for Youth Services) and then came back home to work at the library Thursday and Friday. The slate of programs didn't really appeal to me this year, hence I only stayed for two days! I am feeling a little burned out...

SRP Presentation
A fellow librarian from Madison and I were asked to do a presentation about next summer's theme: mysteries. We each set up a couple of displays and then talked about programming ideas for school agers and teenagers. We even had some ideas for adult programming!

We bombarded them with ideas, which we decided was the best way to go, so people would get the most out of the presentation. Many people are not even ready to truly think about summer, so several suggestions will percolate in their brains until they start actual planning... We also tried to give ideas and tips about things that aren't in the manual, wanting to be supplemental, as opposed to sharing things they can find on their own. Hopefully we've planted some seeds and everyone will be excited about the theme!

Pictures taken at Winkler School and Monona Public Library

Book recommendation: Why We Buy: the Science of Shopping by Paco Underhill
Recipe recommendation: pumpkin ice cream
Product recommendation: Hansen's Smoothie (in a can)

ecclesiastical adolescents

I've been helping with Faith Chapel's youth group for a few years now, and it's often a great blessing. It's so nice to be with kids who take church and God seriously, and want to learn more. My partner in crime is Christopher Fait, who has excellent rapport with the teens, and graciously shares his basement with the group (our current meeting place).

Most recently, we've been studying Romans, but we've covered all kinds of different topics and looked at several books of the Bible, from world religions to spiritual disciplines to real-life scenarios at school and home. The tricky parts have been to balance being interesting, yet stay informative, and fitting ourselves into their busy schedules. We also would love to have a place of our own, but that hasn't worked out yet. I'm hesitant to meet at the church for a couple of reasons: 1. the teens who are coming that don't go to Faith Chapel and 2. many of the teens express their liking the 'homey-ness' of meeting at someone's house.

The general format of the evening is an opening game or hi/lo of the week, and then we have our introductory material. Once that's established we'll dive into the lesson, sometimes using video clips and sometimes breaking off into smaller groups to do some exegetical study. We'll wrap up with prayer and announcements.

There's not a whole lot at the church website yet, but we're still working on it.

Logo designed by Jonathan Hainstock

Book recommendation: Artemis Fowl: the Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer
Recipe recommendation: Sugared Pecans (great for parties!)
YouTube recommendation: Martian clip