Teen speak – or you know you work with teenagers when ….

Let me count the ways – with a little bit of help from a blog post over on TLT: Teen Librarians Toolbox.  Have a look at their post

English: SPOG students (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

and then if you are a secondary school librarian you might want to add a few of your own.  Here are some from me.

1. You greet student librarians with Yo G!  Or it’s alternative What up G!  Instead of Hello there sweetie!
2. You know major players in various bizzarre sporting codes despite having little to no interest in anything remotely related to sport.
3. You are as obsessed with 4 Pics 1 word as your students and you are constantly being asked for help, “cos Miss you know everything right?”
4. Given that the library is gossip central you know the details of far too many teenage relationship breakdowns/startups/on holds, and constantly surprise the students by saying “oh yes I know her Mother!”
5. You have become incredibly sick of telling the students to “Go ask your Mum if you can borrow her copy of 50 Shades of Grey, because no, we will not be having it in here!”
6. You have to guard your Mockingjay pin because even though other staff have no idea what it is, you know that if you take your cardigan off with the pin still on it, you may not ever see it again.  In general you are prepared to have your fashion sense critiqued every day by the fashionista crew who are always hanging in the library – at least that is how it seems at our school.
7. You are well aware that even though the adults may have moved on from vampire romance that is isn’t dead in the hearts of some of your most loyal clients.
8. You know exactly how cool you are if you show year 13 students a clip that they haven’t seen yet, but which is ridiculously funny.
9. You keep having to tell the students that “versing someone is quoting them poetry, not going against them in a match!”  This is a pet bugbear at the moment.
10. Your students stop you in the street and say “hey Miss remember that time when …..”  and you laugh and laugh.

A little treat for Halloween

Halloween is a recent addition to the New Zealand festival calendar, our house has had only a couple of visits from children on the hunt for sweets tonight.  They left disappointed as we are a little grinchy in the Halloween department here, and besides if there are treats in the house they are not for sharing with anyone but us, and that is that.  Halloween is a chance for all your spooky books to get an outing though!

I do recognise a good costume when I see one and here are some goodly booky ones.  Click through the slide show to see them all.  Love the Book Fairy below!

TGIF Put your feet up with a literary cocktail

Or alternatively celebrate that today is Friday and there will be two whole days before you head back to your library coalface.  I believe that a literary cocktail may be in order at my place.  The sun is finally out, the birds were even heard to be singing and I’m hopeful of at least a modicum of sun this weekend (although I will be working at a minder at the Storylines Dunedin Festival on Saturday).

Should a cocktail be your thing, I think that you should head on over to this page and have a look at the inspired concoctions they have listed for your pleasure.

I think I’m in for a Gryffindor.  Perhaps with a Gin Fitzy to follow.  That would probably do in and would be followed promptly by a weekend appropriate lie in.

Further suggestions welcomed.  Thanks to Carole for the link.  While we are here you could enjoy this flashback to the classic movie Cocktail with a much younger Tom Cruise. Oh the memories of lost youth come flooding back… pensive sigh …

Without libraries we’d be dumb!

Daniel Handler and Maria Kelman who have written the book Why we broke up, are seen in this video singing an ode to libraries.  Sing it loud and sing it proud!

When you’ve finished singing along go check out the Tumblr for Why We Broke Up.

Card Catalogue Coolness

This is cool.  This video was made to draw attention to the enormous card catalogue at Stirling Memorial Library.  It came to me from Bookable. Just imagine how long this took to make!  Have you still got a card catalogue in your library, they have become collectable these days which is cool, making me wish I had kept a rather lovely one I once had in a former life.  Have you got one?  What do you do with it these days?  Gold star to the most creative idea!

You got to love a great Meme

Replace a word in a famous quote with librarian.  A bit of fun going on on Twitter.  Posted today on the Australian Listserv by Ann Weaver of the fantastic and full of lovely links blog Readingpower this is totally, stupendously hilarious.  Join in the meme!  The best bits here and  here are the comments.

 

Get your winter read on

Join Booksellers New Zealand and their winter reading challenge.  A lovely dose of Jane Austen and her Middlemarch!  It is a nice casual challenge, it is about participation rather than winning.  You can sign up, get the starting dates and more details on the site. I’m a bit gutted as currently I’m plodding my way through Mansfield Park, should have chosen Middlemarch!

What to do with weeded books

You could try this with your weedings for the year!  I’m feeling inspired to issue a challenge and wondering what the boys would do.  I think it is awesome.  It is from Cathy Jo Nelson whose blog is always full of good ideas.  I found it as I was reading about censorship here.  Another great post.  I’m just heartily recommending Cathy Jo.

Alternative Use For An iPad

Cannot resist sharing this 30 second video – so, so funny.

Something to think about when increasing numbers of schools around the world now require students to BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). Perhaps we’re not all quite ready yet . . .

Keep Calm and Carry On - the story!

Reblogged from Bridget's Readings, Ramblings, Recipes and Randoms:

Here is the story behind the now ubiquitous posters.  Great story!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FrHkKXFRbCI

It came to me via Neatorama

It is everywhere!  Now learn the story behind the posters.  And of course it is connected with books! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FrHkKXFRbCI