Teen Advisory Group - January Meeting Notes

At our January meeting today present were Hannah, Jill, Melanie, Catherine, and Librarian Karyn.

First we discussed general goals for TAG for 2015.  We want to do more advertising of the group and educating teens about what it is and the fact that they can earn community service hours for participating.  Also in 2014 we want to do more fundraising, repeating our bake sale from last year.  Catherine also thought we should include some healthy or vegan baked goods at the sale.

The Teen Lounge is starting Monday, January 12th.  It will run 2:00-5:00 in the Activity Room on regular school days.  Available will be: laptops, board games, the Wii, magazines, tables, school supplies, and occasionally movies, snacks, and crafts.  It will be a place for teens to hang out after school and not have as much pressure to be quiet since it will be further away from the main part of the library.  Teens will still not be allowed to be extremely loud, but normal teen conversation will be permitted.

Big things are coming for the Summer Reading Program this summer!  Things are still in planning but you should know there will be an awesome theme (heroes!), great programming for all ages, neat prizes, and author visits!  Stay tuned for more information!

The Nutmeg@Night Gameshow is coming to the library again this year on March 12th.  There will be competitions for Intermediate (grades 4-6) and Teen (grades 7+ and adult teams).  Each team member only needs to have read 3/10 of the nominees to participate.  A fun time competing on multiple choice trivia.

Upcoming programs:

 Wednesday, January 14th 4:30-6:30 – Teen Cuisine: Caribbean Food
 Tuesday, January 20th 6:30-8:30 – College for Less financial planning workshop
 Saturday, January 24th 12:00-3:00 – Practice SAT
 Wednesday, January 28th 6:00-7:00 – Teen Book Club: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
 Friday, January 30th 3:30-4:30pm – Extreme Paper Snowflakes
 NEXT MEETING – Saturday February 7th **11am-NOON** due to Taste of Durham

Suggestions & Recommendations

Programming

• Beaded rings (Cat)
• Pottery (Cat)
• Dream catchers (Jill)
• some sort of Disney themed program (Cat)
• Handmade books (Mel)
• Graphic Novel Book Club
• Natural beauty (Cat)
• Bath Bombs (Hannah)

Books

• Life of Pi (Mel)
• An Abundance of Katherines (Jill)
• Millennium Snow (Jill)
• Through the Woods (Cat)
• Grasshopper Jungle (Hannah)
• Andre the Giant (Librarian Karyn)
• This One Summer (Hannah)

Music

• Cursive (Hannah)
• Third Eye Blind (Hannah)
• Walk the Moons (Mel)
• Uptown Funk (Hannah)
• Little Game (Jill)
• Ed Sheeran (Cat)
• Steam Powered Giraffe (Jill)
• Le Cray (Cat)
• Lana del Ray (Hannah)

Movies

• Anna Karenina (Cat)
• Lilo & Stitch (Hannah)
• When Harry Met Sally (Mel)
• Snowpiercer (Librarian Karyn)
• Dr. Zhivago (Cat)
• Fame (Mel)

TV

• Agent Carter (Hannah & Librarian Karyn)
• The Librarians (Jill)
• Bob's Burgers (Hannah)
• Supernatural (Librarian Karyn)
• Hunter x Hunter (Jill)
• Avatar the Last Airbender (Jill)

Video Games

• Tales of Xillia 2 (Librarian Karyn)
• Fantasy Life (Jill)
• Tomagachi Life (Jill)
• Little Big Planet 3 (Mel)
• Super Smash Bros for 3DS (Jill)

Youtube Channels

• Buzzfeed (Jill)
• E-How (Mel)
• Alex Day (Cat)
• It's Way Past My Bedtime (Mel)

NEXT MEETING – Saturday February 7th **11am-NOON** due to Taste of Durham

Teen Advisory Group - September Meeting

We had our September TAG meeting this past Saturday.  Present were: Catherine, Hannah, Hope, Jill, Melanie, and Zach.

We first discussed the rule sheets that have been passed out to young adult entering the library.  Everyone thought they were great and didn't need anything edited on them.

We also discussed the upcoming Fall Fest next month and how the TAG would participate.  We discussed doing glitter tattoos and the candy jar counting again, and possible a ring bottle toss game.

The upcoming programs for young adults at the library are:

A. Monday, September 8th – Free Zumba Class 3:30-4:30pm
B. Wednesday, September 10th – Teen Cuisine: Apples 4:30-6:30pm
C.  Thursday, September 11th – Super Smash Bros Brawl League 4:00-5:00pm
D. Monday, September 15th – Free Zumba Class 3:30-4:30pm
E. Thursday, September 18th – Super Smash Bros Brawl League 4:00-5:00pm
F. Saturday, September 20th – Duct Tape Belts 3:00-4:00pm
G. Monday, September 22nd – Free Zumba Class 3:30-4:30pm
H. Wednesday, September 24th – Teen Book Club: Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong 6:00-7:00pm
I. Monday, September 29th – Free Zumba Class 3:30-4:30pm
J. Thursday, October 2nd – Super Smash Bros Brawl League 4:00-5:00pm
K. Tuesday, October 7th – Teen Lego Club 7:00-8:00pm
L. Wednesday, October 8th – Teen Knitting Club 5:30-6:30pm
M. Thursday, October 9th – Super Smash Bros Brawl League 4:00-5:00pm
N. NEXT TAG MEETING: SATURDAY, OCT. 11th 3:00-4:00

Then we moved on to discussing our suggestions and recommendations~

Programs

• drawing manga
• babysitting class
• self defense
• life size board game
• worst case scenario
• bring your own guitar music class
• reading music instruction
• featuring a 'genre of the month'
• writer's club

Books

• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Jill)
• Paper Towns by John Green (Jill)
• 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher (Catherine)
• The Jeeves books by P. G. Wodehouse (Zach)
• The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson (Hope)
• Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella (Melanie)
• The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau (Miss G)
• Skin and Bones by Sherry Shahan (Miss G)
• Beowulf (Zach)

TV

• Criminal Minds (Melanie)
• New Girl (Catherine)
• Dr. Who (Hannah)
• Brooklyn 99 (Miss G)
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Catherine)

Movies

• Willow (Miss G)
• Princess Bride (Zach)
• Pacific Rim (Zach)
• Before Sunrise (Melanie)
• If I Stay (Catherine)
• Ever After (Zach)

Video Games

• Knights of Pen & Paper (Hannah)
• Shovel Knight (Jill)
• 5 Nights at Freddy's (Hannah)
• Super Mario 64 (Jill)

Music

• OAR (Melanie)
• Black Keys (Catherine)
• Chvrs (Melanie)
• We Are Alive (podcast)(Hannah)

Websites/Youtube

• Cheggaconroy, YT (Jill)
• Vlogbros, YT (Jill)
• Boardshorts TV, YT (Hope)

Apps

• Waze (Miss G)
• Hobbit News (Zach)
• Pocket Avatars (Zach)
• Action Movie FX (Zach)

Our next meeting is Saturday, October 11th at 3pm, see you then!

Teen Advisory Group July Meeting

The TAG met yesterday, had chips & salsa, and discussed!

We started out by talking about the Summer Reading Program, what was going well, what wasn't working, what we could change.  Hannah let me know that one of my links was not working and I have now fixed that.  When you go to the main page of the Summer Reading Online logging, the link to the badges page now works.  Hooray!

We then talked about talking to other teens about why they use the library, what they want, and what they need from the library.  We plan on visiting the library's Board with our findings in September to talk about what the teens using the library are like and what they would want from a new teen area.

We reviewed the upcoming programs:

Monday, July 7th 14th, 21st, & 28th – Coding Club – 3pm
Tuesday, July 8th 15th, 22nd, 29th, & 5th – Robotics Club – 3pm
Tuesdays, July 8th – Cracked Marble Pendants – 7pm
Wednesday, July 9th – Teen Knitting Club – 5:30pm
Friday, July 11th & 25th – Teen Movie Matinee (What should we show?) – 2pm
Saturday, July 19th – Hogwarts Potions Class – 2:30pm
Wednesday, July 23rd – Teen Cuisine: Spicy Food – 4:30pm
Tuesday, July 29th – Teen Book Club with live Skype – 6pm
Thursday, July 31st – Bubble Art – 3pm

Suggestions & Recommendations

Programs

multi-week sewing project (making a purse from a pattern)

hair tutorials with Melanie

nail art

zumba

Just Dance

Sing It?

Acting Workshop

Books

Delilah Dirk (Jill)

The Lost Boy (Catherine)

The Fault in Our Stars (Melanie)

Andre the Giant (Catherine)

Akira vol. 1 (Jill)

Distant Waves (Melanie)

The Time Machine (Melanie)

The Belgardiad series (MissG)

Angelburn (Jill)

TV

Free Swim Club (Jill)

Psychpass (Jill)

Legend of the Legendary Hero (Catherine)

Cowboy Bebop (MissG)

The Fosters (Melanie)

Karin (MissG)

Kaze No Stigma (Melanie)

Movies

Mandela (Melanie)

Picture Perfect (Catherine)

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Jill)

Penelope (Melanie)

Music

Fall Out Boy/new album (Hannah)

Ariana Grande (Melanie)

Bleachers (Catherine)

r5 (Melanie)

Iggy Azalea (MissG)

Video Games

Long Live the Queen (MissG)

Skyrim (Jill)

Awesomenauts (Jill)

Websites & Youtube Channels

geoguessr.com (MissG)

Moth Comic (Hannah)

Mini: A Small Comic (Hannah)

Breaking Cat News (MissG)

Portal Web Comic (Jill)

Apps

piano app?

Leaf Snap (MissG)

Our next meeting will be Saturday, August 2nd 3:00-4:00pm and we will plan for our Ice Cream Social!

Teen Advisory Group - May Meeting Notes

Hey YAs, the TAG met on Saturday.  Here is what we discussed!

The PALS Book Sale will be next Saturday, May 17th.  PALS needs help with bringing books downstairs and sorting them.  The tables are all labeled with what they have should have on them, so if you would like to sort, but can't make it Tuesday or Thursday night when PALS members are here sorting, you should be able to figure out what goes where.

Also on next Saturday, we are having a Bake Sale!  We will set up 9am-10am, sell baked goods 10am-4pm, and then clean up 4pm-5pm.  We will need volunteers to work any and all of that time.  If you want to bake something or volunteer some time there are sign up sheets for both.  Baked goods can be dropped of Friday afternoon or Saturday morning before 10. 

I have completed my first version of the Summer Reading Program brochure, so we took a look at it and shared our comments.  All were excited for the programs and there was some extra excitement for the new badge/achievement program that we are adding.  There will be 150 badges to earn and teens will get an extra raffle ticket for every 10 badges they earn. 

Upcoming Programs:

Wed. May 14th - Teen Knitting Club 5:30pm
Sat. May 17th - PALS Book Sale 9-4
Sat. May 17th - TAG Bake Sale 10-4
Wed. May 21st - Teen Cuisine: American Food 4:30pm
Wed. May 28th - After School Movie: Vampire Academy 3:30pm
Wed. May 28th - Teen Book Club - An Abundance of Katherines by John Green 6pm
Tues. June 3rd - College For Less 6:30pm
NEXT TAG MEETING - SATURDAY JUNE 7TH 3PM 

Then we moved on to our suggestions & recommendations portion...

Books 

Breathe by Sarah Crossen - Jill

In a barren land, a shimmering glass dome houses the survivors of the Switch, the period when oxygen levels plunged and the green world withered. A state lottery meant a lucky few won safety, while the rest suffocated in the thin air. And now Alina, Quinn, and Bea--an unlikely trio, each with their own agendas, their own longings and fears--walk straight into the heart of danger. With two days' worth of oxygen in their tanks, they leave the dome. What will happen on the third day?

America Goes to War by Bruce Catton - Catherine

America Goes to War addresses some of the salient cultural issues that are absent from studies of military strategy, battles and politics of Civil War history, (though, all of these remain essential to a real understanding of the significance of Civil War). The value of Catton's lectures, for this reader, underscore the importance of the Civil War, as the modern warfare prototype that was to emerge in the 20th Century, and how the unresolved social and political conflicts, manifested by the Civil War, remain in the American cultural fabric, even today.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick - Miss G

A day in the life of a suicidal teen boy saying good-bye to the four people who matter most to him.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis - Melanie 

Teenaged Amy, a cryogenically frozen passenger on the spaceship Godspeed, wakes up to discover that someone may have tried to murder her.

Programming 

Crocheting - Catherine

Mosiac Art - Melanie

Spinning Demonstration - Catherine

Hairstyling - Melanie

TV 

Fair Tail - Jill

One Piece - Jill

Code Geass - Jill

The Middle - Catherine

Ouran Academy High School Host Club - Miss G

I Found the Gown - Catherine

Pokemon Indigo League - Philip

Movies

Last Vegas - Philip

Four best friends in their late sixties decide to have a bachelor party in Las Vegas to celebrate their last friend to get married.

12 Angry Men - Miss G

Courtroom drama revolving around the trial of a boy accused of killing his father, where one man stands between him and capital punishment.

Two Brothers - Melanie

Two mischievous twin tiger cubs are born in the jungle but are soon separated and taken into captivity. One is sold off to the circus and the other becomes the pampered pet of the governor's son. They are reunited years later by an explorer who trains them to be sport fighters and inadvertently forces them to fight each other.

Beginners - Melanie

A young man is rocked by two announcements from his elderly father: that he has terminal cancer, and that he has a young male lover.

Bugs' Life - Melanie

Journey inside the miniature world of bugs where an ant named Flik hires warrior bugs to defend his colony from a horde of freeloading grasshoppers.

Music 

R5 - Melanie

Lorde - Tiffany

music from Wicked - Jill

The Animals - Catherine

Bleachers - Melanie

ZZ Ward - Melanie

Lana Del Rey (new album) - Tiffany

Hunter Hayes - Melanie

Tyler Ward - Melanie

Podcasts

Welcome to Night Vale - Jill

Video Games

Mirrors Edge - Philip

Minecraft - Philip & Jill

Mario Kart Wii U - Philip

Super Meat Boy - Jill

Kingdom of Hearts - Philip

Websites

ultimateguitar.com - Melanie

bulbapedia - Philip

wwoof.org - Catherine

Girl Genius web comic - Phlip

Youtube Channels 

Brental Floss - Philip

Annaheim Ballet - Melanie

Really Freaking Clever - Jill

J Loftus - Melanie

Tyler Ward - Melanie

Our next meeting is Saturday, June 7th at 3:00pm! 

Teen Advisory Group January Meeting Notes

Hey YAs,

The Teen Advisory Group met on Saturday for our January meeting.  We had cookies and talked about stuff!

First we discussed ideas for the 2014 Summer Reading Program.  The theme this year is "Spark a Reaction."  Here are the ideas that got thrown out there~

• Sparklers
• Spicy Food (teen cuisine)
• Rockets
• Chemical reactions
• Potions class
• Steampunk
• Make icecream
• Play with zapping ball (shock hot potato)
• Glow in the Dark party

And here are the ideas we have for prizes!

• Movie Tickets
• Amazon gift card
• Portable speakers
• Dance lesson
• Camping kit
• Gamestop giftcard
• a cheap tablet computer like the Tab Nero
• iPod shuffle
• movies
• iTunes giftcard

 Then we did some brainstorming of ideas for the Valentine's Day Murder Mystery.  Won't tell you the details here, cause that would ruin the mystery!  You'll just have to come to the program and figure out who done it for yourself!

We reviewed the upcoming programming~

Wednesday, Jan. 8th - Teen Cuisine: Thai Food
Wednesday, Jan. 15th - After School Movie: Insidious Chapter 2
Saturday, Jan. 18th - Practice SAT
Wednesday, Jan. 22nd - After School Movie: Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters
Wednesday, Jan. 22nd - Stop  Motion Movie Making with Legos
Wednesday, Jan. 29th - After School Movie: Fast and Furious 6
Wednesday, Jan. 29th - Teen Book Club: Steampunk!
Next TAG Meeting: Saturday, Feb. 1st 11:00am

Then we moved on to our suggestions and recommendations portion! 

Program Suggestions

• done above in our Summer Reading brainstorming!

Book Recommendations

• Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare- Jill
• Stardust by Neil Gaiman - Melanie
• Timeline by Michael Crichton - Melanie
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - Catherine
• The Celts in Myth and Legend by Timothy Roberts - Catherine
• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer - Clare
• A Study in Scarlet: The Graphic Novel by Ian Edginton and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle  - Clare
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Catherine
• Cute and Easy Knitting by Fiona Goble - Jill
• City of Beasts by Isabel Allende - Philip

TV Recommendations

• Dexter - MissG
• The Carrie Diaries - Melanie
• Sons of Anarchy - Catherine
• Big Bang Theory - Philip

 Movie Recommendations

• Starter for 10 - Melanie
• Pacific Rim - Catherine
• Blackfish - Melanie
• Bloodsport - Melanie
• Frozen - MissG
• Stardust - Melanie
• Timeline - Melanie
• White House Down - MissG
• The Whale - Catherine

Music Recommendations

• Goo Goo Dolls - Melanie
• Bastille - Clare
• The Band Perry - Clare
• American Authors - Melanie
• Lorde - Jill
• fun. - Jill
• Mumford & Sons - Catherine
• Guns & Roses - Philip

Video Game Recommendations

• Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon - Philip & Jill
• Mario Kart 7 - Philip
• Animal Crossing - Jill
• Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God - MissG
• Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Jill
• Deadly Creatures - Catherine
• Nintendoland - Philip

Websites & Youtube Channels

• cashcrate.com - Melanie
• goodreads.com - Clare and MissG
• zeldadungeon.net - Philip
• codeacademy.com - Jill
• eyewire.org - Jill
• Youtube Channels - Stuart Edge, Holistic Habits, Conner Franta

 At our next meeting we'll be discussing more ideas for the Murder Mystery.  Hope to see  you on February 1st at 11am!

Teen Advisory Group - December Meeting Notes

Hey YAs,  the TAG met last Saturday for a short, year end meeting.  We mentioned the fact that we will need to start planning soon for the Valentines Murder Mystery in the Library.

The upcoming teen programs are:

Teen Knitting Club - Tuesday, Dec. 10th 7:00-8:00pm
After School Movie: Mortal Instruments - Wednesday, Dec. 11th 3:30-5:30pm
Mockingjay Book Discussion - Tuesday, Dec. 17th 6:00-7:00pm
After School Movie: Despicable Me 2 - Wednesday, Dec. 18th 3:30-5:00pm
Teen Holiday Party - Saturday, Dec. 21st 2:30-4:00pm
Holiday Food Gifts - Monday, Dec. 23rd 4:00-5:00pm
Teen Book Club: Stardust by Neil Gaiman - Special Book + Movie combo - Friday, Dec. 27th 2:00-4:30pm

Program Suggestions

• Wood or soap carving
• dance lesson next year in December

Book Recommendations

• Divergent by Veronica Roth (Hannah)
• Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac (Melanie)
• Fourth Down and Inches by Carla McClafferty (MissG)
• Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits by Rosemary Guiley (Catherine)

Movie and TV Recommendations

• Miracle on 34th Street (Catherine)
• Cats and Dogs (Melanie)
• Peter Pan (2003) (Catherine)
• Catching Fire (Miss G & Hannah)
• Sound of Music (Catherine)
• Chuck (Catherine)
• Cleveland Show (Catherine)
• Torchwood (Hannah)
• Tamako Market (Hannah)
• Adventure Time (MissG)
• Grabbers (Miss G)

Music Recommendations

• She and Him (Catherine)
• Mr. Mrs. (Catherine)
• Judy Garland (Catherine)

 Video Game Recommendations

• Avadon 2: The Corruption (MissG)
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (Hannah)
• Kingdom Hearts (Philip)

Website Recommendations

• Stumbleupon.com (Melanie)
• the works of David Willis (Philip)
• joyceandwolky.com
• shortpacked.com
• dumbingofage.com
• Ava's Demon (Hannah)

 Our next meeting will be Saturday, Jan. 4th 3:00-4:00pm.  See you then!

Teen Advisory Group Meeting Notes - September

The TAG met this past Saturday and here is what we discussed~

The summer is over and we talked about ideas for improving the Summer Reading Program for next year.  TAG members suggested:

• have suggestion lists for all ages at the desk and put up signs that suggestions are available at the desk
• make it more obvious that we have an adult program
• put up a sign or a take away with basic instructions on how to sign up
• possibly switch to minutes spent reading instead of books read
• have the teen raffles at the end of summer so teens can choose which prize to put their tickets toward

I'm glad we talked it out, I think we got some really good ideas for improving the program for next year!

Next we took a look at the Fall Program brochure, which is now out and available and went over what would be going on.  Specifically we discussed what the theme for the Halloween Party should be.  We decided that it should be Comic Con themed.  Also we agreed to decorate the teen area for Halloween after the next TAG meeting.  A couple different decoration ideas were mentioned including origami bats, orange lights, and painted pumpkins.

After talking Halloween decorations we moved on to discussing the Durham Fall Festival.  MissG told them that the library would be doing some small fundraising on the library lawn and would be looking for volunteers to help out.  There will be henna tattoos, glitter tattoos, guessing games, selling old SRP tshirts, and the new director, Trish Connolly will have a table with promotion material for the library.  MissG forgot to bring up the hours sheet she has for volunteering, so she will pass it around at a later time.

Then we went over the upcoming programs

• Wednesday, Sept. 18th 4:30-6:30pm - Teen Cuisine: Harry Potter (full)
• Tuesday, Sept. 24th 6:30-7:30pm - Teen Book Club: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• Afterschool movies on Wednesdays in October at 3:30
• Wednesday, Oct. 9th 6:00-8:00pm - Stop Motion Movies with LEGOs
• Saturday, Oct. 12th 3:00-4:00pm - October TAG Meeting

Finally, we did our suggestions and recommendations portion.

Programs

• Stained glass art
• Origami
• Decorating frames
• Cover binders with fabric
• Quilting
• Belly dancing
• Zumba intro
• Fish tail bracelets
• Smash Bros competition

Books

• Wicked by Gregory Maguire (Hannah)
• The Bride Will Keep Her Name by Jan Goldstein (Catherine)
• When We Wake by Karen Healey (Jill)
• Bonobo Handshake by Vanessa Woods (Clare)
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (Melanie)
• The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (Hannah)
• The Last Wish (Catherine)
• Scott Pilgrim Versus the World by Bryan Lee O'Malley (Hannah)

  Movies

• Safety Not Guaranteed 
• Professor Layton & the Eternal Diva
• Sense and Sensibility
• Wild America
• To Catch a Thief
• Pocahantus
• Liberal Arts
• The Time Travelers Wife
• Inception

TV

• Weeds (Catherine)
• Wonder Over Yonder (Jill)
• Who Do You Think You Are (Catherine)
• Stories from the ER (Catherine)
• Supernatural (Melanie)
• X Files (Melanie)

Music

• Flogging Molly (Catherine)
• Lorde (Jill)
• Eli Young Band (Clare)
• Coldplay (Melanie)
• Jake Owen (Clare)
• Switchfoot (Melanie)

Video Games

• Sims 3 (MissG)
• Animal Crossing (Jill)
• Windwaker (Jill)
• Sonic Collection (Jill)
• Black Ops 2 (Philip)
• Portal & Portal 2 (Philip)

 Websites

• www.soundcloud.com (Catherine)
• www.misshomemade.com (Catherine)
• www.etsy.com (Catherine)
• www.feelafraidcomic.com (Hannah)

Great meeting!  See you all again on Saturday, Oct. 12th at 3pm!

July TAG meeting Recap

Hey YAs, the Teen Advisory Group met this past Saturday.  Here's what we talked about.

First of all, we talked about how great summer reading is going.  Everyone working at the desk is doing a great job.

Then we talked about our big Ice Cream Social coming up next month on Wednesday, August 21st at 7:00pm.  This is our chance to introduce the Teen Advisory Group to others and get their ideas.  We also want to try to convince them to keep coming to the meetings throughout the year.  We decided that there should be music, decorations, and that we should use ice breaking games to loosen everyone up and get them comfortable.  Someone suggested using The Games Bible by Leigh Anderson for game ideas.  We discussed having current members of TAG stand up and tell the other kids who are new about the TAG, what we do, and why they should join.

Next we went over the upcoming YA programs~

Pirate Party - Saturday, July 20th 3:00-4:30pm
Sand Drip Bowls - Tuesday, July 23rd 7:00-8:00pm
Teen Book Club - Wednesday, July 24th 6:30-7:30pm (LIVE SKYPE CHAT WITH THE AUTHOR!)
Flower Pot Decorating - Wednesday, July 31st 4:00-5:00pm
Shark Teeth Jewelry - Monday, August 5th 2:00-3:00pm
Summer Volunteens Pizza Party - Saturday, August 17th 3:00-4:00pm

Then we moved on to our suggestions/recommendations portion!

Program Suggestions

• Survival tips, skills, along with playing Worst Case Scenario
• Canning/Jarring
• Teen Cuisine: Cheesy Foods
• Teen Cuisine: American Food
• Teen Cuisine: Barbecue
• Teen Cuisine + a movie
• Henna how to program (how to make, how to do some simple designs)
• Kite Making
• Hair styles workshop with preteens, older teens teaching/running program
• Race/marathon/walk
• Breadmaking
• Writer's Club
• Harry Potter Halloween Party
• Teen Cuisine: Hogwarts Food
• Carnival party

Music Recommendations

• Switchfoot (Melanie)
• Kate Miller-Heidke (Melanie)
• fun. (Melanie)
• Pistol Annies (Catherine)
• Secret Sisters (Catherine)
• Hunter Hayes (Melanie)
• P!nk (Melanie)
• Kate Mash (Hannah)
• Justine Timberlake (Melanie)
• Cassadee Pope (Hannah)
• Ron Pope (Clare)
• Parachute (Clare)

Hey!  I made a playlist of the music recommended.  Check it out :)
http://grooveshark.com/playlist/July+2013+TAG+Playlist/88389981

Book Recommendations

• Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge (Catherine)
• The Loop by Shandy Lawson (Clare)
• The Art of Wishing by Lindsay Ribar (Catherine)
• Connecticut's Indigenous Peoples by Luciann Lavin (Catherine)
• Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (Melanie)
• Scandalous by Hallie Fryd (Miss Gardiner)

Movies & TV

• Tangled (Melanie)
• Warm Bodies (Miss Gardiner)
• Perks of Being a Wallflower (Clare)
• I Capture the Castle (Catherine)
• White Knights (Melanie)
• Catch Me If You  Can (Melanie)
• 21 Jump Street (Melanie)
• Sweeney Todd (Hannah)
• Pretty Little Liars (Melanie)
• Freaks and Geeks (Catherine)
• Monk (Miss Gardiner)
• Chuck (Melanie)
• Law and Order SVU (Melanie)
• American Baker (Hannah)

Websites

• thesaurus.com (Melanie)
• balletdancerguy.com (Melanie)
• The Cloud Factory web comic  (Hannah)
• i09.com (Melanie)
• nbc.com (Melanie)
• whatshouldireadnext.com (Melanie)
• help.com (Hannah)
• pursebuzz.com (Catherine)
• themathpage.com (Clare)
• allrecipes.com (Catherine)
• mentalfloss.com (MissG)
• freerice.com (Melanie)
• the Green Brothers youtube channel (Hannah)

The next TAG meeting is the Ice Cream Social on Wednesday, August 21st from 7 to 8pm.  Registration is required for this just so Miss G knows how much ice cream to buy.  See you then!

TAG June Meeting Notes

Hey YAs,

The Teen Advisory Group met on Saturday the 8th and here is what we talked about!

We started out discussing summer reading and everyone was encouraged to sign up to be a summer volunteen at the desk.  Miss Gardiner also told everyone that the sign up sheets for the summer programs are also at the desk now ready for people to sign up.  We went over again the raffle prizes for the teens this summer (Dari Serv, movie passes, snack baskets, day pass to Lake Compounce, and a Kindle e-reader) and reminded everyone that we would be decorating the Young Adult area for the summer on June 22nd after the volunteer orientation.  Also mentioned was that the summer volunteers would be making a sidewalk chalk mural on the morning of July 1st to promote the start of the program.

The upcoming teen programs are:

• Teen Knitting Club on Tuesday, June 18th 7pm
• Summer Volunteer Orientation 1 on Saturday, June 22nd 3pm
• Teen Book Club (Skinned by Robin Wasserman) on Tuesday, June 25th 6:30pm
• Summer Volunteer Orientation 2 on Wednesday, June 26th at 7pm
• Goldrush Afterhours: Teen Summer Kickoff Party on Saturday, June 29th at 5:30pm

Then we moved into our suggestions and recommendations portion~

Program suggestions

• Minute to Win it type program
• Program to try to beat a Guinness World Record
• a Lego program for teens
• Stop motion animation
• mosaic art
• make a music video

Movie Recommendations

• We Bought a Zoo (Catherine)
• Star Trek 2 (Hannah)
• North Face (Catherine)
• Epic (Jill)

 Movies we're really excited for

• Man of Steel (Jill)
• City of Bones (Jill)
• World's End (various)
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (Catherine)
• Ender's Game (various)
• Thor 2 (Catherine)
• Hunger Games: Catching Fire (various)

TV Show Recommendations

• Firefly (Melanie)
• Avengers: Earth's Mighiest Heroes (Jill)
• Futurama (Melanie)
• Batman (1960s) (Phillip)
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Hannah)
• Simpsons (Phillip)
• Kaze no Stigma (Melanie)
• Ultimate Spiderman (Jill)

Books

• Once/Twice/Thrice Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris (3 books) (Clare)
• Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge (Clare)
• Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle (Catherine)
• Secret Letters by Leah Scheier (Melanie)
• Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton (Clare)
• any book by John Green (Hannah)
• Invisibility by Andrea Cremer and David Levithan (Hannah)
• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (Jill)

Video Games

• Atelier Rorona, Atelier Totori, Atelier Meruru, and Atelier Ayesha for PS3 (Miss G)
• Little Big Planet (Melanie)
• Portal 2 (Jill)

Websites

• durhamlibrary.org (Clare)
• pixlr.com (Melanie)
• picmonkey.com (Hannah)
• google.com (Catherine)
• storey.com (Catherine)
• deviantart.com (Jill)

Our next meeting is Saturday, July 6th 3:00-4:00

Teen Advisory Group: May Meeting Notes

Hey YAs,

The Teen Advisory Group met today for our May meeting.  Here's what we talked about.

The library's annual booksale is coming up on Saturday, May 18th and we could really use some help sorting books.  Please let Miss Gardiner know if you are available at any time to help with the sorting and setting up.

Registration to be a Summer Volunteen will start on May 28th (the Tuesday after Memorial Day).  Orientation this year will be mandatory because everyone will need training for the online book tracking system.  There will be two orientation/training session in late June just before the Summer Reading Program starts.  We discussed ideas for other tasks the teens working at the SR desk could be doing, since the desk will probably be less busy this year.  We discussed doing more promotion about the program and any special events we are doing, writing bookshelf book reviews to put out in the library, and possibly making the desk also the technology help desk where patrons could get assistance with downloading ebooks.

Here are this year's teen raffle prizes for the Summer Reading Program:

Week 1: two $10 Dari Serv gift certificates
Week 2: two movies passes
Week 3: Two snack baskets  (we discussed what everyone would like there to be in these baskets and agreed that it should be a mix of sweet and savory, not just candy.  Also that the Coke that comes in glass bottles is awesome)
Week 4: 1-Day pass to Lake Compounce
Week 5: Kindle
Week 6: Everyone gets a book of their choice

We also discussed decoration ideas to go along with the summer's theme (underwater and underground).  Miss Gardiner wanted a blow up shark, but no one else seemed enthusiastic!  The summer volunteens will also be doing a large sidewalk chalk mural to kick off the program.  Decorating the YA room will be Saturday, June 22nd after the orientation/training session and the sidewalk chalk mural will be the morning of July 1st.

Next we reviewed the upcoming teen programs:

            A. Teen Knitting Club – Tuesday, May 14^th 7-8

            B. Super Smash Bros Tournament – Saturday, May 25^th 2:00-4:00

C. Teen Book Club – Tuesday, May 28^th 6:30-7:30 – Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Then we moved on to the suggestions and recommendations portion of our meeting.

Programs

-Harry Potter Halloween Party
-Harry Potter Teen Cuisine
-Other Teen Cuisine ideas: English, Pizza, Spicy, Thai, and Chocolate
-Fairy Houses

Music

Lady Antebellum
Feather & Bell
Best Coast
Spiro
Snow Patrol
Sugarland
London Suede

Books

Waiting to be Heard by Amanda Knox (Catherine)
Margot Fonteyn: Autobiography (Melanie)
Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Philip)
The Apothecary by Maile Meloy (Miss G)

Movies/TV

Iron Man 3 (Miss G)
Oblivion (Philip)
Safe Haven (Clare)
The Punisher (Catherine)
Stand By Me (Melanie)
Veronica Mars (Melanie)

Video Games

Atelier Ayesha (Miss G)
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (Philip)
Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (Philip)

Websites

groworganic.com (Catherine)
Armor Games (Clare)
google.com (Clare)  (Just kidding, Clare recommends Bing.  Google is obviously superior thou)
Newgrounds.com (Philip)
Polyvore (Clare)
Etsy.com (Catherine)
CourseRa.com (MissG)


Our next meeting is Saturday, June 8th

Present: Miss G, Clare, Catherine, Melanie, Philip

Teen Advisory Group - January Meeting

Happy Monday YAs! This past Saturday, the TAG met for our monthly meeting.  Here's what we talked about~

We started out talking about the decorations for the YA room and decided that we would cut out snowflakes as our winter decorations. 

At the last meeting we had mentioned the idea of having the TAG write the story/script for the Murder Mystery in the Library.  (happening in April)  Everyone seemed very enthusiastic about it and we decided that would meet to brainstorm about it on Saturday, February 16th at 3:00.  Anyone else would like to help out is welcome to attend.

Next we discussed the ened for some tech savvy teens to help out at the library assisting patrons with their ereader devices, like Kindle, Nook, and iDevices.  We had several teens who expressed interest in helping out.

Then we discussed the upcoming programs:

• Teen Knitting Club - Tuesday, Jan. 15th 7:00-8:00pm
• Teen Cuisine: Fair Food - Wednesday, Jan. 16th 4:30-6:30pm
• No Dye Tie Dye - Saturday, Jan. 19th 2:00-3:00pm
• Teen Book Club - Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer - Tuesday, Jan. 22nd 6:30-7:30
• Mardi Gras Masks - Wednesday, Feb. 6th 7:00-8:00pm
• Teen Knitting Club - Tuesday, Feb. 12th 7:00-8:00pm
• Candy Pixel Art - Saturday, Feb. 16th 2:00-3:00pm
• Teen Book Club - Delirium by Lauren Oliver 6:30-7:30pm

Last, we did our suggestions & recommendations portion~

Program Suggestions

• Make your own natural fabric dye

 Book Recommendations

• Thank You Notes by Jimmy Fallon (Clare)
• Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (Melanie)
• Reached by Ally Condie (Hannah thought it was ok to finish out the series, but wasn't as good as she wanted it to be)
•  The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (Melanie & Philip)

Movies & TV

• School of Rock (Clare)
• Ghost Rider (Philip)
• Journey to Fearless (Clare)
• Gilmore Girls (Catherine)
• Downton Abbey (Catherine)
• White Lion (Melanie)
• Castle (Catherine)
• Burn Notice (Catherine & Philip)

 Music

• Red by Taylor Swift (Melanie)
• Almeria by Lifehouse (Melanie)
• The City that Sleeps by A Silent Film (Catherine)

 Video Games

•  Professor Layton
• Halo Reach
• Halo ODST
• Assassins Creed
• Banjo Kazoie: Nuts & Bolts
• Uncharted
• Pikmin
• Just Dance 4
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
• Kirby's Dream Collection
• any of the Final Fantasy's
• Lara Croft: Tombraider
• Spiderman 2

Websites

• www.armorgames.com
• www.figment.com
• www.kongregate.com
• www.ehow.com
• www.deviantart.com
• www.reddit.com
• www.tumblr.com

Our next meeting will be Saturday, March 2nd at 3:00pm.  There will be no February meeting due to Miss Gardiner's vacation.

September TAG meeting notes

Hey YAs,
The Teen Advisory Group met on Saturday.  Here's what we talked about~

We talked about how great the Ice Cream Social was and Miss G thanked everyone who came and shared their ideas.  She also mentioned that anyone who volunteered this summer can get a certificate at the front desk that says how many hours they did this summer.

Then we talked about putting up Halloween decorations in the YA room.  We decided that we would put up decorations on Oct. 13th before our regular meeting.  So we will put up decorations at 12:30 and have our regular meeting at 2:00.  We want to put up some sort of large pumpkin centerpiece in the middle of the room on top of the graphic novels shelves.  We also want to make and put up ghosts and/or bats around the room.

After that, we talked about the upcoming YA programs.  Here is the list Miss G. gave us~

            A. Jewelry Making – Wednesday, Sept. 18^th 7:00

            B. Teen Book Club – Tuesday, Sept. 25^th 6:30pm

            C. Wii Wednesdays will return starting Oct. 3^rd.  3:00-4:00

            D. Teen/Tween Knitting Club – Tuesday, Oct. 9^th 7:00

            E. Teen Cuisine: Halloween Edition – Wednesday, Oct. 10^th 4:30-6:30

            F. Teen Costume Party – Saturday, Oct. 27^th 2:00 

Miss G asked if anyone could help decorate for the costume party and said that coming at about 1:30 would be enough time to do that.  We also talked about how we should vote for the best costumes and what the prizes would be.  We decided that everyone at the party should get a number tag to wear (in case not everyone knew everyone else's names) and that number would be how we vote for the best costumes.  The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners would all get prizes.  We will get four $10 gift certificates as prizes.  1st place winner would get to pick out 2 and 2nd and 3rd would get 1.  The gift certificates we will give out are Dunkin Donuts, Carmine's Pizza, iTunes, and Subway.

Next we talked about our suggestions.  First up was program suggestions. Some of the teens really enjoyed the Belly Dancing classes we had before and wanted to do that again.  Also mentioned was origami, gift wrapping, and Irish step dancing.  

Book suggestions!

Melanie's suggestions:

Sixteen-year-old Dora travels to London to meet Sherlock Holmes, who might be her biological father, and ask his help for her cousin who is being blackmailed over some stolen letters, but although Holmes dies before she arrives, a handsome young detective comes to Dora's aid.

When Nick and Allie are killed in a car crash, they end up in Everlost, or limbo for lost souls, where although Nick is satisfied, Allie will stop at nothing--even skinjacking--to break free.

Philip's suggestions:

In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.

Arnie Cunningham is in love with his car. Christine, the car, is in complete control. "Vintage King . . . breathtaking, awesome. Carries such momentum the reader must force himself to slow down.

Hannah's suggestion:

Like her idol Sherlock Holmes, eighth grader Ingrid Levin-Hill uses her intellect to solve a murder case in her hometown of Echo Falls.

Movie & TV Suggestions~

• Covert Affairs (Melanie)
• Storage Wars (Hannah)
• American Pickers (Catherine)
• Teen Titans (Philip)
• Pretty Little Liars (MissG)
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes (MissG)
• Avengers (Philip)
• How I Met Your Mother (Catherine)
• Roman Holiday (Catherine)
• Hot Rods (Melanie)

Music~

Melanie's Suggestions:

Catherine's suggestions:

MissG's suggestions:

Finally, we added a new section of suggestions...

Video Game Suggestions~

games for the 3DS

Great meeting everyone!

Remember our next meeting is SATURDAY OCT 13 @ 2:00
(or 12:30 if you want to help decorate the YA room for Halloween!)