#Teen Summer Library Program

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Summer at the Library 2025 is starting this week!

Here are this year’s Summer for Teens postcards and our BRAND NEW Make Your Own Zine Teen Take-Home Kits!

You can learn more about Summer at the Library and the Teen Zine Challenge on the NYPL website. Also be sure to check out the upcoming schedule of virtual and in-person programs for teens at the Kingsbridge Library!

[swantonlibraryteens]

[youredyingthatsallthereis]

what if roach was a librarian. he works in his local public library and runs youth programs for kids & teens for after school + weekends + summer time stuff. he sits in baby & toddler story time as an asl interpreter. makes sure the library has the most inclusive supportive policies possible for queer people of all ages. public librarian roach who will kick your ass if you try to tell him to ban books

[dollusionn]

inspired by @cupidsturnz

⋆˙⟡ ANIMES

mha, cote, aot , fairytail, pokemon, digimon, jjk, chainsaw man, dbz, maid sama, noragami, naruto, haikyuu, dinosaur king, snow white with the red hair, kamisama kiss, inazuma eleven, yugioh zexal, spyxfamily

⋆˙⟡TV SHOWS/MOVIES/KDRAMAS

highschool musical, mean girls, milly & molly, monster high, mlp, mlp equestria girls, PINY, miraculous ladybug, moana, marvel, little einsteins, littlest pet shop, lilo & stich, jessie, httyd, harry potter, true beauty, gilmore girls, frozen, encanto, dance mums, descendants, clueless, alice in wonderland, barbie princess charm skl, bratz, barbie space adventure, barbie life in the dreamhouse, ben & holly little kingdom, apple and onion, TAWOG, adventure time, zombies (disney movie), princess protection program, all of us are dead, KUWTK, kc undercover, lolirock, madeline, real housewives of atlanta, stardarlings, single's inferno, love island uk season 10&11, winx club, totally spies, sofia the first, super why, the summer i turned pretty, the loud house, victorious, wild child, wreck it wralph, turning red, the thundermans, stuck in the middle, euphoria, ever after high, love island usa, the next stop, arcane, studio ghibli, atsv, alice in borderland, ninjago, dubai bling

⋆˙⟡ BOOK/FANFICS/COMICS

the wishing chair, dork diaries, geek girl, lore olympus, i love yoo, the spinister club series, aot college au fanfic (irresistable), teach me to please, diary of a wimpy kid, (most of my wattpad library), school bus graveyard, homesick, winter moon, the cursed princess club, not your typical reincarnation story, second lead syndrome, love n' life, marionetta

⋆˙⟡ IMPROVED CRs/TIME-BASED DRs

2022 summer dr, vsco girl, quarantine dr (basically reliving quarantine by covid isnt dangerous in this dr), 2021 autumn/winter dr, 2023 dr, sixth form dr #1 (2023) 2025 exam szn dr, sixth form dr #2 (2024), nolstalgic moments in my childhood, teenage romance dr, 2000s romcom dr w/ a twist, victorian dr, 2010s dr, dr based on some of my dreams, dr based on a childhood game i use to play w/ my siblings, stereotypical popular teen girl

⋆˙⟡ CAREER-BASED/THEMED DRs

fame dr, katseye 7th member, bts 8th member, blackpink dr, marine biologist, streamer dr, kpop soloist dr, model dr, farm-life dr, time-traveller dr, 2010s youtuber dr, nsfw dr, niche spotify dr, hype house dr, private school dr, darbie show dr, cottagecore living dr, cyber world living dr, living in a fairytale island dr, boarding skl dr, royalty dr, princess diaries, summer romance dr, living by a beach dr, space travellers dr, uni dr, college life dr, singer dating a famous footballer, influencer dr, roaring 20s dr, uconn basketball team dr

⋆˙⟡ AUs/COMBO DRs

dr where me and the bakusquad groupshift, fantasty medieval mha au, fairytail highschool au, monster high x mlp x ever afterhigh x stardarlings dr, arcane x fairytail dr, quarantine in my mha dr, moshi monsters x binweevils, hogwarts x jjk, fairytail royale au, jjk WAG dr

⋆˙⟡ DRs based on games

roblox (being in a 2020 bloxburg family), poptropica, school of dragons, animal jam, sims 4, pokemon XY, animal crossing, moshi monsters, avakin life, imvu, genshin impact, splatoon dr, royale high

⋆˙⟡ WAITING ROOMS

mansion wr w/ enchanted garden, christmas town wr, beach house wr

(a/n: this is not a complete list of my drs, these are all the drs i wrote down/remember from the top of my head; i have a complete list of all my drs in my wr)

glitter png creds

[howdywrites]

I wish people (like my aunt) who think public libraries aren't important or used anymore would actually visit their library. Especially during the summer. In my month and a half as a library aide, I can say for certain that my public library is VERY much vital to the community.

Who uses our library:

- the two unhoused women in our town who need somewhere cool and comfortable

- people stopping in for water while walking their dogs/jogging etc.

- up to 250 patrons visiting for our children/teen programs

- people who work remotely and need a study room to take calls

- homeschooling families and co ops

- people who need Wi-Fi

- people who need resources that aren't books (computers, printing, hell we even have a metal detector)

- and, of course, patrons who simply like to read

I know not every library has the capacity or resources to do all of these, but it's so damn frustrating when people in my life shit on public libraries despite not having been in one since the 90s.

[iamthecomet]

Please tell us more stories about the library or working there, I love libraries and I think being a librarian sounds so cool <3

Of course! Here's a non-exhaustive list of things I got to do at my library last week! It's also important to know that I work in a *very* small library (we serve under 1k people) and so my experience as a librarian is not necessarily the norm, but it is a pretty fucking cool job.

catalog new books

listen to this one patron talk about God for 20 minutes

look at the blue prints for our NEW LIBRARY (coming Fall 2026) and make notes

Start planning our summer program

Tell pre-teens to be quiet

Make new book displays

The whole ass town newsletter (monthly, it's the bane of my existence and also my pride and joy)

Email volunteers about the monthly schedule

Shelve books (just kidding, I make volunteers do that)

'Fix' the patron computer 10000 times

Check out books

Play in my statistics spreadsheet

Inter-Libray Loan a billion books (also one of my favorite things)

Think about making graphics for summer program

Read new picture books when they come in

Read my own book when I run out of tasks to do (or just get burnt out)

Chat with patrons (we're free therapy I swear)

Get all the tea about the drama happening in the 6th grade class at the school (incredible)

Talk about books, research books, wonder how to make people read more books.

Refill the sticker box

Weed books (take out books that don't circulate anymore)

Start planning future book group reads (and a NEW non-fiction book group)

Try not to plan so much summer programing I want to die (impossible)

Wish I was capable of reading 500 books at a time because why are there so many I want to read!?

[insert-apt-title-here]

Now that camp here and there is returning for s2 in about a week, I think it’s time I tell all you lovely blorbos how I was introduced to the ch&t and tma fandoms.

So, in sophomore year of high school I was in dnd club obviously and one of the players told me all about their character based on Sydney. The same person separately explained all of the tma fears to me with zero context bc I said their earrings gave bill cypher and they were like “um actually Magnus”. I’m deep in my gravity falls fandom era at this point. Also the person who told me these things was generally not kind to me but at least they gave me this.

Cut to a year later, and I finally get a new phone that can actually run the Apple podcast app (I have strict parents who originally gave me an iPhone 4 with everything restricted). At the same time, I’m deeply missing my old summer camp and had just finished rewatching gravity falls again.

I vaguely remembered this random podcast that was described as “gravity falls core” and I’m like what the hell im bored anyway and play the ch&t trailer .

I immediately fall in love, and proceed to binge listen to every episode. Over like maybe 3 days. And then I do it again. And again. All the way through junior year. On a singular day of winter break I remember tma exists and try to listen to the first episode. I hate it and go back to my ch&t brain rot but by the end of junior year I’m a little sick of it. I remember tma exists again, try really hard to get into it, and give up after slogging through the first 5 episodes on 1.5x speed.

I bring my ch&t obsession with me to a theater program I do over the summer and during show week, I have nothing to do during the performances I’m on run crew for. Instead me and my friend swap podcast recommendations and they start ch&t while I finish s1 of tma. Side note this friend has osdd and they ended up with Sydney as an alter.

After I finish the first season, I can’t get back into it and I’m bored and burnt out bc senior year. I actually leave off on basira’s first episode, yknow right when s2 gets interesting.

Fast forward, there’s a new teen librarian at my local library who just happens to have a tma sticker on her laptop and I’m like huh maybe I should try that again.

And then I binge the end of s2. Once one gets to s3 of tma, you’re a little too deep in to loose interest.

I finish s5 a few weeks before the end of senior year, binge all of protocol, and literally from starting s3 to now have not been able to shut up about tma.

Oh also I got isolated from my friend group at the same time that I was listening to s4

[imminentinertia]

111 years of queer cinema - 2020 double feature: Été 85 / Summer Of 85 Welcome to Chechnya

Country: France Director: François Ozon Letterboxd Where to watch: big streaming services, depending on region

Synopsis: What do you dream of when you’re 16-years-old and in a seaside resort in Normandy in the 1980s? A best friend? A lifelong teen pact? Scooting off on adventures on a boat or a motorbike? Living life at breakneck speed? No. You dream of death. Because you can’t get a bigger kick than dying. And that’s why you save it till the very end. The summer holidays are just beginning, and this story recounts how Alexis grew into himself.

When I was about 13, I came across a book in the library that had an incredibly interesting title. It was by Aidan Chambers and it was called Dance On My Grave (well, Dans På Min Grav, I'm Norwegian and it was translated). I borrowed it, got home and started to read, and was stunned to find that it was about gay teens. I'd encountered depictions of more or less boring old (that is, grown-up) gays and lesbians in fiction before, but this novel was about guys very like the ones I hung out with at the beach. Also, the girl showing up and turning it into a love/lust triangle was Norwegian like me, never mind that she'd been given a grandmotherly name. Terrific. And it was a terrific novel.

I quickly lost count of how many times I re-read it. It's possibly the most important source of my lack of patience with plots where one of the main conflicts is being queer.

Oddly, for a book that at times reads almost like a screenplay, it took 18 years for it to make it to the screen, moved from Southend-on-sea to Normandy. Maybe it needed that time, as a mid-80s adaptation probably would have been quite different from Summer of 85.

As for warnings, there are musings on suicide and there's a death. However, while a queer boy does die in this it's not the tired old Queer Death. As Betty Greenway puts it in Aidan Chambers: Master Literary Choreographer, "A major strength of the book, the central conflict hinges not on the lovers being gay, but on their having two idiosyncratic and contradictory personalities." This goes for the film as well.

David (Benjamin Voisin) and Alex (Félix Lefebvre)

Usually François Ozon does more impressive work than this, I have to say. The script sticks close to the novel and doesn't miss the aspects that make the story beautifully bittersweet, the cinematography is neat enough and the costumes and sets make for a nice nostalgia trip, but overall Summer of 85 comes across as competent and very charming, but not inspired.

What does stand out is the acting, especially the two mains. Félix Lefebvre is magnificent as Alex, who's swept off his feet by dashing, restless David.

Alex and David want quite different things from this summer romance, unfortunately, and that's brilliantly conveyed in a disco scene where David slips a pair of headphones on Alex - the crowd, David among them, keeps dancing to an upbeat song while Alex is isolated with Rod Stewart's romantic ballad Sailing. That scene is genius, the follow-up later too, and altogether it's a good film, well worth a watch even though it's not as outstanding as several of Ozon's other works.

I do have one gripe, but it's one that stems from loving the book ending, and I recommend reading the book. I'm not going to go into that now as it would be spoiling. The main point is anyway that even as someone who loves the source material as intensely as I do, I love the adaptation too.

Country: USA Director: David France Letterboxd Where to watch: film website (streaming not available in the US)

Synopsis: This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil.

This year gets a double feature, because I can't talk about queer films that premiered in 2020 without mentioning this brutally upsetting and vastly important film. But I can't talk about just this one, because it's an unbelievably painful watch (and I honestly couldn't bear re-watching it for the 111 years project), so Summer of 85 got most of the attention in this post.

The synopsis from Letterboxd says what needs to be said, really. Note that the anonymity protection methods include a very interesting use of AI.

111 years of queer cinema masterlist

Divider made by sister-lucifer

[thetomorrowshow]

an imperfect map will have to do

omni/impotence au, featuring a story from Jimmy's past!

cw: child abuse, wrongful imprisonment

~

“Six months,” Jimmy moans, picking at the stiff sleeve of his blue button-up shirt. “Six months, for nothing!”

Lizzie sighs. “Just keep your head down, all right? Do they make you go to school?”

“Yeah. It’s boring.”

“This could be good, though,” Lizzie says encouragingly. “Maybe they’ll make sure you stay in school after!”

“I don’t want to. I don’t want to be here.”

Anyone would be able to see the unfiltered anger on his face, even if they hadn’t been watching Jimmy grow his entire life, watching the resentment settle into him bit by bit.

Especially in the past year. The past year has been . . . rough, for lack of a better word.

“Does Dad know?” she asks.

Jimmy raises a sardonic eyebrow. “What do you think?”

Well, if he knows it’ll be six months, then he won’t be surprised when Jimmy does eventually come home. That should keep him from taking it out on either of them.

“When's the court case? I know we can't say—”

“Already happened. That's how I got six months.”

This meeting room in the correction facility is heavily monitored. There's no fewer than three security cameras in the ceiling, and an officer standing against the wall, and a woman watching their conversation. There's a couple of other kids in the same strict uniform as Jimmy sitting with their parents, spaced across the family room in the dozen or so ugly green chairs (and one lucky family got the uncomfortable loveseat).

The two of them are together near the entryway, reunited after close to two months.

Lizzie tries to keep her emotions deeply under wraps. She's become an expert in impassivity, flying under the radar by keeping her head down and her face neutral.

Her mask almost broke, though, when she found out that Jimmy was in juvie.

The past two months have been a living nightmare.

She had made a friend. She and Jimmy both try to make themselves scarce during the day, and Lizzie usually spends a lot of time in the summer in the public library, which led her to meeting a guy named Oli—by chance, really. He didn’t spend a lot of time there, but he came to a teen program about editing software, and his incessant jokes had endeared him to her by the time the program ended.

Oli was loud, and funny, and nice, and something about him made Lizzie feel like she could be entirely herself around him. He had a warm smile, and sang half the things he said, and became her best friend in a matter of days.

She’d never really had a friend before. She’d never had anyone but Jimmy.

She should have been bringing Jimmy with her, but Jimmy had never cared for the library the way she did. It wasn’t his safespace the way it was hers (though Lizzie isn’t sure that Jimmy really has a safespace).

She should have brought him that one day, though.

She had stayed out late with Oli, chatting until almost six in the evening, before she finally made herself return home. It was a good deal later than she usually got back—she usually tried to be there before four to make her father dinner, which he would pack and take to the station, where he worked nights. But he had mentioned something about wanting fast food, and if he changed his mind, there were leftovers in the fridge.

It felt thrilling. It felt like a just rebellion, something that she had never dared to do before, but with Oli it felt so possible.

She felt normal. For once, she just felt like a kid (she was eighteen, so she wasn’t really a kid, but missed opportunities and all that. She and Oli wandered around town, and he bought her a shake from Sonic, and she felt so normal.

When she got home, the house was quiet.

Too quiet.

She wouldn't normally enter her father's room, but something felt wrong.

Lizzie realized almost immediately that Jimmy wasn’t home. She checked to make sure, of course, knocking on his bedroom door before opening it. Nothing.

Jimmy never told her where he went, but he did always tell her that he was going somewhere. She hadn’t received a text from him since this morning, when he told her that he was going to be back by three. It would be weird of him to go out again without letting her know.

The house was too quiet.

It felt wrong.

So she pushed open the door to her father’s silent bedroom.

Finding him had been the worst moment of her life. It had been bad enough that it immediately ranked as worse than the night several months ago, when she held her unconscious mother in her arms and talked with the emergency responders on the phone, begging them to come quicker.

It made a sick reflection of that night.

Jimmy's head in her lap, her fingers frantically combing through his bloodied hair.

His chest barely rising and falling as his eyes slid shut, his body beaten beyond its limits.

The woman on the phone telling her to breathe, that everything would be okay, that the ambulance was on its way.

She had sat in the waiting room of the hospital for hours, staring at the tile floor. One kind stranger brought her a granola bar from the vending machine. She didn’t eat it.

Their father turned up around six in the morning, after his shift ended. He barely looked at her, just handed her five dollars for the bus and went to talk to the receptionist.

She didn’t need the five dollars. She already had a bus pass.

She went home anyway, cleaned the bloodstained carpet (and the dirty tracks left by the rolling stretcher), and waited.

Lizzie didn’t leave the house that day, or the day after that, or any day that followed. She did everything she could to be entirely invisible yet useful, spent most of each day cleaning and cooking, not daring to ask after Jimmy’s condition when Dad was already so angry (because he was, barely speaking a word except to shout at her, his footsteps thundering through the townhouse).

When a month went by, she started wondering if he really did die. Would Dad tell her? Jimmy didn’t have any friends, as far as she knew. There would be no one but her to care if he was gone, no reason to have a funeral.

Her father made a comment, then, one day, about how her useless brother was never coming back, and Lizzie almost broke down right then and there.

He was dead, then. She had hoped that Dad would at least be shaken, like he was with Mom, but he was just angrier than ever.

She felt unmoored, abandoned. Hopeless. Messages from Oli went unread. Requests from her father went unheard.

She drifted, entirely alone in the world, and cried.

Luckily, Lizzie only went two days believing that Jimmy was dead before she found the packet with pamphlets about the youth correctional facility, what kind of schooling the children there received, and the strict visiting hours.

She found it in the trash.

It was stupid, but she stormed right up to her father’s bedroom (where he was sleeping, mid-morning as it was) and slammed open the door, pamphlet clenched in her fist, ready to scream at him because she thought he was dead, she thought her baby brother had died—

But when Dad stirred, her eyes caught on the bloodstain that she hadn’t quite been able to get out of the carpet.

He always has his gun under his pillow.

She left quietly, easing the door shut, her hands trembling.

Visiting hours were Wednesdays from 1-3pm. She caught the 10am bus, which took her close enough to the facility that she could walk the rest of the way. She arrived right at 1pm, only to be told that Jimmy did not have visitation privileges that week, and maybe she could try again next week?

It’s the next week, now, and Jimmy looks thin and tired and his arm’s in a cast; his hair is cropped short and his clothes don’t quite fit, but he’s alive and sitting in front of her.

“I don’t understand,” Lizzie says. “How did you end up arrested?” “Gang violence,” Jimmy spits. “Apparently, I’ve been involved with local gangs.”

“But you were the one—”

“There were three witnesses who said I started the fight.”

So he had done something to cover it up. He had pulled whatever strings he had to make sure that he didn’t get persecuted for what he did to her brother.

Lizzie wishes that she could be surprised that anyone would believe that Jimmy, rake-thin and barely five foot five, is involved in gangs, but she isn’t. She wouldn’t be surprised if Jimmy had argued and fought the whole time he’d been here, and his belligerent nature would only have served to condemn him.

“Six months,” she muses.

“I’m gonna be here until I’m sixteen,” complains Jimmy.

“No you won’t. No wonder you dropped out, you can’t do basic math.”

“Shut up.” Jimmy moves as if to punch her arm, but hesitates halfway and lets his arm drop, casting a nervous glance toward the officer.

Lizzie can guess why he didn’t have visiting privileges last week.

“Are you . . . okay, though?” she asks, eyes darting between his broken arm and his exhausted eyes. Jimmy makes a face.

“Yeah, I guess,” he says. “It’s . . . it sucks. Better than the hospital, though.”

“How long were you there?”

“Ten days in the hospital, two weeks in temporary holding, then here,” Jimmy lists off. “Put me in a coma and everything. Somehow, I’m still around.”

They both know Jimmy’s too young to be saying things like that. Fifteen-year-old kids shouldn’t be so cynical about their own near death experiences.

But how many times has Lizzie cleaned Jimmy’s cuts? How many times has she put ice on his bruises? How many times has she held him as he cried, starting when a little six-year-old crawled into her bed and sobbed about how daddy hit him so hard he fell over?

“Maybe you should tell them,” she says eventually, but Jimmy shakes his head.

“I’m fine. It’s not too bad. The food’s okay. My roommate is cool.”

Lizzie examines his face, searching it for any sign of a lie. She’s always been able to tell when he’s lying. He’s pretty obvious about it—his voice pitches up all weird, he can barely keep from smiling, he refuses to meet her eyes.

She really doesn’t think he’s lying. He seems honest, even if his eyes keep darting toward the clock on the wall.

He’s okay, here. He’s safe. He may be in prison, but he’s not going to get hurt while he’s here (unless he picks a fight, which . . . yeah. That might happen).

“Okay,” she says slowly.

For a moment, she envies him, just a little bit. He gets to be here, safe within these walls, while she has to tread around their father’s rage for six months without her brother as a buffer. Dad doesn’t often hit her, but that’s only because Jimmy usually takes the brunt of it. What will happen when he isn’t there? What will she have to endure for these next five months in hell?

Guilt immediately washes her. How could she—how could she even think that, when the only reason Jimmy is here—

“Do you—” Jimmy starts, then cuts himself off. “Never mind.”

“No, say it.”

“I. . . .” he lowers his voice, leans in a bit. “Did I . . . deserve it?”

His face is open, genuine, waiting to be hurt, and all Lizzie wants to do is pull him into a hug and never let go until he feels safe and like a kid again.

How could she get all wrapped up in herself? Jimmy almost died, and he’s asking her if he deserved it. He thought he deserved to be beaten to death!

“No,” she says immediately. “Never.”

“I—I made him angry, I should have known better—”

“You never deserve it. I promise. Never.”

Jimmy’s eyes fall to his cast. His fingers resume picking at his sleeve, pulling out a long thread.

“They thought I might not wake up,” he mumbles. “Something about my intestines and sepsis. I dunno. But—look, I’m just . . . I’m glad it was me, and not you.”

Lizzie supposes she ought to feel touched, but mostly she feels sick. “I’m glad you’ll be okay,” she says softly, unsure how to respond to Jimmy’s uncharacteristic vulnerability. His face scrunches up.

“Gross, you don’t have to be all sappy,” he grumbles. “I try to have one serious moment, and this is what happens.”

“Yeah, well. Shut up.”

“Will you be coming by next week?” Jimmy asks, clearly going for nonchalance. Lizzie, without even asking if it’s okay, pulls him into a hug.

Jimmy makes a retching sound, stiff against her, but he doesn’t pull away first.

Lizzie holds him for as long as she wants, and wishes it could be even longer.

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

A major focus of Summer at the Library for Teens is the Teen Zine Challenge. If you'd like to make a zine of your own, here are some online resources to get you started!

Summer at the Library Teen Zine Challenge

Teen Zines: Represent Your Library!

Zines at the New York Public Library

Design at Home: Design a Zine

Spockanalia -- The First Star Trek Fanzine

Teen Take New York: Map Free City

zinelibraries.info

Unstuck: Ideas For Your Next Zine

How to Plan a Zine Project

p.s. - Many libraries in the New York Public Library system will be having zine programs and/or zine-making stations this summer. Please reach out to your local library and find out if and when they will have zine-making materials available for teens.

p.p.s. - If you're close to the Kingsbridge Library, we have Make Your Own Zine Take-Home Kits for ages 12 - 18, while supplies last!

[swantonlibraryteens]

[kleyamarki]

I’d love to hear some library stories!

Okay friends here is my support your local public library manifesto:

I have worked in a public library for a little over a year now, and I worked in an academic library for a year and a half. They’re two different beasts, and I love both, but public libraries will always have a special place in my heart.

Lately, as I’m sure you know, public libraries in the US have been under attack by people who really don’t understand public libraries and all that their employees do.

So, here are some of the things that I’ve done in my year of public library work that people outside of it might not think of:

1. I’ve taught several older adults how to text on their iPhone for the first time, and how to use their smart phones generally.

2. I led teens through a library orientation to show them all we have to offer (which is pretty important when we regularly have 50-60 teens hanging out at my branch after school).

3. I’ve helped people over chat reference locate information and obituaries for their relatives. This involved looking through old newspapers and databases — it was really cool and the patrons are always extremely thankful!!

4. I helped a woman locate her many-greats grandfather’s civil war records using our local history collection.

5. I’ve printed countless tax forms for people and made appointments for them to get their taxes done at the library for free.

6. I’ve developed relationships with the local community college and a local university to get more college students to use the public library and to get them out into their community. (Let me brag here: this is in the strategic plan to be completed by fiscal year 2026, and I, a 23 year old library associate, have already been doing this, teehee)

7. I set up 4 all-ages displays and 2 adult displays this year alone, and I have 2 more I’m setting up in September.

8. I’ve helped kids locate materials for homework in books and using our online resources.

9. I’ve helped with our branch’s Lunch at the Library program, which feeds any kid up to age 18 for free every weekday during the summer.

10. I’ve helped people young and old with resumes, job applications, and helped them find career readiness and test prep materials countless times.

Libraries are SO much more than just books!!!! We have online resources, puzzles, board games, cameras, fishing poles, cake pans, and so much more!! We have programming for ALL ages! I specifically program for 20s-30s! Check us out!!!!! And don’t forget: public libraries are some of the last spaces that you can exist in without having to spend money. They need to be protected, appreciated, and most of all VISITED!!!

Go get a library card and check us out!!!!!!

[castiel-left-his-mark-on-me]

Attention All Library Lovers - Urgent Call to Action!

On Friday night an executive order was issued, significantly reducing the functions of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and eliminating many of its non-statutory programs. The IMLS is the only federal agency solely dedicated to supporting and funding America’s libraries. In 2024, California (as an example) received the most IMLS funding nationwide, including nearly $16 million for libraries through the Grants to States program, an additional $1.8 million in other library grants, and nearly $9 million for museums. Administered by the California State Library, IMLS funds have supported vital statewide programs such as ebooks for all, teen workforce readiness, summer reading, early childhood development, veterans' services, rural and Tribal libraries, the Braille and Talking Book Library, and more. Additionally, grants to communities help local agencies address specific needs within their jurisdictions. The Benicia Public Library has benefited from several IMLS grants funding specific programs for our community as well as from several statewide programs funded by IMLS. While Grants to States are statutorily funded, it is critical to maintain the statutory protections provided by the Museum and Library Services Act. Any threat to IMLS funding would have massive implications for libraries across California and the nation. We need everyone to take action to preserve the Institute of Museum and Library Services and its funding for libraries in every state. How can you help? Call your Representatives and Senators! Here's a script you can use and customize: Hi, my name is [NAME], and I’m a constituent from [CITY]. I'm calling to urge [REPRESENTATIVE OR SENATOR] to oppose any efforts to dismantle or defund the Institute of Museum and Library Services. IMLS funding is essential for critical services, including summer reading programs, workforce readiness, early childhood development and literacy, services for veterans and the blind, rural and Tribal libraries, access to ebooks, and more. It also provides community grants that support local needs. This funding is vital for libraries to continue serving and strengthening our communities. Thank you for your time and consideration. IF LEAVING VOICEMAIL: Please leave your full street address to ensure your call is counted. Find your representative: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member IMLS funding is a small portion of the federal budget but has an enormous impact on our communities. This is a crucial time to share stories of how our libraries support and benefit the people we serve. Thank you.

[mistchievous]

you work in a library! you're living my dream! 💜 do you have a thoughts/opinions on what you would like people to know about libraries? (or top 5 fave authors if not)

Oh God. Please don't ask for my favorite anything. I'm terrible at making lists like that. 😂

But I love working in a library! It's such a chill space!

I think the main thing I'd want people to know is that libraries are more than just books. Like, obviously books are important (and if your library doesn't have a book on hand, I pretty much guarantee they can get it for you via ILL), but they generally have so much more to offer. And I don't mean e-books, though those are a thing too! You should look into your local libraries' resources and even the resources of library systems around you and around your county/state/etc. Plenty of places have online resources and databases that you don't even have to live in the area to access.

And also, they're FREE community spaces. You can go there and just be without anyone expecting anything of you. You don't need to buy a coffee or justify your existence. Need wifi? Go to the library. Need to use a computer? Go to the library. Need a study room? Go to the library. Need to make copies or fax? Go to the library. Need a large meeting room for a performance or gathering or anything at all? Go the library. Does your library system have maker spaces? Go use sewing machines, 3D printers, and more. One of our branches even has a professional recording studio that you can book and use for free, and it provides recording equipment and premium software.

Wanna stream movies or tv shows without having to pay or pirate, check a site like www.justwatch.com which will tell you if library provided resources like Hoopla or Kanopy have them available allowing you access with just your library card number. (Or just go check out the DVD!) There are often expensive databases available for free as well. Like Westlaw which many people in law pay through the nose for. Or Freegal where you can download music for free. Or Tutor.com which allows you free live professional academic assistance. My system has well over a hundred different databases for all age groups. Kids, teens, young adults, adults, and seniors.

Not to mention, libraries offer community programming for all age groups as well. It's not just Book Club, though we have those too. We do story times for kids. Crafts, STEM programming, performances by local and national performers (especially in the summer), etc. We show movies using large projector screens, have video game and TTRPG programs, and offer prizes for programs such as our Summer Reading Program to encourage people to read. We also have a lot of cultural and historical local archives that house information and photographs and the like that can't be accessed anywhere else in the world.

This answer is getting long, and I've really only scratched the surface, y'all. Libraries are important spaces, and they're one of the few truly free and open community spaces still available. It's infuriating when you have people who think we're obsolete and can be replaced by paid services like Audible and Kindle Unlimited. It makes me want to scream.

Support your local libraries, okay? They matter.

[elgatodeltren]

Nat, you said your getting your master's degree in library science? what does that entail? I know very little about that degree so Im kinda interested

I’m sorry it took me so long to answer this I was overthinking it forreal 😭😭😭

But yes I’m getting my MSLS (masters of science in library science) more commonly called an MLIS (masters of library and information science) at other universities. Theres four core classes that everyone takes, and they kinda provide a foundation before you get to the more “fun” electives. Right now I’m taking two of the core classes - information in society (which is a lot of just. General principles of information and information ethics and information policy and all that boring stuff) and Knowledge Organization (which is like how library collections are organized). I sign up for summer and fall classes tomorrow! Getting the rest of my core classes out of the way, but I will be (assuming it doesn’t fill up that is) taking a class on Teen Programming and Outreach! I’m excited for that one since it will be especially relevant to my current job as an adult/teen programmer and I’m always looking for ways to connect with the teens better

[rasalgethi-herculis]

I've been thinking about how I don't much align with the term hippie lately. I think I am more granola punk. Punk to me means direct action that seeks to dismantle the consumerist mindset within the capitalist system while building stronger communities at the same time. This is what I mean:

- Takes a wilderness first responder class to be able to take care of others in the backcountry

- Gets their clothes and equipment secondhand when they can.

- Who needs to buy a new bike rack when you have ratchet straps and an old rug that you can put on top of your car?

- "I survived icicle jarts!" Winter carnival 2024

- Keeping a stash of food in the bear can in your car for yourself or hungry passengers

- Getting trained and keeping narcan with you because you never know when you will need it

- Wearing the puffy from when your mother was a teen because it fits and is warm in the winter

- Having about two outfits in the summer because you live in swimsuits for going to the river that's at a public park.

- Buying local when you can, going to the farmers market, working to save money for a farm share for next year

- Sending letters to your significant other as they work in a remote location for the summer.

- Hiking 3+ miles in the woods to see your significant other on weekends when you are off work so you can build your connection to them and nature

- Attending the weekly ceasefire letter writing campaign at the local library

- Learning how to make a traditional bread recipe after looking at art in the library sent over by Ukrainian children

- Working for a non-profit that seeks to increase community in a very rural area through writing and art

- Car camping instead of renting an Airbnb

- Fixing your own car with friends who are mechanics so you can learn.

- Repairing your shoes

- Identifying migratory birds and reporting it for the yearly data

- Having a knife on you at all times because it really is useful for so many things

- Your honors' cord for your Outdoor Studies minor is braided paracord so you keep it with you in the backcountry

- Getting your Water Safety Instructor Certification so you can start to build an aquatics program in an area where people often recreate around water so they can do it safely

Am I on something here? Is there a community like this that exists already? Does it have a name? There's a small town element to it, but that's not quite it. Feels hearty. Like it sticks to your bones.