Posts from Muhlenberg Library

Every week, the Teen Advisory groups from Jefferson Market Library and Muhlenberg Library take a photo of what's happening during their meeting. Here's last week's photos:  

Find a Teen Advisory Group close to you and get involved in your library!  

Every week the Teen Advisory Groups from the Jefferson Market Library and the Muhlenberg Library take a photo of what's happening during their meeting. Here's last week's photos: 

Get ready for one of the darkest books I've seen written for YA readers. 

Janne Teller's Nothing is the story of a group of eighth graders trying to find meaning in the world.  Sounds pleasant enough, right?

I was drawn to Colin Meloy's Wildwood for two very superficial yet important reasons.  

In The Magnolia League, Alex is a free spirit that is forced to move in with her grandmother after her mother’s mysterious death. Alex doesn’t want to leave her commune in California, and Savannah, Georgia seems like a world away from everything she knows. 

Hey there summer campers!

We are working on a great new blog post that includes making your own mini loom! Until then, check out a blog post from last year, Graphic Ts! Enjoy!

What do you get when you combine 11 teenagers, two brave judges, and a shopping bag filled with after-school snacks? Muhlenberg Library’s first annual “Top Chef” competition!

Welcome back to Summer Camp! I hope you had fun with Jessica’s paper people — I know I did!

This week, we’ll be using lace as a delicate and unique stencil. You can use fabric lace or paper doilies (as I used in this project) on any number of things: t-shirts, paper, or one of the many free tote bags everyone seems to have nowadays.

This week's craft was inspired by a project in the book Print! 25 Original Projects Using Hand-Printing Techniques on Fabric and Paper by Joy Jolliffe, which can be found at many of our neighborhood libraries.

For this project, you will need:

Sunny is accustomed to being different. She was born in New York City but lives in Nigeria. She has the same features as her West African family, but she is an albino. The people in her community don’t know what to make of her, so they stay away or call her names.

Hi there! 
Our next craft will be posted on Tuesday, May 31th  and until then, here are some fun project ideas that we found online:

Hello and welcome to Hand-Made's Summer Camp!

Our first project is making woven cards, adapted from Sarah Swett's book, Kids Weaving.

For nearly 200 years, Ruby and her mother have led their group of congregants through years and years of backbreaking work, hoping for the return of Otto, Ruby's father and their leader, to come and save them. They are forced to harvest water, an almost impossible task, and are beaten if they don’t reach their quota. 

My favorite way to celebrate Earth Day is to bring more plants into my home.  But sadly, the plants rarely make it to see Memorial Day.  For all of you out there who want to fill their homes with plants, but then have trouble keeping them alive, terrariums might be the answer. 

On March 18, Muhlenberg Library was lucky to host a panel of amazing writers who read from their newest books for teens.  Helen Ellis was the first author to arrive at the panel, so I had the chance to get to know her a little bit and meet her mom! The Library had just ordered copies of her first book for teens, called The Turning: What Curiosity Kills, but sadly, didn’t make it in time for the reading. Luckily, Ellis brought a few copies of her book for teens to take home, and I was able to score a copy to read over the weekend. I’m so glad I did! 

We've gotten to know a lot of wonderful patrons that come to Muhlenberg and thought that we would return the favor. 

Ashley Curran has been the site manager of Muhlenberg since September 2010 and has already made big changes in the branch. 

Dating violence is a problem that is unfortunately all too common in teenagers' lives.  Abuse comes in many forms.  It can be physical as well as emotional, verbal and sexual, and it can happen to anyone.  This week, Marie Hansen, superstar librarian at Jefferson Market, posted a list of resources for people who are either in an abusive relationship or who know someone who is in an abusive relationship. 

YA literature has tackled this difficult subject in many books that can be checked out at your local library. 

Have you always meant to start a craft or hobby and froze when faced with a blank canvas, empty music paper or a glowing computer screen? You are not alone. Starting creative projects has always been on my New Year's resolution list. This year, I’m doing some prep work before facing that blank canvas and looking at books about developing your creativity written by people who are established artists in their own right.

At our last Teen Advisory Group (TAG), I asked members what books they would recommend to other YA readers. After some debate, we put together a list and I learned a few things. The Hunger Games still reigns supreme, Harry Potter is now a classic, and Twilight is so 2010. Enjoy!

Last Friday, Muhlenberg’s Teen Advisory Group got together and played Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Everyone had an opinion and I thought it would be perfect for the very first “TAG reviews” installment. Let me just say that the reviews were very mixed…