Reading Cave Crave

Last week I got a new office chair (my back thanks you!)

The next day, our office manager offered us the box it came in.

I found the good boxcutter. Intrepid Brooke found the brown butcher paper, scissors and a mile of tape and 45 minutes later...

I hope you note the nifty skylights, the comfy bean bag and the exclusive nature of our box...ahem Reading Cave. No sooner was it done, then kids hopped inside one by one for a relaxing read. 

Even better, that very afternoon, as part of our DIY "kids-decorate-the department" effort, our plain cave was transformed with cave paintings:

Now come on, do we work in a great profession or what?!?!



DIY Art is EZ

We have started a tradition at our library of holding some kind of kid-led DIY art or decoration program within the first week or two of the start of Summer Library Program.  We gather art materials and let the kids loose.

It may be our easiest, mellowest and most delightful program. And we never have to worry about pre-decorating the area to a theme. The kids take care of it with their creative touches.

This year, thanks to Crayola Window Markers, a crowd of kids created a garden of beauty on our windows. These few pictures hardly do justice to the work of the sixty kids who filled eight windows with their ideas. If you happen to be passing by in the next eight weeks though...

Mooo - Clip Art for You!

The Buzz column in the April 2010 issue in School Library Journal notes a great clip art resource that is new to me: The Open Clip Art Library. It has thousands of clip art images that are free to download and can be used for any purpose. And if you are an arty type, you are encouraged to upload images to share with all.  It's a pretty great resource, especially for folks using Open Office or looking to shake up the usual clip art they rely on. The categories are a little broad and it may not be easy to get just what you need quickly but it really has an amazing variety of stuff to browse through.  Oh, be still my commercial-art-beating heart!

Thanks to Kathy Ishizuka for sharing this great site.

Image: Cartoon Cow by lemmling from OCAL

What's the Best Skill You Picked Up Post-Degree?

As I was designing and putting up signs for the new concept book collection (part of that big Picture book shift) today, I was thanking my lucky stars that I took commercial art and design course work between library jobs many moons ago.

That design work - learning composition; type; color work; different art mediums; theories behind catching the eyes and minds of viewers and so much more - really has helped me again and again over the years. It helped me develop an eye for creating posters; handouts; newsletters and projects that has stood me in good stead at jobs where we have no pr or design person. I'm not saying I am an expert - just that I have a decent chance of creating a quick and readable poster/handout/thing without alot of fretting.

It helped me as well in my work as a children's picture book reviewer for SLJ and was invaluable in my time serving on the Caldecott committee many years ago. I always considered those six months learning graphics know-how as the best money I ever spent in terms of making my library job easier and increasing my skills.

How about you? What additional learning opportunities or coursework enhanced your skills and made you a better youth librarian?

Image: 'Crayons' http://www.flickr.com/photos/35237092540@N01/3286004323