Summer Reading at West Boulevard Branch Library

West Boulevard was "buzzing" with activity on Monday. There were over fifty children from daycares, preschools, and summer programs in the surrounding areas and a few individual children there to do some bug crafts for "Crazy Craft Day!" They had a great time making butterflies, bees, dragonflies and whatever bug they could imagine out of clothespins, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, and beads. It was a great craft and the kids learned more about our summer reading theme. There's one more Monday left in July to enjoy "Crazy Craft Day" so don't miss out! Miss Danielle is pictured here with her bug craft!

There were many great displays out in the children's area for our "Catch the Reading Bug" theme. I captured some on camera, but there are even more! It's a bright, festive atmosphere in the children's department at the West Boulevard branch.

Their "Buggin' Out Blowout" will celebrate the end of summer reading on July 30 at 2pm. Join them for some food, fun, entertainment and surprises!

Matthews Branch ESL Storytime

Matthews Branch Library’s ESL storytime began in September 2007. Joanne de Bruyn started with just a small number of kids but after a few months through diligent perseverance she established a group of regular attendees. In 2008 Dottie Dysard, a volunteer who enjoys and has conversational skill with ESL adults, offered her services to the parents of the ESL storytime children. This benefitted our group because the parents conduct their own class while the kids were attending storytime. This has anchored the classes as their parents are motivated to come for their session as well as their children’s session.

For each weekly program, Joanne generates a vocabulary sheet related to the books she plans to read that week. She also supplies the sheet to Dottie, allowing her a springboard for conversation in her parent’s group by providing discussion material relative to their children’s’ storytime content. The ESL storytime begins with a game, usually a matching game which takes the form of “Memory” with one card of the pair a picture and the other a word. Joanne creates the memory game to correlate with the books the group reads for the session. Everyone’s favorite game is played at the end of the hour when Joanne stands in the middle and the kids stand in a circle around her. She tosses a beach ball to one of the kids and says something like “Name one fruit.” Once the child has done so, they throw the ball back to Joanne, who then throws it to another child and asks another question. This works well because Joanne tailors the questions to the child abilities and knowledge.

Our ESL storytime group and their parents had a wonderful end-of-the-year-party in May. For this final storytime several of the parents prepared and presented a dish from their native country making the party a wonderfully international event. Joanne has set dates for the ESL storytimes sessions in the fall 2008 and she looks forward to another outstanding and exciting year of building relationships through our special programming to ESL families. Her efforts are well received and appreciated by the families with whom she serves. Kudos to Joanne for her hard work and dedication with our community’s ESL families!

Summer Reading at Freedom Regional Library

IMG_0564
Originally uploaded by LibraryInAction

This summer Freedom Regional is offering a series of programs called "Catch the Reading Bug Summer Reading Series" where they have all kinds of activities going on! You may hear some stories of bugs and then do some buggy activities, watch a movie or make some bug crafts! They are having a Summer Reading Finale on August 6th at 2:00 pm. Don't miss it!

Summer Reading at North County Regional Library

I had the opportunity to drop-in to North County Regional and see a couple of their programs a couple of weeks ago. One program was called "Warm Up Your Muscles" which was a great fitness program for preschoolers. The kids were very active and enjoyed moving around, dancing, and stretching. The other program was an acting program for preschoolers. The children read The Three Billy Goats Gruff a few times, put on costumes and then acted out the story together. Then they switched roles and played different characters. They did a great job!

North County has had many great summer reading programs and will have a few more in the last couple weeks of July. The NCO Origami Club, Warm Up Your Muscles, and Fun Art 4 Kids programs will continue. Don't miss the Readers' Theatre Finale and Ice Cream Social on July 30 at 2:00 where they will perform "Who's in Rabbit's House?" and "Grasshopper to the Rescue."

Summer Reading at Matthews Branch Library

Ever seen a flea circus? The children at Matthews got to see Alberti's Famous Flea Circus this summer. It was a great show that provided humor and a fun circus show. The patrons were in a line around the children's room ready to get in!

Make some edible bugs at the Choco-crawlers program on Thursday at 3:30 and watch a bug-themed movie on Friday at 3:00. Matthews provides many morning programs for infants (Jumping Beans and Peapods), toddlers (Young & Restless, Music and Movement and Time for Twos), and preschool children (Little Creations, Pre-school Pizazz, Boogie-Woogie Books, Ready to Learn and Pre-School Picnic). Call them to register!

Summer Reading at Sugar Creek Branch Library

Wow! When you walk into the children's department at Sugar Creek Library, all of a sudden you imagine you're a tiny little bug in an amazing fairy tale of a garden. The children's staff

at Sugar Creek spent so much time and energy into making an incredible garden of paper flowers on their rounded back wall. Check it out! It is truly gorgeous.

You can see that the staff at Sugar Creek have been very busy this summer! They had a special appearance by the band "Criss Cross Mango Sauce"

in June. They still have many more programs to come in the month of July! They will have beekeepers come and talk about bees, as well as show off their little friends! There are many other buggy programs about fireflies, butterflies, and bug investigations. Their summer finale will include releasing ladybugs and butterflies back into the wild. It should be a spectacular event! Check out their full listing of programs.

Summer Reading at University City Regional Library

Ladybugs everywhere! At University City Regional Library Viviette White provided a great program of ladybug stories, facts and crafts for children in their area.

They've provided many great programs this summer with many more to come! There are some programs with gaming, movies, stories and more. There will be a great program, "The Wonderful World of Worm Composting" on Thursday, July 17 at 3:00pm.

Their End of the Summer Reading Party will be on August 7th at 7:00 pm. Be sure to stop by!

Summer Reading at South County Regional Library

Yesterday at South County Regional there was a Storybook Character Extravaganza! It was an amazing afternoon. There were tables setup all over the children's room featuring different storybooks. Children could hear the story of The Baby Beebee Bird and make their own. There was a Charlotte's Web ring toss. Kids were making tiaras just like Fancy Nancy. There were pirate stories and crafts, a beanbag toss around the world, resfreshments and more!

Not only did South County have such a great program as this, but they have been busy with many other programs! They offer many morning programs for infants up to preschool age, and on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons they have programs for schoolage children. They've signed up over 3,000 children for the Summer Reading program with more to come! Take a trip to South County and check out all they have to offer.

Summer Reading at Davidson Branch Library

Beverly's program
Originally uploaded by LibraryInAction

Today I visited Davidson Branch Library in Davidson, NC. Beverly Swanson is the Children's specialist at this branch. Beverly has done many great programs this summer relating to our summer reading theme of "Catch the Reading Bug." She had a program where they made bee mobiles and talked about bees. Next week they will make ladybug frames and discuss different ladybug facts.

Today she had a program on butterflies. The children had a chance to watch a quick video on the life cycle of a butterfly (or caterpillar), then they played butterfly bingo. She even had them use graham cracker bees as their markers! And of course they got to eat them when the game was over. After they finished their games of bingo they each made their own butterfly gliders. They were able to decorate them and then put the packaged butterflies together and make them fly!

My favorite thing that Davidson Branch has done this summer is to adopt 4 hissing cockroaches. They have been having a contest all summer to name these bugs. The finalists have been chosen and the winners will be announced next week!

Summer Reading 2008

Summer is in full swing now. In fact, our Summer Reading program is halfway finished as of yesterday. What does that mean? Hurry to your local library to sign up!

There are two different programs for ages birth to rising 5th graders. If your child is between the ages of birth to 4 yrs. then they can join our Wee Read program, where parents count the number of times you read to your little one. If you are in Kindergarten to rising 5th grade then you can join the Summer Reading Club. The theme this year is called "Catch the Reading Bug." If you're a teenager or an adult and this sounds interesting to you, too, then don't be left out! We have a program for teens called "Metamorphosis @ Your Library" and for adults there is a program called "Relax & Read."

Each of the PLCMC branches celebrates summer with these special summer reading programs. Though we all have the same themes, prizes, reading records, opportunity to read down your fines, and the same rules, there are many differences among our branches. Over the last few weeks of summer, I will be highlighting each branch's Children's Department and the work they are doing this summer. Stay tuned to see your local branch in the spotlight!

Festival at Mountain Island

On June 14th, 2008 the Mountain Island Branch hosted a festival for the Spanish speaking community. This event was sparked when volunteer of six years, Yolanda Vega, suggested reaching out to the local Spanish speaking community and inviting them to get to know their local library. Families participated in Spanish storytelling, face painting, bubbles, sidewalk chalk and received a tour of the library. Library applications were filled out and local teen volunteers helped sign up children for summer reading.

Storytimes To GROW!

On February 14 PLCMC's "Storytimes To Go" program was opened up to all our public. Yes, that means thousands of items had been sorted through, contents inventoried and all these literacy kits cataloged. In addition we made them available to anyone to check out, put on hold and take home--as easily as dealing with a book. So, what came of it? Circulation statistics more than doubled in the first month! The first person to check out a Storytimes To Go kit? A mother--who found these resources on her on through the our online catalog.
Here's to sharing our resources, skills and good with our community. It's a sure ingredient for growth.

Día de Los Niños

We at PLCMC are ready to celebrate Día de Los Niños in a big way. On Sunday, April 27 there will be a full afternoon of activities, crafts, a special visit by Yuyi Morales! This day of celebration is open to everyone.
In addition to this big event at ImaginOn many of our branches have been celebrating in the weeks leading up to Día with programs, displays and on-going crafts for all to enjoy. Bringing attention to learning, children, reading and our diverse world--it's what Día is all about...just like libraries!

The picture posted here is South County Regional's Día Make-A-Flag station.

Family Portrait Days at Your Library Continue!

Family Portrait Days are a HUGE success! We've had so many families come to different locations across our county that are greatly pleased and appreciative of this friendly service.
We've now had programs at Matthews, Mountain Island, Independence, Steele Creek and Plaza Midwood Branches. No matter what your family looks like (it can even just be you!), I encourage you to take part in this fantastic program! Ian Nguyen is an excellent photographer and has been so willing and eager to participate in this program. Thanks, Ian!

Not only do you have an opportunity to have your picture on our website or in our publicity, but you also receive one 5x7 of your family along with a CD of all your pictures to take home! Your next opportunity to join us will be this Saturday, April 5 at Morrison Branch Library. Keep an eye out for us to come to the branch nearest you!

Noisy Storytime!

In School Library Journal's September 2007 issue there was an article that sparked my interest. The article titled, "The Boy Problem: Many Boys Think School is Stupid" actually made me think of all children, not just boys. The title may be misleading from what I created from it - a Noisy Storytime for all children ages 3-5. Here is a section from the article that popped out at me.

"It would be nice if we could change the primary school curriculum nationwide, to make it more developmentally appropriate by restoring recess to its rightful place and reintroducing field trips to the park, so that five-year-olds could splash in a pond and chase tadpoles, instead of sitting still and being quiet most of the day. But that’s not likely to happen anytime soon.

A more practical alternative that librarians and other educators can put into place right now is to offer a choice of storytime formats: Noisy-Time Storytime and Quiet-Time Storytime.

Here are the rules for the former:
You may stand, sit, or lie down. But please don’t bump your neighbor.
You may make noise if you want.
Tapping, rapping, and clicking are permitted."

So on March 28 at Matthews Library, I had my first ever Noisy Storytime! I am hoping to have more of these, especially for school-age children. But for now, having this program for preschoolers worked really well! We sang songs, had a parade with different instruments from around the world, and played with colorful scarves as we shouted out their color. I'll keep you posted on other Noisy Storytimes in our community!

Authors Bring Books to Life

There is nothing quite like meeting the person who wrote a book you love. Cornelius Branch Library will be offering an opportunity for fans of Dairy Queen and The Off Season to do just that...to meet the author--Catherine Murdock.

Not only is this a great chance to meet this popluar author, it is a collaborative effort between PLCMC's Youth & Outreach Services and Black Forest Books & Toys.

Find out more about event at PLCMC's Library Loft.

Special Thanks to our very own Catherine H. at Cornelius for helping working to make this a remarkable event!

Yes Wii Can!

Working in a library is such a rewarding job but providing library services to patrons who can not use the library in a traditional manner is even more rewarding. In bringing library experiences to the community, the Youth and Outreach senior adult program has successfully moved beyond the barriers of traditional services. Our seniors are experiencing programs that include travel log, memory activities, credit card fraud fighters workshop and technology. Pictured are our patrons from Share and Care adult daycare. Patrons of all ages and abilities have the opportunity to step away from their existing restraints and bowl, golf, play tennis and even box as they played several Wii games. Participants cheered at others successes and were amazed with their own ability. It was moving and rewarding to witness and assist with the delivery of this experience.

Thank you Jason Hyatt and Carl Pritchard! This was an excellent program.

The Creative Space (DEAL Challenge)

The Public Library offers many creative experiences and enviromments to the community we serve. I've been thinking much lately about how we can encourage our staff to also have a creative "work environment."
Do you have a creative bent? How do you use this on the job? Are there ways our work environments help or hinder our creativity?
Are there simple things we can do to encourage and foster creativity each day on the job (and what benefit might this have for our community?).
Share your thoughts...

Paint The Town Read-y!

These preschoolers are ready to Paint the Town Read! They are not alone. PLCMC Staff throughout Mecklenburg County are poised to unleash one of the biggest, freshest and reading-est (that's probably not a word, but fun to write) initiatives we've ever launched. Adults, teens, senior adults and children are all invited to join in!
Tomorrow community members all over the county will be picking up their "painting kits" filled with goodies and encouraging them to have 5 great reading experiences. That's just the beginning of the fun. Find out everything that happens in the 2 month long celebration of reading, community and libraries on the Paint the Town Read web page.
Thanks, Connie E., for the photo!

Read to Me, Charlotte Presents Sheri Lynch!

When it is cold outside, like it was on the evening of January 24th, there is nothing nicer than snuggling under the covers and reading. Patrons of PLCMC were able to have a similar experience. Instead of snuggling under their own covers, they got to "snuggle" up with Sheri Lynch, co-host of The Bob and Sheri morning show on 107.9 The Link. Sheri Lynch participated in a Read to Me, Charlotte, family reading event. She shared stories with children of all ages at the Universiy City Branch. Parents enjoyed Sheri as much as the children! Claudia Williams, a staff member at PLCMC said, "My daughter called me to tell me how wonderful it was. My grandchildren (the most beautiful children there, of course) enjoyed the storytime so much! I just wanted to tell you thanks for providing a lovely library experience."

Thank you Sheri for reminding us in such a wonderful way to read to our children everyday!

Tags: Outreach, 107.9 The Link, Sheri Lynch.

Amy Kukla;Family Literacy Coordinator

The Power of "Thank You"

Receiving an unexpected email of appreciation or comment is a wonderful thing these days. Receiving a hand-typed hardcopy letter of appreciation is like a rare jewel.
Recently, I received a wonderful letter from a PLCMC user praising the dedication and helpfulness of our very own Melissa B. at Hickory Grove Branch. He was so thorough and sincere in his appreciation it is enough to make us all sit up tall and feel good about the work we do. Thank you, Mr. Richardson, for taking the time to express your gratitude. Especially, thank you, Melissa for igniting the reason behind the letter. You make lives better each day.

Two big things I take away from receiving this letter:

1. A strong reminder that our Youth & Outreach staff across the system are quite incredible!

2. Saying thank you is perhaps the best phrase we can say. Taking a step to write this out deepens the meaning even more.

Thank you.

Community Workshops

From child care centers to the county jail, the Youth and Outreach staff provides literacy workshops to meet the growing needs of our community. Though our area of concentration is community programs, contact us for workshop descriptions and facilitating opportunities. Several workshops are available in Spanish. Listed is a sample of free workshops offered through the department.

-All About Authors

-Process Art

-Simply Science

-Giggle Games

-Making Music

-Making Manipulatives/Flannelboard Fun

-Blogging for Teachers

-Theme Building

-Poetry and Writing

-Lifelong Learning

-Literacy in Motion

-Reading on the Run

-Shapes, Letter, Words

-Listo (Are you ready?)

-Como Ayudar a su hijo a tener exito en la escuela (How to help your child be successful in school)

-Leer para un futuro mejor (Reading for a Better Future)

-Every Child Ready to Read

-Bridging Cultures through Games, Stories and Songs

-Older Adults and Library Services

Drop Everything And Learn!

For the past several months the YO Team
has re-energized its commitment to personal and professional learning through a concept I call "Drop Everything And Learn". We call it DEAL for short. In a very small nutshell, this idea encourages staff to stay curious and follow-up with what inspires, intrigues or makes them wonder by learning more about it. How they go about that is up to them on an ongoing basis. At times, however, "DEAL challenges" are thrown out for staff to dig in and discover more about a topic, idea or something they've noted in their DEAL notebooks.

Recently, The YO Dept. had another Learn & Play Experience (our version of team building and staff enrichment with a slant toward making it fun). Knowing that the light rail in Charlotte had just opened to the public, we decided that we should know more about what the experience is like so that we can talk to our community about it. So, the whole team boarded the light rail, took it down to Southend and we had a great lunchtime together while learning the ins-and-outs of this new transportation system in Charlotte. Along with this trip there was a DEAL Challenge: Find out 3 new things about Charlotte or something else from the experience.
Here are 3 things I learned:

• Low country food CAN be low fat, low sodium. Try Woods on South to find out how.
• The light rail goes much slower than I imagined from uptown to Southend
• Atherton Mill was one owned by the Lance Co. (think Lance Crackers)

So, what have you learned lately about the community you live in? Comment and let's share.

By the way: I encourage managers and supervisors to have "Learn & Play Days" with your staff. It is a great experience, you learn more than you'd ever expect by taking this approach, and it builds a stronger team.

-Tony T.

Note: The photograph of the Charlotte skyline was taken by PLCMC's own Chris T. at South County.

Rocking Out With Gustafer

How do you help the community rock out in style...with REAL music and stories that are deep enough that the parents are going "Oh, yeah!" too? Find out by checking out our line-up of concerts with Gustafer Yellowgold at PLCMC.

The Youth & Outreach Services Team throughout the PLCMC system have collaborated to create a concert series that is sure to please music and story lovers of all breeds. Special thanks to Angela C., Mountain Island Lake Branch, and South County Regional for rocking it out with the GY!

Imagineers Band Rocks "Preschool Picnic"

On December 27th, ImaginOn's Spangler Library Preschool Picnic story time rocked with the debut performance of the Imagineers Band. The Wachovia Playhouse was packed as the crowd listened to selections such as Mama Don't Allow, Ode To Joy and Silent Night.

The Imagineers have been rehearsing together since this summer learning note values, how to read music and performance skills. The band primarily consists of members playing Boomwhackers and drums.

ImaginOn Staff are currently looking for new members and will resume rehearsals on January 16th. If you have a child between the ages of 6-11 years with an interest in music, call the Spangler Library at 704-973-2720.

Please Note, there is no prior music experience necessary! Just a love of music and a desire to learn!

Bean Bags Beckon...

The Teen Forum received an email last night from Melanie W. at PLCMC's Morrison Regional Branch that shows how something simple can have great (and quick) results:

"Ed went and got us 4 beanbag chairs at Garden Ridge today... He put two in our little YA nook/corner/little teen area already.

There are now 5 kids crammed over there sitting on the beanbag chairs and around the kids on the beanbag chairs reading quietly together. I've never seen that before.

It is really amazing what a couple of beanbag chairs did for our "teen section!" "

Yeah, for Teens, Teens Services and for Moments that make you go "Yes!"

Teen Tech Week--Tune In!

March 2-8, 2008 is Teen Tech Week. This year's theme is "Tune in @ your library" and PLCMC staff are doing just that! As of today, there is 100% participation in all branches for Teen Tech Week. That means that a special program or service will be happening at all 22 of our branches that offer services to teens during Teen Tech Week! The ipods, laptops, animation stations and ddr machines will be in full gear the first week of March across PLCMC.

One more reason to cheer the dedicated, tenacious and teen-supportive staff of PLCMC! Special thanks to Kelly and the Teen Tech Team!

Find out more about Teen Tech Week!

PLCMC's "Get Set 4 K" Chosen as an ALA Best Web Site

PLCMC's Web Site "Get Set 4 K" was recently chosen by the ALA/ALSC Great Web Sites for Kids Committee as one of the best web sites that supports children. Get Set 4 K was one of only 34 sites that was chosen out of a group of 400 which were eligible!

Thanks to all the Youth Services Staff who worked on this service-oriented site as well as PLCMC's Web Services Dept. for your commitment to high quality web services and content for youth and caregivers!

See all those sites selected at www.ala.org/greatsites

PLCMC Staff Are Wonderful!

The title says it all.
We have so much to be pleased and proud of with PLCMC Youth & Outreach Staff... People who reach out each day in ways that make lives better, richer, fuller! The collage is just a taste of the creativy and warmth of the Youth & Outreach Staff of PLCMC. Have you visited a branch library today to taste the delight and joy offered by our caring and dedicated staff? Have you sat in on a program that offered kids, teens(and adults!) all the wonder of the virtual world as well as the beauty of a well-told story? If not, then I invite you to pop in at any of our locations and let our staff delight, enlighten and suprise you. PLCMC Staff. It happens everyday in every library branch of PLCMC.
Thank you heartily!
Tony Tallent

iPod Update

It's been four months since the youth services staff at each branch received an iPod and docking speaker station for use in their programming. How are the iPods being used both inside the branches and outside the library walls? Here's a short list of how staff are putting ipods into action:

1. Staff at ImaginOn celebrated "Talk Like a Pirate Day" by creating an original pirate-themed playlist.

2. At North County Regional Library, a staff member volunteered to load the entire children's programming CD collection onto their branch iPod. Another staff member loaded Spanish language recordings for use in her ESL programs.

3. A YO Team outreach program at Mecklenburg County Jail North explored the connection between poetry and rap lyrics, complete with a rap playlist for participants to discuss and critique.

4. The Morrision Regional Library children's staff received a staff hands-on training session to explore creating playlists both "on the go" and within iTunes.

5. To go along with a Chinese lantern craft, the Myers Park branch staff used their iPod and speaker station to play music from China at their WordPlay Saturday booth.

6. Staff members at South County Regional library have created customized individual playlists to use during their storytimes and programs.

7. At the Sugar Creek branch, staff have created child-friendly playlists (Farm Animals, Movement, Tranportation, etc.) for use in their outreach efforts.

PLCMC + CCRI

The YO Team recently began a new partnership with Child Care Resources, Inc., an organization that works with families and communities to ensure that all children have access to high quality, affordable early learning and school-age opportunities and experiences. One of the first high impact results of this partnership was a day long training event on Saturday, December 8. Over 65 home child care providers participated in this free professional development experience at ImaginOn. UNCC Elementary Education professor Dr. Stephen Hancock presented a keynote address about language development. Afterwards participants were offered eight different break-out sessions. The various sessions were facilitated by CCRI staff and PLCMC YO staff. They covered a variety of topics, from working with infants to writing poetry with children. In addition to receiving 5 hours of training credit, everyone in attendance was offered a teacher loan card application and given an overview of the services PLCMC offers to early childhood teachers and child care providers. This was one of the first collaborative projects with CCRI and it was a huge success. It connected both organizations and provided a meaningful experience for everyone involved. Stay tuned for more from this unique partnership.

Two Moments of Meaning

One of the ways that PLCMC’s Storytimes To Go program has expanded recently is by taking trainings and workshops on the road to childcare centers and schools. At a workshop this evening in south Charlotte, one of the teachers told me she was pleased we were able to come to her school. I looked at her and asked, “Are you from Waxhaw?” I remembered this particular teacher because she attended a series of workshop offered last year at one of our uptown locations. On the evaluation for each workshop she wrote that she wished we offered workshops throughout the county because she had a one hour drive from Waxhaw to the center city. She was surprised that I remembered her, but her request was one that was frequently mentioned among YO staff as we began to offer these types of trainings. Our simple exchange tonight was meaningful for me because it tells me that we are moving in the right direction. We are meeting people where their needs are and everyone involved benefits from that.

Another moment rich in a different kind of meaning occurred later in the session. I queued up Louis Armstrong’s recording of “What a Wonderful World” on the iPod. As the music played I showed the picture book version of the song, turning the pages in time with the lyrics. One teacher began to cry. I paused the song and asked her if she was alright. She said that her father-in-law had recently passed away and this song was played at his funeral. A charge for the YO Team is to “maximize with meaning.” This moment was one of those times when that phrase echoed in my head. It was touching to know that the teacher felt comfortable enough to share her feelings and express them to us. She felt safe enough in that environment to have an honest emotional reaction. As we strive to be a library in action we experience many big, high-impact moments. We also experience many smaller, quieter moments like this one which can be just as rewarding.

Jason Hyatt

Partnership Party

On October 29 the YO Team celebrated the Charlotte area's growing international community by launching a new partnership with Catholic Social Services. Did you know that Charlotte is now home to families from Somalia, Nigeria, the Congo as well as North Vietnam? Most of us didn't either, but now we do and we'll be serving these new community members by offering storytimes, technology classes and referral services. Pictured at left are two of the attendees getting their first taste of "Guitar Hero."

YO Team on the Small Screen

A little technology goes a long way. In September and October the Youth and Outreach team captured exactly what a day in the life of our department looks like (well, using a little creative license).

Teen Read Week 2007

Teens are a priority at PLCMC. For the past several years, we've celebrated National Teen Read Week in a big way. This year's celebration welcomed over 1000 teenagers to our very own ImaginOn. Who else in the region offers safe, engaging, and full-out fun experiences for teens the way our YO efforts do? Check out more action shots at the Loft at ImaginOn's Flickr page.

Tricycle Music Fest

Three bands. Three months. Three ways to rock at the library.

That's exactly what we did this summer with over 3000 kids, adults and senior adults throughout Mecklenburg County. Find out more about the Tricycle Music Fest and get ready to rock out again in the summer of 2008 with TMF 2. Dan Zanes and Friends (pictured above) was one of the featured bands for 2007. Who's coming next year? Stay tuned to find out!