Catch up time!

The holidays have come and gone! School is halfway done already, and it's time for us to look forward to spring! In the meantime, we have so, so , SO much going on around here, I can't even keep track of it.

January is the Lunar New Year and we will be celebrating in style. Anime Club will be doing it their own way on the 7th with Chinese snacks, and on the 26th we will be making lucky fortune cookie ornaments. Teen Advisory Board t-shirts should be in this month, so make sure you come to TAB on the 21st!!!

February is also shaping up to be busy, busy, busy! Big, huge, monster announcement for my anime fans- Crispin Freeman (think Itachi, Balmong, and Alucard!) will be in Toms River on February 6th in the evening. You need to sign up in order to meet him, and space is most definitely limited- register now! http://engagedpatrons.org/EventsRegister.cfm?SiteID=2161&BranchID=770&Branch=Toms%20River%20%20Branch&EventID=30328

It is so cold...

Man, it's freezing today. But it's supposed to be 60 on Wednesday! Crazy stuff. I couldn't believe that it snowed, even a little, over the weekend.

Anyway, the holidays are officially upon us. For those of you who can't afford to shop much (I know I can't!) we will be making duct tape wallets on December 23rd. I have green, blue, yellow, orange, silver, and clear. Hopefully your project will come out better than mine!

By special request, for anime club in January we will be having a Chinese New Year celebration. I'm not sure what yet, but stay tuned.

Also, starting in January I will be having homework help on Thursday afternoons in the teen zone. This will take place any time school is in session and I don't have a schedule conflict with some silly meeting. The dates for January are 1/8, 1/15, and 1/29.

As a reminder to all my Got Fines? participants- you have one week left to try and work some off!!!

I'm getting too old for this...

Well, if you come in to see Sam this next week or so, don't be surprised to see me limping around the joint! I definitely messed up my back and I'm all tingly below the waist. It's like my whole legs are falling asleep all day long! Oy. Don't take your youth for granted- I'm only 25!!!! Plus my xbox killed itself after I bought a PS3- they're very sensitive. Oh well!

In any case, man is this month blowing by. I haven't even started my holiday shopping yet and it's just running up on us quick! I seriously need a pause button.

But that also means the holiday fun is upon us!! For you cheapskates out there who can't afford much in the way of gifts, we'll be making awesome duct tape wallets on December 23rd. We'll even have clear tape, at Danielle's request. I'm also going to have a nice surpise for anime club this coming month ;)

NaNoWriMo!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Well, I'm kidding, but if you go into any store right now you'd quickly find out that THEY aren't!. It's November, and the winter holidays are coming up fast. But you know what's even better? It's NaNoWriMo! For those of you not in the know, that's National Novel Writing Month. The goal for this month is to write an entire novel. Daunting task, I know! But I've got lots of resources available in the Teen Zone to help get you rolling, even if it's just a term paper you're writing instead of a novel.

In any case, there's lots and lots going on around here! The Guitar Hero tournament was yesterday- congrats to Colin and Nadia who won a $25 gift card and a Rock Band t-shirt respectively. Tomorrow is open games to celebrate the last day of your long week off. In two weeks we have the Cyberbullying program; remember that if you're registered for Got Fines? you can earn credit by attending! That's two easy hours, people.

Halloween is almost here!

Man, this year is flying. Christmas decorations are already on the shelves and you're just two weeks from having to hear holiday music on the radio.

In any case, there are several super important upcoming events that you should know about!

Afternoon Games- Thursday, Oct. 23, 2:00pm
School’s out, so come have some fun! Join us for an afternoon of open gaming. Ages 12-18.

Terrifying Tales- Wednesday, Oct. 29, 7:30pm
Prepare to be scared! Professional storyteller, Kathy Pierce, will visit the Barnegat Branch to share Terrifying Tales! Don’t miss this chance to hear classic Halloween tales and more. For kids and teens, ages 11 and up. Adults welcome too!

Guitar Hero Tournament- Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2:00pm
Compete to prove you’re tops in Guitar Hero! Competition will be separated by difficulty level, minimum of medium level to play. Registration is limited to 16 players, so register early! Be sure to note when registering what difficulty level you prefer.

We're back!

Okay, so we have been since Monday actually. But a lot of you know that because I've seen you all this week! The carpet is fresh, the walls are painted, and the YA area looks a WHOLE lot different. New shelves, new furniture, and new posters! It really feels like a teen area now.

In any case... news, news, news. The next TAB meeting will be next Thursday, the 9th, at 7pm. This is a big one for Library of Horror. All of the supplies are in so be sure to stop by and get involved.

Registration is now open for the Van Helsing: Fact and Fiction program. It promises to be really interesting! I promise snacks and fun for everyone. I know the author who is coming by to speak and trust me you won't be bored. It's Wednesday the 15th from 6-8:30!

Closed for two weeks- Sept 15-29!

Well it's finally that time. If you come to the branch these last four days that we're open, you'll find us all in shambles! The YA section will be the first to get new carpet so we're already moving books to carts. As of monday we will be officially closed for two weeks (unless it goes faster!). When we reopen the YA section should look quite different, with new shelving and organization to make it easier for all of us!

In the mean time, stay chill! I'll be around but you won't be able to get to me at the branch. If you have any questions or just want to talk, e-mail me!

Also, if you want in on the ghost research program, sign up! It's already half full! It will be a great way for us to re-open.

Summer has come and gone!

Where does the time go? In the rush that comes with the end of summer (c'mon, you had all summer to do those reading assignments! Why did you wait for this week??) I haven't been talking on here much!





Thanks to all of you, we had a banner summer here in Barnegat. This was one of the best years we have ever had for SAIL and Reading Buddies. The summer reading program was also a smashing success, with far more teens participating than in previous years. I hope that all of our volunteers return next year and help keep the library a fun and exciting place.





So what now? I've got lots to tell you all!





- first off, we will be closed for carpeting (for real this time!) from the 14th until the 29th of September. The September TAB meeting has been moved to the night of the 9th- you'll want to be at this one if you want to help out with Library of Horror!





- speaking of Library of Horror, TAB will be running that on the afternoon of october 24th, one week before Halloween, from 2-4 pm. You have a half day that day!





- as soon as we reopen, we will have our first teen event! South Jersey Hauntings will be held on the 30th at 7:00pm. South Jersey Ghost Research will be showing us some creepy stuff from local hauntings- audio, video, and more. Please register!

- We have two other special events for October. First is a special edition of anime club- Ban-ime! We're celebrating banned books week by discussing censorship in regards to manga and anime- we're talking Chobits, Love Hina, Sorcerer Hunters and more. Second is in honor of Teen Read Week (Books with Bite!)- we're having a Van Helsing Fact and Fiction program. Author Rita Oakes will be presenting some interesting facts about the legends of Van Helsing, followed by a showing of the movie. This starts at 6:00pm!

I'll keep you posted as more info comes in!

Altered Books next Tuesday

Next tuesday afternoon will be our Altered Books event, which, as Justin so aptly puts it, involved destroying books! Fun and destructive! The event starts at 4!!

Way to party!

Wow! We had a record turnout for TAB last night- 21 people! The election for the new executive board was hotly contested (which is totally great, by the way) but I think we've got an active group that will do wonderful things in the new TAB year! The winners were:

President: John B.
Vice-President: Justin W.
Secretary: Sarah V.
Historian: Morgan M.

Additionally, Carissa won the hula monkey for the limbo contest. ^_^ We will be having another limbo contest for the SAIL party next month, so there's another hula monkey out there for the winning!

Luau!

Tomorrow, July 16th, is the Teen Advisory Board luau party! It's an important event- we will be seeing off our seniors as they head to college, electing new officials to represent the group, and starting to discuss what we want to do for this fall. We should have a LOT of new faces showing up, so I'm really hoping that we will have a great new group to work with this fall. There will be food, fun, and a limbo contest (winner gets a hula monkey!).

Summer reading- first drawing!

As a reminder, the first raffle drawing for summer reading is this thursday the 3rd! If you have read 5 books (or mangas, or comics, or anything!) come in and register them and get your raffle ticket in. Right now only three people are competing for the prize so the odds are in your favor!!!

Cosplay/Suikawari!

It's the day we've all been waiting for! Tommorow night is the Anime Club Cosplay Contest- I've got some really neat stuff to give away!

And since we couldn't do it last time, tommorow night we will also be doing the suikawari to celebrate the summer!

Brawl in the Afternoon

Per special request, next tuesday (yep, July 1st!) we will be having an all brawl all afternoon event. From 2-4:30, come and play multiplayer brawl on the big screen!

Dun dun dun dun dun dun....

Okay, so in my head that totally sounded like the graduation march while I was typing it. Congratulations to my many graduating students from both middle and high school! I missed you all at TAB last night, but I guess this one time I'll let it go because you had a good excuse. Haha! It's all good.

In any case, it is now totally and officially summer vacation! Celebrate with me next week by playing video games on Tuesday afternoon! There will, as always, be snacks involved. Also coming up for anime club next month is the Cosplay contest! Don't make me be the only one dressed up.

Summer reading is totally a go now, I expect lots of registrations. That's right all you anime people- you take out 5 volumes of anime and you are already DONE and get your cert, cell strap, and first raffle ticket. You're reading it anyway, why not get credit for it? Duh!

Summer begins!

C'mon guys, only a week and a half of school left! You can make it!

Summer reading kicks off officially at the library on June 25th, but you can now register online and start reading! The place to go to register is here and you can start registering books you've read right away. There will be FOUR prize baskets for the YA crowd this summer! Any reading counts, be it comics or mags or even audiobooks!

With summer reading of course comes summer fun! We have a gaming afternoon event on June 24th at 3pm which is open to everyone!

Sincere apologies

I'm so sorry I missed out on anime club last night! That truck driver really messed me up and I couldn't make it from Toms River to Barnegat in time. :( However, I do promise that we will play suikawari next month! Also remember that next month is the Cosplay event- I'm going to dress up too!

Anime Club- suikawari!

Tommorow night is anime club, and even though you aren't out of school yet it's the first official anime club meeting for the summer! We will be celebrating appropriately- I'm not saying what, but some knowledge and research skills might help you guess the answer. ^_^

College Transitions Cancelled

Unfortunately, due to a lack of registration we had to cancel the College Transitions program. -_-Ah well! I will still be compiling Sam's Super Important List of College Related Websites and will make that available in the Teen Zone soon.

Thanks!

Many thanks to the Teen Advisory Board for decorating the Teen Zone window so nicely! It looks much better now!

As a reminder, if you want to attend the College Transitions program on June 3rd, you must register by Wednesday, May 28!

TAB window painting

Just a quick note- don't forget that tommorow night is the TAB window painting experience! 7pm.

Game Night (and Day!)

Tonight is my impromptu Game Night, and I think it will be mostly Guitar Hero.

Since you guys are all off of school on the 27th (lucky you!) we are also having an open gaming afternoon that day from 2:30-4:30. Come kill some time in your day off!!

Questions from the box!

Okay, so someone was definitely bored by the box yesterday. But I'm up for a challenge! Here are your answers, as best as I can provide them.

First, the inconsequential stuff:
1. My favorite song, at least currently, is Antiquehighheeledreddollshoes by Rasputina. That changes frequently.
2. My favorite movie is Super Troopers.
3. My favorite book is Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.
4. I don't know Jesus, but I know a guy who looks like Jesus.
5. My favorite name brand is Torrid.
6. I don't recognize your handwriting, but I'm sure I've seen you around.
7. I do have a bff, but she lives in Florida now.
8. I think everyone should love each other.
9. Is there a way to be reading for fakez?
10. I like to do lots of things with my husband a lot, but none of those are particularly consequential to our business here.
11. I love books. I haven't gotten to read for fun since high school so it's nice to be able to do it again.
12. There's nothing wrong with liking snakes, though I'm personally freaked out by them.
13. Hey, if I had money to lend, I'd totally give you some. Librarians don't exactly rake it in, though.
14. I've seen people with superfluous nipples before. It isn't medically normal, but it's not a big deal either. Isn't it weird enough that guys have nipples even though they don't use them ever in life? Of course there's a medical reason for that, and it has to do with the development of the embryo!
15. Barnegat's cool. It's a lot smaller than my town is, but I like that.
16. I do like gum, but I don't chew it a lot because I'm afraid to pull out my fillings!
17. I've never been to Nagasaki. I do like Nagasaki Udon! I like Japan, and I love Japanese food.
18. Nope, I haven't heard that song. I'll have to look it up.
19. Nah, I'm not very religious. I don't know if that's good or bad.

Regarding Jesus' opinion on a variety of topics:
Per number 19 above, I'm not very religious, and I never had an opportunity to meet Jesus personally. If I ever do, I'll be sure to ask your questions and let you know what he thinks. In the mean time, yeah, I'm pretty sure he'd agree that it isn't nice to call someone the "w" word.

On a more serious note:
I'd like to defer to information from OCL's Teen Health and Wellness database (teenhealthandwellness.com) to address your last three concerns. All of this information comes directly from Teen Health and Wellness, and I highly recommend you check it out!

1. Penis Size
All boys wonder about the growth of their penis at some time or another. If you have not begun to see signs of puberty in your genital area, you may be wondering what to expect. You may wonder if your penis will ever grow any bigger. As with other developments during puberty, changes like those in the size of your body’s sexual organs happen on your own personal timetable. There is no need to worry unless you reach the age of eighteen and have not gone through any puberty changes.
You may be interested to learn that your genitals are one of the first parts of your body to begin changing. You will probably see changes in your testicles, scrotum, and penis before you begin to grow taller or grow facial hair. First, the testicles grow larger, and the skin of the scrotum darkens in color. Then, the penis grows longer, and after that it grows thicker. Even after a boy’s genitals grow during puberty, there is a difference in size from man to man. Most penises, however, are near the same size when they become erect.
Keep all this information in mind if you suspect that you are a late bloomer. If you need or want to speak with a doctor about your concerns, you can be sure that this is a discussion that is routine for him or her.
http://www.teenhealthandwellness.com/article/282/3

2. Teen Pregnancy: Get the Facts
Pregnancy, whether accidental or not, is a complicated, emotional event for the pregnant woman, her partner, and those close to her. Raising a child is a huge commitment that requires enormous amounts of time, effort, and money.
For teenagers, pregnancy presents particularly difficult obstacles. At a time when most other people their age are still dependent on their parents for money, food, and shelter, pregnant teens are suddenly faced with adult responsibilities. They must consider the changes a baby will bring, including the ways it will affect their plans for school, a career, and relationships.
According to TeenPregnancy.org (the Web site of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy), more than 820,000 teenage girls become pregnant every year in the United States. By the age of eighteen, one out of every three girls will have been pregnant at least once. Eighty-two percent of pregnant teens say that they never expected to become pregnant.

Facts and guidance about teen pregnancy are usually easy to find. They can be just a phone call away. If you feel comfortable talking to your parents about pregnancy, they may be the best people to speak to. At school, you may have a special relationship with a teacher, guidance counselor, or school nurse. They can usually answer your questions, too. Or perhaps there is a favorite aunt or uncle or old family friend that you trust. They, too, can often be good sources of advice and information.
It is vital that you speak with someone about your situation. Any responsible person whom you trust is a good choice. Ask questions. Get information. What you find out may keep you from making a decision that you will later regret.
http://www.teenhealthandwellness.com/article/325/2

3. Homosexuality
You may feel that you are lesbian or gay without having had any sexual experiences at all. That is OK. Your orientation does not require having sex with someone in order to be defined. Remember that sexual orientation describes whom you are attracted to emotionally as well as physically. Your orientation is not just physical attraction or a sexual act.
We live in a world that labels people. Even the words gay, lesbian, straight, and bisexual are labels. Though we use labels, sexual identity does not fit into easy categories. Many adults who identify themselves as heterosexual had emotional or physical relationships with people of the same sex when they were younger. Some homosexual people get married and have children. Each person’s life defines his or her sexual identity in a different and very personal way.
It is important to remember that most people want similar things in life. Most people want to live happy lives and pursue careers that satisfy them. Most people want to be able to share their lives in relationships that are loving and caring. This is true no matter what their sexual orientation: gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, or straight.
It is completely normal to have questions or feel confused about your sexual orientation. Your sexuality is not something that is right or wrong. Remember that there are people who can help you sort out your feelings. Your parents, teachers, guidance counselor, school nurse, coaches, and religious leaders are all people who may be able to help you if you are comfortable asking for their help. If you don’t feel you can turn to any of those people, there are other places you can go for help. The Resources section of teenhealthandwellness.com contains the phone numbers, web sites, and addresses of many organizations that can help.
http://www.teenhealthandwellness.com/article/298/2

New stuff and happenings

Today I've introduced one new feature to the Teen Zone- my SAT word of the day! Build your vocabulary quick and easy by finding out a new word each weekday. It's posted on the back bulliten board by the manga.

It's officially May, which means it's national Teen Self-Esteem Month! I've got some great books out on display talking out the uniqueness of teen culture and providing tips on succeeding on everything you do in life. Celebrate you and everything you do!

Just as a reminder, next week is anime club, and TAB is in just three weeks- window painting madness! Game night will be May 14th, and I have a feeling it will be very Guitar Hero centric.

TAB in May

TAB IS ON FOR MAY 21!

Though I won't be around that night, TAB will be held on the 21st. This month, we'll be painting the teen zone window to jump into summer. Hope everyone can make it!

From the question box- On the reproduction of clams

Finally, a real question to dig into!

How do clams have sex?

You know, I didn't actually know when I read this, but now I do!

Clams do in fact reproduce sexually, though they don't have sex, per se. Instead, they spawn. Seasonally, the female clams release large quantities of eggs into the water while the males release large quantities of sperm. So sperm and egg are required, but the actually process takes place out in open water.

It is also interesting to note that many species of clams change their gender throughout their lifespan!

If you want some more info on clams, try these out:
http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/faq/fishfaq5.html
Snails, Clams, and their Relatives: Mollusks by Beth Blaxland

Open in May!!

OOPS!

Things came up and things changed. Turns out we will be open in May after all! This means Anime club is ON! TAB is TBA due to another scheduling conflict, I will post when I have more information on that.

I'm probably going to put together a game night as well- right now May 14th is looking good for it.

This weekend!!!!

It's almost time! This Saturday is the Cherry Blossom Anime Marathon! All I ask is that if you *know* you can come, please call, email, or register online (theoceancountylibrary.org) so that I have a better idea of how much to buy. I did ask for food requests and got the following list:

Melon bread
Onigiri
Pocky
Tataki
Sushi

I'm going to do the best I can to honor requests but since I am shopping the night before there's only so much in the way of *fresh* items I can buy. We'll see how it goes! If you have any other requests, post here or e-mail me (sgordano@theoceancountylibrary.org) and I will do what I can!

April's here!

Closer and closer to summer my friends.

Tommorow night is Anime club, and most importantly we are just a week and a half from the Anime Marathon! I sent word out around the system so hopefully we'll get some new otaku from around ocean county to join us.

April 14-19 is the National Library Week trivia contest. Answering six easy library trivia questions using the resources available at Barnegat gets you a prize! And of course I'm always here to help...

Finally, coming up quick is our own TAB hosted digital photography event. If you want to help out in any way, stop by and I'm sure we'll be able to put something together!

YEAH TOAST!

...at least my anime club kids will get that one.

TAB Gaming was sweet last night guys. You really are the best, pitching in and bringing your own stuff to supplement our little gaming collection. I was so happy to see so many people there, and I still don't understand why Lets Go Fishin' is such a hard game when it was designed for, like, 3 year olds! Grr....

In any case, awesome awesome awesome. It's spring as of today, and coming up so so soon is the Cherry Blossom Anime Marathon. I hope to have an even better turn out than what we had for game night!!!

Game Night!

Don't forget everyone- next Wednesday, after the TAB meeting, we will be having an open game night for all teens! Board games, DDR, Wii, you name it! Come and chill with your friends and of course your awesome teen librarian.

Is it spring yet?

Getting there! That warm weather is such a tease, isn't it?

Anime club was great last night- I love you guys! We have our regular Anime meeting next month but also a special event on April 12th- the anime marathon at 2pm of Read or Die! I'm going to get some very japanese snacks for us all as well. Something else of note for everyone- July Anime club will also be a cosplay contest! You have four months to get cracking on your costumes!

Remember, this month's TAB meeting is also a game night- that's March 19th. Anyone can come, it's not a TAB only thing. We also have to work on the digi-photo event for next month!

Finally, March 24th is my Pimp Myspace competition- winner gets a $10 gift card! Hope to see you all there.

TAB notes- 2/20

TAB was great last night! It was nice to see everyone, and psuedo-DDR was a blast.

Next month is TAB game night! The gaming starts at 7:30, after a quick TAB meeting (we need to work on the digi photo event for April 23!). Also coming up:

Feb 23rd- Join Barnegat in celebrating our 15th birthday! Have cake and come listen to the tunes of James Day and the Fish Fry.

March 24th- Pimp MySpace! Trick out your page and win over your fellow competitors for a chance at a $10 gift card. You have to register if you want to compete!

April 12th- Cherry Blossom Anime Marathon! Come and watch Read or Die and enjoy Japanese snacks.

April 14-19- National Library Week Trivia! You have all week to answer some tricky library trivia, but anyone who gets them all right will get a prize.

June 3rd- College transitions. Join your teen librarian and a rep from OCC in discussing the change from high school into college--- and I don't just mean academically!

Please note, we will not have anything really going on in the month of May due to a big recarpeting project that will be going on for half the month. :(

Anime partying and upcoming events!

Woo! Anime club was great this week. You guys are awesome. I look forward to hanging out with you more and watching movies!

Events are now solidified for April! April 12th will be the 1st annual Cherry Blossom Anime Festival, featuring the entire Read or Die OVA (pending approval for public showing). Food will of course be provided.

April 13th-19th is National Library Week, and I will be having an ongoing trivia event for the entire week. Anyone who correctly finds the answers to my library trivia (all answers findable using the OCL Barnegat resources naturally) gets a prize!

Finally, on April 23rd we will be having the TAB digital photo event for adults. We're expecting a big turnout!

Anime club this Wednesday!

Don't forget, this Wednesday at 7pm is our next anime club meeting and the first time I get to officially meet you guys! It's an important one too; we're going to be picking a date for our Cherry Blossom Anime Marathon and talking about what kinds of things you guys want to do this year, especially this summer.

Upcoming Events

Upcoming events of interest:

February 9- Black Wax-
A trip to the Black Wax Museum reveals African American inventors, a break in major league baseball, a daring escape on the Underground Railroad and women musicians ahead of their time. The performance will be followed by a soul food tasting prepared by the
parishioners of Barnegat’s Mt. Zion Baptist Church.

March 19th- TAB Game Night-
Join the Teen Advisory Board for game night! Come and play video and board games with other teens and enjoy snacks.

In the works for April:
Cherry Blossom Anime Marathon- Celebrate the sakura with the anime club! Come and watch the OVA Read or Die and enjoy Japanese snacks. Date TBA.

Lesson in Digital Photography- Join us as TAB hosts a lesson in Digital Photography! Date TBA.

One Book NJ 2008

On the table in the teen section, you will currently see on display this year's title for the One Book New Jersey program. This year's selection is "Dr. Franklin's Island" by Ann Halam. It's an interesting and provocative title- a plane crash leads to a group of teens being stranded on the private island of Dr. Franklin. They soon find out that the island stay will be worse than the crash itself...

If you can only make time to read one book this year, make is "Dr. Franklin's Island"!

If you've read this book and enjoyed it, try these other similar titles:

*Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
*Blade Runner : (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) by Philip K. Dick
*The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer
*The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
*Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix
*Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein
*Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz

The Question Box

Next time you're in the teen section you may notice a new addition to the desk- the question box. This is a little experimental program I'm trying out and I hope that it becomes a big success.

The question box is there for you to ask questions, ones that you might not feel comfortable asking in person because you think it's stupid or embarassing or maybe you just didn't have time to stick around for an answer! I'll check the box every day and when I get a question I'll do my best to provide a quick answer and a list of resources related to the topic. All answers will be posted on the blog, but everything is 100% anonymous.

Never hold your TAB meeting on a school event night...

Well, I didn't get to see many of you yesterday, but I hope that you all did well in the show and look forward to seeing you in the coming month! I'd still like to meet up with everyone, so if you're in the library feel free to swing by my office or catch me on the floor.

Updates on what's happening:

-In March, I will be hosting a MySpace competition. Teens are invited to customize their MySpace and compete against others for their choice of a $10 gift card or fine reduction. This will be held at noon on March 24th.

-We're hoping to host another downloading event for adults with the collaboration of TAB this year. We can't get this in in time for March, but April is wide open right now so I'm looking for dates that will work for those of you involved.

-The March 19th TAB meeting will be followed by game night! Feel free to bring games from home, of course, and I will be bringing my extensive Wii game collection with me as well as extra controllers. I'm going to be picking up refreshments so let me know what you want!

-Moving forward, I'm looking for other events people are interested in for Spring/Summer. I'm already hoping to host a college transitions event in the early summer, a going away party of sorts for all of our graduates towards the end of summer, and some kind of anime/video game cosplay event somewhere in the mix. I'm totally open to suggestions!

Teen Advisory Board

As a quick note to everyone, the next Teen Advisory Board meeting is this Wednesday, January 16th at 7pm. Feel free to stop by! I'm going to be getting to know everyone, and we will be discussing what kinds of events we want to pursue in the future.

A hello from the new Teen Librarian at Barnegat!

Hi everyone!

My name is Samantha (call me Sam) and I'm the new teen librarian for the Barnegat branch of the Ocean County Library. I've heard from everyone here that I have a wonderful, active group of teens to work with, and I'm really looking forward to meeting you all and planning some interesting activities for the library and hopefully finding some new recruits since I hear I have a lot of people leaving.

Just to let you all know a little bit about me- I'm 24. I am currently finishing up my Master's degree at Drexel University, and I completed my undergrad in 2005 at the New Jersey Institute of Technology- my major was the history of technology, medicine and the environment. I am an otaku and a gamer. I own a Wii, a 360, a DS, and a PS2. I'm a big time Japanophile and just finished watching Death Note and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya recently. I've heard that we have a really active anime club and I can't wait to get involved!

I'm in the library Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9-5 and Wednesday from 1-9, so don't be shy!