Spring is Sprunging!

And with that came some good kite flying wind. Earlier in the week I made kites with the teens, NonfictioninFiction has more on that, and it got me anxious to do some kite flying myself. And so we did, with a handful of friends. Our traditional diamond kites were fine enough in the wind, with some attention and finesse, but nothing compared to our friend's Hornet Kite. He had gotten it as a birthday gift several years before and had yet to try it out. It was magnificent.

Watching it made me want to invest several hundred dollars into an awesome kite. Who knew how cool life could be, spending an afternoon with a Hornet Kite!

Still, with good company, flying $5.00 kite can prove to be most gratifying as well.

Three cheers for balmy transitional seasons! With the fresh and sunny weather, everything is taking on a new kind of pleasurable these days.

March Experience Zone - Singing Crystal Goblets

Well it is finally up and running! It was took some logistical acrobatics but if there was one profession you would want to count on for such creativity (on a dime too) it is public librarianship. Here is the final product out in the music collection.

The goblets were tuned with marked water levels (to make up for evaporation) to the scale of E flat. There weren't many other options as we experimented. There was a brief instructional video put out on how to get the best sound and a quick-glance fact sheet about what makes crystal goblets sing, why use a wet finger, as well as Guinness World Record references.

As always, it was very much a group effort. The conception came from wrangler Zen, the tuning and construction help came from wrangler Cory, the instructional film from concierge Nick, IT Matt backed us up to help us convert the cumbersome FlipCamera format into DVD player-able. My part was overseeing the project (construction with Cory, filming with Nick, etc), getting the goblets (testing them with water bottle in hand at ARC Thrift), doing the informational signs, etc etc. 

The work really seemed to pay off when, not more than 30 minutes on the floor, the goblets attracted about everyone in the teen area. There were literally squeals of delight from a handful of them - reminded me of my art instructor days when I got out of the oil pastels. At one point, I couldn't get one of the teens to leave the library when we were closing because he kept playing with it. "We open tomorrow at 9:30am if you want to play with it some more". He was thrilled, "You mean it will be here when I come back?!" I was thinking - with the work it took to get this thing going, I am hoping to get a few weeks out of it at least!

And as you can see from the film below, we had a great time as staff testing out the goblets along the way too. 

Have I mentioned recently how much I love my job?

She Flips! She Turns!

4 months of practice and I think I got 'er down. I was convinced, until last week, that flip turns could only be mastered by those that learned them young. Then suddenly, it just "clicked" as they say. It's not perfect but good enough to cut off some time and not dread it each time I come to wall.

No flailing arms! No feet missing the wall! No water up the nose! And a good glide to boot.

And the best news is that I can finally do these consistently without getting dizzy or falling apart.

Oh and did you notice my rocking rubix cube cap?

May I recommend?

Matt stumbled upon Icelandic singer Olaf Arnalds recently and her songs have been swimming through my head ever since. From what I have heard thus far she does Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, etc covers as well as songs she has written in her native language, like "Klara" - about her sister I think?

I think she is lovely. See what you think. Here are a couple of her Dylan covers...Notice her Charango - makes such a haunting, beautiful sound.





If you visit her MySpace page, you'll find:

"A voice of instantly captivating, spring water chasteness possessed of a magical, otherworldly quality that is simultaneously innocent yet ancient ('sometimes between a child and an old woman' according to no less an authority than Bjork)"

Speaking of Shticks...

I was sorry to learn that the Austin icon, legend had passed yesterday. If and when I make it back to that town, I know I will miss seeing him work his "keeping it weird" thing on South Congress.

What's Your Shtick?

Whether or not you are willing to admit it, you have one or at least wish you did. In high school, I developed one in the cross country culture. Since we were all pretty much the nerdiest sport in school, it was easy to take this persona on:

Now remember this was high school; and it is also worth noting that this was posed for a student government poster for my campaign theme: "Ready, Set, Vote for Cate!" So the blanket cape (courtesy of my grandmother) was not something I habitually sported. Still, the hair stuff, and the "racing socks" were regular fare at a meet - not to even mention a spoon staff (missing from picture) but that merits it own discussion for a later date perhaps. At any rate, it is no surprise that I ended up with the "Spirit Award" 2 years in a row at the end-of-the-season banquet. The thing is, though I fancied that I was a competitive runner, I would never be MVP - or whatever is the equivalent in nerdy sports like running. And thus I adopted a shtick, something to help me stand out when my times lacked in comparison to others at a big meet.

So with a new sport, where I find myself in the same position of being good enough to keep up but not really to set myself apart from the rest, I have taken up a new shtick. Thanks to some saved birthday money, I was able to jump-start the investment into collecting novelty swim caps. I can't tell you what a thrill it will be to show up 5:30am in one these:

As you can see, I have some seasonal stuff going here so there will most likely be a bit of a rotation of when I wear these throughout the year. The Rubix Cube one can be year round though and I really looking forward to busting out the Turkey one on our big Thanksgiving swim. The final one of Washington Crossing the Delaware will actually go to my dear swimming mate Tom who has worked tirelessly on my flip turns and kept me honest on my pacing at the early swims. Afterall, he is among those that have to sport the speedo so I thought it was most fitting for him to have it (last one from a discontinued make too!) Missing from this line up is an autumnal leaf collage cap and a fireworks cap, both of which I couldn't find the images online anymore.

Three cheers for hoping to become "that girl with the funky swim caps". I am going to start a revolution:)

Chicago, part 3

Below is a draft of what I submitted to Anythink's staff magazine, hence the tone and spin I have to it - less bloggy and more Go-Anythink-Go!! Also, this post is a super geeked-out (and overly lengthy-so much to say though!) post on the public library tradition and its future so no hard feelings if it is simply a "TL;DR" type of thing for you:) All the same, I keep thinking about all I experienced on this trip and there have been several times where I am fighting not to constantly talk about all that I am processing after-the-fact. So if you previously asked me how my Chicago trip was and I had a hard time articulating it then here is the explanation....

When Anythink became one of 6 libraries in the country to receive the IMLS YouMedia grant there seemed to be a mix of excitement, along with shock and anticipation. All kinds of questions arose. What equipment should we purchase? How will we facillitate our existing space to accomodate the lab? Who can we partner with to make this opportunity grow into more opportunities? The IMLS Digital Learning Lab Chicago meeting was organized to help all 12 grantees come together and discuss their plans and concerns in implementing their learning labs. Holding this meeting in Chicago gave us the opportunity to see how Chicago Public Library implemented their grant funding and how they have grown since opening the lab in 2008. 

On our first night of the convening, we were given 20 minutes and a table full of supplies to create a poster that best represented our library. The table was covered with an array ranging from magazines for collages to puffy stickers and pipe cleaners. We quickly came up with the idea to depict a modern Volkswagen Bug (in orange of course) with an Anythink symbol, our "Anything is Possible" mantra and the tagline "Reinventing a Classic". As Mo sketched out the basic form of the car, with help from a picture on his iPhone, Matt and Mindy frantically colored in the finished areas while I made use of myself by staying out of the way and documenting the event with pictures. I couldn't help but look around while the other tables worked and see what they were putting together. Such elaborate forms were taking shape around the room! Some even turning their poster boards into 3D sculptures while others putting together complex collages and so on. For a moment, I second guessed what we were doing. Perhaps we should make more use of these puffy stickers! Shouldn't we throw in some magazine cut-outs into this somehow? How hard would it be to fold the Anythink symbol out of a pipe cleaner? Then I realized that although the wild creativity that comes in a room filled with public librarians and museum educators is inspiring, our simple, sleek and inventive look suited the Anythink sensibility perfectly. And so we introduced ourselves as Anythink: the place where we believed that anything is possible. A library that strives to reinvent and rediscover the public library tradition.

Though we knew before we went to Chicago, who else had received the IMLS Digital Media Lab grant, there was something particularly inspiring about getting to know the remarkable organizations that were also on this journey with us. In way of review, we are 1 of 12 recipients. About half of these institutions are public libraries: San Francisco Public Library, Philadelphia Free Library, Nashville Public Library, Howard County Public Library (Columbia, MD), Kansas City Public Library, Ohio's Columbia Metropolitan Library, St Paul Public Library, The other half are museums: The DaVinci Discovery Science Center, Oregon Museum of Science, Houston Museum of Fine Arts and the New York Hall of Science. If the high profile locations of these institutions aren't impressive enough, it is worth noting that they are each engaged in some incredibly impressive initiatives to support and inspire their communities. The New York Hall of Science, for example, is hosting Bjork as an artist in residence for several weeks as a vehicle to teach science of sound. Needless to say, Anythink is aligned with a hip and innovative bunch of educators. This seemed intimidating to me at first. However, as I got to know more about the grant goals and the research behind its success, I realized that Anythink very much belonged in this group of organizations. It seemed that we have been on track for an opportunity like, whether or not we entirely realized it. YouMedia is simply the next step.

The next two days were a whirlwind of information. Speakers included community developers, librarians, museum directors and Urban Library Council members. We also heard from Mimi Ito, a cultural anthropologist who conducted the groundbreaking research that became the "Hanging Out, Messing Around, Geeking Out" (HoMaGo) methodology to teen 21st century learning. Though this IMLS grant is focused on building a Digital Media Lab, it is centered on the HoMaGo format for reaching teens. The idea is that if we create an appealing and stimulating environment, teens will have the opportunity to take ownership of their learning in a way that they cannot have in other learning institutions. Ito's presentation and research was incredibly compelling but I don't think anything was more profound than actually getting the opportunity to see this research at work in the Chicago Public Library space. 

Chicago Public Library is essentially the grandfather to facilitating a digital media lab space for teens based on Ito's HoMaGo research. Though all those involved in making it happen will be the first to tell you of the many pitfalls and shortcomings their space had during the three years it has been in operation, what they now have happening in their teen space is incredible. There was such a natural and not overly organized flow to things. If I hadn't been aware of all the thought that had gone into the space, I would never have guessed that things had been planned. Yet, it was as if you could literally point out in the room space full of more than 30 teens, those that were hanging out and those that were messing around, etc. 

What was more remarkable was the opportunity to meet the teens and mentors of the library space during a panel discussion after exploring the space. 

I went through a professional transformation during these 45 minutes at the Chicago Public Library. It was if my nebulous notion I have had about my role as a teen librarian finally came into view like a magic eye that I had been working on since my work at Austin Public Library's teen centers. I had intuitions that Anythink's friendly "hanging out" and "messing around" philosophy towards teen services was right but I didn't quite understand where it all led until I saw the remarkable developments that come from simply providing a welcoming and safe place for teens. I would guess that the four of us Anythinkers in attendance went through a transformation on some level. Perhaps what best describes the energy that was in that library is articulated from Mindy's notes, "This is the first time, in a long time, that I have felt that libraries will have a future!" I felt that too! It was if all the time before my YouMedia visit, I had been looking at the public library's future through a pinhole camera. My mentality had been "if we stay on this narrow path and get very very lucky we just may earn our keep in communities." But during that hour in the YouMedia space I saw all of the walls, where those pinholes had once been, break open and the future of libraries not only looked certain and expansive but utterly thrilling.

Shortly after returning from Chicago, Pam emailed all four of us asking if we would be able to share some of our experiences at the board meeting to “hear more about how this project is going to change our world.” At the risk of sounding dramatic, I couldn’t help but think, “It isn’t just going to change our world. It is going to change the world. And so we begin this adventure! Whether our role is in teen and tech services or something different entirely, we are all a part of providing this marvelous wave of new learning. What an amazing opportunity it will be to go on this journey together and see what incredible places it takes our library, our community, our world.