Life is Full of Choices

Sometimes you really feel like something you have been involved in made a difference. And thankfully, sometimes there is someone to contribute to making that involvement possible. Thank you, thank you so very much, Oprah.

Today our library completed the three-part reading and discussion series called the “Great Stories CLUB.” The McCracken County Public Library and McCracken Regional Juvenile Detention Center were selected as one of 173 partnering organizations nationwide to receive a grant from the American Library Association (ALA) to host this series, developed by the ALA Public Programs Office (PPO) and Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Funding was provided for this program by Oprah’s Angel Network.

The Great Stories CLUB is a reading and discussion program that targets underserved, troubled teen populations. The program reaches teens through books that are relevant to their lives, inviting them to read and keep the books, and encourages them to consider and discuss each title with a group of their peers. It seeks to show that reading can be a source of pleasure, a tool for self-exploration, and a meaningful way to connect to the wider world. Its ultimate goal is to inspire young adults who face difficult situations to take control of their lives by embracing the power of reading.

And believe you me, these students truly face difficult situations.

We met for four weeks, the first time to introduce the program and the following three weeks to discuss the books they had read. First was “Sold” by Patricia McCormick, next was “Hole in My Life” by Jack Gantos and finally we read “Tyrell” by Coe Booth.

Totally pumped and naturally high, each week I left the McCracken Regional Juvenile Detention Center after our Great Stories Club book discussion eager to share my experience with a story on the blog here.

However, within an hour after my return from the facility, I was drained. Melted like a puddle of butter. So weak-kneed that I could barely stumble along. Reliving my discussion experience with the 11 young men serving detention time for murder, rape and drug dealing took everything I had out of me.

What a worthwhile feeling, truly.

So instead of my own words, which I am sure you could barely comprehend or bear through my emotion, I will share their words instead.

Mrs. Mills, their teacher, had given them a writing assignment to work on before they read the books and had prompted them to write about a choice they themselves had made with these words:

Life is full of choices.
One choice can lead to another. Some can take us down the wrong path and others can lead us to glory. Our background leads us down a road that is chosen for us, but eventually we choose our own path.

Students at McCracken Regional Juvenile Detention Center read about choices

Here are the words they shared, edited only to remove personal identifying names or dates and typed as nearly exact as I could possibly make them.

When my auntie have caught on fire I was I the shower and I saw smoke and II got out rapped my self in a towel and ran to the kitchen and saw my uncle with the sink sprayer trying to put the fire out the fire only got bigger so we called 911 and ran out side what I forgot was that it was winter and it was snow outside

***

One choice I wish I had not did was going arrest in get sent to mccracken

***

I made the choice to be immature and mess with a gun, and the outcome resulted in my killing one of my best friends.

***

Protecting my little Brother After I was drinking.

***

I was at the store and I had to choose a Snicker or a Hershy and I chose the Snicker and loved them every since

***

My Time Is when one Time I had to make a choice To go To Church and Try To Do what god wanted Me To Do But I Failed and now I am using god to Help me make Decisions Because I made a couple mistakes In my Life But I never gave up on god To Help me Through them.

***

A decision I had made in my life was to let my old friend alone. She is also my ex which I’ve been with for nearly two years. Things started to straighten up now but I still care for her in a way.

***

I got in a lot of trouble with the court system and I chose to go to a treatment Phacility on my own to get better.

***

My family was going through serious problems like different finances and my family needed money at that time real bad so we could eat and have decent clothes and not get kicked out the house because of not paying for the gas, light, water and rent. At that time my mom didn’t have a job because she was going through stress at court because of my brother and his behavior in life. So she lost him for a short period of time to a boy’s group home. We stayed in a house that barely had light, water, no gas in the winter and not enough food for all 5 of my momma’s kids including herself.

So I made a choice. A decision. A big heartbraking risk that I knew would hurt my momma because of her love for a child and I knew the possibilities that would occur on the streets and in the courtroom.

My “decision” at that time could of lead to death, Years of being incarcerated and heart broke family.

My “decision” at that time to secretely help my momma and brother and sister was me selling work “crack.”

My momma didn’t know when I started. I started by stealing things from the streets such as jacking cars and every criminal thought you could think of as a 14 year old hood rat. I sold them and was thinking that this is not enough money. So I turned my eyes on the things that I saw on the corners, in the houses, out the cars of ever block. Making, buying, and selling work. I went to a person I knew that was real cool to me and was down for any thing that came his way. I knew that he had it, make it, and everything. So he made me his right hand, his Ace, his “goon.” I watched day by day, night by night, how he ran his operations with his clientele’s. And to my imagination it was the hard “life” that was scary, exciting, exhilarating, and more feeling’s I never thought exist. So I was anxious to “start”, anxious to get in the game. He told me he would put me on and that I didn’t know him. I was like alright. The rist thing he told me was that all money ain’t good money and it’s not what you do, but how you do it. I wasn’t thinking about that at the time, but little did I no, I found out what that mean after leaving 1,000$ dollars in my momma’s mailbox, room and car. She was swearing it was a difficult scary feeling to find money like this. But little did she know it was me. I had got my momma and family moved into a different good luxury house within A month and my brother ”was” on his way home and we had food! We had expensive clothes and everything. But that say “All money ain’t good money” bit me so hard when I sold a lot of drugs to an undercover. I froze up but the toughness knew what it was and I was just waiting for that check-point to come. Se this is the decision I made that lead me on a bad road that I chose. But eventually I was lucky to choose my own path to life by not ever touching “crack” let alone any drug in my life. Thanks to my savior who forgave me. I turned my life around.

Believe me these young men now know ALL about choices and consequences. As do I.

And I choose to do this again and again, every time ALA, YALSA and Oprah’s Angel Network can help me.

The Great Stories Club, a reading and discussion series, is a grant initiative of the American Library Association’s Public Programs Office (PPO) and Young Adult Library Service Association (YALSA).

Prestigious Personalities and Quilters of Character

Several well-known quilting personalities are in Paducah this week for the 24th Annual AQS Quilt Show and Contest.

Three of the world’s most celebrated quilting instructors, Ricky Tims, Alex Anderson and Libby Lehman, are already presenting The Ricky Tims’ Super Quilt Seminar at a special pre-show event.

Eleanor Burns is here with her famous Quilt in a Day project as well as curators/appraisers Bobbie Aug and Gerald E. Roy.

The Quilt Channel, on Paducah Cable Channel 7, offers exclusive programs with Caryl Breyer Fallert, among many others, as part of its five days of programming this week only. Broadcasts begin each day at 6:00 a.m. and conclude each evening at midnight.

Mrs. Santa Claus, seen here quilting in the storefront window of Paducah Main Street, Inc., is the most outrageous character I have yet had the opportunity to photograph… but check back… I hope to show you more…!!

Do You Sleeveface at Your Library?

Michael Jackson – Thriller, originally uploaded by sweetbabyboy.

Looking for the hottest family program ever for teens at your library…?? Try this neat sleeveface project!  Defined by the original Sleeveface site as “one or more persons obscuring or augmenting any part of their body or bodies with record sleeve(s) causing an illusion”.

Invite teens to search through their parents’ and grandparents’ old LP vinyl album collections for favorite covers of popular recording artists. They need to bring any props they want to use like matching clothes and accessories. Then you provide the digital camera and upload them to your flickr account (your library has one of course…) right there on the spot…!!

Sleevefacing works best when you have several people involved so all family members can work together. You need someone to stage the shot, adjust the angle of the album or clothing, or even help hold the cover. Believe me it is a lot of fun. It took our whole family to organize these Michael Jackson and John Denver shots last weekend…!!

When you try it, link them here in the comments so we can all enjoy your show…

Cool Off @ your Library

Cool off at Carlson

Originally uploaded by Carlson Library
With the current heat wave, West Kentucky has experienced 20 straight days of over 90 degree temperatures. 65% of those hot days have been over 95 degrees as bright yellow suns have strolled across our five-day forecasts for weeks now.

How COOL, pun intended, would it be to share this idea from Carlson Science and Engineering Library at the University of Rochester and help cool off those faithful patrons who venture out to visit their library on days like these?

Imagine Lovely Levynn’s Library in 2028

It is time to reflect, I suppose. Most anniversaries cause one to do that, I know. Happy one year wordpress.com anniversary to me! checking out and checking in began a year ago this week after an exciting trip to New Orleans for ALA 2006. You can learn all kinds of things there, you know?

I will not bore you with links to what I deem to be previous blog highlights. You can find those that might intrigue your own sensibilities in these archives. The most surprising aspect of my posts has been the response to book reviews. If comments on Stephenie Meyer’s New Moon are any indication, Eclipse, will have an amazing release.

Or I could reflect at this time as well upon my past 21 years at McCracken County Public Library. What a wild ride it has been and, I am sure, will continue to be. Believe me, I can feel it!

But what I had rather do is to contemplate where our libraries and technologies might be 21 years from now. Your library in 2028. Can you even imagine? Technology in 2028. Can you begin to dream it?

Lift your hand into the air. Pause and point your finger. Drag open your virtual window and consciously transfer any question. What answers will you receive? What possibly will Levynn’s and our access to education, entertainment, and delight be?

Thoughts, comments, opinions do matter. Please share your own if you care to celebrate with me!

Could You Have Said It Any Better…??

Phil Watch Jamie Drowned David Watch Phil Dies

Originally uploaded by circulating.

One of our new Summer Reading Book Clubs read Tell by Norah McClintock this week. We, as book discussion leaders, felt that it might be important for some of the students to express their perceptions of the book via art and poetry. Sometimes, you know, the right words get stuck in your throat or jumbled in your head when it is your turn to speak.

If this illustration by one of the students at McCracken Regional Juvenile Detention Center is any indication, I think our feelings were right.

The book clubs at the facility for at-risk teens are a follow-up to our very positive experience during last fall’s Great Stories Book Discussion Club. McCracken County Public Library has teamed with local volunteers to provide six weeks of programming at the juvenile detention center during their summer school break.

Get a Clue @ your library!

best faces for Get a Clue @ your library

Originally uploaded by circulating.

This week has been a great kickoff for our summer Youth Services programs…!!

Over 250 free lunches were served at the library during the Summer Feeding Program by the Lunch Ladies at St. Mary Schools.

25 “Tweens and Teens joined the You Never Know @ your library program with special programs on Extra Sensory Perception and the initial meeting of the Book Pass Club. This is our first year to offer Summer Reading programs for these age groups.

More than 600 kids and caregivers enjoyed the kickoff of Get a Clue @ your library during three programs by guest performer Mike Hemmelgarn, Comedian and Ventriliquist.

Very Special thanks go to Youth Services team members Cathy Edwards for coordinating the Get a Clue programs and Michelle Batcher for coordinating the YNK programs!

We wont even begin to list all the names of everyone who really helped pull this off but extreme thanks go to ALL library team members for cutting out, stamping, copying, stuffing, printing, announcing, crowd-controlling, bathroom-helping, lost-parent finding, filling in, helping out, checking in and out, and generally being good sports about the wild and crazy days during this first week of Summer Reading…!!

Oh…!! and Domino’s also brought free pizza for the kids at the 1:00 p.m. program on Thursday too…!!

Summer Feeding Program

Summer Feeding Program

Originally uploaded by circulating.

St. Mary School Lunch Ladies are providing FREE lunch Monday – Friday for children 18 years and younger outside in the garden at McCracken County Public Library!

We served 18 children yesterday and 23 lunches today. Each Thursday, through July 27, they will also provide breakfast as well.

Our customers are astounded. We are as well and truly appreciate the opportunity to join these hard working, caring lunch ladies in this most exciting project for the kids in our community!

Giant SCREAM Weekend

So scary we dare you to sit thru it all!

8 Spooky Movies – 4 Short Days

with Frightmare Theater hosts “Dr. Mysterio” and “Boris the Hunchback”

shown at Maiden Alley Cinema in downtown Paducah, KY

Featuring THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW Costume Party

Saturday, Oct 29 – sign in by 9:00 p.m. – judged at 9:30 p.m.

Rocky Horror tickets $6.00 for regular tickets or $8.00 for PROP BAG TICKETS

Sponsored by Creatures of Habit & Frightmare Theater

on McCracken County Public Library’s MCLIB-TV – Comcast Channel 7

All Films, although TERRIFYING, are approved for General Audiences… except ROCKY HORROR which is rated R.

$3 per show or $10 weekend pass (pass does not include THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW)

for more details visit Maiden Alley Cinema

GET Active @ your library®!

“We now return you to our regular programming…”

What fun we had during Teen Read Week!

For some of the activity at McCracken County Public Library please visit our flickr set and see what we and the teens have been up to this week!

We even read a book or two…!!