Free Comic Book Day is the first Saturday in May. This year marked the 15th anniversary of this event, and the Southeast Steuben County Library got on board. We ordered 500 issues of a variety of titles for our patrons to have, hold, and take home.
Captain America, Assassin's Creed, and Lady Mechanika were rated Teen + Doctor Who and Howard Lovecraft were rated for All Ages
The Corning region was busy with sporting events, neighborhood rummage sales, Caton Community Days, Caton auctions, and the infamous Friends of the Library book sale. Our building was nearly empty of patrons until mid afternoon, but the hours of 1-3 p.m. filled our hall of books with laughter, joy and wonder over the free comics and make-your-own-buttons.
For anyone who wanted to circuit the establishments offering free comics, our buddy Jared, head Hero Bot at Heroes Your Mom Threw Out created a list, which was printed in our local newspaper. Jared even made an appearance on the local news and gave our library a shout out! Thanks Jared!!!
SSC Library was a point in the Corning, Painted Post, Elmira Heights Free Comic Book Day triangle.
Current copies of Free Comic Book Day issues were available to any patron. At least one free comic was offered, but as the day progressed, we offered any and all to whomever was interested. For those who follow our Facebook events, there was a Cinco de Mayo ad to mention in order to receive all 5 copies for the low, low price of FREEEE!
At last, we rolled out last year's leftover comics from our legendary Library UnMasked event. (Psssst....save the date....Library UnMasked is set for July 15, 2016, 6-8 pm!!!) It was finally BUTTON MAKING TIME!
Leftover salmon is gross, but Leftover Comics are best read while standing
An instant crowd formed once the table was covered with color and comics. Anyone interested was allowed to choose an image of their fancy and have it permanently preserved in a Badge A Minit press.
Choose, Cut, Press, Preserve
This "machine" is not for the weak. You MUST eat your Wheaties in order to have the strength to produce as many buttons as we did in just 2 hours. Kids were fascinated by the simple machine and the process to make a pin button. This activity is a little time consuming and easiest if one person controls the cutting, while another does the pressing. No one seemed to care about the length of the process, just that they got to wear their favorite super hero or villain on their collar.
Only 2 buttons per patron?!?---"Wanna bet?"
While I prepared for big crowds by limiting quantities of books and buttons, our attendees has other ideas. The enthusiasm to create these cool wearables and brag about them throughout the weekend was too tempting to stop at just two. Luckily, we had enough supply to feed the masses.
Through the chaos, our STLS buddy, Filomena Jack of Pink Velvet Bird, dropped off her lovely art work to display in the library this summer. Better get in the building before September!
photo of Filomena Jack by Janie Ferguson
This first time effort was a major success for a Saturday in the library. Over 120 comics went to various homes and more than 50 buttons will be worn with pride for years to come. Two little wonder women even received free goodies from a sweet Pink Velvet Bird.
Wonder Woman pouches by Pink Velvet Bird
Thanks for all who participated in this epic Free Comic Book Day. Jared had our backs to make this day happen and we are very grateful to provide such fun to our community.
Jared, Our Helpful Hero
As I mentioned, the legendary Library UnMasked is set for Friday, July 15, 2016 from 6-8 p.m. SAVE THE DATE!!! Start making your cosplay gear and prepare for an evening of fun and games. Let's ROCK THE LIBRARY for a second year!
Thanks for visiting.
Please comment if you attended Free Comic Book Day.
It's Spring Break for Corning/ Painted Post Schools! Luckily this break coincided with Money Smart week this year,April 23-30, 2016. This gave me the opportunity to schedule our annual Mad City Money event presented by the Corning Credit Union.
Mad City Money, presented by Corning Credit Union
Mad City Money is real life simulation game, quite like the Game of Life. Please read this description of our Mad City Money event from 2015 to get a feel for all of the excitement. There were less students available this year, which means Spring Break is not a good time to plan a financial literacy event. Nevertheless, 12 students got a real life lesson on being adults.
"Bills, bills, bills! It's so hard being an adult!"
These kids got a taste of how hard balancing a budget for needs is when you have the world of desires at your fingertips. Who wants to buy a bus pass when a Ferrari is an option?! And while dealing with a highly persuasive used car salesperson, like we did, choosing wisely might not be the easiest option.
Trust the salesperson or trust your gut?
After a two hour simulation, the students regrouped to discuss their experience. All agreed this was a great lesson. None of them underestimate the struggle their families face daily.
But all were equally relieved that the simulation was over and it was time to be a kid again!
"I want to stay a kid forever!"
A special note of gratitude goes to our volunteers who became "merchants" for an afternoon. Extra KUDOS go to the Corning Credit Union team who make this program possible in our region. Great work!
Recycled Runway Fashion show is June 4 and we cannot seem to work fast enough. Students were treated to an extra day off of school for Spring Break, which fell on our Fashion Friday Club work day. This means less helpers were available to finish our creation. Have no Fear, we will conquer this mission.
An "Inside" View
With staplers, hot glue guns, and yarn in hand, our team of designers understands the pressure of this deadline and works very hard to complete the task. I bet they will never see water bottles or yarn the same way again.
Organized Chaos
The piles of donated yarn have become integral to this design and will provide color and texture to this creation. There is a lovely balance of chaos and order, which will please the audience. Fitting this "organized chaos" onto our petite model will be a minor challenge, but we stare "challenge" in the eyes and charge onward.
There is only one class left, just days before the runway. The pressure is on to complete and refine before the BIG DAY. Check back in May for the final sneak peeks before the show. Better yet- get your ticket to the show. You will be amazed!
Fashion Club is steadily designing with trash. This is the second design group from the Southeast Steuben County Library to participate in the annual Recycled Runway Fashion Show, a benefit for The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes. Each fourth Friday, from January through May 2016, the group will finalize their juried design to perfection until it is exposed on the catwalk.
Mess o' Materials
The trouble with reporting the fun we're having in the program is the desire to show off our progress, while keeping you all intrigued and interested enough to support every designers' efforts and purchase a ticket to the show. Remember: the fashion show is a benefit fundraiser for our local ARTS Council. Although we are training young ladies and gents to think and work creatively, we are also participating in a much larger effort, so please--support our local ARTS scene.
Gimme Your Water Bottles!
The main elements of our design are the clear plastic water bottles used to hydrate our patrons during movies and other programs. These get recycled every month after Family and Adult movies. There is a 5 cent deposit on these containers, which makes them more valuable than most trash in our state, but they are so plentiful in supply, we needed to re-purpose them for our design.
Curly hair?
"The Age of Reason" is the title of our design. We are going BIG! Big hair and big dress. Curls, height volume--we need it ALL!
BIG Hair
There are many directions to go, but teases are the only direction I will take you...until the catwalk.
Yarn circle elements
Yarn and cardboard circles are the other elements in our design. Yarn is always donated to the library, so we have an over abundance. The cardboard circles are also a donation that is scrap from a local production company.
Here we go 'round in circles
It feels like we are working around a Mulberry Bush, 'round and 'round we go. Strong staples and dedicated hands get this job done.
Bit o' Bottle
These bottles have grown into a tower and the piece is not even complete. I just love the way these beauties seem to suspend in mid air.
Our designers are having a great time working together toward our goal. The program series is past the halfway mark and the Fashion Show is just over 2 months away!
This means I better get working on my own piece. That's right, I have my own Trashcan Fashion piece in development. Make sure you get a ticket to the show...I'll look for you in the crowd.
Check back next month for more snippets of our design and remarkable pieces from last year.
Rounded Pi Day was this Monday, 3/14/2016. It was Rounded Pi, because Pi is 3.14159......so Monday was 3.14.16--Rounded Pi--irrational, I know (wink, wink). We needed to celebrate this irrational number with a party and LOTS OF PIE!
Pi Participants and Prizes Table
Pi Participants needed to register at this table to get their tickets to enter for Pi prizes and pick up Pi Pins. Guests learned they would be challenged with interactive games, poetry, calculations, and strategy to complete tasks at each station and enter to win fabulous p(r)i(zes). With guest collaborators from the Twin Tiers Section of the Society of Women Engineers (S.W.E.), and the Corning Museum of Glass, Pi Day was Packed with activity.
Educators from the Corning Museum of Glass with Pi Dividers
The educators from the Corning Museum of Glass brought a glass challenge, the Pi Divider. Glass makers use this tool when making vessels with canes to calculate the amount of canes they need to make a vessel of a particular size. In place of glass canes, colorful straws were used to demonstrate the idea.
Mousetrap Race Cars with S.W.E.
The Society of Women Engineers devised Mousetrap Race Cars with a little help from books they borrowed from our library sytsem, STLS. Challengers took to the "streets" (A.K.A.- the Dewey Decimal Math aisle--510) to race these hot rods. S.W.E. was also gracious to provide S.W.E. s.w.a.g. (stuff we all get) to Pi participants.
Teen Tech Raspberry Pi micro-controller games
An assortment of Raspberry Pi micro-controllers were placed in the SSC Library conference room for all to sample. Raspberry Pie sounds delicious, but these are not edible Pies! These mini controllers are power houses of teaching and learning opportunity.
Edible Pies
For those seeking edible pies, we had a few treats to savor, but there was a major requirement. You must complete a Pilish Poem or Pi-Ku and perform it for me before getting to polish off Pies. Just entering that community room caused taste buds to salivate and this mission was easy to complete.
Pilish Poetry and Pi-Ku
The activity I devised was Pilish Poetry or Pi-Ku. Pilish writing matches the number of letters per word to the corresponding number in Pi. The shortest Pilish Poem could have a three letter word, followed by a one letter word, then by a four letter word. Pi Ku writing matches the number of syllables in a line with the corresponding number in Pi. We had some reluctant performers, but once they understood the rules: No pie without a Performance, I had a ton of readers stating stanzas under the Pi Pie.
There was also a Pie in the Face game, which is very much a scary game of chance...watch out or you may get covered in whipped cream!
Pie in the Face completed our Pi-venture
With this much fun, we will revisit Pi Day in 2017. Lucky we initiated this program on Rounded Pi Day.
When there is no school for teens in the Corning region, I often plan a fun program. This free ice skating session was the best ever for statistics: 48 lovely skaters took to the ice for 2 hours of exercise.
Frozen February
This was an extra exciting event, since our Nasser Civic Center Ice Rink was closed for several LONG WEEKS, in need of a repair to make the ice stay frozen. Happily, we got to enjoy the day off of school skating away the afternoon.
Keep Movin'!
With 48 participants taking advantage of a free skating session, courtesy of the Southeast Steuben County Library, the rink was PACKED! Luckily, the guards are always ready to lend a helping hand.
Guards are always ready to help.
I took the opportunity to get some time release video on the sidelines...
These videos are so fun, but you must remain VERY STILL,
despite freezing off your fingers!
Luckily I had a cheerleader to keep me company as we watched the kids go 'round and 'round...
Chili Dog...no that's REALLY his name!
This program was so easy to establish. It is a joy having a resourceful Civic Center in Corning, NY. We have our public library, Nasser Civic Center Ice Rink, City Hall, Steelworkers Union Hall and a lovely courtyard all on one city block!
Be sure to make this city block your next stop in your travels.
Check back soon for more exciting teen programs, we'll be around!
We are at it again-- taking our trash and creating fashion forward art! Fourth Fridays at the Southeast Steuben County Library are dedicated to Last year we participated in the Recycled Runway Fashion Show, a benefit for The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes and it was a smashing success! Here is a recap of last year: Catch Us on the Runway. Our design is TOP SECRET, so you will have to purchase your ticket and get a front row seat to the show. To tease and excite you, here is some bait to whet your appetite. Enjoy!
Busy Fashion House
Mini Masterpieces
REpurposed Plastic
Layout Sample
Recycled Runway Fashion Show will be held in the auditorium of the Corning Museum of Glass on June 4, 2016. Check back for sneak peeks at our progress in the coming months, but better yet, come out and support this fantastic fundraiser!
