March Programming at Bazan

The teens at Bazan enjoyed several afternoons playing board games, making awesome Pokémon themed Perler Bead crafts, and making superhero themed buttons! 

February @ Encino

Happy hearts and flowers month from Encino Teens! ❤ ❤

February was such a fun month in the Encino teen room with valentine themed plushies (check out those cute pillows!) and perler beads PLUS all the heart themed candy you could eat. We got into a major binge of Bravest Warriors in teen club and watched over four different animes in anime club. Teens got photogenic with our instax camera and enhanced their photos with duct tape frames. We watched a teen-voted movie for teen screen –> The Emoji Movie, which we admit was not our favorite (Razzie well deserved). Oh well, back to better cinematic adventures next month. And speaking of next month- come join us for a special edition of teen club to celebrate teen tech week AND spring break teen gaming for all you spring breakers who need somewhere to hang out. 🙂 See you in the Encino Teen Room!

Schaefer’s Got Talent

Schaefer teens display their skills…Musical, crafty, or just some crazy stunts and dancing…

 

 

Landa says hey to 2018

 

Landa Teens welcomed the new year with lots of …uhm ….newness!  We shaped up our teen space a bit, welcomed new volunteers to the group and are still trying to pin down a new name for us all…..(Teenage Chronicles? Port what? idk).  

We launched a new volunteer program on Saturdays that allowed us to give extra help at the Mayors Family Reads event, we made slime for a Sing a Long, we perlered, and then we celebrated ourselves  heartily 😉 on valentines with chocolate pretzels and  collages!

❤

January @ Encino

Welcome to 2018 with Encino Teens! We kicked off what is sure to be an epic year with a fun filled January. Teens tried out a new board game [Splendor] brought in by a fellow teen (sharing is caring y’all), got super crafty with upcycled bookmarks and painted cds + mini canvases, and got their munch on with pizza cake pops, smoothies, and indoor smores!! Our Anime teens finished Aoharu x Machinegun and watched Rwby and Yona of the Dawn this month PLUS had an amazing time hosting Chinatsu Oku from UTSA (check out our last post to read all about it!). Join us in February for Valentine’s Day goodies, a movie picked by popular vote, and fun games and crafts!

Encino x UTSA East Asia Institute

Encino welcomed Chinatsu Oku, the Japan Outreach Initiative Coordinator from the East Asia Institute, for a very special anime club on the 29^th of January. Chinatsu started our sushi making adventure with a power point focusing on Japanese food culture. We learned what Japanese children eat at school, what families eat for special occasions, and watched a video on Japanese restaurants’ obsession with plastic food. Then it was the time we had all be waiting for – SUSHI MAKING TIME! Teens made delicious sushi filled with eggs, cucumber, and crab. They got to practice their rice spreading, sushi filling and rolling techniques, and finally got to chow down on some homemade sushi! Encino Teens had an amazing time with Chinatsu and we would definitely recommend you have her at your branch!

Mentoring at the Great Northwest – My Story

My name is Isaac Peña. I am 18 years old, a Senior at Communications Arts High School and I am currently mentoring with Stephanie Vazquez so that I can become a librarian here at Great Northwest. 

Growing up, I always wanted to work on the railroad driving trains. It wasn’t until recently that I found out how incredibly demanding and boring it will be, so I had to find another career. With the help of my supporting family, I decided that I would want to become a librarian. Having been to Great Northwest in the past, I wanted to work here. It’s not far from my current home, and there are a lot of great people and events that happen here!
At school, one of my required classes is to find a mentor to help us pursue our future career. I know I want to become a librarian, so all that was left was to find the right person. I chose Mrs. Vazquez as my mentor because she knows just about everything here at GNW. She also specializes in the teen’s program at the library, and it’s my goal in the future to keep teenager’s interest in going to the library even in the age of technology! It was reading books that got me into my current interest (Thomas & Friends led to modern and model railroading for example) as a child, and I’m hoping to make those future kids and teens feel the same too. 

Sushi Go! @ Schaefer

 

“I never thought I’d make sushi at the library!” Teens at Schaefer Library said this and much more at their sushi making program with Chinatsu Oku from UTSA’s East Asia Institute. Chinatsu talked to teens about the Japanese culture, school, and of course food before letting teens try their hand at making sushi.

December @ Encino

Encino teens braved the cold weather this December for some awesome programming in the Encino Teen Space. While our monthly programs were abridged this month with the winter holidays, the fun was turned to full blast. Anime club had a busy month watching episodes from five animes (!!) including Aoharu x Machinegun, Kiro, Mayou, Dragon Maid, and School Living Club. We also are lots of candy and drank way too many cups of hot chocolate. But remember kids- use HOT water 🙂  Monopoly was the name of the game for teen board game night and the play got heated despite the soothing & Christmas-y musical styling’s of pentatonix in the background.  

Encino was so excited to host the last leg of Fiesta Youth’s grand library tour, Lit out of the Closet, with our Festive Fairness program on December 13^th. Our teens and the amazing facilitators from Fiesta Youth made snow globes and gingerbread houses while munching on candy canes. We learned about all of the cool things Fiesta Youth does in our community for LGBTQ teens and we really hope they can come back next year. Head on over to Fiesta Youth’s Instagram to see more photos!

Come on out to Encino in January to kick off a new year of teen programming with a special sushi making program on January 29^th!

Schaefer Teens: Cookies, Karaoke, and Snowball Fight

Cookie decorating and a little singing started off Teen Time on Wednesday. The Minute to Win It challenge (putting cotton balls into a container with only a straw) soon turned into a fake snowball fight! (We cleaned it up afterwards…)