T.A.G. 2008

It's the last day of 2008 so I thought it was time to take a look at all T.A.G. has done this year - and what a year T.A.G. has had! Not only has T.A.G. done quite a bit of volunteer work for the Friends of the Library - like clean up at the annual Friends of the Library book sale But they also worked hard putting together lots of teen-friendly programming like RaWR* (*Readings and Wild Recitations), Twisted Christmas, and the craft series Art in the Afternoon.
Two other amazing T.A.G. programs this year were the first EVER Teen Summer Program and the Community Novel - complete with a intro program of Improvisation that T.A.G. members worked on with Clare at the Campus Library

T.A.G. has helped out at many Library Events, taking tickets, helping with food and crafts and T.A.G. members even came in and learned the new iBistro system while the library was closed during the upgrade, they came back a few days later and spent a Saturday helping others learn the system.
T.A.G also attended community events like the KIC Activities Fair in September and the KYI EXPO that happened earlier this month.
All in all T.A.G.s has donated over 275 hours of their time to the library & the Friends in 2008! And that does not include the 25 meetings they had to plan programs, discuss books, movies, music games and more, and of course recommend materials for the library to purchase. T.A.G. is an amazing group of teens and I can hardly wait to see what 2009 brings! Happy New Year to All!!

Freaky Twisted Christmas Rocked!!

Freaky Twisted Christmas was a BLAST! The evening started off with Heavy Metal Death Match Twister

All the Teens were amazingly agile and the judges had a tough time calling the winners

Then the decorating started - not of the library, at the craft tables!

Scratch art at one of the tables

Gingerbread Dinosaurs at the other!

After all this the Teens were ready to sit back and enjoy Edward Scissorhands.
It really was a great program and T.A.G. thanks all the teens for joining them!
There was one bad moment ...

But luckily only one Gingerdino was injured in the attack.
Happy Holidays from T.A.G.!!

KYI Expo 2008

The Ketchikan Public Library's Teen Advisory Group once again attended the KYI Expo - with it's wonderful theme "There is nothing to do in Ketchikan - NOT!!" T.A.G. loves getting out in the community and telling Teens about the fun T.A.G. has at the Library!

The KYI Expo had a great DJ, tons of great idea for Teens, and lots of good food.
KYI raised lots of money with it's action and we loved checking out the art!
Congrats to KYI for another fantastic EXPO!!

Tonight's the NIGHT!

FREAKY TWISTED CHRISTMAS happens tonight! Starting at 7:00
Teens in Ketchikan can come to the library for

* Heavy Metal Death Match Twister *
* Gingerbread Dinosaur Decorating *
* Edward Scissorhands *
* and MORE! *

Food, Prizes, and Fun await
T.A.G. hopes to see YOU there!

BUSY WEEK!

T.A.G. is busy this week! Not only will T.A.G. members be at the KYI EXPO Thursday night (starting at 5:30 at the Ted Ferry Civic Center) but they are also hosting the All Teen Christmas Party on Friday night!!

All Teens are welcome to join T.A.G. Friday night at the Library starting at 7:00 p.m. for Heavy Metal 'Death' Match Twister, Decorating gingerbread men & dinosaurs, the movie - Edward Scissorhands and much more!!

T.A.G. Helping the Friends - a Blog by Courtney

Just over a week ago Morrisa Clark and myself (Courtney Enright) sat at the Winter Arts Fair craft booth for the Friends of the Library. Everyone loved the ornaments. Remember a few T.A.G members helped to create metal stars. The stars sold at $5 a piece. They also sold little metal Christmas trees, cloth stars, icicles etc. Not to worry if you aren't lost yet, they also had the building fund box out to collect money and the First Book program was selling calendars. Finally Friends of the Library was selling coffee cups and coffee.

Wow!

It was a little confusing at first. It was a three hour shift but it went by surprisingly fast. I admit I didn't get to read a whole lot of my book because we were kept busy. Overall it was well worth the time.

Duct Tape Creations & Fun

The Teen Advisory Group hosted 'Art in the Afternoon - Duct Tape' was amazingly successful with great art and lots of fun!!





Folks not only used the patterns, but also their imaginations to create wonderful art!







Look for more great 'Art in the Afternoon'
programs in 2009!






T.A.G. has big plans for December- so check back soon!

Art in the Afternoon - Duct Tape!

Come and be creative with T.A.G.! We welcome all ages - T.A.G. members will even help the younger folk - or the oldsters too if asked! Create fun items for yourself or to give as gifts! Come explore duct tape as a creative medium with T.A.G.!

And A Good Time Was Had!

Double Feature Friday II was a great success! We had more folks come in than the last movie night - they enjoyed the movie and the great snacks the the Movie Gallery provided!! Look for more DFFs in the future. For now T.A.G. is taking a well deserved - brief - break. After all the events of this month T.A.G. members needs a week or two to catch their collective breath - and study for mid-term!

But they won't be gone long - look for a new Art in the Afternoon in November and a big Christmas party just for teens at the library in December! We'll update this as we get closer to events, so check back soon!

Double Feature Friday Returns!!

Improv & Community Reading Night Rocked!

The Night of Entertainment was Fantastic! Clair lead the group in fun activities -


There were many and varied Improv Games


And Lots of Laughter!!

The Reading of the Novel was enjoyed by all -




We only wish more had come to this wonderful event!

T.A.G. isn't done yet - in a day or two the next T.A.G. event will be happening - stay tuned!!

The Reading!

Join T.A.G. on Friday night and hear over 40 paragraphs turned into an amazing Community Novel!! Come early and play with T.A.G. members and more at Improv, Storytelling and Games with Clare! It will be a night of fun and food!!

Have YOU told YOUR story yet?!?

Time is running out for Thomas, Jared and Enid - they need you to write them a great paragraph or two SOON! All paragraphs will be due on Saturday, November 11th at the Public Library, Friday, November 10th at the School Libraries!!

So write! Write Soon! And give our trio a great adventure!

Community Novel!

- T.A.G. Presents -
A Community Novel

T.A.G. Invites all of Ketchikan to write a paragraph (or two) about Thomas, Jared and Enid - take them out of the laundromat, give them friends or loved ones, fun times or rough times and T.A.G. will put it all together to create a novel written by Ketchikan, AK!

--A Few Guidelines--
Though T.A.G. invites you to move our characters about and maybe even add a new one or two, we do have a few rules.
No gore, serious violence, death or profanity.
Consider this a very PG novel and it should all work out great.
And please make sure we can READ your paragraph!
If you hand write, please print carefully -
or come in and use the public library's typewriter or computer!


Paragraphs can be dropped off at the Schoenbar, Kayhi or the Campus libraries, or at the Public Library until October 11th.

T.A.G. will host a reading of the novel on October 17th at the UAS Ketchikan Campus Library.

Now it's up to Ketchikan!

New READ Posters!

They just keep getting better! Well, no, they are all really cool though! And we will have another update this week with T.A.G.'s newest project - check back soon.

Summer is Over

Yes, it's true not only Summer is over but also the first ever Teen Summer Program. 50 teens turned in over 250 comments this summer making it a great success! We are going to take everything we learned this summer and hopefully make the next program even better!

All the T.A.G. is back in school and working hard, but don't think school is the only plan for this fall - we will be at the KIC Ketchikan Activities Fair on Saturday from 1-3 at the Kayhi Commons, so look for us there!

And we will have new READ posters up soon along with our big fall program! Check back for more news soon!

P.S. Can you tell T.A.G. had a good time at the Teen Summer Program Party from the pictures?

It's Finally Happening!

And don't think this is all that T.A.G. will be doing this fall!! Look for T.A.G. at the Ketchikan Activities Fair sponsored by Ketchikan Indian Community's Advanced Education Opportunites on September 13th. We will also be doing more READ posters in September and gearing up big time for Teen Read Week in October!

It's going to be a great fall for T.A.G. - hoping you join in on our fun too!!

Movie Night a Success!

T.A.G.'s Double Feature Friday was a success! Two dozen teens enjoyed the movies and the munchies provided by the Friends of the Library and co-sponsor, the Movie Gallery!! It was great having that many teens when there were other things going on in town.

Now T.A.G. is going to get ready for the finale of the Teen Summer Program - the PARTY! T.A.G. enjoyed a shopping adventure at Waldenbooks a co-sponsor of the program, with shopping funds provided by the Friends of the Library. Now they just have to put it all together and prep for the party!

T.A.G. is Hosting a Movie Night!

Hope to see tons of Ketchikan Teens there!!

Everyone's Invited!

Hope to see lots of folks there!! And look for T.A.G.'s next activity - a Teen Movie Night!

Summer Happenings

The Ketchikan Public Library Teen Advisory Group members are having a very busy summer! They are traveling, getting ready to travel, working, attending Summer Art Camps, and more! And on top of all of those things they are helping at Library events, participating in the Teen Summer Program at the Library, and planning teen events! They are so amazing!

Our next program takes us back to the beginning of our craft programs. T.A.G. is hosting Art in the Afternoon on July 26th - Art Cards & Post Secrets is once again the theme and we are hoping for a wonderfully creative afternoon.

In August we will be having a teen movie night - Double Feature Friday!! Both our films echo the Metamorphosis theme of the Teen Summer Program - plus are fun flicks! We hope to have a big crowd for the shows on the 8th.

August 31st will be the last day to hand in comment cards for the Teen Summer Program - over 150 have already been turned in already! The big party will be in September with tons of prizes, food and more!

And T.A.G. will be doing even more through the fall - they are a BUSY, amazing group! Look for more from them soon!

Anniversary!

It is true! T.A.G. will be a year old on June 3rd! Since that date is also the last day of school the group is compromising a bit and will be celebrating on the 27th.

It has been such an amazing year - T.A.G. has hosted after hours programs for teens, crafts for all ages and put in over 200 volunteer hours at the library. Those are certainly great accomplishments!

T.A.G. has also recommended books, CDs and movies to be purchased by the library - most of which have been purchased or are on order. Some are even already out in circulation and being enjoyed by library patrons.

And now T.A.G. has got a new project ready to go - starting June 1st Ketchikan teens can participate in the KPL's first ever Teen Summer Program! With the help of 20 community sponsors (including T.A.G.) teens will be able to enter raffles, earn instant gratification prizes and more at the library all summer long. And, of course, we will be wrapping it up with a party in September.

T.A.G. has had an amazing Year One - I can't wait to see what's next for the group!

Very Generous Friends - by Courtney

Friends of Library Presentation

A couple weeks ago devoted TAG members Jasmyne, Morrisa, Olivia and myself (Courtney), all helped the wonderful and talented Kelly to beg and plead for money. The “Friends” were either wowed and amazed by our stupendous talent or took pity on our pleading souls, but either way they approved the budget for next year. Woot! The evening was “An Evening of Chocolate” and chocolate their was. The board made a plea for the teenagers to help them with the chocolate, and as we are philanthropic souls, who are we to refuse them help? We delighted in having the opportunity to help the “Friends” with their “chocolate issues”.

--An addition by Kelly--
The Friends of the Library will be meeting again on May 20th at 6:30, we want to let them know that we truly appreciate their support. They fed a lot of kids this past year and they will be feeding even more in the year to come! Not to mention everything else they do for our library. Yea, Friends!

Another amazing Art Afternoon!!
Though we started off a bit slow, we did start right off with all ages! Several of the younger folk loved the shape books - fishes, pigs, kites and more were big hits.

Once more of the teens arrived a wider variety of book designs were tried; sewed and flag books were just a few of the styles that were created.

And folks even tried out their own styles and ideas on our collection of papers, punches, glue and threads - it was truly a wonderful, creative afternoon! A huge thanks to everyone who joined us!

Though we were going to stop at 3 of these creative programs the attendance has been so consistently good we have decided to continue them. So, join us the end of July for another "Create Art in the Afternoon" as we go back to our first - PostSecret, Art Cards!

Thanks to all the TAG folk who made it to the meeting last night and helped prep for -

We hope to see everyone there!!

T.A.G. Meets

T.A.G. will be having a meeting tonight - and we have a ton to go over and to do! We will be prepping for the craft on Saturday, finalizing plans for this summer and getting ever closer to our first anniversary!

What an amazing year it has been! T.A.G. members have donated over 200 hours in volunteer time for the library - and that is on top of the twice monthly meetings. T.A.G. has created programming for teens, suggested materials for the library to purchase and become a vibrant part of the library - in other words everything they set out to do and more!

It has been so much fun to be a part of T.A.G. this year - I can hardly wait to see what next year brings!

Courtney Blogs

RAWR

This past week, the Readings and Wild Resuscitations (RAWR) occurred at the Library. Now, I must confess upon initially hearing this plan I was extremely skeptical. I enjoy poetry and such, but spending an evening listening to my peers reading poetry? This would never dawn on me as something to consider, but as a TAG member I thought it best not to voice such concerns, as everyone else seemed rather pleased by the idea. I was thoroughly impressed by the amazing skills demonstrated by that evening’s readers and resuscitators. Despite the draw being a smidge smaller than hoped for, due to the conflict with Music Fest, the overall result was overwhelming success.

The general atmosphere of the people present was one of open ness, and comfort. Some insane TAG member (who will remain nameless) suggested that we remove our shoes, which turned out to be not only popular but added to the effect. One could even argue that we got too comfortable, as I know I wasn’t the only person who knocked over a beverage that evening, fortunately any evidence of said spills was hidden by the return of the shelves to their initial location.

RaWR Rocked!

For a night when a LOT was happening in Ketchikan, especially for teens, we had an excellent group for RaWR* - Readings and Wild Recitations. Once everyone got comfy the sharing of words began.

Nearly half of those who came shared at least one poem or song or passage



For some it was a favorite from 'younger years'

For others it was a more current passage that they wanted to share


Each person presented with feeling - it was a wonderful sharing time

With some humor and lots of good food too! I'm sorry for everyone who missed it and very thankful for everyone who was a part of it - perhaps we will RaWR again.

RaWR

In case you have missed the posters about town, everyone is invited to RaWR - Readings and Wild Recitations. Come and share your favorite quote, passage or poem in honor of National Library Week AND National Poetry Month! Friday night starting at 6:30 at the Library.

More TAG READS!

Here is the second batch of READ posters by the T.A.G.! They are all turning out amazing. To see them "live" visit the reading room at the Ketchikan Public Library - upstairs. If we can get a few more done at the next meeting we should be able to put out a whole new batch before the end of the month.