Wednesday, June 16 is the FINAL Volunteen Orientation session of the 2010 summer. If you are still interested in volunteering and have not attended a volunteen orientation session this is it! We still have some slots open.

• June 16
• 3pm
• Old Worthington Library meeting room

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If you don't want to volunteer at the summer reading club desk but still want to volunteer at the library this summer we have a program called Book Buddies that might interest you. Book Buddies is a six-week program on Wednesday afternoons at the Old Worthington Library. You will be paired with a younger buddy, reading picture books, listening to stories and doing reading activities. If you can't make it to all the Book Buddy dates that is okay, just attend the orientation on Wednesday and sign up for the dates you can attend.

• Wednesday, June 16, 4pm (orientation)

Book Buddy Program dates (Wednesdays)

• June 23, 2pm
• June 30, 2pm
• July 7, 2pm
• July 14, 2pm
• July 21, 2pm
• July 28, 2pm

We still need teens to volunteer at the library this summer. If you are interesting in volunteering over the summer, all you need to do it attend one orientation session. Reminder! The orientation session you attend does not have to be at the library you are planning on working your volunteer shifts. Once you have attended an orientation session and have filled out the paperwork, head on over to the library you want volunteer.  Sooo, you can do your orientation at Northwest Library or Worthington Park on June 3 but still volunteer at Old Worthington.  

Here are the dates for the future volunteen orientations

 Old Worthington Library's orientation schedule:

• Wednesday, June 16 at 3pm

Northwest Library's orientation schedule:

• Thursday, June 3 at 7pm 
• Saturday, June 12 at 3pm

Worthington Park Library's orientation schedule:

• Thursday, June 3 at 6pm
• Monday, June 7 at 7pm

To be eligible, teens must be at least 12 years old or entering the seventh grade this fall. They must also attend one orientation session.

Orientation sessions will be held at Old Worthington Library, 820 High St.; Northwest Library,  2280 Hard Road; and Worthington Park Library, 1389 Worthington Centre Drive.

Those attending are asked to bring a tentative summer schedule, so they can sign up for shifts.

Old Worthington Library's orientation schedule:

• Saturday, May 22 at 11am and 3pm
• Tuesday, May 25 at 7pm
• Tuesday, June 1 at 7pm
• Wednesday, June 16 at 3pm

Northwest Library's orientation schedule:

• Saturday, May 22 at 10am and 4pm 
• Wednesday, May 26 at 6pm
• Thursday, June 3 at 7pm 
• Saturday, June 12 at 3pm

Worthington Park Library's orientation schedule:

• Monday, May 24 at 7pm
• Saturday, May 29 at 2pm
• Thursday, June 3 at 6pm
• Monday, June 7 at 7pm

Volunteens will assist with the 2010 Summer Reading Program by registering children for the program, handing out prizes and encouraging them to keep reading all summer long.

Volunteens also help with various library programs and projects as needed.

Today we're saying a huge THANK YOU to our dependable and wonderful VOLUNTEENS who help us each year make the Worthington Libraries Summer Reading Program successful! We had a great turn-out of library patrons signing up for the program and we had a FANTASTIC group of teens volunteering their hard work and summertime hours to their community by signing people up for the program.

To thank the Volunteens who worked for us this summer, we are having an invitation-only Volunteen Thank You Party tonight from 6-8 at the Old Worthington Library.

The theme of the party is Get your Green On, just like the Teen and Adult Summer Reading Programs! We'll be playing green games, making cool crafts and of course eating! Also come to get your certificates that list how many hours you volunteered this summer!

If you didn't get your invitation but volunteered for the Summer Reading Program, call the library at 614-807-2626 and ask to speak to a Teen Librarian to make sure you can attend!

Thank you again to all who helped out this summer and we hope you'll all come and celebrate your hard work at the Volunteen Party tonight!

A new report released today by the Corporation for National and Community Service finds that even during a time of prolonged economic recession, volunteering has remained steady! The report  found an increase in volunteering by young adults (age 16-24), rising from 7.8 million in 2007 to 8.2 million in 2008. Teens love to give back to their community!

No one knows that more than Worthington Libraries! We have so many awesome volunteens who have volunteered 1,000's of hours in 2009. Our libraries would not run as effectively or efficiently without the help of our volunteens. Just think of the 1,000's of children you signed up for the summer reading program or the 1,000's of DVD's you put back on the shelf or the 100's of felt letters you cut out.....the list goes on and on!

To all of our hardworking volunteens, THANK YOU for all your help. I hope to see you at the volunteen party on saturday. If you have not recieved your invitation, please let us know!

Teens are encouraged to volunteer at Worthington Libraries this summer.

By becoming a Volunteen, teens can help younger children improve their reading skills, give back to the community, work in a fun environment and boost their job and college applications.

To be eligible, teens must be at least 12 years old or entering the seventh grade this fall. They must also attend one orientation session.

Orientation sessions will be held at Old Worthington Library, 820 High St.; Northwest Library, 2280 Hard Road; and Worthington Park Library, 1389 Worthington Centre Drive.

Those attending are asked to bring a tentative summer schedule, so they can sign up for shifts.

Old Worthington Library's orientation schedule:

• Wednesday, May 20 at 7 pm
• Thursday, May 21 at 4:30 pm
• Saturday, May 23 at 11 am and 3:30 pm
• Tuesday, May 26 at 6:30 pm
• Saturday, May 30 at 10:30 am
• Monday, June 15 at 4 pm

Northwest Library's orientation schedule:

• Saturday, May 23 at 10 am and 4 pm
• Thursday, May 28 at 7 pm
• Wednesday, June 3 at 6 pm
• Monday, June 15 at 4 pm cancelled because the Northwest Library Volunteen schedule is FULL

Worthington Park Library's orientation schedule:

• Wednesday, May 27 at 7 pm
• Thursday, May 28 at 4 pm
• Tuesday, June 2 at 4 pm
• Monday, June 8 at 4 pm

Volunteens will assist with the 2009 Summer Reading Program by registering children for the program, handing out prizes and encouraging them to keep reading all summer long.

Volunteens also help with various library programs and projects as needed.

Well, the Summer Reading Program has kicked off officially as of Saturday, and people are flocking to the libraries in droves, signing up and earning points! I wanted to touch on a couple of things that are coming up as questions/concerns regarding the SRP, and also Volunteens.

In order to be a volunteen for Worthington Libraries, you have to go to an orientation. You can go to an orientation at ANY location: Old Worthington Library on High Street, Northwest Library on Hard Road, or Worthington Park Library on Worthington Centre Drive. BUT—there is only ONE VOLUNTEEN ORIENTATION LEFT—and that's at 3pm TODAY at Old Worthington Library. After you complete a volunteen orientation, you're allowed to sign up for shifts at the different libraries. Just come in, ask how to sign up for shifts, and someone will tell you how things work and hopefully get you some hours. We REALLY appreciate your enthusiasm and motivation to help out, so thanks again in advance for taking all the proper steps to become a volunteen! We couldn't run this program without you all!

As you hopefully all know: one of the ways to gain points for this year's Summer Reading Program is to post comments on the Worthingteens Blog. You're obviously HERE, posting, which is awesome because that means you're reading what we are writing (which makes me feel special). But I thought since some people are posting comments on blogs that were posted a long time ago, maybe a helpful video made by my favorite people regarding video instruction—Common Craft—made about blogs.

Common Craft makes a lot of videos about different technologies and they always use these paper cut-outs and paper doll-like things to explain the technologies in a simple way.

So, you can comment on the new stuff too! We (meaning Ann P, your awesome Teen Librarian at Old Worthington; Sarah Cofer, your super-cool Teen Librarian at Northwest; and myself—brand-spanking-new librarian at Worthington Park) are going to try to post new stuff more often so you can get points on more recent and relevant posts on here. It's going to be a challenge but I think we can do it. Hmmmm maybe we could have an inter-library contest on who can post the most blog postings between the three of us….that would sure be interesting....

P.S. I'm currently reading a great book, The Dead of Summer by Camilla Way, an adult book about some teenagers involved in a murder in London, that I'm beginning to think takes place in an underground tunnel in the park. It's spooky!

Hey Northwest Volunteens,

We have been so busy the last two days signing up tons of people for the summer reading program, I am opening up more shifts for the rest of this week.  Basically I am doubling the shifts in the afternoons from 11-7. All shifts are open as of 10:45am Tuesday morning. If you would like a shift, please email scofer@worthingtonlibraries.org or call 807-2626 and ask for Sarah C @ Northwest. I will be in the library until 5pm Tuesday. Feel free to come to the library and look through the schedule at any time!!

Worthington Libraries gets help from about 300-400 volunteens annually! Our volunteens do so much for us: shelve DVD's, check damaged items, cut ellison die shapes, shelve magazines, shelve reserves, make masks for storytimes, make flannels, cut scrap paper, sign patrons up for the summer reading program and much much much much more. We couldn't have as successful a summer reading program or other programs without the help from our teens. SO THANK YOU!!!

And if you're thinking about volunteering at the library this summer, orientations will begin late May. As a summer volunteen your core responsibility is signing patrons up for the summer reading program. Other projects may come up as needed. If you are interested in volunteering at the library this summer you need to be 12 (right now) OR going into 7th grade this fall AND attend one orientation session. There will orientation sessions at Northwest, Old Worthington and Worthington Park. You just need to attend ONE session. We hope you are interested because our summer reading program wouldn't work without you!! Volunteens ROCK!!

Call 614-807-2626 to register for a Volunteen Orientation today!!

• Wednesday, May 21, 2008, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
• Wednesday, May 28, 2008,7:00pm - 8:00pm
• Saturday, May 31, 2008, 10:00am - 11:00am
• Saturday, May 31, 2008, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
• Tuesday, June 10, 2008, 3:00pm - 4:00pm

• Saturday, May 24, 2008, 10:00am - 11:00am
• Saturday, May 24, 2008, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
• Thursday, May 29, 2008, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
• Wednesday, June 4, 2008, 7:00pm - 8:00pm

• Tuesday, June 3, 2008, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
• Thursday, June 5, 2008, 7:00pm - 8:00pm

TEENS! GET CREATIVE! GET CREDIT!

Put your artistic skills to work, have fun, get volunteer credit and help out the library at the same time! The library needs help with making summer reading program decorations, items for our summer Harry Potter event, storytime flannels, posterboard rhymes, props and more...much more! Everyone who attends the Teen Arts Corp event will earn two hours of volunteer/community service credit. The library will provide all the supplies: just bring your ideas and imagination!

There are two events:

Saturday, May 5 Old Worthington Library Meeting Room 3-5pm

Saturday, May 12 Northwest Library Meeting Room 3-5pm

On December 9th, the Northwest Library's Teen Advisory Board will be hosting a Holiday Bazaar to earn money to buy holiday presents for the youth at the United Methodist Children's Home. Last year, we raised just over $600 and hope to raise even more this year.

The plan is to sell baked goods, crafts, handmade items, rummage sale items, and any other misc items we can get our hands on. We will need lots of donations! If you are interested in donating items to our sale, please let me know. Last year the top selling items were baked goods, jewelry, crafts, handmade things, and Christmas type things. Some of the things other teens are making are bookmarks, greeting cards, paintings, bracelets, knitted items, etc.

If you would like to donate items and/or interested in volunteering to staff the event, please contact Sarah C. at 807-2656. Shifts will run from 9am-6pm

Thanks!

We always knew this day would come!

Have you ever thought adults were all talk and no action when they lectured you about giving back to the community? Well, your local teen librarians practice what we preach. Today we were put in jail for the Muscular Dystrophy Association Lock-Up. Sarah C. and Ann P. raised $838 for the MDA.

Find something that interests you and give back to your community. There are tons of organizations in the area—Red Cross, animal shelters, MDA, Relay for Life, United Way and many more.

Enjoy the picture of your teen librarians behind bars for a good cause!!

School's back in session, which means you're probably looking for some volunteer opportunities to fulfill a class assignment, graduation requirements, NHS, or just because you love to give back to your community. Lots of teens volunteer at the library, but if the library isn’t the right fit for you, try volunteermatch.org. With volunteermatch.org you can type in your zip code and interests to get local results just for you. There are also lots of “virtual opportunities” for people who don’t have much time, but still want to help.

• K-9 Response Search & Rescue
• Books and Dreams needs someone to create a “MySpace” account for them
• The Federation of Galaxy Explorers is seeking volunteers interested in providing some computer game (Torque) development support for its Moon Base One simulations.

Image originated from The Blade in Toledo, Ohio.

... and what would you walk for?

I read an article in The Columbus Dispatch where four teens are walking from Toledo to "Ground Zero" in NY in order to raise money for memorials for the victims of 9/11.  I think what these four guys are doing is awesome and wanted to ask you... how far would you walk and what would you walk for?

Here's a link to two articles:

• 4 teens leave Toledo in hike to ground zero
• Flight 93 Site Brings Tears to Walkers