So, as you have probably noticed, Emily and I have been very quiet on here lately. Mostly, the reason for this is Summer Reading. Which is insanity. Our programming volume goes up tenfold, and the sheer volume of running around getting stuff ready has meant that in non-work time, blogging is not the priority (I'm currently more likely to collapse and watch ten episodes of Degrassi after work ends. Yes, I watch Degrassi obsessively -- that's probably a topic for a different blog entirely.).
Another reason the blogging is slow during the summer is we actually take a big break from doing storytime. Which is really sad (I MISS IT SO MUCH), but due to staffing levels at our branch and workload, we just can't manage to run Summer Reading and do our regular storytimes at the same time.
BUT, I thought this would be a fantastic opportunity to talk a little bit about the fact that the Fairy Twins are not exclusively children's librarians. In fact, Emily and I are both SUPER into teen programming (and reading books written for teens). And so I am going to talk a little bit about one of my faaaavorite annual programs that we do -- LibrAnimeCon.
Starting last year, the three biggest (and closest together) libraries in our system decided that it would be a good idea to pool our resources and put on a MASSIVE teen event during the summer. We decided to put it on at one of our libraries each year and rotate around (last year it was at our library, this year we rotated to a different one). Partnering means that we have three times the staff power and three times the budget, so we can put on a HUGE event. This is how LibrAnimeCon (short for Library Anime Convention) was born. There are a ton of teens in our three communities who are just totally obsessed with Japanese comic/cartoon culture, so it seemed like a perfect way to bring teens together at an event.
How The Event is Organized:
--Each of our three libraries contributes one staff person to be on the core planning committee. From my library for the last two years, I've been the person on the committee. Another member of the committee from one of the other libraries is the amazing Rachel, who is basically a library celebrity (if you've seen any amazing library displays on Pinterest, they're probably by her). We have several planning meetings starting in the fall or winter so we have plenty of time to get our acts together and figure out what is happening.
--We also meet a few times a year with all the youth services staff from all three libraries. The main planning committee organizes the meetings, and we delegate work to the staff people who aren't on the committee.
--Planning consists of figuring out all the things: Food, activity stations, logistics, space planning, ordering supplies, event timing, decorations, etc. etc. etc. It's kind of like what I imagine planning a wedding is probably like.
--As far as the budget goes, each library asks their Friends groups for money, and contributes towards different things. For example, this year my library was in charge of purchasing the candy for the candy sushi station, and also for hiring one of the guest artists. Another library was in charge of food, and the third library paid for a second guest artist and prizes for the cosplay contest.
What Happens at LibrAnimeCon?:
--We start giving out tickets for LibrAnimeCon at all three libraries as soon as Summer Reading begins. When teens sign up for Summer Reading (at our libraries, teens are anyone going into 6th-12th grade), they are also offered free tickets to the convention. This year, each library gave out tickets that looked slightly different from each other so we could tell which libraries teens were coming from for the event. My library gave out about 100 tickets between the start of Summer Reading and the date of the event. I'm pretty sure that between our three branches, we gave out about 300 total. As we handed out tickets, we encouraged kids to attend the event dressed in cosplay so they can participate in the cosplay contest.
--On the night of the program, we open the doors at 5:30 PM. The library is normally closed at this time, and only teens are allowed in for the event! It's awesome. We get to bounce parents at the door. It's a teen safe and teen exclusive space. When the teens enter, they turn their tickets in, and receive a conference badge/lanyard (just like a real conference! This is a new touch we added this year.). The back of the badge has the timing for the evening, as well as a list of all the activity stations.
--From 5:30-6:30 PM teens are free to roam the library and participate in all the activities. This year, we had the following stations available: Catered snacks from Panda Express, Candy Sushi Making, Anime Viewing (a projector connected to a laptop showing YouTube clips of anime theme songs and the like), Manga Drawing Tutorials from a manga artist, Animal Ear Headband Making out of recycled materials (run by a local recycled material artist), DIY Makeup Station (complete with scar and wound tutorials), and Video Interview Booth (one of our librarians interviewed kids about why the loved anime and manga and is editing it together). We also had a professional photographer wander around the library taking candid and posed photos that she will send us that we can post on our Facebook pages and Teen Tumblr page.
--During the first hour, we also had library staff encouraging teens to sign up for the cosplay contest. If you've never seen anyone dressed in cosplay -- you should do a google image search. It is amazing. Teens get SO INTO making their costumes look JUST like the characters in their favorite anime/manga. We had 41 teens sign up for the cosplay contest/fashion show, and they all looked AMAZING. Each teen received a number to pin on themselves if they were signed up for the fashion show.
--At 6:25, we gathered all the teens who had signed up to participate in the fashion show. The library staff person in charge of these taught them all how to walk down the runway, where to pose, etc. She also lined them up in numerical order.
--At 6:30 PM, ALL of the activity stations shut down. We corralled EVERYONE into the part of the library where we had set up a runway and chairs for the audience. This is the main event of the evening, and we want EVERYONE to be involved. We actually also let parents back in to the library at 6:30 so they could come and watch their teens take to the runway. Also, so they can vote for their kids -- more on that in a second.
--On each chair for the audience, we left a ballot and a golf pencil. The winners of the cosplay contest were decided entirely by the audience. There was space for them to write their first, second, and third favorite cosplayers' number.
--I acted as the MC for the fashion show, and called out each participant's number, followed by the name of the character they were cosplaying as. The teens came out to thunderous applause, paused at the marked places on the runway, had their photo taken by our photographer, and the moved on. Then, at the end, they all walked the runway again so the audience could see everyone a second time and write down their top three costumes.
--After the fashion show ended, the ballots were collected and manically tallied by library staff. It took about ten minutes to count all the votes, so we let the teens and parents socialize and await the results with bated breath.
--Finally, after we had the winners, I announced the top three vote-receivers. They each got to pick out a prize (gift certificates to local comic shops and book stores), and have their pictures taken one more time.
--And then, that's it! The event is over! The entire thing ended around 7:15, and all the teens were out of the library by 7:30. LibrAnimeCon 2014: success!
Why LibrAnimeCon is Amazing:
--The first reason this event is amazing is the sheer VOLUME of teens we have. This year, we had 139 teenagers in the building for the evening. Once we allowed adults in for the fashion show, the number grew to about 180. I have never held a teen event that drew as many people as this one does. The joint effort of all three libraries doing publicity and encouraging their teens to attend REALLY works.
--It is just a magical event. The teens spend SO much time on their costumes, and are SO excited to spend the evening surrounded by people who love the same things they love. I truly believe libraries have a unique power to unite people who are passionate about something. We give teens a venue to gather with other like-minded teens, and we celebrate and squee about their fandoms with them. We provide them a safe place to unabashedly love the things they love, and shout it out to the world. It is powerful, and magical, and wonderful. If LibrAnimeCon had existed when I was a teenager, I would have felt less alone.
I apologize for the wordiness and picturelessness of this post. I feel really passionate about this event and how it fulfills our mission of serving teens, and wanted to share it with the world! I hope everyone else's Summer Reading Programs are going well, and I really do hope to start posting more regularly. I'll make it a goal to replace an episode of Degrassi with a blog post instead every once in awhile :)
--Sara
This is how LibrAnimeCon (short for Library Anime Convention) was ... animelanyard.blogspot.com
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