For more library materials written by and about Indigenous peoples, check out our Indigenous Heritage Month Booklist here.
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by Christine, Chapman Branch  The City Library hosted a Scavenger Haunt in September and October, and it finished with a really fun ghost hunt of the Chapman Library on October 22. We invited members of Wasatch Investigative Society for Paranormal Studies (WISPS) to come to our building, give an introduction into how they investigate hauntings, and to take us on a ghost hunt of the Chapman Branch. Ravyn, Rogue, and Chad from WISPS were amazing. They are also part of Advanced Paranormal Services, a sister organization to WISPS, and their website can be found here. They shared some really interesting information about what they do and by the end of the night had the librarians, Lexi and Christine, believing that the building really could be haunted! The Ghost Hunt of Chapman was scheduled as a virtual event to take place over Zoom, but we experienced some technical difficulties making it difficult to log in to the event. So we thought we would share some of the results and video of the event at the end of this post. Over the years there have been reports from staff of a woman crying, hearing children, seeing bare children’s footprints in dust on shelves in the middle of winter, a woman has been seen in the building, and objects have moved on their own. We were excited to see if Ravyn, Rogue or Chad could help us find out if any of these stories could be true. After Ravyn’s presentation sharing the basics of paranormal investigating, we went to the main floor of the building where she used an EMF reader to find activity (electromagnetic fields) and dowsing rods to communicate with any spirits who might be nearby. We learned that there are typically three spirits who spend most of their time in the branch and really like it here. The spirits responded to our questions and we learned that one of the spirits who spends their time at Chapman is a woman. Rogue felt that the ghost likes the name Rose, so that is what we called her, though that isn’t the ghost’s real name. After a few questions with Rose we learned that she once worked at the Chapman Library, right around the time it opened in 1918. Rose likes to spend time near the big south facing window at the top of the stairs. Ravyn found out that a second ghost is a teenager, about 15 years old, and that he has a lot of energy. He let us know that he is the one who likes to leave footprints and play little pranks here and there. We asked him what name he would like to be called and he responded to the name Ted. The third ghost is a child, of about 10 years old, and he likes the name Billy. (Bill and Ted!) Billy enjoys it when children visit the building and likes to hang out around them. All three ghosts communicated that they enjoy being in this building and its positive energy and visitors. We had a great time learning more about paranormal investigations and participating in one at the Chapman Branch! If you are ever in the area, come stop by and say hi to Rose, Billy, and Ted! And don’t forget to check out some of the footage from our Chapman ghost hunt below! by Saia, Glendale Branch  I love to write and try to find new ways to level up my own skills as a writer. Most times, writing can be a daunting task, so to make it easier I like to find different writing exercises to help get words onto the page. Writing 100 word stories is one of these exercises. Here are a few tips to help you get started. 1. Don't think. Just write! Lots of times I tend to overthink things. Writing is no exception. When writing a 100 word story, turn off that little voice in your head that says your story isn't good enough. That voice knows nothing of writing a story and will keep you from having fun. Write down what needs to be said and don't take yourself too seriously! 2. Pick a random theme. If you truly can't think of anything to write about, pick a random theme, topic, or subject and start writing about that. Google has fun random theme generators that can help you out when you are feeling stuck. 3. Edit! It's very likely that you will go over one hundred words when writing your story. This is absolutely, positively, 100% A-OK! When I actually start to write, I realize that one hundred words isn't that much! Once I have gotten down all the things that I want, I go back and edit it down to one hundred. This helps me find the most important parts of the story to keep and to let go or minimize the parts that don't help move the feeling of the story. What are you waiting for? Pick up a pen and paper or open up your laptop and get to writing! There are so many stories to tell and so many eyes and ears eagerly awaiting to read what you have to say. Below is an example of a 100 Word Story that I wrote for this blog post. What will yours be about? At last, it’s over. My sword was held high behind me with my arm extended out. I could hear the blood drip from the blade onto old dry leaves. Nothing but ash and silence could be found around me. At last it’s over, the last foe cut down-At last we’re free. All fear dissipated. All doubts gone. All that remained now was emptiness. I turned slowly, surveying the smoky landscape. I could see the faint shapes of the fallen in the distance. The emptiness grew inside me as the sound of leaves cracked under my feet. It's all over. We would love to feature some of your 100 Word Stories on our Teen Creations page. If you'd like to share, please submit them here.  by Yoli, Marmalade Branch  Are you really good at remembering faces? If so, you may be counted among the 1% of the population who are considered super-recognizers! This is an innate ability that is currently being studied by University of New South Wales. You can find out if you are a super-recognizer by taking the UNSW Face Test. The test is not mobile compatible. You will need to complete the test on a desktop or a laptop computer. Fair warning, the UNSW test is really difficult. I took the test and I scored 80.83%, which places me in the top 1% of participants. The average score on this test is 58.57% I did not expect to score so well on this test, and wondered if it was a fluke. If you are like me, you may start out at the beginning of the test enjoying the feeling of easily being able to differentiate between the faces. You may even feel a sense of accomplishment and it feels like fun. However, as the test progressed, I felt my brain struggling. It was mentally exhausting.  I began to guess more and more of the answers. Imagine if you were given a 10 piece puzzle, and it suddenly multiplied into a 10,000 piece puzzle. Or imagine if you were given a math problem that looked really simple, but it turned out to be unsolvable. Or maybe that is not a good analogy, because math is not my strong suit, and so most math problems are difficult for me. And yet, looking at the faces felt like some kind of tortuous mental geometry-- so maybe, just maybe, math is the best analogy.  After this experience, I decided being a super-recognizer is exhausting, and I could never make a career out of it. Please enjoy this article from the Washington Post: “They never forget a face. Research delves into how ‘super-recognizers’ can do this.” I found this science article highly enjoyable to read. I want to know more about how the science of super-recognizers might be applied to real world situations and problems, and why exactly is it being studied. The concept of super-recognizers seems like science-fiction, but it’s real. And also totally weird and unusual. I’m now really really curious about it, so I’ll probably keep participating in these studies with UNSW if I keep scoring well and do not burn out. by Becca, Main Library  Calling all zine makers, creatives, writers, and artists! We want you to join Teen Zine Team! What is a zine? A zine is a self-published magazine that comes in any shape and size and can be about any topic. Did you know The City Library has a large collection of zines that you can check out? Visit the Main Library to browse this great, eclectic, and interesting collection.   The Teen Lounge on Level 2 of the Main Library also has its own Teen Zine wall. All of the zines you’ll find on this wall are made by teens and are free to take! No checkout necessary.  If you want to learn more about this awesome form of alternative press, we would love to have you join us at Teen Zine Team. Teen Zine Team is a weekly meetup with Grid Zine Fest and The City Library where you can explore your creativity by working on individual zines, collaborative projects, bookbinding, and more. No experience needed! If you’re brand new to zines, we’ll show you how to get started. In the past, Teen Zine Team members have attended events such as Grid Zine Fest’s summer zine swap and picnic, Alt Press Fest’s writing and zine-making workshops, and we table together at local zine festivals.  Teen Zine Team is held on Thursdays from 4-5pm on Zoom until we can meet in person again. If you don’t have zine making supplies at home, sign up here for your own zine-making kit. We hope to see you there! Click here to join the zoom meeting. Meeting ID: 984 1761 2674 Passcode: 834217 Held in partnership with Grid Zine Fest.  |
