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by Christine, Chapman Branch  Have you ever wondered about the spookier side of Salt Lake City? Join us for a spooktacular City Library Scavenger Haunt! From September 26–October 31, teens and adults can stop by any City Library to pick up a spine-tingling zine and bingo card. Inside you’ll find the gory details about hair-raising haunted places around the city. Complete a bingo by participating in different activities from the bingo card, such as creating a D.I.Y. haunted house, checking out a scary movie from the Library, or visiting one of the reportedly haunted locations in the zine! Once you complete a bingo, bring your card into any City Library and pick up a prize. Go for a blackout to earn your very own paranormal investigation logbook.  Speaking of activities on the bingo card, don’t forget to attend the Chapman Ghost Hunt in October! In its 100+ year history, many strange occurrences have been reported at the Chapman Branch. On Friday, October 14, at 5:30pm, teens and adults will have the chance to learn about ghost hunting from Advanced Paranormal Services, then join an investigation to try to uncover Chapman's ghosts. Attendees can also enter a drawing to win ghost hunting tools. Will an eerie apparition reveal itself? Will books go bump in the night? We'll find out on this chilling October evening! To learn more and register click here.  Helpful equipment to bring with you when visiting Salt Lake City’s haunted spots: a pen and paper to track your observations, voice recorder, camera, flashlight, extra batteries, and a mobile phone for emergencies. As you gain more experience and interest, you may wish to invest in video cameras, digital laser thermometers, even electromagnetic radiation detectors! Locations that traditionally have more paranormal activity include: battlefields, forts, cemeteries, schools, and houses. If you’ve completed the scavenger hunt and would like to continue your investigations, start with some of those locations. Before you go: do some research on your location. What is its haunted history? This will help prepare you for potential challenges and learn about any reported paranormal sightings in the area. Check out the location during the day so you will be familiar with it. Never investigate alone! It’s safer and more fun to work with a partner or group. And as an added bonus, if you see something interesting, you will have witnesses! Be respectful of property owners and spirits. Always ask permission to conduct a paranormal investigation and never trespass after hours or on private property. Talk to the spirits, let them know you mean no harm, and ask permission to take pictures. When you leave, thank them and ask them not to follow you. Leave the location as you found it. Follow your instincts. If you feel like taking a picture of something, do it. If you feel an overwhelming need to leave, follow that instinct.
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by Stephanie C., Main Library  Every once in a while The City Library creates a new library card design. For years and years we had a white card with a black logo. Then, around 10 years ago, we got a new design with green lettering and our new logo on it. When the Glendale Branch opened in 2015, we made a special library card to commemorate the occation, featuring the tile artwork that hangs on the outside of the building. We even created a special edition library card featuring an ice dragon for our huge Game of Thrones Celebration in 2017. But, as far as I know, we've never chosen a library card design voted on by the public. So, the next thing I'm going to tell you is very exciting... We are doing a vote for our next library card design! What makes this vote special, is that it's specifically for TEENS to choose a new library card design that they would like to see in the card collection. Later on we will create some new designs that adults and kids can vote on, but first teens get to have their say. The window of opportunity is short, just two weeks, so if you'd like to help us decide which new design to pick, please cast your vote by clicking the button below. There are five designs to choose from. And don't worry! If you're not a teen, you can still vote, but we will be weighing those teen votes more heavily. The selected design will be announced here on the blog later this fall, and we'll let you know when the new cards are available for you get at the library. One more thing, don't worry if you don't have a library card. You can still vote! But seriously, you should get a library card. There are so many benefits, and it's free! You can apply for one here or stop by your local branch, and when the new design is ready, you can come trade in your card for the new design. See you at the Library! by Claire, Anderson-Foothill Branch  Join us for a period equity workshop led by Teen Squad member Iman, and in collaboration with the nonprofit Too Little Children, where you will learn how to sew reusable maxi-pads for girls and women in impoverished areas around the world. This one-time program strives to promote healthy and informative discussions on period education and equality, while helping to bring about positive change in the form of reusable maxi pad donations. Additionally, Anderson Foothill will be accepting any other period products to be donated to the Highland High Pantry and The VOA, in order to continue the fight to end period poverty. This event will be hosted in person and we hope you will join us on Saturday, June 18th at 11:00am the at Anderson Foothill Branch to learn about period equity and sew some reusable period products that will be delivered to girls in need in Pakistan this summer. by Stephanie C., Main Library  The Super Summer Challenge is on the horizon! With about one month of school left and the weather heating up, it's not hard to be dreaming of summer right now. At the City Library we are busy getting ready for our biggest event of the year, the Super Summer Challenge, which runs from June 1st to August 13th. The Super Summer Challenge is our version of a summer reading program, and while reading is a big part of it (because it's important to keep exercising that muscle over the summer), we also incorporate lots of other fun activities into the challenge, so there is something for everyone. I mean that literally. Anyone can participate, it's not just for kids. We have separate challenge trackers for Babies & Toddlers, Kids, Teens, and Adults too! You can get together with friends to complete challenges as a group, or do activities as a family and everyone wins. Most activities don't even require you to be at the Library. In fact, we want you to get out there and explore your city, world, and beyond this summer. What's that you say? Are there prizes? Well, yes, of course! Not only do you get a prize for every level of the challenge you complete, you also get a prize just for signing up. If you sign up early, you'll have your pick between a sticker sheet, enamel pin, or library tote bag for your sign up prize. Here's a sneak peak of this year's enamel pin. Shhh!  An image of the enamel pin design, which features a sailing ship atop an open book and the words Oceans of Possibilities. The top of the blue background reads The City Library, The Salt Lake City Public Library, and the bottom reads Super Summer Challenge 2022. Oh, and in case you haven't heard, we've started doing in-person events again. So, if you do want to hang out at the Library this summer, we've got you covered. You can always find a cool place to hang out, geek out, art out, and check out your favorite books and movies this summer. Starting June 1st, set a course for any City Library location to grab your FREE Super Summer Challenge Tracker, or you can go paperless by tracking your progress online with Beanstack or by downloading the Beanstack Tracker app. Are you still reading this? Nice! If you are really really excited about the Super Summer Challenge and can't wait to tell everyone about it, you might want to consider being one of our Teen Squad volunteers this summer. Tweens and Teens ages 11-17 can volunteer in the Library this summer, helping to sign folks up for the Super Summer Challenge, giving out prizes, and congratulating participants for all of their accomplishments. If that sounds fun to you, head over to our Teen Squad page to learn more. See you at the Library soon! by Yoli Pérez, Marmalade Branch  Support your local teen artists and view a fantastic art exhibit at the Marmalade Branch of the City Library. Over four weeks, West High School student’s artworks can be viewed and experienced. There are paintings, sculpture and ceramics, digital art and photography, and multimedia collage that can be viewed from Monday, March 21 to Saturday, April 16. Marmalade Branch is located just a few blocks north of West High School. The address is 280 W 500 N, SLC 84103. STUDENT GROUP 1: Exhibit dates: March 21-April 2. STUDENT GROUP 2: Exhibit Dates: April 3-April 16 West High School students in the IB program are part of a rigorous global academic program called the IBO or the International Baccalaureate Organization. The IB program curriculum fosters growth, helping individuals who value an integrated lifestyle which extends beyond the walls and years of the classroom, as well as beyond the limits of geographical and political borders and cultural differences. Part of the IB curriculum means students are responsible to hang their own artwork, and carefully curate their own art exhibit. This practical experience supports students in their growth as young artists and helps prepare them for college, and life after high school. The City Library would like to thank Visual Arts teacher, Mr. Evan Smith, the art students themselves, and West High School for supporting this art show, and sharing it with the library community and Marmalade Branch.  Image of a painting that features a person with long black hair staring straight at the viewer. This is one of the student's artwork that will be featured in the show. by Stephanie C., Main Library  We've been posting a variety of writing prompts and contests throughout the last year, from 100 Word Stories, to the Write Global Essay Contest. Another creative writing event coming up soon is Salt Lake Teens Write, a workshop for teens, led by the Salt Lake Community College Community Writing Center. The Community Writing Center, or CWC, is located downtown on Library Square, in the plaza outside of the Main Library. The CWC offers a variety of resources for the whole community. That's right, you don't have to be a student of SLCC to use their services! The best part, especially for teens, is that their one-on-one coaching and teen writing workshops are FREE. The next Salt Lake Teens Write event is coming up in March. SLTW is a three week workshop where teens will meet with writing mentors, and each other, twice a week to develop their skills and passion for creative writing. The theme for the March 2022 workshop is Making it Personal. This session will focus on personal writing, including journaling, poetry, memoir, college essay writing, writing for social justice, and more. The workshop runs March 8-25 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and you do need to register to participate. Visit the CWC Teens Write page for more details and a link to the application. Each Teens Write workshop features a different theme, so if you can't make it this Spring, stay tuned for details about the upcoming summer and fall 2022 sessions. You can also checkout writing from the last Salt Lake Teens Write Anthology here. The next anthology will be compiled in November 2022, so it's not too late to submit your own work. Happy writing! |