by Christine, Chapman Branch

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. 

​

by Stephanie C., Main Library

On Saturday, August 13th, a gathering was held at The Main Library to celebrate the winners of The City Library's 2nd annual Teen Poetry Contest. 

The contest invites students entering grades 9-12 to submit a poem of 500 words or less. This year's theme was "Oceans of Possibilities." 

Three awards were given in each category (9th/10th Grade and 11th/12th Grade), 1st, 2nd, and Honorable Mention. 1st Place winners received a $100 prize, and 2nd Place winners received a $50 prize. 

Five of this year's winners were able to attend on Saturday to read their poems. The 2022 9th & 10th Grade winners are:
​

The 11th & 12th Grade winners are:
​

You can read all of the award-winning poems in The City Library's digital collection on BiblioBoard, and we've also included them here below. 

Congratulations to all of the winners and participants of the 2022 Teen Poetry Contest!

​Dive Through Crystal
by Erika Prasthofer (10th Grade)

Dive through crystal, pyramid-spike
ripples of tourmaline blue and teal refractions.

Swallow glassy gurgles, splintering
the throat; let apexes and edges clank,

pinch to shard, crackle, peel fleshy drapes
from their adhesion to grenadine.

Shingling downward, each pastel, cloudy-tart
ceramic, stretchy remnant piles up, clingy

textiles in the windpipe.
A gasp in salty water gushes

assortments of polygon webs of flesh
outwards, provoking whirlpool current flows,

tweedling the webs as though within a vacant,
pale dreidel that rectifies to threads, frail

twines that sink, settle:
coral’s dust, misty flush.

Drown breath in beauty, bitter ultimatum.
Respiration perished in rhinestone particle,

absence of suspension and subtle drift,
a pulse meant to sift

across this vast microcosm
of bubbles, blubber, and barnacle.

Is there hope that printed ink on modern parchment
is natural, sharp, intricate enough to inhale, inject,
sting, and swallow through even the buzzing,

dingy conscience? ...where sensation tends to suffocate,
leaking to cement across rectangular shield glass,
flat, sleek, black until flashing skips of imagery--

a different kind of blue projection
than the ocean or the diver’s sapphire studs--
a blue bound to shed the throat, the voice

of sentimentality and instinctual conviction,
the entrance of energy and fuel to heed,
to a state of elasticity, indifference: to numbness.

Mahogany and glossy-amber locks,
golden-rouge, chalky-metallic luster

are chopped like seaweed root
from snail, conch, and oyster prick--

from basalt and serpentine,
from surface-churning havoc

of the sailor’s rudder.
They tickle her ghostly, whitened cheek

and arise, hanging
midway in slanted wavers, ruffling

across water’s turquoise, a gradient
that’s sun rim skims azure

with split ends and abrasions
where dandruff falls like ashes.

When do we suffer, halt the envy,
expectation towards numbness
and illusory emotion and color?

Maybe I will dive through crystal, pyramid-spike
ripples of tourmaline blue and teal refractions:

through nothing but a sheet of paper, memory,
and a dose of hyperphantasia

to sew, stitch, string beauty, mahogany locks,
with the needle of the dolphin

through the surface gems,
and it is then that one may take a gasp,
breathe heavily again.
​

​Love Song
by Samwise Risley (10th Grade)

Sing me a song of want my siren
Sing me a song of needs
Sing me a song of all I love
Then pull me beneath your seas

Tell me of all that which I hold dear
Show me the things I love
Sing me your song from deep below
And I’ll listen from above

Help me to soften a hardened heart
And show me what I desire
Then pull me down to deepest seas
To join your siren choir

I’ve been out at sea for far too long
I long for something new
Tell me the things I should do next
My fate is up to you

Sing me possibilities
Of all that I could do
Let me learn from your age-old song
And I’ll gladly leave with you
​
Devour me under the crashing waves
Drag me to the depths that you haunt
For I’d rather regret that which I never did
Than to never have known what I want

​My Once Endless Ocean of Possibilities
​by Lucy McKillen (9th Grade)

The possibilities
Everything is open and on the tip of my finger - beckoning me forward like the open
ocean
My choices, my decisions - like the moment before I plunge into the cold salty water
The things then forced unto me
The pressure - the weight of all of the water on top of me as I'm being pulled down,
           down, down
Being perfect
The ocean of possibilities, My ocean of possibilities now their ocean of
           possibilities
New possibilities - the darkness and limit of my previous choices
Not possibilities, challenges
Not challenges, a duty
The vast endless ocean turned into a small dark enclosure
My endless ocean of possibilities
Now my burden
Of people
Not people, family
Not family, my controllers
My once infinite ocean turned into a small pond of solitude to carry myself forward with
           people looking toward -
Their ocean of possibilities

In Another World, the Titanic
by Sanskriti Negi (11th Grade)

In another world, the Titanic,
Peaceably sailed away,
Past the ice and dust and rock
And lived to see the day.

In another world, the Titanic,
Never left its English shores,
The great ship was deemed unfit to sail–
And would sail nevermore.

In another world, the Titanic,
Was never thought nor conceived,
So large a ship, so large a thought
A beast of a different breed.

In this world, the Titanic,
Sailed far away,
Never made it back home,
But it is where it will stay:

Beneath the icy ocean
Breathing beneath the waves,
A Rotting, sinking metal corpse,
Did it recall the glory days?
​

Setting the Sea to Find Me
by Keila Torres (11th Grade)

I wake up to see the sun’s rays
To feel the rough crashes of the sea
And touch the soft sand beneath Me

How long have I been here?

How did I get here?
My ship is nowhere to be found,
And my belongings just lay on the ground

Is this my final destination?

I do not know.

I look around

Trees span for miles
And I spot a folder of files

I pick it up, open it, and in a blink of an eye
I’m trapped under a bright blue sky

Dragged down, and down, and down

I do not put up a fight
I’m calm and alright

I hear voices telling me to drown, drown, drown
But I can breath just fine

In fact, I take a deep breath
And feel it through my spine

I’m not scared
And I realize

I didn’t have to set the sea
Because the sea is Me
​

Ocean's Muse
by Indigo Armstrong (11th Grade)

I’ve come, as many others
Looking to the seas, as they rush outwards
Stumble inwards, and endless cycle as they chase their own inspiration
Their muse to spark that motivation, The sun departs floating down as to let sleep take
the dove
As the moon rises above, the best light in the sky
It glints in the waters as waves reach up trying to fly, I still stand in my lonesome
The sand wedges itself between my toes, I dream to achieve that undying motivation
Many people get lost with no inspiration, wishing for such motivation
The ocean goes on not in desperation, not for fame, to gloat, to achieve
It is unaware of itself unable to see it’s glory, unable to leave
Getting lost in our woes
I came to find to find my muse, yet I find I am at a loss
Toss, tossing stones into the waters It becomes clear
As the sun arises coming near, The sea cannot refuse
I however, I refuse to rely solely on the motivation the muse can provide me
I will not forever go outward only to fall back and never fully be, I use any motivation yet
Determination, will be what I rely on
The ocean holds endless possibilities, yet forever will follow towards and away from the
shore
Such a bore, I will wield motivation that comes my way
Yet wield my determination to slay, no more pointless remedies
I see my vast possibilities before me a different sea on it’s own, the determination I can
use

​

by Stephanie C., Main Library

Do you write poetry? If you do, or if you want to start, The City Library has a contest just for you!

The 2022 Teen Poetry Contest is a writing contest for 9th to 12th grade teens in the Salt Lake area. We'll be awarding cash prizes for the top four poems and you can join us at the Main Library on August 13th to hear the winning poems live. We'll also be sharing the winning poems here on the City Library Teens blog, and in the library's digital collection.

Are you ready to get writing? This year's theme is "Oceans of Possibilities", and we want to know what that means to you. Maybe you want to write about the ocean and how it inspires you, or maybe you want to write about your limitless future. Let your imagination go wild. 

You can find all of the contest details here. We'll be accepting submissions through July 31st.

If you'd like to checkout last year's winners, visit our contest page on BiblioBoard.

We can't wait to read your work!

by Claire, Anderson-Foothill Branch

by Rebecca West, Main Library

​

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!

​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!