STDL Teen Single Song Contest

Attention aspiring songwriters: Whether you are in a full band or just play around with an acoustic guitar every now and then, if you think you've written some great songs showcase your talents during the STDL Teen Single Song Contest! Anyone that was at our Battle of the Bands showcase last month would agree--we have some talented teens in Schaumburg writing some good music! You don't have to be in a band to write a great song, and we know there is some great music and talent out there just waiting to be heard. If you have some songs recorded, you can send us the file via e-mail, myspace/purevolume link, or you can drop off a CD (or cassette if you're old school!) at the Reader's Advisory Desk at the main library or any of the branches. Links and mp3s can be sent to Amy Alessio. Winners will receive gift certificates to area music stores and will have the song linked from the STDL site and STDLTeen MySpace site.This contest is open to all teens grades 7-12. The deadline for submissions is November 30. Let's hear what you can come up with!

Alien Design Contest in July

July is shaping up to be contest month here at STDL--and this one takes a little imagination and creativity! To go along with our sci-fi theme this summer, show your artistic side during our Alien Design Contest! Design an out of this world creature for a chance to win a gift certificate to area book and art supply stores. Forms with rules will be available at the Central library Reader Services desk or at the branch libraries. Winners will be judged by anime artist Shannon Townsend and will be displayed in the library during Teen Appreciation Week Aug. 12 – 18.

Where in the Library is STDL Super Spaceman?

How well do you know the library? Test your observational skills during this month-long contest! Each week in July we will post a picture of STDL Super Spaceman is a different location in the library. We are accepting entries throughout the month for the chance to win prizes! You can see the pictures right here on our side bar, or you can check out the contest on our flickr page. If you know the answer, send us an e-mail at teenservices@stdl.org.

Harry Potter Brain Bending Challenge!

We're excited for the new Harry Potter book, and I'm sure many of you are too. But before you get started with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, test your knowledge during our Harry Potter Brain Bending Challenge!

How much do you know about Harry, his friends, family and his Hogwarts life? Take the Harry Potter Brain Bending Challenge and enter a drawing for magical prizes. Contest runs from July 1 - July 31. Winners will be announced early August.

Answer the questions below (you can send your responses to teenservices@stdl.org):

Name:
Grade:
Phone #:
Email if you want to receive information on upcoming teen programs:


1. What is the name of Hermione’s cat?

2. Who are the evil creatures that suck the happiness out of people and guard the Azkaban prisoners?

3. Who was the prisoner of Azkaban?

4. Name three mythical creatures that live in the Forbidden Forest:

5. What is the name for Voldemort’s followers?

6. What class did Hagrid teach?

7. What large creature lived in Hogwart’s basement and terrorized the school in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets?

8. Ron’s rat, Scabbers, had a secret identitiy. He was really ________________.

9. Professor Remus Lupin had to leave Hogwarts because he was a _________________.

10. Name two of the challenges Harry faced in the tournament in the Goblet of Fire book:

...It's Like MySpace for Books!

At a loss for what to read next? Your friends can recommend some good stuff to check out, and they can do it online. Goodreads.com is a great site to share what you've read or what you're planning to read with your friends. Find your friends and add them to your friend list or be the first one to get started! You can review books and comment on your friends' books. This is a great site for all readers! Check it out!

2007 Stellar Summer Reading Program: The Teenager's Guide to the Galaxy

Registration for this year's summer reading program starts tomorrow (June 1st). As always, you can register at the Reader Services desk at the main library or either of the branch libraries. Don't forget to pick up the free gift (side note: it should keep until April 2009 in optimal conditions, i.e. not roasting in the back of a car).

Here's how the program works this year:

1) Register at the Reader Services Desk at the main library or at either the Hanover Park or Hoffman Estates Branch libraries
2) Pick up your mission pamphlet (each one comes with 3 book review forms) and a maybe even a few extras if you're an avid reader!
3)READ.
4) Fill out a form for every book you finish.
5) Turn forms into the Reader Services Desk or the branches, and redeem your forms for prizes!

Prize breakdown:
1 mission book review form - MISSION READ green metallic pencil
2 forms - one magnetic travel game or sparkle MISSION READ pen (limit 5 on each)
6 forms - $5 off overdue fines coupon (limit 2)
9 forms - $5 McDonalds coupon (limit 1)

We will also have drawings periodically for gift cards to places like Best Buy, Borders, and Target.

Happy reading everyone!

Last Chance for Submissions for the 2007 Battle of the Bands!

You may have heard about our upcoming Battle of the Bands competition in your high school newspaper or seen posters throughout the library--we're getting down to the wire, folks. Monday, May 14th is the deadline for submitting your music (via myspace, purevolume, or good old fashioned digital and analog formats: CD, cassette, or video).

We've already received quite a few great submissions; this will not be an easy decision! We will choose 6 of the strongest bands, and the Teen Advisory Board will meet next Tuesday to select the three bands that will compete at Town Square Park in July. The winners will be posted here next week!

In addition to voting for BotB2k7, this month's TAB theme is: "Back to the Beach!" The weather is getting warmer, the trees are showing their green, and while we won't be going to the beach, we're bringing the beach to you. We'll be making some sand art, enjoying some Hawaiian pizza, and some other surprises! We will meet next Tuesday, May 15th from 5:45-7. Registration is required, so start off your summer by sending us an email at teenservices@stdl.org.

2007 Teen Poetry Contest Winners

The winning poems for the 2007 Teen Poetry Contest are now posted at the STDL Virtual Coffeehouse.

1st place - "Song of the Breadwinner" by Jessica Kneller
2nd place - "Why Do You Keep Coming Back?" by Moonhee Lee
3rd place - "My Beloved Country" by Sylwia Gres
4th place - "Winter" by Michelle Lauterbach
5th place - "Without You" by Mobin Bahrami

Honorable mentions:
"The Game" by Ashley Bucz
"Summer" by Victoria Johnson
"Spring" by Lauren Lindgren

Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to all who participated! We encourage all of you to continue writing and developing your craft. Don't forget that you can share your writing with other aspiring writers at our monthly Teen Writing Club--check out our program list for dates and times.

Celebrate National Library Week, April 15-21

It's about that time once again for National Library Week festivities at the STDL. Our National Library Week kick-off is on Sunday, April 15th. Stop by the library for some movies, games, and entertainment. Last year's big top theme was a big hit, and all are welcome to celebrate old-Hollywood style with us this year!

There will be chances to win prizes and we'll also be giving away various freebies. You can take our National Library Week Survey and be entered in a drawing for a $25 gift card--just for sharing your thoughts on the library.

Click here to take the survey!

Spring Break @ the Library!

Spring Break is coming up and we got the feeling you might have a little time on your hands. What to do, you ask? You can stop by the library to sit back and relax to a good movie on our new 120 inch screen, or you can sign up for one of our Spring Break Great Gaming programs.

Movies will be shown in the seating area in the back of the AV department from 1 P.M. - 3 P.M. Here's what you can see:
Mon 3/26 - Ferris Bueller's Day Off (could there be a more fitting movie for your day off?), 1986, PG-13
Wed 3/28 - Zoolander, 2001, PG-13
Fri 3/30 - Spirited Away, 2002, PG

For all you gamers, we've got two special gaming programs:

Tuesday, March 27 1-3 p.m. @ the Hoffman Estates Branch
Thursday, March 29 1-3 p.m. in the Youth Services Classroom @ the main library
Try out the latest video gaming equipment on a variety of platforms, including Guitar Hero 2, DDR, XBox 360 games and more! Mini tournaments for prizes will be held throughout the events. Registration required for teens in grades 6-12.

As always, you can give us your feedback for upcoming gaming programs (such as what titles we should purchase and upcoming tournaments). See you there!

"Techknowledgey" Quiz

This week is the first ever Young Adult Library Services Association's Teen Tech Week. Take our "Techknowledgey" Quiz and be entered for a drawing for Best Buy cerfiticates and various other prizes. You can post your responses as a message on MySpace or send an e-mail to teenservices@stdl.org. We'll be accepting entries from the weekend, but this is your last chance!

Onwards to the quiz!

Name:
Grade:
Phone number or email:

1. Go to the Schaumburg Twp. Dist. Library Myspace site: www.myspace.com/stdlteen. Name a new library item featured on that site, either a book, DVD, music – anything!

2. Go to the STDL library homepage: www.stdl.org. Find the Teen Page. What is Teen Weavings? Please list one program described on there.

3. Also on the Teen Weavings: What are the Spring Break Fever programs?

4. One last Teen Weavings question: When does the Gamers Group meet?

5. Again on the STDL library homepage http://www.stdl.org/. Click on e-resources and then the Health and Medicine area. Go down to the link for the Teen Health and Wellness Database. On the link list find Skills for Work, School and Life. Go into that page and list two skills featured on there.

6. Stay in the Teen Health and Wellness database. On the homepage for the database, find the Hotline button below the links. List one hotline featured in that section.

7. Return to the STDL home page http://www.stdl.org/, then e-Resources by Subject. Go to Books and Literature and choose Novelist K-8. Click on the Browse Lists Tab. What do you find under Young Adult?

8. Back again to the STDL homepage http://www.stdl.org/. Go down to the 'Ask Us' link. These are ways to contact a reference librarian for help with a question. What ways could you contact us? (What options open up?)

9. Go to Teenreads.com and find out what the question of the month is:
10. Go to http://stdlteen.blogspot.com/. What is the latest posting about (you're already here!)?

Random Trivia: It's National Pancake Week!

This random food holiday that you probably never heard about runs from Feb 21- Feb. 27. Go ahead and have a glorious stack of these fluffy delights for us.

Links (for all you pancake lovers):
Impress your friends with your pancake knowledge--click here for the pancake wiki.
Pancake recipes on lovetoknow.com
Free pancakes at IHOP on Feb. 2oth

Unfortunately, we missed "National Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Week. . ." although, there's always next year, we suppose. . .

Teen Advisory Board 9th Anniversary

Next Tuesday marks the 9th Anniversary of the Teen Advisory Board, and we'll be celebrating it Mardi Gras-style. The TAB Board is your chance to let us know what you'd like to see in the library. Past TAB member suggestions have led to the creation of new programs and contributed to the redesign of the Teen Center. Stop by and share your thoughts and ideas!

The meeting will be held next Tuesday from 5:45-7 in the Rasmussen South Meeting Room. Well be doing some mask-making, candy-making, and participating in a Mardi Gras themed scavenger hunt along with the usual setup of DDR and pizza. Although we wish we could get some of the traditional New Orleans favorite, beignets, we'll be enjoying some somewhat similar donut holes. If you'd like to register for the meeting, e-mail us at teenservices@stdl.org or send us a message on MySpace. If you can't make it, feel free to leave your comments and suggestions here. Happy Mardi Gras!

The Summer Reading Program Theme...as Voted by You!

Looking out the window into the snowy landscape or just stepping outside into the bitter cold--the summer seems a long way away; but here's something to remind you about the warm days ahead of us--the votes are tallied for the summer reading program! Thank you to all that voted and submitted alternate themes (we received some great ones!).

Based on your votes, the sci-fi related theme will be:
The Teen's Guide to the Galaxy

The theme is a take on the classic humorous sci-fi novel by Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
If you haven't had a chance to read this novel, we highly recommend it -- a must-read for sci-fi fans; it is the "most popular known reference book in the milky way," after all. For more information on the novel, check out these links:
Hitchhiker's Guide Review on Teen Ink
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Wiki
Hitchhiker's Guide on Scifidimensions.com

If you interested in checking out this novel at the library, click here to access the library catalog.

Winter Reading Program Prizes Are In!

Prizes for the Teen Winter Reading Program are now available! You can turn in your "snowball" book review slips to the Reader's Advisory Desk at the main library or either of the branches.

Here's what you can get:
1 snowball - your choice from an assortment of candy bars
5 snowballs - $5 off overdue fines certificate
10 snowballs - $5 McDonalds gift booklet

You're limited to 1 McDonalds gift booklet per person, but there is no limit on the candy bars and fines certificates. If you need any extra slips, they are still available at all locations. Just remember the get them in before the deadline of March 1st, folks. The Summer Reading Program is just around the corner...we'll be announcing the winning theme that you all voted for shortly!

Last.fm: Share Your Musical Tastes with the World!

Last.fm -- they're calling themselves the "Social Music Revolution." Has anyone gotten in on this? If not, it's nifty little site that is pretty much the one of the coolest sites out there for finding new music. It allows you to share your musical tastes and suggestions with your friends, or you can register for free and download a plug-in that logs what you listen to in whatever programs you use for listening to music (iTunes, Winamp, Window Media). I guess that in itself is not all that exciting, but once you have started logging your music, that's when you can really get the most out of last.fm.

At the very least, your last.fm page functions as a chart of your musical history. So, 4 years from now (if the site is still around, which judging by how popular it has become, it definitely will), if you wanted to see what you were listening to your senior year of high school, all you'd have to do is click on your charts and go back to this week in Jan '07...and bam! You'll see that you've listened to Muse's "Starlight" 500 times or whatever. You can also listen to different radio stations that are crafted just for you. For example, "Recommendation Radio" is a station that plays new music that you might like based on what you've played, or you can just listen to your own radio station made from music and artists that you've already played. Now that, if you're an information archiving nut like myself, is pretty great right there. Again, there's that social aspect to it. You can add friends like on MySpace and leave them comments on their "Shoutboxes" or send them messages. You can also tag music however you want and listen to radio stations based on these tags (like, "Indie" or "Death Metal" whatever you're into...).

Gah! There's just a lot of music to be heard... check it out yourself @ http://www.last.fm