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Review by Elisa ATLANTIAby Ally CondieAge Range: 12 and up Grade Level: 7 and upHardcover: 320 pagesPublisher: Dutton Juvenile (October 28, 2014) Goodreads | Amazon Can you hear Atlantia breathing? For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamed of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all Rio’s hopes for the future are shattered

Review by Andye RITES OF PASSAGE Audiobook Rites of Passage UNABRIDGED By Joy N. Hensley Narrated By Khristine Hvam Whispersync for Voice-ready Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins Release Date: 09-09-14 Goodreads | Audible | Amazon Sam McKenna has never turned down a dare. And she's not going to start with the last one her brother gave her before he died. So Sam joins the first-ever class of

From Open Clip Art

The Afterschool Alliance just published a study regarding after school programs in the United States. This is the third study of its kind, following in the results from the 2004 and 2009 studies. The group wants to document where and how children spend their time between 3 and 6 PM. The previous studies, along with this one, show that there is a demand for after school programs.  However, more programming is needed to help reach the approximately 11.3 million children who are unsupervised after school.

The study is full of facts and figures. Such as: 18 percent (10.2 million) children participate in some after school program. This is an increase by nearly 2 million children when the study was conducted five years ago. We can only hope that number will continue to rise. Parents enroll their students in after school programs because it allows them to feel that their children are safe and also in an nurturing and creative environment. Parents that were polled were satisfied with their after school programs when the organization provided a snack, opportunity for physical activity, an environment to complete homework, and also a space for enrichment activities, such as STEM programs.

Income and ethnicity also played a role in the study; students from low-income families make up 45 percent of the students enrolled in after school programs and the most demand for after school programs is highest among African American families. This study confirmed that yes, we as a country are beginning to provide the after school programs our communities need, but a gap still exists.

So what does this mean for libraries and us as librarians? This is an opportunity to us to help out our community and potentially reach the population of people who feel underserved by after school programs. Of those 11.3 million children who are unsupervised, the majority are teens in middle and high school. For libraries, it can mean two things. The first is that we can either create some sort of informal (or formal) after school program or space for our teens to come to. If we foster an environment of learning and fun, we can help create a space the teens will flock to (at least, that’s what we hope). Our other option is reach out to after school programs in the area. We should ask ourselves, Where could the library fit in to their programming? Perhaps we could visit the program, or even just give them information about the library and events you offer. Regardless, establish some connection that says, “Hey, we’re the library and we are here for you.” If we can make our presence known, through establishing a place in our library or through outreach, we have the potential to make connections, ones that will last a long time. The study cited that students were more likely to continue the program into the summer. Hey, we do summer programming and wouldn’t it be great to get more kids involved? After school programs are our “in.” And in the process, we have the potential to do a lot of good.

So let’s get the conversation going. Are your libraries an after-school spot? What has worked for you? What has not? Since the study does not explicitly cite libraries as a spot for after-school program or programming, I’m curious to know what our librarians are already doing from that 3-6 PM time zone.

Review by Andye COMPULSIONSeries: Heirs of Watson IslandHardcover: 448 pagesPublisher: Simon Pulse (October 28, 2014)Goodreads | Amazon Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse. All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lived with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a

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Review by Reagan (Andye's Daughter) Age Range: 12 and up Grade Level: 7 and upHardcover: 272 pagesPublisher: Point (August 26, 2014)Buy The Book: Amazon.com Torrey Grey is famous. At least, on the internet. Thousands of people watch her popular videos on fashion and beauty. But when Torrey's sister is killed in an accident -- maybe because of Torrey and her videos -- Torrey's perfect world

ILLUSIVEIllusive #1 by Emily Lloyd-Jones Audiobook Narrated By Caitlin Davies, Kirby Heyborne Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins Release Date: 07-15-14  Age Range: 12 and up Hardcover: 416 pagesPublisher: Hachette Audio & Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (July 15, 2014) Goodreads | Amazon | Audible The X-Men meets Ocean's Eleven in this edge-of-your-seat sci-fi adventure about a band of "

"Review My Books" Review by Ryann Dannelly  A LITTLE SOMETHING DIFFERENT by Sandy Hall Genre: YA Contemporary, NA, Romance My Rating: 5/5 stars Goodreads | Amazon The creative writing teacher, the delivery guy, the local Starbucks baristas, his best friend, her roommate, and the squirrel in the park all have one thing in common—they believe that Gabe and Lea should get together.Lea and

By Daniel Romer

Now that the Internet has been with us for over 25 years, what are we to make of all the concerns about how this new medium is affecting us, especially the young digital natives who know more about how to maneuver in this space than most adults?

Although it is true that various novel media platforms have invaded households in the United States, many researchers still focus on the harms that the “old” media of television and movies still have on youth. The effects of advertising on promoting the obesity epidemic highlight how so much of those messages are directed to children and adolescents. Jennifer Harris noted that children ages 2 to 11 get nearly 13 food and beverage ads every day while watching TV, and adolescents get even more. Needless to say, many of these ads promote high-calorie, low-nutrition foods. Beer is still heavily promoted on TV with little concern about who is watching, and sexual messages are rampant across both TV and movie screens. None of this is new, but the fact that these influences remain so dominant today despite the powerful presence of new media is testament enough that “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

When it comes to the new media, researchers are more balanced. Sonia Livingston from the UK reported on a massive study done in Europe that found a lot of variation in how countries are dealing with the potential harms on children. But when all was said and done, she concluded that the risks there were no more prevalent than those that kids have confronted in their daily lives offline. What has changed there is the talk about the “risks,” without much delving into whether those risks actually materialize into harms. Many kids are exposed to hurtful content in this new digital space, but many also learned how to cope with them.

2013 E3 – XBOX ONE Killer Instinct B. Uploaded by – EMR -. CC-BY-2.0 via Flickr.

The perhaps most contentious of the new media influences is the emergence of video gaming, either via the Internet or on home consoles. The new DSM-5, which identifies mental disorders for psychiatrists, suggests that these gaming activities can become addictive. Research summarized by Sara Prot and colleagues suggests that about 8% of young people exhibit symptoms of this potential disorder. At the same time, we still don’t know whether gaming leads to the symptoms or is just a manifestation of other problems that would emerge anyway.

Aside from the potential addictive properties of video games, there is considerable concern about games that invite players to shoot and destroy imaginary attackers. Many young men play these violent video games and some of them are actually used by the military to prepare soldiers for battle. One could imagine that a young man with intense resentment toward others could see these games as a release or even worse as practice for potential harmdoing. The rise in school shootings in recent years only adds to the concern. The research reviewed by Prot is quite clear that playing the games can increase aggressive thoughts and behavior in laboratory settings. What remains contentious is how much influence this has on actual violence outside the lab.

On the positive side, other researchers have noted how much good both the old and new media can provide to educators and to health promoters. It is helpful to keep in mind that many of the concerns about the new media may merely reflect the age old wariness that adults have displayed regarding the role of media in their children’s behavior. In a recent review of the effects of Internet use on the brain, Kathryn Mills of University College London pointed out that even Socrates was skeptical of children learning to write because it would reduce their need to develop memory skills. Here again, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Daniel Romer is the Director of the Adolescent Communication and Health Institutes of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. He directs research on the social and cognitive development of adolescents with particular focus on the promotion of mental and behavioral health. His research is currently funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. He regularly serves on review panels for NIH and NSF and consults on federal panels regarding media guidelines for coverage of adolescent mental health problems, such as suicide and bullying. He is the author of Media and the Well-Being of Children and Adolescents.

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What better way to launch the library of the future than with Star Wars characters and a robot ribbon-cutter at the opening ceremony?

The aptly named 21^st century Library recently made its grand debut in Colorado Springs on June 23^rd. Nicknamed the “library of the future”, this contemporary athenaeum boasts sewing machines, 3D printers, and sophisticated computers. Not to disregard the written word, 21c Library has also laid claim to hundreds of fresh new books for curious minds—many more than the closed Briargate branch 21c was upgraded from. Having personally been inside the spacious new building, I can attest to the glowing modernization.

Though the project cost a staggering 10.7 million dollars—including purchasing the new location building, adding renovations to the 120,000 square foot area, and adding in cutting-edge technology—the library holds no debt in its dusty record books. Rather, the opening has led to the creation of 30 to 35 new jobs and has involved much of the Pikes Peak Library District’s administrative workers. Not to mention the generation of innovation and learning it will create.

Originally the small operating budget had forced library officials to consider constructing an entirely new building for the library—a decision that would have cost more money and, by consequence, have left less money for modern amenities at 21c. Fortunately, at the corner of Chapel Hills Street is a building—the once former home of MCI Communications Corp—that has lain dormant for nearly a decade, patiently waiting for PPLD to unload books into its empty halls.

Once the deal was closed and PPLD’s claim was laid, 21c Library was born. Within three short weeks, books, movies, CDs, magazines, and book tapes were loaded into boxes at the Briargate Branch and shipped off to their new home. Having gone to the tiny Briargate Branch for many years, walking into 21c for the first time was a huge shock: to my left was a business center filled with desks and new computers; to my right, a community room and theater seated for 400. There are two levels in the building. The top is geared towards new features less commonly associated with libraries (3D printer anyone?) while the bottom floor contains the usual (Kids Area, Teen Room, and books, books, books galore).

Once I adjusted to the size of 21c, it was really the technology that reeled me in. The 3-day check-outs have experienced an upgrade: rather than just plucking one off the shelf and checking it out manually, hot new DVDs are housed in a kiosk. This may not seem like groundbreaking technology—just like a vending machine for movies, right?—but the kiosk involves a more complicated programming algorithm than hitting a button and receiving the corresponding candy bar. When you first step up to the kiosk, the touchscreen prompts you to slide your library card—a move that inevitably means the kiosk is wired to the library’s vast database. Once you are checked in, there are a wide variety of fresh games, movies, and CDs to choose from. When one is selected, the machine will check it out for you—no other work required—and spit out an encased DVD for your viewing pleasures.

This is actually one of the less advanced parts of the library. There are the Biblioteca check-out stations, which lodge small spaces to put check-out items into. Forget tiredly holding the book’s bar-code in front of that blinking red light—put up to three items in this space and the check-out stations will not only find the bar codes for you, but scan them in as well. Not to mention the 3D printers (which I haven’t yet had a chance to investigate but am eager to do), sewing machines (need to stitch on an extra button?), and spanking new computers with wide, beautiful screens.

Computers are dotted all over the library for convenient use.

Beyond inspiring young minds—or minds of any age, really—to innovate through all the new technology installed, the library is inspiring the old-fashioned way: books. The main book display sitting on the lower level hosts books about technology leaders like Steve Jobs, books about making companies and businesses geared towards creativity and modernism, and just plain old books about technology. And sitting between all those stacks of pages is a computer motherboard (in case someone needed more inspiration). The annual summer reading program PPLD organizes for children is also geared towards the future; the theme—Fizz, Boom, Read!—centers on robotics and awards nifty prizes relating to the subject (robotic arm anyone?)

Speaking of robotics, guess what cut the ribbon to open this new library? That’s right: a robot. After Coronado high school’s student-designed ribbon-cutter opened the doors to hundreds of eager spectators, the team of students held demonstrations throughout the day about robotics and what their team does throughout the year. Though their presentation only lasted for the day, the library will be hosting plenty of contemporary activities year-round to take the ribbon-cutter’s place. There are web design classes in the HTML programming language for anyone interested in getting a website off the ground (eager to start a blog?), Teen Technology Tuesdays, and even a Computer Basics course.

In any case tomorrow’s leaders and today’s thinkers need a break, there are game rooms filled with all the new gaming technology to check out. Technology has been implemented to help advance us—but every advancer needs a break!

While at first I was upset to see my beloved Briargate Branch go, I am inspired every time I walk into 21c to go out and innovate for the future. Library of the future indeed.

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