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Play board and card games that can be finished in under 10 minutes.

Love Letter | Amazon | Video review -- plays in minutes. You'd be surprised how much fun and strategy a 16 card game can pack. It's for 4 players.

Score each round as an individual win, instead of the official method which is the first person to win 5 rounds wins (it would take too much time).

Love Letter: Batman | Amazon | Video review -- might be a more palatable retheme for the students. There is one rule difference which you should ignore because it would result in multiple round winners -- correctly guessing another player's card earns you a victory cube only knocks your opponent out of the round.

There are many official Love Letter rethemes, but they all introduce rule variations. So be careful about choosing other themes.

Telestrations | Amazon 6-player | 8-player | 12-player | Video review -- It's like the telephone game, but with drawings.

You write a word in a notebook, flip the page, draw a picture of that word, flip the page, and hand your drawing pad to the person on your left. Then, you take your new notepad handed to you by the person on your right, look back at the last drawing, then flip forward and write what you saw, flip the page, and hand the pad to the left. When you eventually get your own pad back, everyone shares their pad one at a time. It's hilarious.

Skip the scoring system. It's beside the point of playing.

Your challenge is finding the right group size to play the game with your limited time, and strictly enforcing the time rule where people stop drawing when the time is up.

You can also play this game on the cheap by stapling sheets of paper together. But Telestrations uses a dry erase note pad, and if you use real paper you'll be going through a ton of paper. The name of the do-it-yourself version is Eat Poop You Cat, for a reason lost to time.

Ask /r/boardgames for suggestions on 10-minute games that meet your target number of players. And ask for which Love Letter rethemes would interest teens the most, while not being too different from the original Love Letter.

For durability of card games, look into getting protective card sleeves. /r/boardgames can point you to sleeves that will fit the specific games you have.

I think you have several options:

-You could set up an account on LibraryThing and use that to "store" your catalog. It is a searchable database that would be available online to your community members. They would be able to see what you have available and write reviews. I believe it is free up to 250 books and relatively simple to use. To use it after 250 books, you just pay $25 for a lifetime membership. You could even use LibraryThing to check out books. There are two "comment" fields when you edit an item. One is for
public comments and the other is for private comments. If you structured your comments like:

Public Comment: Due 6/9/11

Private Comment: Doe, J. 555-5555

You could search comments by the keyword/term "Due" and find out which books needed to be returned and then only you, the LibraryThing administrator who had the log in information, would be able to view the patron information and contact them to get your item back. If you used LibraryThing you could also purchase CueCat Barcode scanners for around $15-$20, which would make it easier to search your catalog when "checking out" books.

LibraryThing has a lot of neat features. I would suggest making an account and getting familiar with it so that when you start adding books it is a piece of cake.

-There is software available called Collector that allows you to scan an item into a database and enter information about each individual scan. This software is not free and it requires you to purchase a scanner (so that it can read the13 digit ISBN number that identifies each book), but you can share it with your community via a posted link to the database. One of the good things about this software is that it will give you both Dewey decimal and Library of Congress call numbers, making it easier to catalog on the shelf.

-You could use Microsoft Excel spreadsheets or Microsoft Access to create a database of books. Both databases would be searchable, but it would be very difficult to make them available to the public. You might think of using Microsoft Excel or Google Documents (spreadsheets) to keep patron information so that you could search for an individual using their identification.

Of the three, I would suggest using LibraryThing as it has several key
features that make it better for smaller libraries. Depending on how many books you end up adding to the library, you would want to make sure that it was organized in a way that made it easy (and less time consuming) for both you and your users.

You can shelve books a couple different ways

• Authors last name
  
• Title of the book (excluding The, and A)
  
• Keyword catalog (looking at a list of Dewey classifications: http://dewey.info/ would help you organize your shelf in this order)
  
• Shelf list is used when you have your own system. A separate list would be kept and updated as items would be added. (An example could be Year+Author, Date Added to the Collection, Color Coding)
  
  Hope this helps!

I'm a public librarian and a writer (screenplays and poetry).

I facilitate and lead a Writers Group every second Wednesday each month with a different topic each month. We focus on craft topics and conversations that help through writing hurdles. We do not focus on publishing - though I'll occasionally bring in editors to discuss that process. This past month we talked about audiences, particularly young audiences with a guest writer. In the past year we discussed writing from real life, sound devices, and building a protagonist. I create these handouts using craft books and online resources then provide them to any patron if they're new to the Writers Group via a voluntary Email List. Feel free to PM and I can email these handouts if you like.

I also host open mics every season or so for writers to share their work in front of an audience should they choose so.

My core Writers Group folks focus on creative writing or creative nonfiction, less on boosting basic writing skills. For the folks in the former I will find a resource that works best for their next step. We'll establish a writing goal and I'll find a book to use as inspiration, or a craft book that may serve them well.

For folks who need basic skills work, I'll usually work with them via a Book a Librarian/one on one session, or direct them to LearningExpress Library or BrainFuse which provide fantastic resources for writing. BrainFuse, in particular, allows patrons to submit writing for constructive feedback.

I also use university Writing Center's handouts for inspiration, such as UNC's Writing Center.

I have books I commonly recommend, but if you're interested in starting a creative writing group I highly recommend Steering the Craft by Ursula Le Guin, which provides prompts and examples for specific writing topics.

ok I know this post is old, but hopefully you will see this. I found a couple of books, ( I haven't read any ) but maybe you will find them useful.

The Library Career Guidebook :http://www.amazon.com/Librarians-Career-Guidebook-Priscilla-Shontz/dp/0810850346

Making the Most of Your Library Career: https://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=10731

A Day in the Life: Career Options in Library and Information Science: https://books.google.com/books?id=rTQfOxQtLgIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=library+career&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwihp8bl5svMAhVQxmMKHbsFDJkQ6AEIODAC#v=onepage&q=library%20career&f=false

Career Opportunities in Library and Information Science: https://books.google.com/books?id=mrC2lNB1DvsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=library+career&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwihp8bl5svMAhVQxmMKHbsFDJkQ6AEITjAG#v=onepage&q=library%20career&f=false

These are listed at my local library so hopefully you can find a great deals on these. Good Luck! Let me know if any of the links fail, I will resend them.

I highly recommend a Brother printer! Especially if you are using a Print Release Terminal such as LPT One. We have the older version of this printer https://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL-L8360CDW-Networking-Automatic-Replenishment/dp/B06XDSMKLT/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=2EDVPMYVGL8KF&keywords=brother+hl-l8360cdw&qid=1557509769&s=gateway&sprefix=Brother+HL%2Caps%2C282&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1 but they are both the same make, just different model numbers. These printers print extremely fast, and have a nice life span as well. The colors are amazing, and your patrons will definitely compliment you whenever they print something out in color.

I'm not a rare books or special collections librarian, but I thought the question was interesting. Some resources I found:

• It will be useful to look at job ads for rare books libs to see what qualifications they're looking for. Here's an old ad I found: rare books librarian at UC Berkeley
  
• Apparently there is a specific section for rare books within ACRL: http://rbms.info/. Getting involved with this org & attending conferences would be a great start, I imagine. Also, they have a good careers FAQ page: http://rbms.info/careers-faq/
  
• And don't forget they do make library books about working in libraries. Try requesting this at your local library: http://www.amazon.com/Rare-Book-Librarianship-Introduction-Guide/dp/1591588812
  

Librarians aren't archivists. Some are, but those of us who work in public libraries- we are not. It's our job to make sure our resources are what the public wants now and it's never our job to determine what they should want (we did try that about a century ago, but it made for boring book collections). It is disappointing when cool, old things go and I'm always sad when I see a book I loved as a kid on the weeding cart (most recently, it was The Tub People), but it has to happen. A lot of times it isn't any easier for us to get rid of things as it is for you to watch us get rid of things.

Let me assure you that a lot of libraries that have cool things (like government documents) do consider themselves stewards. At the school where I got my MLS, anything purchased for the academic collection cannot be weeded. Not ever. They have a huge SUPER COOL repository where they store things that are either rarely used or too fragile to be shelved. Public libraries don't have the means to do this- but that doesn't mean it isn't being done at all.

Depending on what your goals for the teambuilding exercises are, personality inventories can be useful.

In my previous job we had about 12 librarians. We used Strengthsfinder and I think our team got some useful information out of it.

1. Strengthsfinder totally feels like some horoscope junk.
   
2. It actually has some good tips for "how to work with someone who works differently than you"
   
   If you're just looking to improve/strengthen the camaraderie, then I'd recommend doing a field trip together. We spent a morning visiting a museum, had a nice lunch (luckily covered by our staff development budget), and had a great time.

Zombie Dice is a fun, inexpensive and quick little game to play. Not really tied into libraries, but my teens enjoyed this one.

Madlibs are quick and easy.

You can also make some simple crafts with duct tape. Bow ties, ties, hair bows, wallets, etc. can be pretty fast once people know what they're doing.

There's this one particular book that's been sitting on our shelves for a year. It's the only oversized teen graphic novel we have, so no one knows where to shelf it, and it's only been checked out once. I finally got so sick of seeing it, but I didn't want to falsely inflate it's circulation stats, so I put it on hold to be picked up at a different branch, and when it arrived there, I cancelled the hold. Since we have a floating collection, it will stay at that branch and become their problem now. Hahaha, enjoy "Heart Transplant" and good luck finding a place for it on your shelves!


edit: Words are hard. PS, if this book just appeared on your shelf recently and you don't know where it came from, it was from me, but we were all in on it! Bwahahaha!

"The Winter of Our Discontent" by Steinbeck. Available in large print Very easy read, I wouldn't say it would lighten the mood, but it would foster great discussion and is excellent.

It's not a hard program, provided you devote time to reading and are a decent writer. What I did before graduate school was read and annotate the publications of my soon-to-be professors. It makes a heck of a first impression, and gives you a good feel for their areas of interest (and therefore their courses). You'll also learn quite a bit about the theory behind the trade. If you want to just read a book, I'd recommend Theories of Information Behavior.

We're using Sprint hotspots through Mobile Beacon which was through Tech Soup. We are actually a pretty rural library and we got 5 and they have been out since we got them at the beginning of the summer. A lot of patrons return them then automatically put another hold on them which is fine. We have dummy boxes for when they are actually on the shelf (I just used packaging tape around the boxes the hotspots came in and a label I made in Canva) and they're actually kept behind circ. I actually got small handgun cases for them so they can be beat up pretty bad and not hurt the hotspot (here). The barcode and everything is on the case. There are some instructions but most hotspots go to me or our tech person if there's an issue.

We haven't had many problems except for two things. For some reason they keep resetting themselves back to factory settings. I get one once a month. Easy fix though so not too bad. We also have an issue where they seem to freeze and they emit a signal but the LCD screen doesn't work and people can't connect. Fix is to let the battery run out then restart it. So not bad.

Circ policies are only our library (we're in a consortium), 1 week circ, $5/day late fee, $100 replacement, holds are allowed (though not when there are holds which are always), 18+.

personally i would recommend something like this for a few reasons.

one, you don't really want a conventional "table" on four legs with a bunch of space under it, because your aides (or whoever is tasked with cleaning the kids' room at closing) is going to have to crawl up under there to gather the many bits and pieces that fall underneath.

secondly, having the drawers underneath is perfect because you can store other toys and puzzles inside without wasting your valuable shelf space to store toys where you could store books.

and lastly, this one is on wheels, so whenever you have a storytime or craft event in the kids' room and you need to get your toys out of the way, it's easy to roll it out of the center of the room.

we don't have the EXACT table i linked, so i can't vouch for how long it would last, but we have one of a really similar build and it's been there for a few years and seems to be holding up okay.

hope this helps!

Here's another example of a great non-fiction graphic "novel". It's growing and definitely warrants being distinguished from fiction.

"A graphic novel cannot be non-fiction." What? A graphic novel can easily be nonfiction. That is OP's point. Example: http://www.amazon.com/Pyongyang-Journey-North-Guy-Delisle/dp/1897299214

I think you are the one stuck on semantics.

Edit: Clarity.

I found it! I have no idea what it does but it looks interesting!

​

https://www.amazon.com/Million-Random-Digits-Normal-Deviates/dp/0833030477