Saturday Swap Group Success!

"Good" by Robinsunne, on my kitchen sink windowsill spot of honor


On Saturday I worked all day at the Rockport Public Library and we had our very first Saturday ATC Make and Swap group there! It was fantastic to have 19 kids and 10 adults in the library, hanging out, chatting, and making art together. Some highlights: a Mother-Daughter team making an ATC for their patient pup, Roxy (who was waiting in the car)...A tiny adorable toddler (~18 mos.) who was making her first ATC, with a little help from Mom (it featured a chicken)...Three generations of a family, all artistically snipping away....A very shy girl who doesn't hardly say a peep, but is a prolific artist and made some great cards and smiled a lot...And many more sweet moments! It was very organic, people just dove into their work, though Robinsunne was there to facilitate and check in with folks. So much fun!

What I love about this ATC swap group at the library is that I think it represents a very real evolution of what libraries are moving towards: community places for people to meet, a place to use resources (physical and virtual), responding to community interests, and having a welcoming "Yes We Can" attitude. For a very cool view of how libraries may look in the future, check out this post by Jenny Levine, the Shifted Librarian, about a library in Delft, Holland which calls itself a "library concept center"---pretty amazing visionary ideas!

My personal favorite moments: When A. (who is 8) came up to me at the desk to ask if I was willing to trade some cards with him. His cards were really lovely in their constructions, layers of papers very artfully put together. This was the one I chose:

And here's the one that Jenny gave me, in trade for the Amy Sedaris card from this post; Jenny's is a terrific 2-sider. This is just the front...She knows what I like!

Robinsunne passed her "Good" card to me, pictured up at the top, my recent favorite of her alphabet series! Yay! This is what I see when I wash my dishes, approximately a million times a day, so it may as well be something I like looking at. The sea shell is a favorite from my mom, and it serves as a very nice stand to display ATCs.

And finally, here are a couple of my Spring Meditations. Recognize the backgrounds?
And one last thing...Do you know that Robinsunne is writing a book (The Great Library ATC Swap) about what we are doing at the library? This is meant to be a resource for folks who may want to start up a group at their own local library. I have had the privilege to be a proof-reader for this project, and let me tell you: it's great! She is including many helpful photos of the techniques, following the schedule of our year of Library projects, and then has additional ideas and things to try out. Go join Robinsunne's Yahoo group to stay apprised of the release date of this fabulous resource.