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Happy Press for My Program
The local rag did a nice feature on my library's summer literary magazine programs: Library publishes young writers through Lit Mag program.
I don't sound like an idiot in my quotes. Most of the facts are right (though I have 7-year-olds and 5th graders in my group), and there's only one egregious typo I can spot as of this writing. And, best of all, the kids sound enthusiastic about the program. That makes me extraordinarily happy.
Over the course of the summer so far, I've had 58 kids show up. Two thirds have been repeat participants, and more than one-third have come to at least half the meetings, ensuring their work's spot in the magazine.
We've got just one more meeting, and then I've got to bust my buns getting the print layout done for my group and the web sites together for both my group and the older group. Since I'm doing all the web stuff, I'm hoping I can foist dealing with the print shop off on my colleague...
Wow, that sounds like an awesome program! How often have you been meeting? Once a week? How long does each meeting last? Are you typing up the pieces or photocopying them? (Can you tell that this sounds like a program I would love to do at my library??)
Hee, glad it sounds awesome! Each group meets once a week for one hour, for six weeks. It's not a lot of time, but attendance really drops off in August, so we just run it mid-June through July.
I type up and layout the kids' submissions. They're allowed to do any kind of writing, but I'm limiting their artwork to black and white. We're also having a cover contest. Once the layout's done, we send it to a local copy shop to duplicate. It does take a few hundred dollars, but it's the only real expense in addition to staff time, since the only materials needed are paper and writing utensils!
We will have a reception in late August when the contributors and their families can enjoy punch and cookies and receive their copies. The first summer I ran the program, I learned that getting the magazine put together and printed out within a week was *possible* but INSANE! So this year, we'll enjoy that extra prep time.
what's the typo?
It was just a couple of transposed letters. Happily, they fixed it the next day, but for the sake of posterity (and apathy) I'll leave my entry as is. :-)