We are collecting submissions for our 

"I Geek..." Poster Contest! 

Come check them out!  

They are in the 

5th Street Lobby Display Case.

Win a "What do you geek?" t-shirt and more!

GEEK the Library Poster Contest 2011

All ages and exeperience levels are invited to compete in our first GEEK THE LIBRARY POSTER CONTEST!

• Simply finish this sentence, "I GEEK..." using any combination of art, pictures and words. Computer graphics are welcome.
• Finished poster can be no larger than 8 1/2" by 11".
• Posters must be submitted at the Youth Services Reference Desk by Dec. 16th, 2011. The creator's name, age/grade and phone number must be on the back. An adult may specify "adult" and provide a phone number.
• Parents of youth entrants must sign a permission form, availabel at the Youth Services Reference Desk, in order for their youth to compete. Youth posters will be on display using the the online site Artsonia.
• All submissions become the property of the Hussey-Mayfield Library with free rights to use for the promotion of reading.

• Posters will be on display through January 2012 and the top three winners will receive a GEEK THE LIBRARY PRIZE BASKET including a GEEK t-shirt!
• Friends of the Library and a local artist will serve as judges. GET YOUR GEEK ON and show your creativity! First 30 participants will receive a Geek the Library inkpen and button!

Geek Costume Contest Winners Announced!

Geek the Library was in fun, geektastic form at the Library during the last 2 weeks.  Our Library staff and members of the public were invited to don Halloween costumes illustrating what they geek from October 24th  - 31st  and then everyone was invited to vote for their favorite costumes between Nov. 1st  - 6th.   A total of 43 photos were taken of Library staff and visitors, 16 of staff and 27 of visitors to the Library from the public.  More than 400 individual votes were cast last week for people's top 3 staff and top 3 public "I geek..." Halloween costumes and we have some winners who wore some really fantastic, geektastic costumes!

In the public category, there was a tie for first place between Samuel Dwigans, dressed as a Lego Man [he geeks Legos] and Derek Gardner, dressed as Mike Wiskowski from Monsters, Inc. [he geeks Monsters, Inc.]. 

 Our 3rd place winner is our set of 6 Smurfs, who, of course, geek the Smurfs:  Jillian Bond as Vanity Smurf, Lauren Bruns as Brainy Smurf, Ellie Jensen as Artist Smurf, Madeline Sautbine as Jokey Smurf, Sam Sautbine as Papa Smurf, and Megan Sheridan as Smurfette. 

Congratulations to all of our  top vote-getters from the public.  Each winner won a Zionsville Chamber of Commerce gift certificate to spend at a local business. 

Among our staff, Julie Myers, who geeks Princesses, won first place, Laura Gangstad, who geeks  beekeeping, won second place and Sarah Childs, who geeks Mary Poppins, won third place.  Congratulations to our staff winners!

All of these staff members also won gift certificates from the Zionsville Chamber of Commerce.
 

 Many thanks to the Library Foundation for providing grant funding to sponsor the costume contest and purchase the gift certificates for winners.


Watch for more fun, geektastic events at your Hussey-Mayfield Library the rest of this year and in 2012.  What do you geek?  Find it at Your Public Library!

Vote for Your Favorite Geek Costumes at the Library!

The Geek the Library Halloween Costume Contest voting is in full swing!  43 staff members and children and adults from the public wore Halloween costumes showing what they geek and had their pictures taken.  There are some FABULOUS costumes!  All photos are posted on our Halloween Geek boards, one in Youth Services on the 1st floor and the other in Teen/Adult Services on the 2nd floor.

Visit the Library through this Sunday, November 6th, and vote for your top 3 staff and top 3 public picks.  One vote per person, please, on either floor.  Winners' photos will be posted here next week!

Get your geek on, visit the Library, and vote!!

Last Day to Enter Our Geek Costume Contest!

It's Halloween today, and we already have 29 photos of people in costumes illustrating what they GEEK! If you haven't come to have your photo taken yet, there's still time! Visit the Library in costume by 8:30 PM tonight in order to participate.

Voting begins tomorrow, November 1st and runs through Sunday, November 6th. Be sure to vote for your top 3 costumes in the staff category and public category! GEEK ON! Oh, and Happy Halloween!

Geek Halloween!

Do you love dressing up in costumes as much as I do?  It must be the children's librarian in me, but I do love to dress up and I don't get the chance to much anymore ... except when I do a Harry Potter program and at Halloween.  Well, guess what's right around the corner?  HALLOWEEN! 

If you've visited our Library around Halloween the last 5 years or so, you've probably seen some of our staff dressed in various Halloween costumes while they're at work.  It's something that our Staff Appreciation Committee has sponsored as a contest with 3 top prizes the last 5 years and we've had some very creative and fun costumes through these contests.  Since we're in the middle of our Geek the Library campaign, our Staff Appreciation Committee decided that we should GEEK the costume contest this year and ask staff to dress as something that they geek, something they love and are passionate about.  Then, we thought it would be a great idea to include all our visitors in the Geek Halloween Costume Contest ... and award prizes to both staff and visitors. 

So, the 2011 Geek Halloween Costume Contest is open to staff and YOU -- our public!  Anyone of any age may participate.  The contest will run from Monday, October 24th through Monday, October 31st.  The Library is closed to the public on Friday, October 28th so that staff can participate in some staff training, but the other 7 days you are encouraged to dress as what you geek.  

Here's what you need to do to participate:

**  Dress as what you GEEK.
**  Come to the Library and visit the reference desk on the 1st or 2nd floor in Youth or           Teen/Adult Services.
**  Fill out an information card about yourself and ask that your photo be taken.
**  Come in and vote for your favorite 3 costumes in each category from Tuesday, 
          November 1st through Sunday, November 6th.

There will be 3 winners among staff and 3 winners among public participants.  Winners will be announced and contacted on Monday, November 7th.

Top prize for each contest (staff and public) is a $25 Zionsville Chamber of Commerce gift certificate, good at many businesses throughout Zionsville; 2nd and 3rd places are $15 and $10 ZCC gift certificates, all of which are provided through the generosity of a grant received by the Staff Appreciation Committee from the Library Foundation.

So, get creative!  Think about what you geek!  Look for fun ways to dress as what you geek!  You're not limited to just one costume because we all geek more than one thing, so get creative!


Good luck!  I've already got my thinking cap on and am putting together my costumes!

Welcome to the Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library's Geek the Library Blog!  

Have you heard the geek buzz?  Did you see our dancing librarians and other staff in the Fall Festival parade in September?  Did you visit our "Geek the Library" booth at the Fall Festival in Lions Park?  Have you received a Geek sticker, tattoo or ink pen?  If not, come visit us at the Library!  Join us as we Geek the Library!  

We're turning the noun "geek" into a verb:

geekVERB
1. To love, to enjoy, to celebrate, to have an intense passion for.
2. To express interest in.
3. To possess a large amount of knowledge in.
4. To promote.

No matter who you are, there are things you are passionate about—things you geek. Maybe you geek cooking or flamenco dancing. Maybe you are passionate about gardening, helicopters or genealogy. Or maybe you just geek the weather.

Whatever you geek, serious or fun, your Public Library supports you.

The Geek the Library project is a community-based public awareness campaign aimed at spreading the word about the vital and growing role of your Public Library, and to raise awareness about the critical funding issues many U.S. public libraries face.

Over the next 8 months, through activities and programs at the Library and through this blog, follow our Library's Geek the Library campaign as we work to inspire conversations about our Public Library and our need for the support of those we serve in our community. We hope you tell us what you geek, how our Public Library supports you and our community, and that everyone in our community benefits from the services our Library provides.

Get your geek on!