So while we were using these dueling decks from First Book, it was later announced that AASL was partnering with Pokémon to provide resources to start a club. Our library applied and received some fun items! I believe you can still apply by accessing this form — School Library Pokémon Club Application | American Association of School Librarians (AASL) You'll get an email that kind of looks like this when your application is received and accepted. ​

One of our goals for this year is to host a Pokémon tournament! Our plan is to invite students to sign up, form brackets, and provide prizes for the winners. 

I’m more of a Magic: The Gathering player, but I’ve had a student help me learn a little bit more about the game. I hope to follow up this post with some basic game play information in the future. 

I also want to quickly mention that November is International Games Month! What a fun way to kick off your club! If you are looking to start more gaming in the library, I highly recommend checking out ALA's Games & Gaming Round Table blog for resources and information. Check out what my library has in store for this month! ​

Had an amazing opportunity to present about manga in middle grades with some of my favorite people! If you missed the session you can check out the slides below. 

If you have followed me on Instagram then you probably already know I try to post a tarot card of the day with its meaning. This past summer I got certified as a professional tarot and oracle card reader. It was something that always interested me and I figured--why not. It was awesome to learn more about the cards, their meaning, different spreads, and how to use my intuition to guide readings.
There are 78 cards in total (made up of the major and minor arcana--which I'll get to in a bit), but for this specific project I wanted to focus solely on the Major Arcana. What is the Major Arcana? Well--
From BiddyTarot.com "The Major Arcana Tarot cards represent the life lessons, karmic influences and the big archetypal themes that are influencing your life and your soul's journey to enlightenment. The Major Arcana card meanings are deep and complex – in beautiful ways! These Tarot cards truly represent the structure of human consciousness and hold the keys to life lessons passed down through the ages.Also known as the Trump Cards, the Major Arcana cards include 21 numbered cards and 1 unnumbered card (the Fool). The Fool is the main character of the Major Arcana and makes his journey through each of the cards, meeting new teachers and learning new life lessons along the way, and eventually reaching the completion of his journey with the World card. This is known as the Fool's Journey and is a helpful way of understanding the story line of the Major Arcana Tarot card meanings."

I love tarot's positive messages and how they help us reflect on our inner strengths even when life seems heavy. I was talking to a couple of friends of mine and I thought "Wouldn't it be cool if we could pair a book with each tarot card?". So--a few of us got together and we made "The Major Bookcana"! A set of books we felt paired best with each card from the Major Arcana based on its theme and message. A HUGE shoutout to Rachael Welsh (@rachaelreads), Amanda Hunt (@thenextgenlibrarian), and Deb Zeman (@debzemanlms) for helping with this project! I think it turned out pretty rad and we hope that you can take this template and make it your own based on the books you have available in your collection. Check out how it turned out by viewing the Canva design below! We included the card, its meaning, a book pairing, and its book trailer. Of course, each library is different so use this activity at your discretion and change as needed. There's another fun little project coming up soon so stay tuned for that! So excited to kick off October with some great books!