The first Great MCPL Kid’s Bake Off is a wrap! We challenged 17 children to make their best book-inspired dessert. The catch? They had to include a mystery ingredient–beet root powder!
Each participant received a kit that included measuring spoons, beet root powder, some suggestions for baking books, and a copy of The Complete Cookbook for Young Scientists: Good Science Makes Great Food: 70+ Recipes, Experiments, & Activities to keep.
Imagine you’re wearing your favorite shirt. You love this shirt because it makes you feel great! The material is just the right softness, the cut is perfectly loose and comfortable, and when you wear it, you are certain you are taller and more confident. This is a cool shirt!
Follow along to learn how to make a light-up winter card! Watch the video then use the step-by-step instructions listed below for additional guidance in creating your card! This project uses supplies included in our Light-Up Winter Card: A Take & Make Teen program. If you weren't able to snag a kit you can still create a card, you'll just need the supplies listed below!
Electric Zine Maker is a super awesome new tool for making zines of all kinds, but especially printable mini-zines! It is one of the most unique looking tools out there, with an interface that proudly screams early 90s internet weirdness and delights in secrets and strange features. It was created by developer Nathalie Lawhead, and to celebrate its launch, she held the Electric Zine Jam on itch.io at the end of June.
Looking to read more online zines? The Sherwood Forest Zine Library, based in Austin, Texas, has a truly amazing and updated collection of free digital zines. The collection ranges from topics on self care, food and music zines, to an updated collection of state policing and protesting zines. Updated frequently, polished, and easy to use, this zine archive is definitely worth checking out.
They are also adding to their zine collection actively, so if you have a PDF of a zine you’d like to submit, you can be published on their website!
Have you ever wanted to publish your own story, comic, or other writing? If so, then you may be interested in making zines!
Zines are self-published books. If you think about a zine as being a “mini-magazine” you’ll have a clue as to what they are and a cool trick to help you remember that “zine” is pronounced the same way as the letters “zine” at the end of the word “magazine.”
Specialized digital creativity software available in Level Up is an invaluable part of your workflow, but when the Library is closed, what do you do when you can't access to it? Here is a list of some of our favorite alternatives to popular Level Up software that you can download and use at home, for free!
Due to the prevalence and need for mental health services, and a general lack of them in many communities, zines on mental health serve a special need. Zines can help frame mental health in both a frank and gentle way, while also providing tips and encouragement for self-care. Many mental health zines are based around an individual's personal experience, so they provide a first-hand account of the associated trauma and healing processes.
Good consent is very important. Consent is a mutual verbal, physical, and emotional agreement that happens without manipulation, threats, or head games. As Project Respect states, “Everyone has the right to sexuality without violence and as part of that, positive sexuality begins with enthusiastic consent. This means being as excited and into someone else’s enjoyment as we are excited and into our own enjoyment.
Want to learn a new skill? Maybe a zine is the answer! There are lots of zines that can teach you a thing or two about making stuff and doing things.
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