Upcoming Teen Events!

Looking for something fun to do at the library? Well mark your calendars, because we have some exciting programs planned for the next two weeks and teens receive raffle tickets just for showing up!

Tomorrow (June 19th, Tuesday) we'll be hosting Yoga for Teens from 3:00-4:00pm in the Lewis Auditorium:

Whether you're an expert yogi or have never been on the mat--you're invited to Yoga 101 with Maggie Taylor from Amara Yoga & Arts. We'll learn fun poses and breathing techniques. Bring a towel and wear comfortable clothes. We'll cool down with fruit smoothies after class.

Are you a teen who likes to draw manga?

In case you didn't know. . . Manga Club and Art Day @ Your Library joined forces to turn June into Manga Month!  

We invite you to bring your own 8 1/2" x 11" drawing to Art Day on June 25th from 4-5 pm in the Lewis Auditorium.

Chat with fellow teen manga artists, share drawing techniques, and present your artwork to your peers. Afterward, we'll feature your personal artwork in our 1st floor glass showcase for the entire month of July! Be sure to put your name and contact information on the back of your drawing so we can return it to you at the end of July.

For even more manga fun, join us June 30th from 1-4 pm in the Lewis Auditorium for the 2nd ever Manga Mini-Con!!

Have you ever wished you could go to an Anime Convention? We’re hosting a mini-convention here at the library with tons of cool activities, including a Manga Trivia Quiz, a Cosplay (costume) Contest, prizes, raffles, snacks and more!  

 

Manga Club meets on the 1st Friday of most months from 4-5 pm in the Lewis Auditorium. All things manga, with snacks and prize drawings every month.

Art Day @ Your Library meets on the 4th Monday of most months from 4-5 pm in the Lewis Auditorium. Different art activities planned each month.

Any questions? Contact Amber or Joel at 367-4405, or ask for us at the Reference Desk.

August Manga Club: Rock Band!

Greetings, Otaku! We can't believe that August starts next week. Luckily, we have another Manga Club meeting to help us cope with the heat and the impending end of summer.

This month, we'll be playing some Rock Band and raffling off some of the leftover Pocky and prizes from the Anime Mini-Convention.

Here are the details:


When: Friday, August 5 from 4-5 p.m.
Where: Lewis Auditorium

As always, there will be snacks for everyone. See you next week!

Cosplay Links

Thanks to everyone who came to the Skype chat with costume designer Victoria Chik last week! It was lots of fun for everyone involved.

[One of Tori's recent cosplay creations.]

During the chat, Tori mentioned some links to help cosplayers get started. I'm reposting them here so everyone can see them.

Cosplay Tutorial: http://cosplaytutorial.com/list.php
This site has tutorials for anything and everything you could possibly do for cosplay, including armor, plushies, wigs, and more!

And, speaking of wigs, here's a great source for finding wigs if you need one for your costume: http://kingdom-arts.org/arda-wigs.html

Hopefully this will help you get started on your own cosplay costumes! The Anime Mini-Convention is in two weeks, which should give you plenty of time to put together something awesome to wear. Plus, cosplayers get extra tokens to spend on Pocky and other cool prizes. More details about the Mini-Convention will be coming next week.

July Manga Club (Cosplay!)

Greetings, Otaku! I can't believe it's the end of June already, but July does indeed begin this Friday with a meeting of the Urbana Otaku Manga Club. This month, we'll be having a Skype chat with cosplay costume designer Victoria Chik, who will tell you a little bit about how she got started in costume design and answer your questions about designing and making your own cosplay costumes.

What: Urbana Otaku Manga Club
When: Friday, July 1 from 4-5 p.m.
Where: Lewis Auditorium

We'll also be discussing the upcoming Anime Mini-Convention (on Saturday, July 23 from 1-4). As usual, we'll have snacks and a Pocky raffle. See you Friday!

June Manga Club: Meet Dark Maze Studios!

Greetings, Otakus! Can you believe June starts next week? Summer is almost here and I know many of you have plans to do some pretty fantastic things this summer (writing and illustrating an original manga, for example). Maybe you have a great idea but don't know how to get started? Or maybe you've just always wondered how comics and movies are made?

Wonder no more. Director/filmmaker Ed Glaser and artist/writer Alex Mitchell of Dark Maze Studios will be coming to our June meeting to talk about how they make their animated webcomic, Space Ninja (http://www.darkmaze.com/spaceninja/index.html) and answer your questions about creating a webcomic of your own.

What: Urbana Otaku Manga Club Meets Dark Maze Studios
When: Friday, June 3 from 4-5 p.m.
Where: Lewis Auditorium

(Ed also directed the video game movie Press Start, featuring our very own Lauren Chambers!)

We'll also be talking a little more about the manga summer reading program, which will help you earn manga money to spend on awesome prizes at our mini-convention in July. More details on the convention will be coming soon, but it's never too early to start working on your cosplay costume, talent show skit, or manga trivia contest knowledge.

And, as always, we'll have pizza and a Pocky raffle. See you next week!

April Manga Club

Our April meeting is coming up soon, and we have some fun stuff planned for this month! The details:


When: Friday, April 8 from 4-5 p.m.
Where: Lewis Auditorium

This month, we are having a jan-ken-poi (rock-paper-scissors) tournament. The winning team members will each receive an extra raffle ticket for the regular Pocky-and-prizes drawing.

And, as always, there will be snacks! We hope to see you there.

Manga Club This Friday!

Hello, Otaku! Lauren and I are sorry we seemed to slip off the face of the earth in February; we both got sick at the beginning of the month, but we're all better now and ready for the March Manga Club meeting!

What: Urbana Otaku Manga Club
When: Friday, March 4 from 4-5 p.m.
Where: Lewis Auditorium

Since art-sharing has been so much fun, we thought we'd have another "bring your art to share" meeting this month. As always, we'll also have drawing supplies available, as well as PIZZA and our usual Pocky raffle. See you there!

Calling all artistic Otakus!

Hello again.

The Urbana Otaku Manga Club is announcing an art contest for the club avatar, which will be used on all club meeting posters. The avatar must a completely original PG work in color or black and white. The character can be whatever you want it to be as long as it is drawn in the mange style. Submissions should be dropped off in the new manga suggestion box next to the young adult manga books (yes the suggestion box is finally alive and spectacularly decorated by club members). Or avatar submissions can be brought to the club's next meeting on Friday, January 7th when the club will vote on the winner.

In other news. There will be new manga unveiled at the January 7th meeting. We have taken a look at all of the suggestions club members gave us and ordered a bunch of new volumes and titles. The new manga includes the winner of the previous New Manga Contest held in November. The winner was Bakuman by Tsugumi Ohba, followed closely by Bamboo Blade by Masahiro Totsuka.

The theme of the January Urbana Otaku Manga Club meeting is a show-and-tell. Bring a copy of your favorite manga, or if you are artistic bring your favorite manga-style drawing that you have done. As always there will be pizza and a pocky raffle.

See you in January Otakus. And don't forget to work on your avatars.