Ink, Quills, and Parchment

Fatima Faraz Azam Howard County Library System: Central Branch

Program: This program, which designed and taught at least three times in the past year and a hal!, !ocuses on introducing to teens and tweens, as most o! them grew up outside the era o! handwritten letters, the art and importance o! penmanship" also try to alter the class slightly as be!itting the season, so lo#e letters in winter or #acation letters$postcards in the summer% &sing letters !rom boo's, especially the Harry (otter series that not only contains letters but epistles that ha#e #ery speci!ic handwriting in each, ha#e not only been able to show teens and tweens the signi!icance o! a handwritten letter but also how it can con#ey emotions, !eelings, and thoughts that an e)mail or te*t simply cannot match% As a close to the class, gi#e them sheets o! parchment, which is show them how to !old into en#elopes" pens" and some sort o! seal, sometimes wa* and sometimes stic'ers that may boast something along the lines o! +wl (ost% At !irst the students seem a little reluctant" when they get started, howe#er, they end up as'ing me !or more and more sheets% ,ission -semi). accomplished% Need: Today/s generation seems to ha#e !orgotten how to communicate without typing on something electronic% 0ot that they are entirely to blame, as they ha#en/t 1uite seen what 2oys a note passed in classroom can bring or the e*citement o! opening a mailbo* to see a handwritten letter tuc'ed away inside li'e a little present% 3riting% (enmanship% 4n#elopes% Letters% 0otes% These things aren/t 2ust #intage or, perhaps hispter, as the younger generation call it these day% Handwritten notes are time capsules% They allow and create an opportunity to sur#i#e !ore#er% n !act, the Howard County Library system has recently purchased a te*t that includes a scanned and printed copy o! all the notes that 4mily 5ic'inson made on her en#elopes or scraps o! paper% A certain 2oy e*ists in seeing the en#elopes she scribbled on in her hand% 3e must not let our generation !orget the magic and power that e*ists in a handwritten note, in the beauty and art o! in' on a piece o! paper% Potential Community Partners: 3hile !unding may not be e*tremely necessary in this case, Friends o! HCLS may certainly come in handy, especially since they seem to be interested in historical pro2ects, such as 4dgar Allen (oe or the Abraham Lincoln 4*hibit% Furthermore, would li'e to wor' with the county schools in order to encourage teachers in elementary, middle, and high schools to gi#e at least one !un$entertaining assignment to students that in#ol#es handwritten letters, such as writing, not e)mailing or blogging, to a pen pal% Evaluations: The best way to e#aluate that ha#e !ound is to use the HCLS !eedbac' pages and ha#e the teens and tweens !ill them out% As we are trying to raise interest in writing in teens and tweens, their !eedbac' is what is the most important to see what they learned, gained, achie#ed, and !elt !rom the program% ha#e !ound that this method wor's best to twea' and alter the program to !it the wants and desires o! the teens and tweens, while also !illing in gaps%

Press Release Ink, Quills, and Parchment

Fatima Faraz Azam Howard County Library System: Central Branch

At Hogwarts, none o! the students had access to email or te*ts, instead they used owl post to get their messages bac' and !orth% 5iscuss why the letters in 6% 7% 8owling/s no#els matter to the characters, plot, the reader9and :+&; Ta'e a loo' at some important letters !rom the series, then write your own ) wizarding style; Ages <<)<=% (arents and siblings welcome to 2oin;
When: Twice e#ery season -Spring, Summer, Fall, and 3inter. Where: +ne class at Central and ,iller e#ery season -please contact HCLS at ><?)@<@)A=?? !or directions or chec' out our website at hclibrary%org Call HCLS !or more in!ormation or any 1uestions$concerns;