If you're looking for some ideas for new hobbies and crafts to try this spring, look no further than the shelves at your local FCPL branches.

Art Lab for Kids by Susan Schwake includes instructions for 52 different "adventures in drawing, painting, printmaking, paper, and mixed media." This book includes something for everyone, whether you're an experienced artist looking to try a new medium, or just bored and waiting for inspiration to strike. Many of the instructions take basic art supplies and art projects to the next level. Instead of simply creating a picture with watercolors, try Lab 17 and press plastic wrap over your painting while it's still wet to create a totally new effect.

Junk-Box Jewelry: 25 DIY Low Cost (Or No Cost) Jewelry Projects by Sarah Drew includes instructions for (you guessed it!) 25 different projects that can be made using a variety of materials that can either be found around the house or salvaged from old out-of-fashion jewelry pieces. This is a wonderful book for both beginner jewelry makers and experienced crafters looking for new ideas. If you enjoy this book you'll love the Sea Glass Jewelry program that will be offered at many of our branches this summer.

The Practical Guide to Drawing Manga by Peter Gray includes everything you need to know to draw great manga characters, from the different dimensions needed to create children, teens, and adults to illustrating characters in motion using dynamic postures. If you've ever wanted to write and illustrate your own manga this book is a must read.

For additional titles and the schedule of Teen Crafternoons and Make & Takes at Frederick County Public Libraries please call or visit us. We'd love to hear from you!

Submitted by Tracey Carter, Teen Services

Saving money is always a good thing and in northern Frederick County, the libraries have teamed up with other community groups and businesses to sponsor a weeklong "Pa$$port to Wealth" project. This event is scheduled April 6-13 with speakers, workshops and activities happening throughout the Emmitsburg/Thurmont area.

Of particular interest to young people are two basic banking workshops hosted by the Woodsboro Bank.

Basic Banking for Teens will be held in the Thurmont Regional Library Community room on Monday, April 8 and Basic Banking for College Students will be held in the Emmitsburg Library Community Room on Tuesday, April 9. Both workshops begin at 5 pm and will provide an overview of banking, budgeting, and credit card use and explain why a checking and savings account is important. The workshops will be conducted by Jennifer Rice, Branch Manager of the Woodsboro Bank, Frederick. Rice will also provide all kinds of tips for smart budgeting of finances. Plus she'll share how to establish good credit and why that is so important, particularly for young people just beginning their working careers.

Both workshops are free. Please register by email through the Woodsboro Bank at jenniferr@woodsborobank.com or call the Emmitsburg Library at 301-600-6329.

Submitted by Erin Dingle

While the majority of patrons head to C. Burr Artz Public Library in search of reading material, some are seeking a very different type of treasure. They are the geocachers, explains Librarian Katilyn Miller, and they follow latitude and longitude coordinates to find a "cache" that she hid several months ago.

It's all in good fun-and all part of an increasingly popular game called geocaching. According to Miller, geocaching involves people hiding a container, or cache, and then posting online the latitude and longitude of where it is hidden. Other people then use those coordinates to find the hidden treasure. "The containers can be as small as a film canister or as big as oil drums," she explains. "They can be easy to access, like ours, or you might have to do some climbing to reach them." Caches typically contain an introduction to the game, a log book, and assorted trinkets that people often swap with other small items. "Geocaching is a fun way to get outside, visit fun places, and learn orienteering and how to use GPS technology," says Miller, who enjoys geocaching in her spare time.

Miller had the idea for a geocache at C. Burr Artz last fall. She signed up for a free account at geocaching.com, submitted the required application, and gathered small trinkets such as bookmarks and magnets to put in the container when the geocache "went live" in late December. Since then, 24 people have signed the log kept in the container and all the original trinkets have been traded for other items. Miller checks the cache regularly but she's not giving any hints as to where it's hidden. "That would spoil the fun," she says. "But I am more than happy to teach anyone who asks how to use the technology in order to find our library's treasure."

To see online comments about the C. Burr Artz geocache, go to coord.info/GC430N8. To learn more about geocaching, visit geocaching.com.

Written by Marlene England, England Creative