The end of 2018 came with some exciting new staff changes for us here at Anythink Bennett! We gained a new part-time wrangler, Becca, and a new part-time concierge – me. We've also welcomed two new and very awesome guides to the staff here, and we have some exciting things in store for our Bennett branch.  

First I'd like to introduce Molly DeWolff, our new youth services guide that came to us all the way from Utah. She started here in late 2018. She has already had an amazing time getting to know the staff and customers in Bennett. Molly is very excited about doing the programming for kids and teens. Her favorite so far has been the Baby Bounce and Music & Movement programs. I absolutely adore watching her in the Baby Bounce and Music & Movement. She is a kid at heart and loves to dance, sing and just be goofy as can be to get the kids – and even the parents – moving right along with everything she's doing. The two of us are collaboratively trying to come up with a name for her story time mascot and have narrowed it down for a branch vote so be on the lookout for that announcement. 

Molly has also created a graphic novel club for teens and is hoping to tackle some fun and intense topics. As a group, they may work on creating their own graphic novel. She's hoping she can have guest artists come to teach tips and tricks for a sucessful graphic novel. Molly has also had some of the teens and tweens offer to teach her how to play Fortnite, and she's looking forward to getting to know them better this way. She is really easy for our teens to talk to, and they've all seemed to welcome her with shared good laughs. Molly has been an incredible addition to this team.

This brings me to introducing Eric Zacharias, another new guide who has come to us all the way from California. So far, he's loving the experiences and creative outlets that Anythink is able to provide to him in his new role. Eric has been planning and focusing on electronic and creative art projects with all age groups, especially teens and adults. His favorite program so far has been a candle-making workshop that produced some great connections and left participants with a great creation. Eric has been awesome at this branch and it's been fun watching him in his programs. He's very smart and super tech savvy, always ready to create something new right in front of our eyes. He's now known as the "mushroom whisperer" here since he was put in charge of the in-branch mushroom growing experience zone we hosted in March. He's been a rockstar at keeping it growing. 

In his future here in Bennett, Eric is planning on more creative electronic projects for teens and families such as animation, video production, music production, electronic kits and computer programming. He's also wanting to plan more performances and creative art projects for adults. Eric is also hoping to bring artists in residence to help build relationships between these creative experts and the Bennett community. 

This all being said, our new guides here at the Bennett branch are making a huge community impact out here. The customers love them already, as do the rest of us here at the branch. We are so very lucky to have them here and are all excited for what the future holds for Bennett's programming.