A group of kids can leave their mark on whatever they want now, thanks to a sticker-making class at the Elmwood Park library.
The Vinyl Cutting Decals event, which was put on by the library’s youth department, took place Jan. 27 at the library. The event was sponsored through a state initiative called Project Next Generation, an educational technology initiative that offers grant funding to libraries for after-school training programs that use computers, software and other technology.
Youth Librarian Omar Ramirez led the event, showing a group of four 12-year-olds how to go through the process of creating their own decal from start to finish.
First, the group searched the web for different shapes and logos to use as templates for their decal.
Once they chose a design, the kids could make changes like adding their name or changing the size of the decal.
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Isaac Panno searched for a picture of a Minion character from the movie “Despicable Me” to turn into a decal. He enjoys coming to the library and when he heard about the event he decided to join in.
“If I see something I want to do, I seek out my favorite librarian, Miss Irene,” he said. “Omar is my second favorite.”
He said he’s going to make a decal for one of his friends.
Eileen Rodriguez made decals of her two favorite TV shows, “Teen Wolf” and “American Horror Story,” while Angelina Bonilla created a U.S. Army logo for her brother, Joshua, who is in the Army.
Once the decals were completed, the images were printed out on thin vinyl with an adhesive backing. The kids had several colors to choose from.
Once completed, the vinyl sheet was put inside a cutting machine, which resembles a printer that cuts out the selected image of each participant.
Technology librarian Ahren Sievers said members of the group also blogged about their experience at the event, which was one of the grant requirements.
Rodriguez said she enjoyed participating.
“It was fun,” she said. “It was my first time doing this.”
Panno hopes they can make more decals in the future.
“It was my first time and I hope we will do this again,” he said.
Ramirez said they plan to have another event like this later this month, focusing on creating Valentine’s Day decals and other fun objects.