Twilight-mania has hit Quad-City libraries hard as their staffers gear up for the release of "New Moon," the second movie installment based on the popular Stephenie Meyer series of books about vampires and romance.

At the Fairmount Street branch of the Davenport Public Library, there is a life-sized cutout of Edward Cullen, the vampire heartthrob with whom teen Bella Swan falls in love in the first novel, "Twilight." The cutout has a sign on it that reads, "Take me home on Nov. 18."

"Every time when teenagers or even 10-year-olds or 11-year-olds who are excited about the series walk by, you can see them stop in their tracks and they see the sign. It says, 'Ask at the desk if you want to take me home,' and they come up to the desk and ask about the party," said Samantha Wikstrom, the supervisor of youth services for the Davenport Public Library, who added that she expects at least 100 teenagers to attend their "New Moon" party.

Teens can win the cutout by playing "pin the kiss on Edward," wherein the person who plants a Post-it note "kiss" closest to the cardboard cutout's mouth will win the pale-faced representation of the character. There will be a howling contest as well as "Twilight"-related trivia and crafts. The library is also encouraging teens to come in costume as their favorite character from the books.

"As much fun and 'Twilight' goofiness as we can support, we will support," Wikstrom said.

The Moline Public Library is hosting a series of events to create momentum for "Twilight" fans of all ages while pointing up to the "New Moon" release later this month. The first event was a showing of "Twilight" on Halloween. The second is a book and movie discussion set for Thursday, Nov. 12, before finishing up with a "New Moon" party Nov. 19, the night before the movie opens nationally. Attendees at each event can register to win a $25 gift certificate to the Great Escape.

"I thought we would kind of recap everything with 'Twilight' with the showing of the movie and the book and movie discussion just to kind of build things up to keep that excitement going and get everybody psyched up for the new movie," said Jan LaRoche, the reference librarian for Moline.

The "New Moon" party will feature driving games on the Wii, for "Drive like the Cullens," wherein teens drive extra-fast like the vampires in the novels. The suggestion came from the library's teen advisory group, but LaRoche said the books and movies' appeal extends far beyond teenage girls.

"It's not just teens. The other people are very excited," said LaRoche, adding that the library even bought large-print copies for older generations that are requesting the book. "It's funny. I get a lot of guys who say, 'Oh, wow, you're going to have that. Yeah, my girlfriend really likes that,' because guys really like this, but they don't like to admit it. But a lot of adults are really excited about it, too."

The Bettendorf and Rock Island Public libraries are also hosting "New Moon" parties Nov. 19. At Bettendorf, the teens will make "vampire blood popcorn," which is really caramel corn with a red tint to it. Natalie Struecker, the young adult librarian at Rock Island, said teens will watch "Blood and Chocolate," a movie based on a book about werewolves, to get them psyched up for Jacob Black, a werewolf character who has a prominent role in "New Moon."

"They're all excited, they can't wait," she said. "Some of the them are planning on going to the midnight show (after the party)."

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