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| Photo by Júnior Ferreira on Unsplash |
It’s always fun, and never enough time, when youth services librarians get together. Thirty percent of attendees have played Madame Trelawney at Harry Potter events in the past few years! I will be musing about some of the questions and discussion more in future blog posts, but for now, a few ideas from some of the librarians who attended the Teen Services Swap in Prescott last week:
Prescott
- Teen Advisory Board has over 50 members! Teens have real ownership of programs.
- Battle of the Books with a library spin–teams read books in categories–each team has different titles for each category, and then the battle is trying to convince the spectators to read their title! Spectators vote on which one they are most excited to read.
Plum City
- Tweens and young teens are really excited about playing Dungeons and Dragons, which Kayla is learning along with them. There is a moratorium on killing each other.
- Having success playing on a Play Station 4 with kids and asking them for input while playing!
Woodville
- Had a 95% participation rate in kids who signed up for the Summer Library Program this year. Karen credits the dog tag necklaces recommended by Monica at River Falls with some of their success.
- All ages enjoy a Creative Space on Fridays, with things like perler beads and coloring.
New Richmond
- Had success this summer with a Teens on Demand program–different passive programs weekly that teens could check out from library staff. This ranged from movies (with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) to craft projects to other things.
- They’ve found that having 1-2 after-hours teen events per semester works well, though attendance is spotty. Friday from 7-10 pm is the magic time.
River Falls
- Found a corporate sponsor (ALDI) to purchase the books that they give away at their book clubs–they have 20-30 fourth-fifth graders, 40+ middle school students, and 15 or so high school students who participate in these book clubs every month!
Phillips
- Trying a lot of hands-on activities, finding they are helpful in bringing really different kids together.
- Adding a ramp to LEGO building days makes for un-ending fun