At the end of the summer I said goodbye to my position as
Teen Librarian with the Morgan County Public Library. I started working with teens here at Main
back in October 2009 and it was a wonderful four and half years. During the course of that time I’ve meet some
absolutely delightful teens. I’ve seen
them go from mousy sixth graders to towering high school students, from
outsiders to best friends, from high school to college, from shy to outgoing,
from non-readers to readers and so much more.
Here are a few of favorite things from my time as a teen
librarian…
·
Summer Reading – Back in 2010 when I planned my
first summer reading program I was terrified.
We had 110 participants and they read well over 450 books. Summer Reading has grown a lot, and I’ve
learned a lot, since that first year. 363 teens signed up this past summer. Alyssa and I’s whole year pretty much
revolves around summer reading. It’s
what we’re working on from about November to June. Then it’s time for the big two month long
event to actually begin. We have worked
so hard to improve the program every year and I hope you think it’s as wonderful
as we do!
·
Working Outside the Library – Some of my
favorite times at the library have actually been when I’m not in the
library! Community events and school
visits have given me unique opportunities to meet patrons on their turf. For much of my time as the teen librarian I
spent one day a month at West Middle School hanging out with students during
their lunch period. We’d discuss
upcoming library events, what they were reading and I’d give booktalks to
introduce new titles. I got to partner
with school librarians and teachers on lots of special events. More than once teachers and their students
created videos promoting summer reading and other special events. Luckily, outreach is something I’ll still get
to focus on in my new role.
·
After-hours Events – At the end of May 2011 we
cautiously planned out first ever after-hours event for the library. Pizza, photo ops, games and a movie were all
on the agenda and pretty much have been for every after-hours event since
then. I’m not sure why but there’s just
something magical about being in the library after it closes. Dance parties, life-size games, movie nights,
and even crafts just seem to double in excitement when you know the library
doors are locked to everyone but you.
·
Meeting Mike Mullin – The Indiana author, Mike
Mullin, who penned the Ashfall
trilogy, visited our library in December 2011.
This was the first author event I ever planned which was a little scary
and very exciting. We pulled out all the
stops for a complete Ashfall themed
night including a themed Christmas tree, volcano cupcakes, a martial arts
demonstration and Mullins’ engaging presentation. One of my, and Mullins’ favorite stories from
the night is what will forever be known as “the bloody book signing.” Mullin ended his demonstration by chopping a
concrete block in half with his hand.
Not realizing he’d cut himself he began signing books. The first book he signed belonged to a young
girl. He thought she would be mortified
by the blood he’d accidently left on the title page along with his
signature. Once he realized what had
happened he was apologetic and offered her a new book. She’d hear nothing of it. In fact she made him note something along the
line of “this is my blood” and was even more excited than if she’d just gotten
his signature.
·
YA Lit – I read a little YA lit before I became
a teen librarian and it hadn’t been that long since I’d actually been a teen
but I really got into it the last few years.
Here are just some of the YA authors that have had me laughing, crying,
sitting on the edge of my seat, bursting with excitement and just generally
loving reading.
Jay Asher Jo
Knowls
Natasha Friend Jordan
Sonnenblick
Barry Lyga Nancy
Werlin
Katie McGary Erica
Lorraine Scheidt
Raina Telgemeier Sonya
Sones
Helen Frost Ellen
Hopkins
Wendelin Van Draanen Rainbow Rowell
David Levithan Laurie
Halse Anderson
Gordan Korman John
Green
Ruta Sepetys Neal
Shusterman
·
Volunteers – As I’ve mentioned I’ve met some
absolutely lovely teenagers in the last few years and some of my favorites have
spent time volunteering or job shadowing at the library. It’s so awesome to see teens that truly love
the library and want to do whatever they can to help out. I know I can count on our volunteers for
anything from updating booklists, creating displays, making popcorn, cleaning
up, and just generally assisting with whatever we need. One of my goals in my new position will be to
find a few volunteers as sweet and dependable as those I’ve meet here at Main.
·
Game Truck Parties – The last two years during
Teen Tech Week we’ve had Jason Green bring out the Game Truck. It is awesome. Up to sixteen people at a time can go into
the luxurious “truck” to relax on plush couches while playing the latest and
greatest video games on flat screen televisions. This program always brings in a swarm of
teens who are just as excited about our life-size Pac-Man game and fuse bead
crafts as they are about the truck.
I will truly miss working with teenagers on a daily basis
but I’m so excited for my new position with the library, Monrovia Branch
Manager. Get to know my new library,
position, community and coworkers in my next blog post, later this year.
