What Came First, The Teens or the Teen Programs?

I just submitted my fall calendar for teens.   

For now through December.   

Geez. 

Doing this calendar was like, passing a kidney stone or something, I swear.  Most of my programs are centered around what my teens want to do, so trying to schedule far out, when most of my teens weren't around this summer, was extremely frustrating.   

I watched the youth librarians pull theirs together, with seeming ease, and I have to admit to feeling a little down.  The newsletter deadline was blinking Disney doe eyes at me every day, and  I was stumped.  Being that stumped made me wonder if I was really up to snuff with my programming.  Why was I having such a hard time? 

Thinking about it made me wonder: 

What comes first?  The Teens?  Or the teen programs? 

Does the calendar and schedule encourage teens to visit the library, or does the teen population dictate the programming.  And in either case, which one is better? 

Well, what I've decided is that it's a little bit of both.  And in true teen fashion, my teens came in today (first day of school), and proved me right. 

In our Me:U meeting, (Me:U being the teen service/advisory club), after talking about our  upcoming service events, I started to run down the list of events that I submitted in the calendar.  For the most part they were on board. 

Then I said, "Is there anything that I may have missed, that you all wanted to do?"  

To which they took me up on immediately.  

When they were done tossing off ideas like it was no big deal, I wanted to go back and un-send my calendar list.   They are hilarious in that they ramble on about everything under the sun and then BAM!, out comes something wonderful.   

Thinking about them, and the way that they think, reminded me that I am on the right path in allowing their ideas to propel my planning and programming. Listening, and being intuitive with my initial plans, while leaving space for the lighting in a bottle which is the teen mind,  is the  key to the riddle.   They want to be led towards ideas, but they also want to be given the opportunity share the ones they already have.  

So what are some things hopefully coming up this fall? 

Family Feud (Their idea) 

Bowling in the Library (My idea) 

Breakdancing Workshop (Their idea) 

Breast Cancer Walk & Awareness event (Our combined idea) 

Secret Santa for the Homeless (Their idea - and to my point, this was thrown out in casual conversation as if it wasn't GENIUS!!!!) 

My hope is that the mixture of our ideas will not only attract new teens to our library, but also encourage those we already have, to stay, thrive, and become leaders.

Pieces of Programming: Otaku Training Day

Teens are interesting creatures.  They have absolutely no interest in you until you're not paying them any attention.   

I've learned to use this to my advantage. 

If I visit the teen room and just start doing something, that's the easiest way to get them to wander over and investigate.  I try to remain as aloof as possible, or at least appear as though what I'm working on is truly no big deal and right when they start asking questions, BAM!, I've got them. 

Occasionally, they get me too. 

I am not an Anime or Manga enthusiast.   

By any means. 

In fact, whenever I see it plastered into teen services guides, I usually flip right past it. My teens here are very big on Anime and Manga, but our relationship has pretty much been that I won't bother them about it, if they don't bother me about it.  We live and let live in that way. LOL 

However, my teens don't care that I don't like anime.   

What they saw in my indifference, I've found, was an opportunity to teach.   

So I decided to exploit it.  

On a random day of being lovingly bugged about watching or reading an episode of whatever their latest fandom is, I finally offer them an olive branch; 

"What if I give you all a whole day to just completely engross me in all things Anime/Manga?"   

Eyes got wide.  Activity began to buzz.  There were monsters being created. 

As the weeks rolled on, I began to gently drop little pieces of responsibility on them: 

"You need to come up with a schedule, you know."  I'd say. 

As they began to see how serious I was about it, they would also have tasks for me: 

"We would like a projector and a laptop for the day." They would tell me.  They'd bring me choices to circle, so that they could meet together and decide on their plan. 

These little repartee's continued, and I have to say that their excitement did two things for me: 

1. It made ME a little excited about it also. 
2. It reminded me that it really didn't matter what the program was going to be about.  The most important thing was that these teens had an adult willing to sit and listen to them about something that was important and valuable to them, for an extended time period.  It was the driving force behind most of their excitement, and the ownership of it, made them not want to take it for granted.    

On the day of training.  I made sure that all of my work was out of the way.  The teens were in charge of schedule, setup, and even snacks.  At exactly 1:30pm, they were standing in my office giving me the "It's time", face. 

They served popcorn, arranged seating in our activity room to accommodate everyone, and setup the projector and laptop.  A couple of them greeted me by calling me an "Otaku Cadet".  By the time I came into the room, they had tabs open for each anime title they wanted me to view.   

Here's what they shared with me: 

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood  Fairy Tail Reborn Akame Ga Kiru Squid Girl  Medaka Box and Sword Art Online  

Some I liked: Fullmetal, Akame Ga Kiru 

Some I was kind of put-off by: Squid Girl, Medaka Box 

Three anime titles in, I asked, "I thought you all were going to show me Attack On Titan"?" A room of disgusted faces turned it me and said: "Nooooooooo, Miss Regina. Too mainstream." Then one put a hand on my shoulder and whispered, "Too mainstream..." 

So how did it go? 

I think it went exceptionally well.  There were over 16 participants(with males and females!), including two off-duty staff members who stopped in.  I was so proud of how they handled this event and a couple of hours in, I even ordered a couple of pizzas and sodas as a thank-you.  Throughout the day, they repeatedly asked me my thoughts on what they were exposing me too.  I tried to be honest, but was also careful to be mindful of their feelings, and particular shows they felt strongly about. 

At the close of the event, to show that I was fully respectful of the time they'd taken, I also took a moment to put in orders for any titles they'd shown me, that we didn't have full seasons of in the library.  I also offered them the opportunity to reinstate the long dormant Anime club.  They are going to get back to me about that. 

A full program executed by teens, reverse teen-advisory, and a crash course in Japanese.  Time well spent, I'd say.

Throwback Thursday: Totally Turned Up! - 2013 Summer Reading

A college themed Summer Reading Program?
Yes, yes I did.
It seemed rather far fetched, but once I started working on it, it didn't sound so crazy anymore.  Besides, we want teens to be excited about college and careers, right?  Right.

So for last year's Summer Reading program, I planned "Totally Turned Up - The University of Swag!", a college-themed experience.

We started out the summer with a pretty cool Orientation Day party!  The teen room's superhero decorations from the year before were taken down and replaced with these circles which made the room look like a student commons on a campus.  It was a stark change from the comic characters and gave just the right effect.





Kickoff included coke floats,  popcorn, balloons, and pom pons!  We also watched Pitch Perfect, one of the few "high-school friendly" college themed movies I could find. LOL



Each week of the summer was based on a different college major or concentration!


Guests included an actual crime scene investigator from the local police department for our School of Physical Sciences.  Local Hip-Hop Artists who all hold college degrees, came in to speak about pursuing your artistic passion as well as your education, which also had a great conversation about the artists on radio today who hold degrees but perpetuate ignorance in their music, which was amazing! And one of the last visits of the summer was a body image workshop for young ladies where I invited my actual sorority sisters to stop in.

The finale party was a Homecoming Dance that rivaled some real college homecoming parties I've attended. LOL

Here are the final participating slips!!  I'm hoping this year's will have even more!

 

Agency 8336: The Conspiracy or Teen Summer Reading 2014!

Let's see,... intrigue, secrecy, affinity for technology, and a willingness to try just about anything.  Sounds like a teenager.

Agency 8336 is my brainchild for Summer Reading 2014!  A way to weave in very cool technology and activity, without boring the smack out of my teens.

I have much older teens, who use our library for more than reading and research.  They visit our space to interact with friends, find entertainment, and basically hang out.  They also visit the library of their own accord, without extensive parental guidance or interaction.  That said, my summer "reading" program has to be done a bit more fluid than the traditional programs.

Writing Club: Ransom Rigg's Style

Writing Club was AWESOME today!!

First of all, I am starting this new season of writing club with a drastic location change.  Rather than using our youth services activity room, I have decided to move us upstairs to the adult conference room.  I'm hoping that this move, from the dark basement where friends and distractions can just wander in, participants will start to feel like they're in a serious classroom and that what they do matters.  

My teen summer reading program this year is all about spies and conspiracy theories, so I thought it would be cool to alter our writing club sessions this summer to fit the theme.  

Laser Tag in the Library

So, I kept hearing all of these wonderful gaming and activity programs that people were trying in their libraries.  Everything from mini-golf to hide-and-seek, so I thought laser tag would be a great and fun end to Teen Tech Week this year.  We had a great time, and it went along even better than I thought.  Want to try it?  Or at least hear about it?  Well here ya go!