Introduction
The days of MySpace are long past, but the library landscape in which Casey & Stephens (2008) wrote “Embracing Service to Teens” remains uncannily similar today, almost 20 years on. Public libraries like my own in Broadview, Illinois continue to struggle with providing adequate services to teens and accepting them as a valuable cross-section of the library community rather than a problematic offshoot. Resources are limited based on a fearful mentality where every proposed program or service comes back to the same question: “What if the worst happens?”
The New Guy
I’m one of the newest employees at my library, as well as one of the youngest, falling below the average employee’s age by multiple decades. I’ll never know if these factors combined to make me the library’s current co-lead of teen programming (which was not mentioned in the job posting to which I responded, nor in my initial interviews), or if it was more incidental, but that’s the position I found myself in upon being hired. My previous job was at a community college library, assisting patrons from ages 16 to 80 and everywhere in between of every conceivable background and educational level. Though this gave me some exposure to college-age library patrons, the difference between college library and public library services is vast: programs are an afterthought of the former, and the lifeblood of the latter.
On my first day at Broadview Public Library District I was greeted with a project: I would need to create a suite of Teen Programs for Broadview’s newly inaugurated Teen Room, enough to last the teens through the remainder of the school year and gradually ramp up their engagement for more fully fledged offerings in Summer. In all this, I was truly and unironically starting from square one. For inspiration I had my own niche interests and hobbies, and the bottomless depths of the internet. I would draw from both as the months went on.
The State of Teen Services
Before I go into our current programs and hopes for the future, I should make it clear that I have little to no idea what teen-centered programs looked like before I got to BPLD. I assume that there was “no there there” and that they simply existed in an awkward programming limbo between youth (6-11) and adults (18+), only to finally be made into a serviceable population with their own space in the form of…
The Teen Room, which was an encouraging enough space when I first laid eyes on it: enclosed, with dimmable lights and large glass windows that provided good visibility, and a big TV to boot. Most of the YA book collection was housed there, though specialized collections like graphic novels and manga spilled out into the main stacks. Most encouraging of all were the game consoles it held: a PS5 (ooh la la!), a Nintendo Switch, and a PS4. Little did I know that there was essentially no procedure in place for how teens checked out games and got game consoles set up for them, and god forbid we get into the actual console settings and security issues of having all these things out essentially unmonitored. But these things come with time….
Eight months later, and we’ve made many promising steps towards a more cohesive teen service model. Programs are more regular, both on weekdays and on Saturdays, and attendance has been gradually increasing. I won’t lie, our first few months were rough and saw little to no participation, but it made the first successful programs all the sweeter. To be fair, we’re talking about the dead of winter–the Midwest Winter no less. Teens wouldn’t have come out if we had paid them (believe me, we tried).
One “secret” for better engagement? Snacks and beverages. Make an announcement over the Library PA about an event in the Teen Room with free food and drinks and they’ll come running–literally. Once they’re in the door, then you can try to hook them into the program. Maybe bribes really do work!
Another not-so-secret-secret: listen to the zeitgeist and follow your TikTok-sense for what is trendy and popular. My “boba-making for teens” program was such a surprise hit that it ran out of supplies–folks had to make do with plain milk tea sans boba by the end of it! I had teens tell me they came simply because I put matcha on the poster. But, to hear it from them, they don’t actually like tea, they only like matcha…sigh….
All that to say: if it is popular online, there’s a decent chance that it will be popular in the library. And what’s the worst that could happen when trying out an unusual program? Far better to take a risk on a program that might only draw a handful of people than the same old program that never draws anybody. Regardless of inspiration, regardless of intent, creativity, or vision, all programs and programmers fear one thing: zero attendance.
Hopes for the Future
Now, Summer is upon us (happy Summer Solstice!), the days are longer and warmer, and the teens have plenty of time on their hands. The library is hosting two teens as seasonal employees through the Summer, and we’re hoping their input and participation might lay a groundwork for a permanent Teen Advisory Board (TAB) to help guide teen programming in the library. That way it’s not solely up to old-timers (or shall I say “uncs”) like myself.
Programs are gaining more traction and dedicated attendance. My coworker and I have started a twice-weekly Tabletop Roleplaying Club for teens and tweens that we hope will allow new players to dip their toes in the medium and get a taste for the game systems. With luck, and enough good rolls of the dice, we hope it will become a fixture of Teen programming that will last through the school year. I’ve gotten players from ages nine to eighteen, and each one brings something unique to the table and to each encounter.
Add to that a weekly Knits & Knots Crafts Club for the more artsy, hands-on members of our teens and youth populations, and we have some very promising programming to take us through the coming months. I’ll reflect more in future blog posts on what programs we’ve tried, what has worked and what hasn’t, how things are going, and whatever inspiration I’m feeling for the future.
Until then, all scheduled programs will continue as usual….