Social Library, Teen Edition
Jennifer Peterson
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21 June 2016
In this edition of the Social Library, we wanted to highlight those libraries offering exceptional teen programming for their communities. With summer reading in full swing, libraries are busy promoting events relevant to all ages, but we've found a selection more specifically focused at teens or tweens. From gaming to skating, and ghost-hunting to crafts, these programs attract some of the library's most loyal patrons. If you'd like to see your library featured in the Social Library series, please let us know via [email protected] or find us on Facebook.
- Gilmer County Library in Georgia hosted their Teen Table Top Games & Pizza event last week, as seen in the wonderful photo above. Teens were invited to 'Get in the Game' with some fun tabletop games and were provided pizza and drinks. Those who showed up, were entered in a drawing for a chance to win a set of dice and a dice/deck bag. [For tabletop game ideas on WebJunction, be sure to check out the wealth of resources from John Pappas.]
- Allegany County Library System in Maryland hosted their Wednesdays with Us - Ghost Hunt Program last week, drawing a crowd of teens, and others, to their Washington Street Library to hear the results of a recent paranormal investigation into mysterious occurrences at the library. Steven Hall Paranormal Investigations demonstrated ghost hunting gear, including a parascope, and shared some of history of the 166-year-old building. There wonderful coverage of the event in this Times-News.com story.
- Stanislaus County Library in California hosted an All-Teens Craft Fair this past weekend. In it's third year, the fair invited teen crafters, ages 13 - 18, to "showcase their talents and learn about sales, customer service and business, all while having fun!" The signup sheet (pdf) provides additional information about the application process and guidelines.
- Sammamish Public Library in Washington hosted this year's Cardboard Skatepark Challenge in the town plaza, just outside the library and near the city's very popular skatepark. For the engineering challenge, participants were invited to build a tiny cardboard skatepark for a fingerboard (a miniature skateboard). Awards were given for coolest ramp, pipe and bowl designs and fingerboarding tricks. Cardboard and fingerboards were made available at the event, which was hosted in collaboration with the Friends of Sammamish Library and the City.
- And Spartanburg County Public Libraries shared wonderful flyers for two teen events this week. Animefest invites teens to the library to watch some anime, do some anime-related crafts and participate in a cosplay contest. And also, Teen Convert a Shirt invites participants to bring a dark-colored shirt for an activity using duct tape and bleach, to create wearable art. We appreciate how SCPL includes a clear graphic on each of their posters to indicate the age group invited, including "Teens," "Tweens," and "Kids."
Thanks to all of this week's featured libraries for such outstanding service to your communities!