Passive Programming

How do we continue to engage and connect with teens between programming?

In what ways can they actively interact with the library on a daily basis?

Passive programming is one avenue to enrich teen library use.

Here are some ideas:

• Make displays of favorite authors, season or holiday themes and library events.
• Showcase student artwork or examples of what teens completed during a program.
• Have a contest in which students can submit answers and have their name put into a drawing.
• Change the decorations, signs and new book area.

Example of a contest:

For National Library Card Sign-Up month in September I had a contest. I put a sign on the end of a shelving unit that explained a little about the event and asked teens to submit ways that they use their library cards. The tagline was "100 Ways to Use Your Library Card" An envelop held the answer papers, the teens gave them to the checkout worker and put their name in the drawing box.

This activity only required me to make up the display, put out a drawing box, hang the answers every few days and then draw a name at the end of the month.

Many students saw the display and came to ask what the drawing was about. It provided opportunities to talk with teens, point them towards the new books and tell them about the upcoming monthly program.

Display:

For Banned Book Week I covered 2 dozen banned or challenged books with brown or white paper. I then made up a small sign with a "Caution do not enter" picture that read, "I am a banned/challenged book because..." I then listed why the book was banned and wrote, "Who am I?" This sign was taped to the front of the book and when lifted the book's title and author was revealed. I chose books that the teens are most likely familiar with and made sure to include a nonfiction and "j" book to show that teen and adult books are not the only ones to be challenged.

These books were then displayed  in the front of the teen section with caution tape strung over the shelves. I included information about banned books, the top 10 challenged books of 2008 and a Banned Book Week poster.

I took pictures of the display and posted them on our Facebook page. Done!
Easy and it teaches the teens something new.

Please share some of your own passive programming successes! Pictures are always helpful!

Book Swap

Teens love to socialize and feel in control. What library program could let them have fun with friends, make their own decisions and put books into their hands? A Book Swap!

What is a book swap? Exactly as it sounds. Teens bring books to the library and swap to get new ones. Each year my library goes to a publisher sale where all the books are $1. We gather hundreds of books for summer reading prizes and the collection. However, we generally have many left over that need to be cleared out before we get more.

Book Swap~

Cost: No cost! You already have books that need new homes plus students will bring more. You can also have students bring movies, CDs and games to trade.

Set Up: Place books on tables in a large room so they can be seen and browsed easily.

Program: Easy! Have teens bring books to trade for new ones. I gave each student a ticket for every book they brought. They could then turn in these tickets (1/book) for new items. As I had so many books available I told teens to come even if they didn't have anything to trade. I just wanted to get books to teens and out of my closet. Every teen that came was able to choose 2-3 books and then however many more for their tickets. (I had one girl bring 23 books but her mom told her she could only bring 15 home!)

Just add the students' books to the tables and let them browse. It was great to watch teens talking with each other and getting excited about taking books home. I did include a cooking component (we made candy sushi) as part of the book swap because I didn't know how long they would focus on swapping books. It was fun but is not necessary.

The teens loved the swap so much that they asked when we were going to do it again. I am now making this a quarterly activity as long as their interest continues. During Teen Read Week I am having a book swap for 1 hour and they can come and go as they please. I will also have materials to make bookmarks so that if they find books right away they have something else with which to engage.

A great program that draws teens to the library for books and takes little time or monetary resources.
Have Fun!

Teens and Reading

We are librarians; therefore, we want teens to read. Right? Right! However, in our fastpaced technology driven world, instilling a love of reading in today's teenagers often seems to be a daunting and unattainable goal.  Nevertheless, teen reading is not a phenomenon of the past. We must remember that students are reading when texting or on Facebook. They are engaged in literacy building activities when playing a video game or uploading a video to YouTube.  And most importantly today's teens do continue to engage in and love reading traditional paper and ink books.

How do we reach out to our teens and show them that reading a book is okay? How do we help them develop a reading for enjoyment habit that carries them throughout life?

The most obvious way for librarians to help teens learn to love reading is to build a collection of books, audio books and graphic novels that meet their educational and entertainment needs.  We must talk to teens about what they are reading and what they want to read. Put a suggestion box in your teen space so they know that asking for a title or author is welcomed. Let the teens be an active part of collection development. Many libraries now have Teen Advisory Boards that help with program planning.  But do not forget the value of on-the-go teen advisory when they are browsing the stacks or wandering the library.

So what types of programming, besides summer reading, can we do throughout the year that places books in teen hands?

I am really interested in starting a monthly teen book club but am apprehensive about choosing appealing books, participation and conducting beneficial discussions.

Any adivice or success stories would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

In my next post I will describe a successful program I hosted during the summer that has turned into an ongoing activity.

Altered Book Resources

Here are some helpful resources to use for your altered book program:

Amazon: browse this list of excellent books about altered books

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=altered+books

Scrapblog: An online scrapbooking site that has a great 2 minute video tour. If your students are interested in scrapbooking but don't have the resources to do it at home show them Scrapblog as a way to continue scrapbooking and learning technology. http://www.scrapblog.com/

I filmed tutorial videos from my altered book class.

Feel free to use them with your teens.

Introduction


Click the "read more" link below for more videos

How To: Altered Books

Basic Supplies: No cost-libraries already have these supplies on hand.

Save books from book sales (look for unique covers, sizes, text, pictures ect.)
white glue
paintbrushes
wax paper (place between wet glue or paint pages to continue working on others)
acrylic paint
hole punches
paper plates
water
clothes pins (to hold/separate pages)
scissors
hair dryers (speeds up the drying process)
hot glue guns

Click the "read more" link below for the entire program layout

Why Altered Books & Teens?

An altered book program has little to no cost. It stimulates creativity, imagination and art skills. Students learn alternative recycling methods and self-expression while engaging in a literacy building activity.

Think about how all of these, and more, assets stem from

tearing pages from an old book.

The program requires about an hour of set up time, some instructional guidance and then minimal supervision. Once students are given a few prompting ideas and assured that "it's okay to tear the pages" they delve into the activity.

Have the teens help clean up and you are finished without any mess!

See the slide show of pictures in the sidebar.

Altered Book Program

Did I hear correctly...librarians are encouraging students to cut, rip, fold, glue, paint, and stamp in books!? YES!!! Welcome to an altered book program for teens!

What is an altered book?

According to the International Society of Altered Book Artists, "It is any book, old or new that has been recycled by creative means into a work of art. They can be ... rebound, painted, cut, burned, folded, added to, collaged in, gold-leafed, rubber stamped, drilled or otherwise adorned ... and yes! It is legal!"
(http://www.alteredbookartists.com/)

In the following posts I will explain how to easily host an altered book program for teens at the library or as part of a unit of study at school.

Teen Programming in Libraries

Teen programming presents many difficulties for teen librarians, teachers and school librarians. What will grab their interest? How do we engage them in a learning activity? What is fun and also inspires them to stretch their knowledge boundaries? How do we entice them into the library and its many services if they aren't readers? These are just a few of the relentless questions and problems that we face when serving teens. They are not children and yet they are not yet adults. They need to be guided while also having opportunities for independent exploration. Teens desperately want to learn but they want learning to be disguised as constant "fun."

 Ultimately, I believe the key question for librarians serving teens is:
     How do we help teens become lifelong learners and library patrons?

There are many avenues to address this query. One of which is through engaging, interactive and educational programming. In this blog I will share ideas for teen programming that works. I'll provide resources and program descriptions to make implementation easy. As we all know teen librarians face many challenges. Programs have to be exciting to draw in the teens, there is usually little funding for these extraordinary programs and planning/preparation time is at a premium. A teen programming blog will be a forum to help each other with developing appealing programs in a timely manner for our teens.

Let's get started!