What Aaron Does

Young Adult Programming
by Aaron Coutu

In previous discussions, we have talked about the importance of understanding your service population. Is there a population less understood by libraries and library staff than young adults? In many libraries, teens are viewed as being tolerated (barely) and treated with disdain. How many times have you heard from your fellow staff members about all the trouble that teens cause in the library? They are too loud! They make a mess! Why do they even want to be here?!?

What makes the situation even worse is that these feelings do not stop with such comments. Look at your own library and compare the monies allocated for children's books to that for young adult books, compare the number of programs offered for teens to the number offered for children, compare the size of your children's room to the space designated for teens, and compare the number of staff assigned to work with young adults to those assigned to work with teens. Granted, library services for children stretch from birth to age 11 and young adult services stretch from ages 12 to 18, but does a four year difference in service range adequately explain a difference in quantity of service? After doing this comparison, can you honestly say there is no discrimination against teens at your library?
We all have our excuses for the discrepancies: teens don't use the library as much as children do, the tradition of children's services has a much longer history than that of young adult services, or monies are better spent on children's materials and services because they will be used more. These are all excuses to feed our ignorance of teens and leads to our not doing anything to make the changes necessary to serve teens equally.

It All Starts with Understanding
At times, teens may seem like another whole species, but we were all once there. We might have measured coolness by poodle skirts and saddle shoes, tie-dye and sandals, big hair and extra make-up, or even extra piercings, but we all were members of that alien race. We all received the looks of disdain and concern from our parents and adult loved ones that today's teens receive. So, why do we have such a hard time remembering what it was like to be a teenager? We just lost touch with what it meant to be cool.

A great way to start to understand today's teens is by reading two wonderful books by writers interested in studying America's youth. The first book is A Tribe Apart: A Journey into the Heart of American Adolescence by Patricia Hersch, a noted youth sociologist. The book is a case study of a number of high school students in South Lakes High School of Reston, Virginia, which is not far outside of Washington, D.C. Through information collected through interviews and diaries kept by the students over six years, Hersch exposes the reader to the personal lives of the teenagers. Not only what they did, but the emotional hows and whys of the choices they made.

More recently, a similar book came out that made an in-depth look into what it means to live as an American middle schooler. In Not Much Just Chillin': The Hidden Lives of Middle Schoolers, award-winning journalist Linda Perlstein introduces the reader to a group of students attending Wilde Lake Middle School in Howard County, Virginia, which is also near Washington, D.C. Like the earlier work, readers get a chance to follow the personal lives of a small group of students as they make choices, some good and some bad, and live their lives.

In both books, the reader gets to know the students and feel compassion for them even if they are what most people would consider “trouble,” but the pre-teens and teens all have their touching moments of kindness and caring for others. In that, all young adults are the same.

While these sources provide exposure to a pool of various types of teens through their case studies, it is important to understand the psychological needs of young adults. In a wonderful book by Judith Davidson and David Koppenhaver entitled Adolescent Literacy: What Works and Why, readers are introduced to a series of seven developmental needs that can be found in all teens. They are as follows:

* Competence and Achievement – Teens often feel self-conscious or unsure of themselves. They need opportunities to demonstrate their abilities and realize what they do is valued by those around them;
* Self-Exploration and Definition – Teens need to flex their mental abilities and explore ways to use new skills they develop as they grow into adults. Developing new cognitive and linguistic abilities is a perfect examples of the way teens express themselves in this area;
* Positive Interactions with Peers and Adults – Teens often feel vulnerable in their relationships. As a result they need to develop a positive social network around themselves. The need to look to their friends when making decisions is a perfect example of how this manifests;
* Physical Activity – Teens are full of energy and need ways to release that energy in productive, regular physical activity such as daily exercise. This should be balanced with time to rest, relax, and reflect;
* Meaningful Participation in School and Community – Part of growing up is feeling like an adult. As a result, teens need to show that they can take on responsibilities not only for themselves but to serve others;
* Structure and Clear Limits – In their attempts to achieve the earlier needs, teens may exceed what they can or should do. This means they still need support, guidance, and clear limits as they develop into adulthood; and
* Diversity – As with adults and children, every teen is unique. Some are extroverts, while others are introverts; some love sports, while others prefer academic success. A good environment will allow all teens to prosper and succeed … even those that would be considered non-traditional library users.

Planning
Planning teen programs should not be drastically different from planning programs for children. Each program should have evident goals, whether it is to teach the participants to learn a new skill or simply to allow for social interaction among teens. Successful programs meet these goals.

Teen involvement is crucial to the success of library teen programming. Obviously, they need to be involved enough to want to attend the programs, but your programming plan can become much more successful by increasing teen involvement to the level of planning. Usually, this takes the form of teen advisory boards. While these groups take on various names (teen advisory boards, teen advisory committees, teen advisory library councils, etc.), they generally serve a similar purpose for the host library. The teens making up the board help the library with selecting materials, planning and promoting programs, and working as general volunteers to help the library succeed. They may even fill the role as a Junior Friends group and assist in fundraising with the monies often designated specifically for young adult services. Linda will be providing more information about teen advisory boards in her paper. Groups such as this will help libraries understand the uniqueness of the teens in their community.

Teen Summer Reading Programs
Many libraries focus most of their programming for teens during the summer. This makes mounting a summer reading program specifically for teens a wonderful chance for the library to target teens with programs. They can get a chance to visit the library for reasons other than school research or selecting a novel for a book report. They can come to participate in fun programs, receive fabulous prizes, and interact with teens they may never have met before.

Measuring reading for teen summer reading programs varies from library to library. Some measure number of books read, while others look to measuring numbers of pages, width of the books in inches, wieght of pages read, and time spent reading. The reporting of reading should be easy. Requiring projects or reports just drives participants away. They are on school vacation and want to enjoy the time away from schoolwork. Providing a book review or talking with a librarian about a book should be the extent of proving that they did actually read the book.

You should also consider the possibility of allowing teens to count the reading of graphic novels, comic books, magazines, and newspapers toward their summer reading. This would be helpful in encouraging reluctant readers to participate. The important thing is that they are reading. Since it is summer reading, should they really be limited to only reading Hawthorne, Dickens, and Cather? What is really important is that they are reading, not necessarily what they are reading. Studies have shown that children and teens need to read at least 6 books over the summer just to maintain their reading comprehension skills. Reading is like any other skill; the strength will fade if the individual does practice.

One great way to promote your summer reading program is to mention it when helping teens select books for their required summer reading. It may help make their arduous assignment a little more fun. This suggestive or point of purchase selling helps the library staff to target many of the readers who would best benefit from participation: the reluctant or challenged readers.

Also feel free to not only promote the program in your local schools, but also in area group homes for troubled teens or special needs teens. These teens are often left to the sidelines in such programming, but they would love to participate. Counselors are usually thrilled that you thought to reach out to them, and it helps them with promoting reading among a group of very reluctant readers. Just remember that, as with all other teens, you should be promoting that the teens read on whatever level is appropriate to the individual. For some of the teens in group homes, that might mean titles that would normally be found in the chidlren's room or with Hi/Lo materials that are much more appropriate.

For the past six years, Rhode Island has had a statewide teen summer reading program, which has allowed for a common theme as well as a sharing of ideas about programming. Besides the usual reading portions of a summer reading program, libraries also participated in a statewide Pen Pal Program. Utilizing the Ocean State Libraries delivery system, young adults between the ages of 11 and 18 have been paired up with similar teens from other communities in the state to write letters. And, yes, there is participation in the program all the way up through age 18.

As with the children's summer reading program, Rhode Island now participates in the Cooperative Summer Lirbary Program (http://cslpreads.org) in which 45 states and the District of Columbia participte. These year's young adults will get to have a "Metamorphosis @ Your Library." If you would like some more information about this years program, visit http://www.cslpreads.org/2008/ya08.htm.

Other activities that could be included as part of the summer reading program do not have to be unique to the summer. They could be used during any part of the year. It is not even necessary that they are part of a specific theme, though that could make promoting the activities much easier.

Inter-Age and Inter-Generational Activities
One activity offered by many libraries that is tremendously popular for teens during the summer is Book Buddies. During this program, teens are paired with younger readers to meet regularly during the summer to read and socialize together. Some libraries include crafts, puzzles, activity sheets, or other similar activities as part of the program. While Book Buddies is helpful in supporting literacy and advancing social skills for the younger reader, it also is fun for the teens. Teens tend to come back year after year to help out.

The Lincoln (RI) Public Library has expanded their Book Buddy program to be a year round activity under the auspices of Gretchen Hanley, one of the librarians there and the current co-chair of the New England Roundtable for Teens and Childrens :Librarians (http://www.nelib.org/nertcl/index.htm). They run a series of seasonal sessions that run on the same model they perfected during the summer reading program.

Remember back to the Seven Developmental Needs discussed earlier? One of the needs was Meaningful Participation in School and Community. This type or program fits this need perfectly.

I found that this program worked so well for the teens at the library I work at that I sat down with the children's librarian to discuss ways we could expand on this model. This led to the creation of the Craft Buddies idea. Now for all of our crafts outside of storytimes, we look for teens to fill the role as craft buddies. While the teens don't usually work one-on-one with the children, there is always at least one Craft Buddy at each table to help the little ones with their crafts. This allows for the librarian to float more easily from table to table and for the crafts to be a little more advanced. We always make sure that the teens go home with their own craft project as well. They don't only help the little ones, but are full participants in the program.

How many libraries have considered a teen-led storytime? In the book Teen Volunteer Services in Libraries by Kellie M. Gillespie, an example of one such monthly program is presented. At the Monona (WI) Public Library, they offer a program called KAST: Kids as Storytellers. As part of this program, teens meet and pull together materials, songs, fingerplays, and books for a storytime under the guidance of a librarian. They practice the presentation a number of times before the program, and it fills the need of a storytime on Saturdays or in the evenings.

This type of activity is not limited to the teens working with children. It could be expanded to working with adults, particularly senior citizens. Does your library have a demand for specialized computer classes for seniors, but not the staff to offer them? Teens, who are usually quite comfortable with computers, could be the answer to your prayers. With a little training, teens could learn how to teach seniors to use a computer with basic instruction on using a mouse to surfing the web and sending e-mail to their loved ones.

Intergenerational programs are not just limited to the area of instruction. Book discussion groups are another way to match teens with adults. Mother-daughter, father-son, and caregiver-teen discussion groups are common in many libraries, but what about matching seniors with teens in a book discussion for Soldier Boys by Dean Hughes or Boy at War: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Harry Mazer, both of which take place during World War II. For a number of years, I offered a book discussion group for teens called the Classics Club. We read juvenile classics and discuss them. It was open for adults to come and share their feelings about books such as the Wizard of Oz, Little Women, and Peter Pan. It was interesting for the teens to share their thoughts with those from another generation. They learned a lot from each other as they shared the similarities and differences between growing up today and what it was like to grow up in years gone by.

Volunteer Programs
In today's world, teens need to fill more and more community service hours. Teens have to do volunteer hours for the honor society, for classes, or for their church, synagogue, or mosque. Their community service may also be court ordered though a juvenile hearing board, family court,, traffic court, or truancy board. In Rhode Island, teens can opt to volunteer a number of hours to remove a moving violation from their driving record. As a result, it can be important for the library to make plans for how to answer requests by teens to do their hours at the library. Book Buddies, Craft Buddies, and some of the other inter-age and inter-generational programs can be used to fill such hours. Teen advisory boards can also be used for such a purpose and can be a bonus to the library for bringing in teens with opinions that might differ from those of regular library users.

Policies need to be set up for application forms, the interview process, mentoring, and rules for the potential volunteers before you start working with them. You also need to decide whether volunteers will need to have BCI checks completed before they can begin work at the library. If this planning process is not done, the volunteer coordinator will quickly become overrun with managing teen volunteers.

It would be natural for the young adult librarian to become the coordinator for these volunteers, particularly if the library does not already have a volunteer services coordinator. This librarian already knows and works with teens, in general, and probably with the individual teens looking to volunteer. This would also provide a chance for the teens to work specifically toward improving the space provided for young adults in the library. Whether it is painting a mural, shelving books, or helping organize the area, the teens will get a feeling of ownership of that part of the library, creating a special place for it in their hearts. Can the library be that uncool, if you helped make it what it is?

Last year, I utilized a number of teens volunteering at the library to complete almost 100 subject-related bibliographies to assist young adults (and others) with searching the novels in the young adult section. The teens are able to not only see how their work is helping others, but some have even had the opportunity to use the lists themselves to locate a novel for class or for pleasure.

Book Discussion Groups
Book discussion groups work just as well for teens as they do for school-aged children and adults. They make sure that you are meeting the most obvious of library service needs: promoting reading. No other type of program can have the book more at its core than this. One mistake that many librarians make when planning these activities is they make it too much like school. They ask questions about theme and symbols, and the teens quickly decide not to come back for the next session. Talk about whether the teens liked the book, who they liked and disliked as characters, and whether the author made good plot choices. You will find they end up talking about theme on their own. Talk about whether they had trouble reading the book because of dialects or the writing itself. You will find that they end up talking about writing style. Remember that you are moderating the discussion, not teaching.

I also make sure to talk about the book covers. Usually, some of the kids have different editions of the same book so talking about what works and doesn't work for the various covers is great! There is nothing like comparing and contrasting to bring disagreement (a.k.a. discussion) to the forefront. This is also good for the visual learners, particularly as we start to talk about what they would use if they were designing a cover.

Speaking of disagreement, it is important to understand, and make sure the participants understand, that it is all right for various group members to disagree. It does not mean that anyone is right or wrong, but it makes conversation easier. There is nothing worse that having a book discussion on a book where everyone agrees. I once had a discussion on How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff after it recieved the 2005 Printz Award. The teens all agreed that they didn't like the book or its cover. No one liked the writing style, and they all had issues with the same characters and plot points. The only thing that made the discussion work was that they enjoyed tearing it apart, which was done with a great deal of zest. The problem was they had finished that up in about 20 minutes.

With today's focus on this week's hottest movie releases, I usually encourage the group to talk about the book in relation to a movie based on the book. If there hasn't been a movie, we talk about if it would make a good one and why. We also discuss what would they include or change if they were making a movie of the book since we all know that the book is never the same as the movie. If there is a movie based on the book, we talk about how it compares to the book.

I am going to use this opportunity to talk about the most important ingredient for any and all teen programs: FOOD. The reason I bring it up here is because it plays a special role in my book discussion groups. Of course, I bring food everyone loves like peanut butter cups and cheesy crackers. I also bring something food related taken from the book. For example, when discussing S.E. Hinton's Tex, we had ham sandwiches, which is what the family in the book was always eating. I also made Turkish delight when we read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. The teens are always excited to see what I will be bringing.

This is also a perfect program to take on the road. Contact a local school or YMCA about offering an after-school group. You could also offer a lunch-time group. Doing this not only allows you to reach more teens, but will likely help in building a stronger bond with area organizations that could lead to greater partnerships down the road. I know that some of the local high and middle school English teachers offer extra credit for my literature- and writing-related programs.

Two variations on this idea is the literature circle or a readers' cafe. During this type of program teens share what they have read. Often, there is a theme that the titles being presented are tied to and you try and have two or more kids read the same book to present it. This is a great way to sell great books. The teens will listen more to other teens than they will to an adult.

With the help of the library media specialist and one of the reading specialists from the local high school, we have turned this model into the Reader's Cafe. This meets once a month with about 20 students that are excused from their second period class that day so they can come and share books they have read. To be eligible, they have to have completed a review form that is hung in the media center. From that pool, the names of participants are chosen.

Speaking of working with the staff at the area schools, I recently started a program with some of the teachers, counselors, and the media specialist at the library. One of the complaints I often hear from teachers interested in using more YA literature in class or when recommending titles is that it is so hard to keep up on the new titles coming out. In order, to help them out with this, I offered to lead a book group once a month on one current teen novel. So far, it seems to be going over quite well ... so much so that they are talking about continuing it through the summer months. You might asking why I am mentioning this. Well, it is a program that supports the idea of young adult services including serving those who work and live with adolescents. Also, the teens will benefit in the long run by the increased knowledge the teachers are receiving.

Libraries can also offer similar programs along the same vein. You can have book discussion groups around graphic novels or even movies. This might bring a whole knew audience into the library to discuss culture.

Programs for Homeschoolers
Many libraries are resistant to offer programs specifically for homeschoolers. This may be due to the fact that homeschool children and teens tend to already be common participants in other library programs. Librarians my wonder why they need to offer another whole series of programs for them. Why can't they attend the programs being offered for everyone? They fail to take note of the fact that they should because these programs are wanted and will be attended.

While we will be talking in greater detail about services to homeschoolers next week, I wanted to talk about the success of some specialize programs I have offered for homeschoolers and the importance of addressing their needs.

One reason that libraries should offer specialized programs is because they fit into the homeschooler's schedule if you have them during the school day. Many homeschoolers tend to do their home instruction in the morning, reserving the afternoon for specialized classes such as language tutors, art and music classes, or science and math classes at the local college. That means it is difficult for them to attend programs when they are being offered for everyone. While they could probably adjust their morning schedule to attend a program, their afternoons are pretty much accounted for by other activities.

From my own experience, I have found that homeschooling parents are interested in having programs that are fun, but also provide a learning experience that they might not be able to provide on their own at home. This could be offering a program on library and research skills to having guest presenters come to talk about a topic of interest to the age group.

I myself offered a program on the United Nations, its structure, and its history. It was a two-session program. The first session was pretty much a lecture. At the end of the session, participants picked out nations under the formula used at the UN to select the members of the Security Council. I then handed out a sheet with a list of books, magazines, and web sites that could be used to research their countries so they could represent them at a Mock Security Council session at the next meeting. It was a hit. I ended up having teens from three states participate.

I have also offered a debate skills program that has led to waiting lists every time it was presented. It covered the forms and techniques needed to participate in a formal debate as well as to write an argument paper. It was easy and fun for all.

There are a few things to keep in mind when planning a program for homeschooling teens. One big difference is that parents tend to stay during the program. It is extremely rare to have that happen during other programs for teens. While this does not mean that you will change what you include as part of the program, you may want to plan to draw the parents in as participants rather than just observers.

Also, some of the homeschooling families have opted to teach at home because of their traditional beliefs. It is important to keep this in mind even if this is not true for all of your homeschooling families because you would want to be careful with selecting titles for discussion groups or topics of programs targeting homeschoolers. The main reason that I ended up starting up the Classics Club talked about earlier was the homeschooling group wanted a discussion group specificially for them. I was quite concerned about using many of the young adult titles produced. They tend to have a lot of language and activities that traditional families would likely have trouble with their teens reading. As with your teen advisory board, you would want to bring in the parents and homeschooling teens into the planning process in order to make sure to provide the best services for all.

Other Programing
This is just the tip of the iceberg when discussing programs. From here on, we will discuss types of programs and provide examples of them, but it will by no means be a complete listing of possibilities of providing programming for young adults. The classifactions are not official in any way, but my own classification created to sort the types.

Passive Programming - Passive programming is the type of programming in which the library has to do very little for the teens to participate. One example that is quite popular at my library is our annual Oscars competition. Every year, I create a ballot including the major categories of awards that are given out at the Oscars Ceremony. Throughout the whole month before the show, teens can fill out and turn in their ballots. I find the teens end up talking and debating their choices. This format could be used for any type of award ceremony such as the Emmys, the Tonys, or the Oscars. You could even do a book based program like a Mock Printz Award event. You can have an awards party before, during, or after the program to discuss why people chose certain winners. If you host the part afterwards, there can be discussion about how right or wrong the judges were in their selections.

At one point, I used to have a question of the month. I would ask what their favorite movies, television shows, or musicians were. This allowed me to learn what was cool when I first started and had not yet had a chance to get to know the teens in the community. As with most of my passive programs, they tended to be centered around a book or other materials display to draw attention to it. The teen's choices would be entered in a drawing with the ages and names on them, which helped with getting to know the teens themselves.

I use a variation of this during the summer reading program. Each week there are two questions that the teens can answer for extra chances to the weekly drawing. They are trivia questions usually tied into the weekly sub-theme of the summer reading program. The teens are allowed to use the Internet, reference materials and books, or the help of a librarian to get the answer. While it is passive, it is a sneaky way to encourage library material use. The reference department laughs because they all know what is being research by the number of questions they get on a topic. The whole staff also seems to be hanging out near the sign on Monday morning so they can get the first chance to see and try to answer the questions.

Lite Programs – These are the types of programs that many librarians look down upon. They are not necessarily tied to books or any other type of learning experience for the teens. They are just plain old fun and are usually tremendously popular. Lite programs would include offering such as party game hours, Local Area Network (LAN) gaming, roleplaying games, online games like Runescape, Wii/Dance Dance Revolution/Guitar Hero parties,and trading card game tournaments.

These types of programs do require that the librarian have special knowledge of the games included or have someone else on hand who does. If you do not know that a LAN allows you to network a group of computers so a group of players can play the same computer game at the same time against each other, it would probably be hard to offer such a program. Sometimes, the teens themselves can bring in the expertise needed to run such a program. Checking with local comic book stores and gaming stores might be another source for presenters. In some cases, these stores will not only help run the program for free, but may often offer free equipment and materials as well as prizes.

Arts and Crafts Programming – Many libraries do not even think to consider arts and crafts as potential programs for teens. Doesn't everyone know that only little kids like to do crafts! Not so! Knitting seems to be one of the hippest thing for teens to do in a group. Duct tape crafts are something few teens have heard of, but they become quickly addicted on this cheap craft. You can also finds success with jewelry-making, origami, bookmaking, memory book making, stamping, tie-dying, cooking, and many, many, many other things you could create.

Art never goes out of style. Sculpture, drawing and painting are popular and easy. They can me presented in their traditional form or adapted to teen interests with programs on ‘zine creation, comic book and graphic novel creation, website design, and computer graphic design. These types of programs might require a paid presenter to come if no one on staff has the knowledge to do so themselves.

Pop Culture Programming – These programs tend to be quite popular (pun intended). The problem is they tend to be a lot of work to create, and you may not get a chance to offer it again later. They are tied to the fads that interest teens. When discussing programs for school-aged children, Melody discussed parties related to books. This is what would be the equivalent. You can always have the Harry Potter party. That does not seem to be going out of favor, but some of the other pop culture icons have less staying power.

For example, Jeopardy! became quite popular while Ken Jennings was on his winning streak. Offering a teen version of Jeaopardy! could draw a lot of interest, but you would be left with coming up with the questions and answers. You could make things a little easier by having a category on library policies and staff or on teen literature, but if you want a program that will be talked about in the school halls you might want to have some categories on rap music, choppers, and wrestling. You will be amazed how cool teens will think you are because you know about Limp Bizkit, the Undertaker, or airbrushing a motorcycle.

Other possible ideas for such a program would be programs tied to Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Survivor, American Idol, Deal or No Deal, or Fear Factor. The one thing to keep in mind with these programs is that the actual shows have a bit of a mean element to them. You will want to account for that when designing the program or you could be the Weakest Link.

You are not limited to game shows with this category. Are their any cool movies coming out? Are their any new television shows that you could use as part of a program? I think every library was doing Lord of the Rings themed programs every December when the films were coming out, and Harry Potter holds a special place in all of our hearts as he keeps the kids and teens coming back for more. Just keep an eye out and be creative and you can work anything into a program. In fact, they could be the connection for publicizing the program. For example, there are Batman and Iron Manmovies coming out this summer. You could use that to advertise your comic book making program. How about a Survivor game based on teams who prefer Marvel or DC comics and tie the contests to comic book ideas?

The best way to come up with ideas for programs under this category is to pretend you are a teen. Grab some magazines you find the teens reading. Watch movies and television shows that they watch. The important thing is to just be creative with the ideas.

Traditional Programming – Most of the programs that I am discussing in this section will not be new to most of you, but it is important to remember them for two reasons. The first is that some of them serve the parents of teens as much as they do the teens themselves. Secondly, they tend to be a lot of work so librarians tend to push them aside because the small turnout is not worth the effort or the cost.

With the cost of college increasing and the fact that financial aid packages may be getting smaller, parents would love to have a program about applying to college or applying for financial aid. Libraries often skip this category because the teens already get this information at school. The thing to keep in mind is that the parents aren't in school to go to the assemblies. In many cases they are the ones paying and stressing over college. Usually, colleges and local non-profit organizations have specialists willing to make the necessary presentations free of charge. Do not forget to include technical school and community college information in these types of programs. These groups are often forgotten when preparing such a program.

Panels are a great idea for teens and their families alike. For example, you could do panels on teen health with specialists in skin care, hair care, psychology, and other fields to answer questions. You could set up similar panels for pet care, automotive repair or any number of fields.

Class-like programs and workshops are something to consider. The big question with them is whether to offer them free or to charge the teens for attending since these programs are usually quite expensive. These programs could be offered on topics such as first aid, babysitting, writing, SAT preparation, and acting. It would also be a good idea to look into the possibility of having the library be a site for providing driver's education courses if there is a shortage of seats in existing classes at the schools in your area.

Poetry slams have become quite popular and so are open mike nights. Battles of the Bands would also be a similar option. By their nature, teens are very creative. They have special talents and are often willing to share their talents with others. This is another one of those programs that feeds directly into their developmental needs as it gives them a chance to excel and do so in a way that could provide them with positive peer review.

Melody mentioned tying into popular important dates and anniversaries. This works with teens as well. In late October, there is Teen Read Week, which has an annual theme that libraries can easily tie into. The YALSA site for teen read week usually includes wonderful graphics and programming ideas that you can use as part of the celebrations in your own library. Similarly, YALSA now offers Teen Tech Week in March. There is also National Comic Book Giveaway Day every June 1.

The final traditional program I am going to talk about is the presenter. This could be a guest speaker, a storyteller, or even an author. The thing to consider is the amount of money that it is going to cost. Unless you are lucky, you are going to have to pay anywhere from $50 - $3000 to bring in this specialist. Success of this program tends to be very dependent upon the interest in the subject area. If you know your teens well, you can be more secure in giving over that check for a program that is well attended, but it will hurt if you spend $250 for a program that only five teens attend. Certain things are guaranteed winners in most communities, such as programs on the theater, ancient Egypt, and music.

Author visits outside of school tend not to be overly popular unless you are able to have some sort of major incentive for the teens, such as extra credit for class. Author visits tend to be much better attended in schools where they have a captive audience and can implement it into the curriculum. That does not mean they won't work, but you do want to be prepared for a potentially small turnout.

Sometimes you can get lucky with specialists and get one at a cheaper rate or for free. For example, I received a phone call from England in 2005. My book discussion group was going to be doing Shadowmancer by G.P. Taylor on April 12. Mr. Taylor apparently heard about it and decided to "ring me," as they say in England. He was calling to say that he was hoping to call during the scheduled meeting of the book discussion group to participate. He had had wonderful experiences with libraries growing up and liked to get input from teens about his book. He did call us for free and talked to the group via speakerphone. It is the way he likes to repay libraries and teens for what they have given him over his lifetime.

Things to Keep in Mind
Remember that you are not likely to reach the attendance numbers that children's programs do when you first start focusing on teens. If you have more than ten teens attend a program it should be considered a success. Over time, you will find that numbers should increase as you get to know your teens and they get to know you.

It is also important to remember to offer programs for older teens as well as younger teens. It is easier to offer programs for middle schoolers because they are used to participating in library programs and their parents are still very much involved in their entertainment choices. As a result, high schoolers, particularly older high schoolers, end up being completely omitted from the programming plan. People say that older teens don't participate, but they will if you find the outlets they are interested in.

You are not alone in your frustration as you try to come up with fresh, new programming ideas. That means you should not isolate yourself. Mailing lists dealing with young adult services are out there to join. You can ask questions when you need help, provide help for others in need, or just sit back and soak in all the advice.

There are also many, many books that focus on designing programs for young adults. Some focus on specific types of programs, but others are general in nature. A few that I find particularly helpful are Teen Library Events: A Month-by-Month Guide by Kirsten Edwards and 101 Teen Programs that Work and More Teen Programs that Work by RoseMary Honnold, who also has a wonderful website with teen programming support called See YA Around: Library Programming for Teens at http://www.cplrmh.com. All of these great resources, and many others specific to various types of programs, have a lot of great ideas that you can take as they are or that you can take pieces from. Also, don't forget Chase's Calendar of Events. While it does not provide any program ideas, it does provide themes, days, weeks, months, anniversaries, birthdays, and events that you can tie into. This is great for use in publicity and in sparking an idea.

One of the most challenging things for young adult librarians is the instability of working with teens. That is not to say that they are crazy, but it is important to remember that what is cool today, will be uncool tomorrow when the next fad comes along. That means young adult librarians need to be very up-to-date on what is hip. VOYA is a bit of an aid with their pop culture quizzes, but it is important for young adult librarians to watch popular teen television shows and movies and read popular teen magazines. If you don't you will lose touch with your teens.

You will also find that everything changes as a generation of teens grows up and is replaced by the next. I have found that it is about a two-to-three year rotation. When I hit the end of the rotation, I have to start all over again with a whole new group of kids and ideas about what is cool.

This is where it is important to have a young adult librarian that likes and is proactive about working with teens. I know of a number of teen librarians that took the job as a stepping-stone to a position in reference or just because it was a job. They are obvious because they complain about how the teens swarm into the library after school and take over the library. These librarians highlight the problem of the swarm, but don't look at it as a reason to better serve the swarm. They don't like teens and look down at the things teens like and do. While not every librarian is expected to be buddy-buddy with teens, it is important that the young adult librarian like working with them and having them around. Otherwise, how can they get enough to the teens to talk to them without judgement? How can they get the teens to open up at a teen advisory board meeting? As we get older, it is harder to hold on to what it is to be a teen. Without that sort of connection, a library cannot expect to have good interaction with the teens.
On the other end of the scale is the realization that while challenging, teen programming and the teens themselves can be fun to work with. They make your job easy by helping with planning, preparing, marketing, and implementing programming.

Sources
Davidson, Judith & David Koppenhaver. Adolescent Literacy: What Works and Why ; Garland Publication: New York, 1993.

Edwards, Kirsten. Teen Library Events: A Month-by-Month Guide ; Greenwood Press: Westport, Conn., 2002.

Gillespie, Kellie M. Teen Volunteer Services in Libraries ; Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Md, 2004.

Hersch, Patricia. A Tribe Apart: A Journey into the Heart of American Adolescence ; Ballentine Books: New York, 1998.

Honnold, RoseMary. 101 Teen Programs that Work ; Neal-Schuman: New York, 2003.

Honnold, RoseMary. More Teen Programs that Work ; Neal-Schuman: New York, 2005.

Lerch, Marueen T. & Janet Welch. Serving Homeschooled Teens and Their Parents ; Libraries Unlimited: Wetport, Conn., 2004.

Perlstein, Linda. Not Much Just Chillin': The Hidden Lives of Middle Schoolers ; Ballentine Books: New York, 2003.

Vaillancourt, Renne J., Public Library Services Association, & Young Adult Library Services Assocaiton. Bare Bones Young Adult Services: Tips for Public Library Generalists ; American Library Association: Chicago, 2000.
Vaillancourt, Renee J. Managing Young Adult Services: A Self-Help Manual ; Neal-Schuman: New York, 2002.