Ice Breakers are a vital, and often overlooked aspect of teen library programs. Any teen librarian knows that there can be a lot of tension surrounding the first 5 minutes of a teen library event. Some teens arrive by themselves, nervous and shy, not sure what to expect. Ice Breakers are a great way to… Read More Fun Teen Ice Breaker Ideas
With the boom in diary fiction in children’s fiction (Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries), I thought it was time to highlight some of the Diary Fiction in our teen collection. Diary fiction can be especially intimate and emotional, making it a great fit for certain YA novels. I created a 3D diary… Read More YA Diary Fiction: Teen Book Display
Video Games and libraries are a perfect mix! Video games are all about storytelling, fun, and artwork. Libraries can run dynamic video game programs for teens – and you don’t need expensive video game consoles to do it. I decided to run a Video Game Party for the end of the year maker lunch in… Read More Teen Programming: Video Game Party in the Library
We all know about Passive Reader’s Advisory: booklists, displays, posters. Book suggestions that our patrons can browse on their own time. These are extremely valuable tools to librarians – we can’t be everywhere at once after all! I, and most librarians, believe that a reference interview is usually the best way to match a reader… Read More Personality Tests in the Library
Happy June and Happy Gay Pride Month. What a better time to create a display celebrating teen LGBT fiction? I had two goals in mind when designing this display: 1) Introduce teens of all sexualities to well-written, entertaining, and positive representations of LGBT characters. 2) Draw attention to the fact that the library is a… Read More LGBT Teen Book Display in the Library
I recently wrote an article for the Teen section of the Cambridge Idea Exchange’s website entitled Why Poetry Is Way More Punk Than You Thought. It includes a short argument in favor of poetry as entertainment, highlighting some common misconceptions. It also includes a list of 4 ways to discover poems that will appeal to… Read More Poetry Reader’s Advisory: How To Find A Poem
Ontarian Librarian 