Serving Teens
For the past two years we’ve offered a “Back to School Beauty” program in August. Two licensed beauticians donate their time to style each girl’s hair, give them beauty hints, and instruct them in make-up application. The library provides nail polish so the teens can do each others nails while waiting their own turn. The girls also enjoy watching their friends have their hair done in styles ranging from fancy and elaborate to basic and casual. This has been an extremely popular program for girls because it makes them feel special and pampered. One of the teens that participated last fall recently inquired about when the program would be offered again.
Another popular program geared to teen girls was the “Fabulous Flip-Flop” program. Participants brought their own flip-flops so they had the correct size and color of their choice. The library provided glue, beads of all sizes and colors, and paint (One could also use flowers, bells, ribbon, bows, etc.) and the “artists” created their own fashion statements. The girls did a fantastic job; and one even wore her shoes, covered in pearl white beads, to the post prom!
The teen program planning committee also makes sure not to neglect the male population! Past programs that appealed to boys included a “Where’s Bigfoot?” presentation and a “Soap Carving Workshop,” using small bars of ivory soap and semi-pointed instruments made of wood. Because video gaming is so popular, the library recently teamed up with Game Crazy, a local video game store, to offer game tournaments. This was one of our most popular teen events and probably the easiest to sponsor. We polled teens to find out what games they preferred to play, advertised the program, and provided refreshments. Twenty-two teens participated in the last after school tournament with only two girls in attendance. Teens who don’t regularly come to the library and who don’t normally hang out together eagerly and whole-heartedly participated in this program. The boys took it pretty well when one of the two girls in attendance won the championship. However, they were all clamoring for a rematch!
One of the library’s oldest running and most popular programs is the “Monopoly Tournament” held annually for ages 8-18. This is a 90-minute preliminary round from which the top six players move on to the final round. 2007 is the 11th year that the library has sponsored this tournament, which is one of hundreds held throughout the country and is the first step to the prestigious World Monopoly Game Championship. The winner gets the opportunity to represent Ohio in the U.S. Monopoly Game Tournament. The ultimate winner of the national championship represents the U.S. in the World Monopoly Game Tournament.
This past summer, the Tuscarawas County Public Library was one of over 180 libraries chosen nationwide to receive a grant from The Great Stories Club. The Great Stories Club is a reading and discussion program organized by the American Library Association’s Public Program Office (PPO) and Young Adult Library Service Association (YALSA).
The library, in partnership with the Multi County Juvenile Attention Center in Tuscarawas County, hosted a three-part reading and book discussion program created to provide troubled teens with an opportunity to read and discuss three theme-related books. The titles, The First Part Last by Angela Johnson, Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman, and Born Blue by Han Nolan were chosen because of their focus on a character struggling with a serious challenge. Discussion groups were held once a month in June, July, and August, during what would have been regularly scheduled book talk sessions (held throughout the year at the Center). An average of seventeen teens, ranging in age from 14-17 years old, participated in the discussions. The program was so successful that the Attention Center and the library are working to develop a similar program to be held this coming summer.
Because money is always an issue when trying to provide adequate programming our library utilizes the volunteer help of many talented and giving people in our community. We’ve discovered that there are a lot of individuals eager to help by volunteering their time and talents or by providing refreshments or donating prizes. A recent example is our popular six-week series “KnitWits” that teaches teens the basics of creative knitting. The Friends of the Library purchased yarn and needles, the library provided refreshments, and our library director supplied the knitting instruction and expertise. By the end of the series, each teen had created a scarf in a color of their choice that they could wear or give as a gift.
All the programs highlighted here were presented at a minimal cost. Although a large program budget can offer the chance to do some spectacular events, it doesn’t necessarily take “big bucks” to have a wonderful program. We’ve discovered that sometimes the opportunity for a great program is right under our noses!
For more information on any of the above programs, please feel free to contact us. We’d love to chat with you!
Darlene Dotto or Virginia Wright
Tuscarawas County Public Library
121 Fair Ave. NW
New Philadelphia, OH 44663
dottoda@oplin.org
wrightvi@oplin.org
330-364-4474
