Tag: #hungergames

A Summer Wrap Up

B

So Summer Reading this year was awesome! But I thought I’d share a quick wrap up of the incredible success of the Teen program this year! I was so excited! Between the two programs we held we had 23 Teens! 23!

That’s right! I tricked teens into coming into the library 23 times! Mwahahahaha!

Our first event was a fandom themed cupcake wars! We had 14 teens come and show their fandom pride!

Here are a few examples of the cupcakes they made! The one in the middle is a candyland themed cupcake! (Insert many heart eye emojis!) We had a wonderful volunteer from the community who came and judged our cupcakes! She showed up in her Harry Potter robes and even decorated a cupcake herself!

We then had a Hunger Games event in July. “I Survived the Hunger Games” had students making shelters, going on a scavenger hunt, identifying edible plants, and tying knots! It was so much fun to see the teens get excited. We had 16 teens show up to this event!

I was there in full Effie Trinket outfit and our wonderful volunteer from the community showed up again in her Katniss attire! This event had the teens using the card catalog for the scavenger hunt and seeing if they could stay dry in the shelter they built (yes there is a teen inside that shelter in the first picture). The second picture was our makeshift “Cornucopia” filled with random pieces of plastic, cardboard, and whatever other random things I could find for the teens to create their shelters with. It was an amazing time!

We also ran a summer long Fanfiction writing contest!

Our winner got this space themed prize pack! It was wonderful to see the teens express their creativity!

It is so rewarding to get the honor of working with Teens. I couldn’t ask for a better way to spend my summer.

Keep Sparkling,

B

Is the Library Still Relevant for Teens?

B

Teens are one of the hardest age groups to get into the library. They have jobs, sports, and they want to just “hang” (whatever that means). As a Teen librarian I still strive to be relevant to them and plan things they will like but I sometimes wonder if I’m getting through to them.

But the library is so important! Teens can come and find people who want to invest in them. I try to plan events that will appeal to them and that they will want to come to! Here’s an example of my most successful program thus far!

Last summer I had a lot of success with a fandom themed cupcake wars. I made TONS of cupcakes. I had them pre-register so I would have an idea of how many kids were coming and they each got two cupcakes. We had about 5 extra teen show up. So that’s an extra 10 cupcakes. Thankfully I was covered cupcake wise. But it was amazing! They were making marvel themed cupcakes, Hunger Games themed cupcakes, and other things that I didn’t even know what they were!

A Pokemon cupcake

A Hunger Games Cupcake
Our wonderful Slytherin Judge (Yes I know she’s wearing Harry’s glasses but she claims Slytherin as her house!)

I also had a local business send someone to be our judge. She dressed up in her Harry Potter garb, adding to the fun atmosphere, and it got the community more involved in our Summer Reading Program.

This year we’re doing the cupcake wars again, and I’m really excited. I hope to get lots of Teens that want to come again. But I’m keeping things simple. One event in June and one event in July.

In July we are going to be doing a Hunger Game themed event. They will have to build a shelter, get through an obstacle course, identify poison plants and edible ones. I’m excited! Hopefully both of these events will be well attended because I want to provide something for our teens to do. In a small town there isn’t a whole lot going on in the summer, especially for Teens.

If you have any tips for me, please feel free to put them in the comments because I could use all the help I can get!

Keep Sparkling,

-B