2007 Summer Reading Program... in Review

This time of year is always a happy and sad time for me. I'm sad because the summer is so close to ending, and I have an annual tradition of regretting not doing more outside. But then again, I am happy because the frantic pace of our Summer Reading Program is over... and that means I can actually take a moment to relax a little, perhaps breathe a bit as well.

All in all, it was a great summer for me. This was the first time that I had full reign of our teens' Summer Reading Program. I packed it with programs, volunteers, last-second planning, fix-ups, movies and an occasional-running-with-scissors moment... if you know what I mean.

But how did it all go? What worked and what didn't? Let's review it in a hot/not fashion.

Hot- The average number of books read by teens who signed up for the Summer Reading Program was 18!

Not- Actual number of participants in the Reading Program was down.

Hot- The "You Never Know What You Can Do With Duct Tape" program. We made wallets, cell phone holders, a couple flowers and even attempted sandals. It was probably my most attended program on a week to week basis. By the way, if you try the sandals, make sure you don't accidentally expose the duct tape adhesive to the hair on your toes... Yowwww!

Not- The whole "YNK" theme. Maybe it's just me, but it seemed silly. People may have used the theme but few actually used it as "YNK" (and not without having to clarify what YNK stood for).

Hot- The End of Summer lock-in. It was the first after hours party we had at our library. The teens ate about 8-feet worth of subs, partied heartily and every single one of them was actually picked up on time!

Not- The one single teen at the party who decided to push the boundaries and threw her piece of cake into the face of another person.

Hot- The Shoprite Deli. Originally, the store lost our sub order for the party. So, Dan, the Deli-guy, made good by not just making 10 subs but only charged us half-price because of the mix up.

Not- Shoprite in general. I'm sorry, it's a Marrazzo's thing.

Hot- My teen-volunteer coordinator's ability to have all but 5 of our teens complete the required number of hours and set a record for most volunteers sign-up and completed.

Not- The teen volunteers constantly referring to me as "Hey Mister!"

Hot- The song "Hey Delilah" by the Plain White Ts being constantly played.

Not- Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" being constantly overplayed.

And finally....

Hot- Our brand new Teen furniture finally came in!

Not- Gaylord messed up the color of the furniture and has yet to fix it. But they did offer to let us keep the furniture they sent us in lieu of having to send the right ones.

So, how do I rank the summer on a whole? I'll go with an 8/10. Better than average but let's leave some room for improvement.

Teen Librarians: Who we are and what we are not

As a Young Adult Librarian, I have made the professional decision to immerse myself in young adult culture; the books they read, the music they listen to, the resources they use for information. I have also taken on the responsibility to provide programming opportunities for the teen community to participate in, if they choose to do so. In other words, teen resources are my specialty.

But I am not the babysitter for every teen that enters the library.

And I am not the only person capable of handling teens’ questions.

I am not disciplinarian for all teens.

Nor are my job responsibilities significantly different from any other librarian.

I am not their babysitter- Teens that come into the library are my specialty, not my responsibility. Just because a teen enters the building, it does not mean they can only be in the Teen Section. Teens have the same rights as all other patrons, they are allowed to go in any other part of the library.

I am not the only person to handle a teens’ question- Listen to the needs of the patron first and then figure out if my expertise is needed. If they know the name of book they are looking for, help them. If they want to find out where the copier is, show them. But, if the teens wants book recommendations, programming information, research help… I’m your person. Remember, I don’t send every old person your way.

I am not the teens disciplinarian- If teenagers are acting up in the library, this is not my fault. Furthermore, don’t send me the rambunctious teen and tell me to “deal with them.” In doing so, you have negated your own authority in the teens’ eyes.

My job responsibilities aren’t significantly different- If you don’t expect the rest of your staff to work multiple nights, then it shouldn’t be expected of your YA Librarian. If your typical Reference or Children’s Librarian does two programs a week, don’t expect the YA Librarian to have programming everyday, or every moment that teens are present. If you don’t expect your other programs to have 100% attendence from members of the library community, don’t expect every teen to show up for every program.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of good Teen Librarians who leave the position because of they discover the job expectations are disproportoinate to other positions in the libarary.

Consider families, consider the lives outside of job and please consider the wear and tear you put on your Teen Librarian when you send them patrons you personally would rather not deal with.
We are programmers, we are selectors, we are outreach and we are staff members dedicated to maintaining the enthusiasm and interest of the library’s future adults, future taxpayers, and advocates.

We do not need a thank you for this… we just ask for your consideration.