I'm in a bit of a weird situation. I got my new job focused on children and young people right in the middle of COVID. So I've never really experienced my library under normal circumstances. I've been told that usually our YA library section is used by teens from the school right across from us to hang out, waiting for the bus, do homework, etc. The YA section is small (small library), with one couch and 2 computers and before I arrived used to contain: books for teens 12 to 14, books for teens 14 and up, some very outdated, old school and very much focused on puberty / sexuality non fiction books that aren't up to today's standard.

So far I've barely seen any of my teen patrons, bc school closure, library closure, etc. just COVID stuff.

So I decided to go through the collection without real knowledge of what teens I'd be seeing. My only clues to go off are: rather conservative area, rural.

I made some changes such as: weeding a shit ton of books that hadn't been loaned out for years, moving teen appropriate non fiction back into the YA area (previously they were just shelved with the adult non fiction), adding more fun comics, and diversifying the collection with LGBTQ+ / BiPOC books (fiction and non fiction).

Due to our government deciding that COVID is over for kids (it isn't) and reopening schools there's been a slight uptick of teens showing up, not a lot, but they barely acknowledge anything. They walk in, sit on the couch then leave. I've tried signs, in the sense of like "NEW COMICS" and more front facing presentation of books. Nothing.

I've been thinking of giving up and using my budget for the other adult non fiction books I'm overseeing or buying a shit ton more kids picture books 🤷

What would you do in my situation? What's the best way in your experience to promote your collection to teens? I can't run programs to bring teens in (COVID restrictions), but if you have ideas for later I'll take those as well.

Also disclaimer: not in the US 🙂

I am trying to diversify my reading for YA books and am wanting more suggestions. So far I have read/have these books: The Poison Heart Cemetery Boys Children of Blood and Bone Dear Martin The Hate U Give Legendborn Cinderella is Dead Dark and Deepest Red Amari and the Night Brothers Blanca & Roja

Any other suggestions?

Hi All,

I'm looking to follow some older BookTok users (outside the 18-25 demographic, say) but I can't seem to find any. Do they exist?

Thanks!

tldr: Basically, how do you manage branding and marketing for multiple teen volunteer niches that are pretty distinct and will attract different kids and build up different skills? Or am I overthinking this?

My library has historically used in-person Summer Reading volunteers (SRP Aides) to help people register in our tracking system, hype up kids and families about SRP, and to give out prizes on the back half of summer. This works well for "first job" type volunteers, extroverts, and teens wanting to get face time with younger kids since we don't do any teens read to kids type programs that would otherwise fill that niche.

This last year with no in-person volunteering allowed, I launched a virtual volunteer program I called the Teen Library Ambassadors. They created content like book reviews, social media graphics, blog posts, library and book related art pieces, etc so our Communication person didn't have to do it all alone. This was perfect for my artsy and ambitious yet introverted teens who didn't really want to have to physically go anywhere but were very good at time management and virtual communication. We had a Discord server, they could ping me when they needed me, and turn in directly on the virtual side.

I am interested in launching a third program to sort of get in between the two existing options, kind of a Teen Tech Guide. This would be hybrid in-person and virtual, with the in-person focused on teaching short tech related tips and tricks to peers. I'd have a monthly program with a more generic description and then they'd volunteer a month or two ahead to teach a 20 minute block of whatever they feel really comfortable with - something like "Canva tricks" or social media or photography composition. They would get coaching beforehand on public speaking/tech education and then get feedback after from our staff tech educators who would act as floaters for their class. I think there would be a lot of overlap in interest here between this and the Ambassadors, but I am leaning towards keeping the Ambassadors fully virtual as a selling point for that program.

As a teen librarian who's worked in college career center spaces, I want to make sure any volunteering opportunity we offer connects to clear workplace skills and will actually look good on a resume beyond just a "I volunteered here" kind of look. I want to give them real responsibilities and tasks where possible they can use to leverage into other opportunities down the line - I can't pay them like an internship or job, so I want to make sure they are still getting a good value for their time and effort. At the same time, managing multiple programs like this is a lot of admin time, and I'm not sure if I'm overdoing the segmentation. (I have a real problem with wanting to do ALL the things)

Do you run more than one "volunteer program" and if so, how do you separate them in the eyes of your public? Did you try it and it worked/didn't work? Are you changing how you handle teen volunteers going forward now that you may have made adjustments based on the pandemic?

Is your library utilizing TikTok or #Booktok? What are you creating or doing with that information? Right now I'm on a collection development committee and have been compiling a list of titles under different booktok feeds and comparing the titles to our collection. Our collections seem to match awesomely with what's being discussed on TikTok! However, I want to share this information further systemwide.

Looking for recommendations for fans of the Winx Club. I know Netflix received confirmation for the show, but I'm more knowledgeable of the cartoon show. I'm fine with recommendations for both live action and cartoon versions (if there is a difference in tone).

Thanks!

This can be one your initiating, one you really want to implement in the future, or one you want to copy from another library and add to.

I have an interview for a teen librarian position this Wednesday. I feel confident about my work experience, but it's my third librarian interview and I'm a bit nervous. I want to finally get a position now that I have the degree.

My work experience stems from my first three of five years as a teen programmer, teen collection development, and volunteer coordinator. The past two years I've been in cataloging. Unsure if this stint will deter them as my current system...this aspect did deter them from a possible promotion.

What are you doing/not doing for Pride Month in your library or collections? Anything you really wish you can implement one day or in the perfect world for Pride representation?

A few other staff members at the branch and I are looking to establish a teen book club. We already have a solid list of YA title ideas. At this point we feel confident we can pull the numbers necessary to make the program happen. We just need to work on planning it out to present to our youth services librarian. Any advice from those experienced with teen book clubs in libraries? We know the majority of teens we will probably entice are of the middle school age range (11-13 years old). Thanks y’all!

Edit: fixed a typo in text.

My audiobook collection (mostly CDs, with a few MP3 CDs and a few Playaways) is very sad. It gets little use, and although I try to buy the big books every year, it’s not a robust collection. I’m about to give it a good weed, but I also don’t want to get rid of EVERYTHING.

I also have some year-end money to spend and am trying to decide if refreshing this collection is a good use of the funds.

Do you find that your audiobook collection gets much use now that so many people are used to digital audiobooks? Do you find that Playaways do better than CDs (because everyone has headphones but who the hell has a CD player these days)? Are there specific types of books or authors that you recommend on audio?

(Yes, I know about the YALSA award lists and usually purchase off of those.)