Megan Emery Schadlich - Cooking Up Library Programs Teens and Tweens Will Love: Recipes for Success

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Copyright 2015 by ABC-CLIO, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Schadlich, Megan Emery.

Cooking up library programs teens and tweens will love : recipes for success / Megan Emery Schadlich ; foreword by Justin Hoenke.

pages cm. (Libraries unlimited professional guides for young adult librarians series)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-61069-961-7 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-61069-962-4 (ebook) 1. Young adults librariesActivity programsUnited States. 2. Childrens librariesActivity programsUnited States. 3. Libraries and teenagersUnited States. I. Title.

Z718.5.S38 2015

027.62'60973dc23 2015009109

ISBN: 978-1-61069-961-7

EISBN: 978-1-61069-962-4

19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5

This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook.

Visit www.abc-clio.com for details.

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This book is printed on acid-free paper

Manufactured in the United States of America

CONTENTS

SERIES FOREWORD

Programming has long been an important component of teen library services. Approaches to programming have changed over the years, and they continue to evolve. Trendy program ideas come and go while tried and true programming stays the sameor is revived with a twist. But one thing remains the same: teens and teen librarians love it! Megan Emery Schadlich has provided a recipe for program success that will give new teen librarians a place to start and experienced librarians renewed energy and ideas. Megans enthusiasm for working with teens shines through in her ideas and delivery of programs. She has provided easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions so that anyone can replicate these programs in his or her own library. Ideas can also be personalized to fit your own communities. As a bonus, she has provided tie-ins to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) initiatives and addresses how you can attract both tweens and teens.

We are proud of our association with Libraries Unlimited/ABC-CLIO, which continues to prove itself the premier publisher of books to help library staff serve teens. This series has succeeded because our authors know the needs of those library employees who work with teens. Without exception, they have written useful and practical handbooks for library staff.

We hope that you find this book, as well as our entire series, to be informative, that it provides you with valuable ideas as you serve teens, and . Wed love to hear from you.

Mary Anne Nichols

C. Allen Nichols

Series Editors

FOREWORD

Once upon a time Benjamin Franklin got together with a bunch of his friends and created the Junto, a group of like-minded community members. In what was most likely a really fancy and elegant British accent, he suggested to his friends that they should all pool their resources (which back in that day were pretty much just books) and share ideas. From the Junto began the Library Company of Philadelphia, an organization that still exists to this day to help the community learn, grow, and share ideas.

How does this have anything to do with the book youre about to read? Well, for all of this to make sense, we have to ask ourselves a question. Whats at the core of the Junto? The easy answer would be books. But books are just a small part of the answer. The core of the Junto was peoplepeople coming together to share ideas and resources and to better serve the community.

Much like the Junto, the second floor of the downtown Chattanooga Public Library was created to share ideas and resources and to better serve the youth and family community of Chattanooga, Tennessee. This is the place where Megan Emery Schadlich, your author and new best friend over the next 140 or so pages, spends her days. During her time on the second floor, Megan has developed and implemented many programs for kids, tweens, teens, and families. These programs, focused on providing the community with an experience that smooshes together both learning and fun, have given the Chattanooga community a library that allows them to explore the world around them. But once again I ask you to think about whats at the core of the second floor. Is it technology, like Arduinos and littleBits? Is it crafting supplies, like wool, felt, and yarn? No. All of those things help make the second floor an awesome place for kids, tweens, teens, and families, but at the core of the second floor is the same thing that was at the core of the Junto: people.

In this book, Megan gives public libraries the Batman-esque utility belt full of ideas, tools, and inspiration that they need to go out and connect with their tween and teen communities. When you, oh awesome reader of this book, strap on this utility belt and head out into your library with a head full of ideas and a heart full of inspiration, you will connect with your community. You will bring the people in your community together inside the most wonderful and amazing institution that human beings have ever created: the public library.

On a personal note: Megan, Im so happy that you went to the same school as my wife and that your brother was in her class and then randomly about five years later you met me and my wife when we lived in Maine. We connected and then somehow we all ended up working in the same library in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I am very proud of you.

Justin Hoenke

Chattanooga, Tennessee

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book was a labor of love only made possible because of the support of my husband, Karl, who put up with my sleepless nights, took over the housework, and ordered me pizza so I wouldnt have to cook. I promise to keep my light shining brightest for you.