Making Lemonade Out of Lemons - Part 1

Image by Rachel C from Pixabay

Our guest blogger is Stacey Brown, Young Adult and Adult Services Librarian at the Augusta (WI) Public Library. She and her IFLS colleagues discovered great success when they teamed up to provide teen virtual programs.

Making Lemonade Out of Lemons:  an opportunity from the pandemic - Part 1

All of us have experienced various challenges in 2020-21 due to the pandemic. One challenge for librarians has been how to stay connected to teens when the library is closed. For those of us who plan teen programs this has been even more difficult due to slow or no internet access or parents that only permit teens to use the computer for school work.  For many teens isolation from their friends and being unable to spend time in connection with their peers are huge issues. 

Last summer, I participated in the virtual National Teen Lock-in with two teens from my community.  It was there that I saw the amazing ways that librarians connected with teens via Zoom.  This virtual event included games, activities and crafts led by librarians from across the country. Both of the teens from my community enjoyed the experience so much that they asked if we can do something like this again.  This planted the seed in my mind.

Later during one of the weekly virtual check-in sessions led by Leah Langby at IFLS, I shared with other YA librarians about the experience.  I asked if anyone would be interested in collaborating to plan monthly virtual teen events.  I created a survey which I sent out to the YA librarians in IFLS to see who might be willing to help me plan a collaborative virtual teen event.

In the fall of 2020, a group of YA librarians formed a collaboration: Stacey Brown (Augusta), Valerie Spooner (Ladysmith), Caroline Herfindahl (Ellsworth), Cindy Koller (Park Falls), Claire Parrish (Rice Lake) and in January 2021, Jenna Giles-Turner (Chippewa Falls) joined us.  Each of us had been struggling with teen programming, since we couldn’t meet with teens.  Initially, we filled out surveys to share our abilities and interests to determine who would fill the various roles in coordinating the monthly teen events.  We utilized several tools: a Google drive folder for our ideas and resources, spreadsheets to keep track of the registrations and attendance, Zoom for monthly planning meetings, and exchanged group emails. 

Each month we rotate our duties so that each librarian has an opportunity to host events, this includes creating flyers and Facebook events.  The host records the attendance for that month’s event, determines the theme, pays for presenters and creates the schedule of activities for the program.  During the registration process the host notifies the team which students have registered at each library.  Each librarian shares various talents and ideas so that the events aren’t planned by just one person. 

Please stop by the blog tomorrow to read Part 2 of Stacey's post.