ALA Session Highlight: Survival Skills for Teens

I recently returned from attending the ALA 2017 Annual Conference and I am bursting with staff training ideas, program outlines, and more!  Today I wanted to share one of the sessions I attended at the conference.  It was titled Life Hacks: Survival Skills for Teens.  The focus was on teaching teens some basic life skills with minimal cost or planning for libraries.  Some of my favorite suggestions for programs included: healthy eating ona budget, auto care, etiquette, money management, media literacy and safety, and apartment hunting.  Now most of these seem quite basic, but the fun comes in naming these basic life skills programs.  For example, an apartment hunting session could be titled: "Anywhere But Your Parent's Basement" or healthy eating becomes "Pizza Is Not a Food Group."  These types of programs offer teens a great way to learn basic life skills in a fun and safe environment.

The best part about this type of program is that the topics can be based on the strengths and knowledge your staff already has or on topics presented by various community/business/partnership members.  So, go forth and help your teens learn some basic "adulting" skills!