A Day Late (But Not a Dollar Short)

I had the privilege of doing a Table Talk Session at last week's NYLA conference on the Queens Teen Book Slam. I had librarians from all over New York State sit in for my talks and the most interesting and important thing that came up was something I hadn't really thought of before.

This past summer, I had teens from 12 different Queens Library locations participate in the Book Slam. All of these teens are what I would consider "readers" (taking on 5 books ranging from average to very challenging earns any teen that title in my book) but yet in many cases, they were strangers to the librarians in the local libraries they use the most.

So when this came up during the NYLA talks, I had a "DUH!" moment, because that was totally me as a teen. I regularly checked out armloads of books from my public library but I never went up to the librarian's desk or went to programs. When I said this at the talk, I got many smiles and nods and then someone said, "But that also means that no one ever came up to you (and now the teens in your program) while you were at the shelves to talk about the books."

And that was an "A-HA!" moment because she was right on. We have a whole population of avid teen readers who slip in under the radar, grab their books and jet. Now, as one of these library mole teens, I had no problems with being treated this way. I didn't WANT anyone to bother me at the library. But on the other hand, I was in college before I started having conversations about books, and that's a shame.

If we don't make the effort to reach these teens at the shelf, we'll never know if the books we're buying are what they want, if they would attend programs if someone would just invite them to, or if they really and truly are happy on their own.

So think about this all year but especially in the summer when we see new and different teens. Take a second to leave the desk, go to the shelves and comment on the book a teen is considering or one of the ones in their arms. Nothing big, just a "I really liked that one" or "I've heard that was good. Let me know what you think when you finish." That small gesture may be the start of a whole new relationship for your library. And that teen.

Cash in the Coffee Can = $82.00