A Teen Advisory Group:
WhatÕs in it for my
library?
Lisa Matte, Teen Services Librarian
Jervis Public Library, Rome, NY
Did you know? A Teen Advisory Group (TAG):
Will improve services to children, teens,
and adults and
Will facilitate wiser use of funds and
staff time.
You
wonÕt believe what teens will do given the chance!
In the beginning, a TAG will
á
Give you new and fresh ideas
á
Increase your knowledge about current clientele
o
more relevant collection=increased circulation
o
more relevant programs=increased attendance
o
relevant displays=increased circulation
á
Attract teens who were not previously library users
Later on, a TAG will
á
Increase passive marketing in the community (word of mouth)
á
Provide assistance at all programs for ushering, handing
out programs or refreshments, registering participants
á
Shift the perception of the library as a cool place to be
As you hit your stride, a TAG will provide
á
More outreach possibilities
á
Increased active marketing in the community with teens as
formal ambassadors (floats, community festival representation)
á
Increased childrenÕs programming
A Teen Advisory Group
requires an investment in time and energy, but there is no law of diminishing
returns. Success breeds success
breeds success. Just do it!
Recruiting
Members for a TAG
Market the group in the library
¯ Post flyers and sign up sheets in the
library where teens will see them
q
By the pay phone
q
At the teen computers
q
Next to the water fountain
q
In teen books
q
In bathrooms
q
At teen book shelves
q
Under flap of photocopy machine
q
On teens' tables
q
On the CD racks
¯
Walk
up to teens in the library and invite them to join
¯
Make
a display in the teen area
¯ Advertise the TAG on computers that use
screen savers
¯
At all adult programs announce that the TAG is accepting new
members (Get parents to draft their children)
¯
Invite those who have outgrown the children's summer reading
program
¯
Advertise on library-produced teen reading lists
¯
Ask teen employees to join and to tell their friends
¯
Ask employees for nominations from their family and friends
Market the group outside the library
¯
Make school and agency visits so you become a familiar face
¯
Send out press releases and public service announcements
¯
Get articles in schools' newspapers
¯
Post information on the library's web site
¯
Have a booth at volunteer fairs or activities fairs at the local
junior/senior high school or elsewhere
¯ Attend junior/senior high orientations to
peddle services including the TAG
¯ Offer community service credit through
teachers whose classes require it
¯ Contact school and community agencies to
see if they would nominate someone to serve and/or post flyers about the group.
q
4-H
q
Boys and Girls Club
q
Boy Scouts
q
Church youth groups
q
Girl Scouts
q
Home schooling organizations
q
Junior division of coin or stamp collecting clubs
q
Junior high and high school librarians and guidance counselors
(public, private, and parochial)
q
Salvation Army
q
YMCA
Preparing for the First Teen Advisory Group Meeting
á Purchase
food on sale in bulk and provide what you said would be there.
á Collect door
prizes to hand out at the meeting.
á Reserve a
space for the meeting.
á Alert your
coworkers to the meeting date, time, and place. Include the Circulation Desk! Remind them on the day of the meeting.
á Set up a
time and date to meet with interested teens via their preferred communication
method with promises of food. (Communication methods in order of increasing
success)
o Phone
calls--teens hard to catch at home, messages get lost, time and date get lost
o Letters--require
using a mail merge database which can change frequently, postal cost
o Postcards--your
hand gets tired writing the same thing on 10 postcards; can't attach the agenda
o Email--you're
speaking their language many times, it's easy to attach the agenda, it will be
answered; set up a YA distribution list in your address book
á Set the
agenda and send it out early so everyone is there and prepared.
á Send a
reminder a few days before the meeting asking what theyÕd like to see on the
agenda.
á Prepare for
off-the-wall introductions
o
Recreation Handbook for Camp, Conference, and Community by Roger E.
Barrows has interesting ice-breaking suggestions. ISBN 0786409533
o
McFarlane,
Evelyn. IfÉ Questions for Teens. Villard Books; ISBN 0375505555
o West, Edie. 201 Icebreakers: Group Mixers,
Warm-ups, & Playful Activities.
ISBN
0070696004
o Good thing,
bad thing
Each person
introduces by telling one bad and one good thing that happened to him or her
during the day
o Two truths
and a lie
Each person
tells two truths and a lie about him or her self. Others have to guess which is a lie.
o Zobmondo
questions.
These are unique, odd, and revealing questions that
give two choices. Have each member answer the same question. For examples, go
to zobmondo.com.
á Put together
a welcome packet
o What youÕd
like the group to do
o What similar
groups have done
o Example
mission statements
o Example TAG
namesÑmay be removed for later joiners
o A Òstate of
teen servicesÓ blurb or why you wanted a TAG in your library; include a list of
prior teen programs
o List of
services/materials for teens; ask teens to check off ones with which they were
familiar
o Survey
¤ Likes/dislikes
in pop culture
¤ School
¤ How they
think teens are being served now
¤ What teens
would like the group to do
¤ Favorites
foods/drinks to have at the meeting
o Volunteer or
TAG applications if appropriate
o Parental
permission forms if appropriate
o Photography
release forms if appropriate
o List of
benefits of group membership
At the First Meeting
q Feed them!
q Consider
having background music with members taking turns choosing the radio station or
CDÕs to fill uncomfortable silences.
q Introductions
(see previous section for details)
q Follow the
agenda loosely with room for tangents.
q Doing may be
better than talking in the beginning; don't fall into the rut of talking to the
teens about issues unless your teens like that! Try to have a project ready no
matter how small. Then the talking takes place as an incidental. It becomes
comfortable. This is more
important in the early stages since members may not know each other.
q Go through
the welcome packet.
q Discuss
possible mission statements.
q Discuss
possible names.
q Give a tour
of the library, introducing to staff and paying particular attention to places
of interest to teens.
q Laugh!
q
Offer door prizes for members who bring new people
q
Make an action planÑwhat needs to be done before the next meeting
and by whom
q
Set a date and time for the next meeting
Projects for the Group: Some of these are talking projects;
they encourage participation as opposed to a librarian running a meeting. Try
pairing a talking session with a hands-on project if needed. Every group is
different.
q
Write a mystery to perform for children
q
Dramatize some children's stories and perform them
q
Make items to sell to benefit local charities or families in need
q
A mailing or other project that lends itself to assembly line work
q
Rearrange or shift books or furniture
q
Put up displays of their own creation from theme to contents
q
Gather data from surveys
q
Work on a library web page
q
Hold a book discussions
q
Improve an existing program with a brainstorming session
q
Make props for dramatizations, mysteries, and game shows
q
Creating game show knock-offs for children and teens
q
Choose paperbacks to purchase
q
Choose music CD's to purchase
q
Develop a list of TV shows, musicians, authors, etc.
about whom teens would read
q
Choose posters
q
Suggest display ideas
q
Make bookmarks and posters using the teens as models with a catchy
phrase (Normal Teens Read was used in Normal, IL)
q
Write and produce television commercials for the library
q
Write and record PSAs for the library
q
Suggest pathfinder needs for homework and read alike lists for
leisure reading
q
Suggest topical programming for teens
q
Write book reviews to be used in the library
q
Produce a teen audience library newsletter
q
Design or fine tune a teen summer reading program
q
Give library tours
q
Read stories to children at holiday or community festivals
q
Decorate or redecorate the teen area
q
Greet,
usher, and hand out refreshments at programs
Maintaining the Group
q If the teens
make suggestions, act on them to any degree possible. Then show them how they
made a difference. (For example, if they suggested posters for the library,
show which ones were purchased and ask for help hanging them.)
q The meetings
will be a great place for the teens to ask reference questions. Get back to
them as soon as possible.
q Remember
their reading likes and tote along books that may strike their fancies.
q Ask them to
bring friends to the meetings and reward them with door prizes when they do.
q Have
meetings somewhat regularly and be willing to try different meeting times and
days.
q Create an
atmosphere that allows teens to miss meetings, arrive late, and stop coming. If
they have stopped coming to the meetings, still greet them with a smile the
next time you see them in the library or elsewhere.
q Make a
display in the teen area to entice new members. Include:
o
Photos or collage of
things the group has done or things the group can do
o Sign up
sheets
o Reprints of
newspaper coverage
o Who to ask
for more information
o Web site
address of TAG
o Email
address of advisor
o Dates of
future meeting
o Survey for
teens to fill out
o Future
projects and programs
o Books
reflecting positive teen images
q When
promoting programs theyÕve developed, state that they are sponsored or created
by the TAG.
q Take many
pictures and develop in doubles; create a scrapbook archive and create displays
in the library
q Contact
local newspapers and ask them to send a photographer or reporter to TAG
meetings and TAG suggested teen programs
q Write a
letter to the editor about the great things ÒyourÓ teens are doing
Sample Mission Statements
The
Youth Advisory CommitteeÕs mission is to ensure the availability of quality
resources for both leisure activities and homework assignments for junior and
senior high school students. The Committee encourages teen involvement in the
library through creative original programming and suggesting programs to be
held at the library.
--Jervis Public Library Rome, NY
TALK ABOUT BOOKS
EVALUATE AND SELECT TEEN MATERIAL
ENCOURAGE NEW IDEAS
NEW AND IMPROVED TEEN SERVICES
AUTHOR VISITS
DESIGN A TEEN LIBRARY WEB PAGE
VOLUNTEER AT THE LIBRARY
INCREASE LIBRARY AWARENESS
STUDENTS GRADES 6-12
OFFER YOUR IDEAS TO LIBRARIANS
REVIEW AND DISCUSS BOOKS
YOUNG ADULT SUMMER READING PROGRAM
BECOME INVOLVED IN YOUR COMMUNITY
OPPORTUNITY TO EXPRESS YOUR IDEAS
ASSIST WITH TEEN PROGRAMS
READ NEW BOOKS
DEVELOP TEEN LIBRARY PROGRAMS
--Bay County (Michigan) Library System
The mission of the Library Teen Council is to suggest services,
materials, and programs that are needed by city teens and to work with library
staff to provide these services.
--Salt Lake City
Are You Psyched? HereÕs where to go for more
information.
Honnold,
RoseMary. The Who, What,
Where, When, Why and How of Managing a Teen Advisory Board. <www.cplrmh.com/tab.html>
This
is part of RoseMaryÕs See YA Around site.
It is awe-inspiring. I like
to call her The High Priestess of Teen Services. WOW!
How to
Organize a Teen Friends of the Library Group (From FOLUSA)
http://www.folusa.com/html/fact19.html
Jones,
Patrick. Read anything you can get
your hands on!
Matte,
Lisa. Even for the Faint of Heart:
Getting Teens to Participate in A Teen Advisory Group.
www.jervislibrary.org/yaweb/teenparticipate.html
This
is the content of my very first workshop on TAGs. You will recognize most of it from the handouts, but I do
update the site regularly.
Matte, Lisa. Libraries and Teen Advisory Groups. www.jervislibrary.org/yaweb/TAGs.html
This is a
collection of links to TAG related sites.
Included are links to sample agendas, applications to join, mission
statements, and TAGs featured on library web sites. I hope to see your library there in the future!
TAGAD-L Ð a list
for TAG Advisors (You!)
Subscribe by going
to www.topica.com
This is the most
useful list to which I have ever subscribed.
Vaillancourt,
Renee. Managing Young Adult
Services: A Self-Help Manual; Neal-Schumann; ISBN: 1555704344
VOYA (Voices of
Youth Advocates) magazine. Beg or
borrow it, but donÕt steal!
YA-YAAC - a
listserv for YA Advisory Councils
*Subscribe by
emailing listproc@ala1.ala.org
This is much more
quiet than TAGAD-L.
