The Youth Advisory Committee is made up of a group of volunteers in junior and senior high as well as recent graduates of local schools. The mission statement of the Committee is as follows:

To insure 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.

The committee meets as a group approximately once a month with a prize drawing and refreshments. During the meeting we discuss things that can be done to meet the library's goal of serving the teens in the area. In the summer, we meet less formally to prepare original programming and props necessary for these programs.

Do you want to start a Youth Advisory Committee at your library?

School year activities have included:

• Stuffing bags for the Books for Babies programs
• Assisting with props for Teen Mystery Night after demanding we have it!
• Assisting with materials for SURVIVOR!
• Making name tags for Book Buddies
• Choosing posters for purchase and display in the library
• Making holiday ornaments to sell to benefit a local children's charity
• Stuffing Goodie bags to hand out at the Erie Canal Village Festival
• Making red, white, and blue ribbons to raise money for the Familes of Heroes Scholarship Fund
• Reading scary stories at Erie Canal Village's Haunted Festival

Summer activities of the Youth Advisory Committee have included:

Summer 2003

• Another float in the Honor America Days Parade! The theme of the parade was Honoring Grandparents, so our float's theme was "Grandparents are the Best Storytellers." Note the cardboard castle. Our float also featured a grandmother in a rocking chair with her grandchild.

Summer 2002

• Our first float in the Honor America Days Parade!

Summer 2001

• Performed How the Grinch Stole Summer Vacation, a participatory mystery for children of all ages. Our audience was 63 people! This was videotaped to use as a training tool for both the participants and other libraries interested in starting a Teen Advisory Group.
• Book Buddies branched out this year. Teens read to children at Franklyn's Field, the YMCA, and the Boys and Girls Club. Next year, Book Buddies will be Summer Reading Program Ambassadors. Children will be read to and be invited to join the Summer Reading Program.
• Don't Judge a Book By Its Movie book and movie discussion series for teens

Summer 2000

• Performed Wolf Theater, a dramatization of 3 wolf-themed stories for children of all ages. Our audience was 79 people!
• Book Buddies
• Computer Camp for kids ages 6 and up who learned about computers with teen volunteers

Summer 1999

• Performed Who Stole Seuss?, a kidnapping mystery for children ages 5-12. We had an audience of over 60 people!
• Book Buddies is a summer reading program in which volunteer teens read to small groups of children. Look for a new format in the summer of 2000.

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updated 9/15/05 by Lisa Pritchard