Notes from the Teen Room - by Melissa Eleftherion Carr

Melissa Eleftherion Carr is the new
 Teen Librarian at
the Ukiah Valley Library

 

School is back in session, and the teen room at the Ukiah Library is jammin! Our new books have been flying off the shelves, teens are recommending books to one another via the whiteboard <be still my librarian heart>, and our games are perpetually and haphazardly askew – as they should be. 

Thanks to our awesome Friends group, I’m in the process of updating the furniture in our teen space! I was able to purchase a new laptop station which is due to arrive any day. I’ve also purchased new egg chairs and gaming headsets which will be made available when gaming gets going. Let’s get our gaming going! The Ukiah Library is grateful to accept any games and gaming systems our community is able to donate. With our community’s support, we will be able to provide weekly “Game Nights” for our teens. Our newly-formed gaming committee will be devising fun ways to implement gaming at our library.

The Ukiah Library is partnering with Ukiah High to offer a monthly book club for high school students. The curriculum was created by Roseanne Wetzel, and will be developed and implemented by Roseanne, myself, and Chris Douthit - Ukiah High’s librarian. I’ll be attending Back-to-School Night at Ukiah High next Wednesday to invite students to participate as well as promote the library’s Teen Advisory Group (TAG) and any upcoming events.   

Our teen advisory group (TAG) is currently comprised of six active members (+ three new members signed up this week!), and has been super engaged in promoting the TAG at school via distributing fliers and asking teachers to make announcements in their classes. At our last TAG meeting, we discussed a variety of options for a Back-to-School craft programming idea, and opted for a Make-Your-Own Duct-Tape Smart Phone Case workshop. We also brainstormed ways to improve our signage in the teen room. The TAG suggested we host a Sign Design Night – where teens can collaborate on the new teen space sign by filling in a grid or area of the sign. This method would enable the teens to contribute to the design of their space while working together and sharing responsibility.

New to the teen room is a ballot box where patrons can vote to Name That Teen Space - a contest compiled of the myriad suggestions we’ve received thus far. So come in and cast your ballot! Entries will be accepted until September 30^th.  May the odds be ever in your favor.