“STEM is intimidating. Some teens think it’s a subject geared for students that already make straight A’s or already know that they want to go to college,” says Analiza Perez-Gomez, librarian at the Laredo Public Library in Texas. “But libraries level the playing ground. There are no obstacles to STEM here. Here, teens can try out STEM concepts for the first time with no added pressure.”
The Oregon Trail Live Action Simulation challenged teens and young adults to use financial literacy skills and historical knowledge of the Oregon Trail to complete a full simulated run of the historical trail, with references to the original video game.
The opening chapter of author Renée Watson’s young adult novel “Piecing Me Together” is two simple lines: I am learning to speak. / To give myself a way out. A way in.
To celebrate National Library Week, tween, teen, and adult patrons can create their own mini-libraries at home and then add them to the full display.
Animal Advocates is a program for animal-loving kids and teens that began in September 2021. Members meet once a month with the mission to help local shelters and educate the community about animal rights, animal welfare and environmental topics that impact us all. We occasionally go to animal shelters to volunteer for field trips.
Fall for Fine Arts 2: African American Artists is an artist appreciation and art-making Zoom class followed by a mini art exhibit of submitted class work on our Instagram.
This program is based on the first Fall for Fine Arts series, which was offered in October 2020 to help celebrate National Arts and Humanities Month and fall traditions.
The goal of this program was to create a safe place for teens and tweens who are interested in K-Pop (Korean pop music). The program had a dance station, snack station, craft station and language lesson station. We bought snacks from a international supermarket and used our library's partnership with a local dance studio and language center to help staff the event.
