The Teen Area of Bartholomew County Public Library will be an even more exciting place than usual after school this year. Starting the first day of school on Aug. 8, the Teen Area will offer daily programming for teens in Grades 7 through 12. The programs will begin immediately following the end of the school day and will last for a varying length of time, depending on the activities and supplies.
These programs continue the daily programming we have offered after the free lunches this summer.
On the library’s event calendar (host6.evanced.info/barth/evanced/eventcalendar.asp), each day of the week lists the type of activity for the day. The specific activity will fall under the allocated theme, but may not always be advertised beforehand. Offerings include:
- Music Monday: Each Monday, we host a listening party where we explore different genres and time periods of music. Some of the areas we explored this summer included popular and influential music of the decades between the 1950s and today. In June, we celebrated Pride Month and African American Music Appreciation Month with respective playlists. In addition to revisiting some of these genres and themes, we will also explore the music of popular musicals and TV shows. Recommendations from teens are always considered.
- DIY Tuesday: Tuesdays’ activities will consist of various Do-It-Yourself activities. This summer, we have painted vinyl records, made CD scratch-art and Zen tangles, water colored sheet music and collages with magazine clippings. In August, we will again do some of these activities, as well as explore new ones.
- Watch-It Wednesday: Wednesdays after school we will play movies and TV shows on the TVs in the Teen Area. As the first day back to school is a Wednesday, we will be celebrating the inaugural Watch-It Wednesday by showing “A Wrinkle in Time” from earlier this year and serving popcorn and drinks. Once a month, we plan to allow teens to vote on one week’s movie, which we will show in the Red Room, also with popcorn and drinks.
- Thursgame: In addition to our monthly Teen Game Night, the Teen Area will host gaming after school with board games, card games, X-Box 360 or life-sized games each Thursday. Board games include Apples to Apples, the Doctor Who Card Game, Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle, Loaded Questions, Munchkin, Smash Up, Ultimate Werewolf, Unstable Unicorns and Witch of Salem. On Aug. 9, we will have board games and the X-Box 360 set up for the first Thursgame of the school year.
- Random Friday: Random Friday will include assorted activities, which may include games, crafts, and/or food programs. On Aug. 10, we will teach teens how to cheaply make slushees.
The staff in the Teen Area constantly strives to provide the most welcoming and enjoyable space possible for teens, and we hope this daily program will further help us meet this goal.
Dakota Hall is an assistant teen librarian at the Bartholomew County Public Library and can be reached at [email protected].
