Empowering Youth through Junior Friends' Groups and Socially Conscious Programming

Presented by Syntychia Kendrick-Samuel, Uniondale Public Library, Uniondale, NY.

The target audience is students in 6^th-12^th grade.

Providing positive and meaningful volunteer opportunities promotes positive development in teens. It helps meet many of the assets identified in research and outlined by the Search Institute. This information is available online: http://www.search-institute.org/research/developmental-assets. To see the assets for adolescents, go to http://www.search-institute.org/content/40-developmental-assets-adolescents-ages-12-18. When you hover over ‘take action’ under each asset, a list of activities pops up.

The more positive assets a teen has correlates to a decrease in the chance that he or she will engage in risky bad behavior.

Young Adult librarians need to advocate for teens. The library can have a vital role in teens’ lives. At the same time, the teen develops a positive view of the library. The library needs to provide positive programs for teens. Teens want to be engaged with something positive after school. They want to do more than ‘hang out’.

Your volunteer Friends groups should have:

Monthly meetings; a written agenda; and follow Robert’s Rules of Order. Require respectful behavior.  Nurture leadership skills. Have elected officers who run the meetings and take the lead in planning and organizing Junior Friends sponsored programs. Emphasize that volunteering is the same as working.

Successful programs have been: Battle of the Books; Latino Heritage Night; Black History Celebration’ Talent Show sponsored by teens; Kwanza Feast from younger children and their families.

This program was a VOYA MVP runner up.

Recognize what the teens do. This library gives graduates a collage of pictures of their time at the library.

The library is a safe haven for teens.

Parents are your secret weapon. Have an open door policy. Invite parents to the book discussions.

The Junior Friends is affiliated with the adult Friends group.

Grant sources include:

www.librarygrants.blogspot.com and Best Buy. Search for grants for librarians (http://www.bby.com/cr_information/). Keep in mind that Maker Spaces are big now and think about focusing on that, too.