Teens Blog
Teen Advisory board (TAB) is a way for the teens of Kalamazoo to talk with the staff of their local library. The group meets the first Wednesday of every month at the Central library in the Van Deusen Room, from 3:30 to 5 pm. These meetings are lead by Stewart Fritz and are welcome for all 7th through 12th graders. Snacks and drinks are provided, as well as games after the meeting is done.
This month there was an announcement that there would be a new TAB meeting every third week of the month as well as the first week. This is run by Karen Santamaria. It’s called TAB+. We will also be reviewing books and talking about what we are currently reading. It’s a combination of Galley group and TAB. It “unofficially” starts January 19th.
Film Fest submissions are due January 22! This year’s film festival is being held at the Rave Theater in downtown Kalamazoo. TAB Volunteers get to see all the films. It is taking place on February 27th at 2:30 PM.
At the last meeting we added a volunteer aspect. Ready to Read is a program that gives books out to babies, toddlers, and young children. It also has volunteers read to kids at the library. TAB helped organize books for the Ready to Read organization.
So if any of this interests you, come to the next meeting on February 2nd.
I’ll be there.
Editor's note: Welcome our newest Teen page blogger, TAB member Rebecca Henning! This is her first blog post, and while it's been a long time coming due to various technical glitches, I think it's worth sharing with all of you. -Stewart
On October 23, teens and tweens showed up to the teen section of the Central library, to read for a good cause. Participants read to raise cans and other dry goods for Loves and Fishes. They provide food for the needy, and are a great hope to those who need it. They read from 10 am to 4 pm with a one hour lunch and photo session where participants got their own READ poster, like the ones in the teen section!
Teens/tweens who arrived at the read-a-thon where all ages from grade six to grade twelve. Jamera Jackson from Hillside Middle School says that she came because "I like to read, want to have fun, and get new books." She says that she loves girly girl books and her favorite book is What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones (which is actually a book of short poems that tell a story and one of my favorites). Now on the other end of the wide spectrum of people that arrived was Noah Gross who is also in the sixth grade at Hillside. His favorite genre is fantasy and favorite book is Ranger's Apprentance by Jhon Falgan. There were also some high scholars there like Elizabeth Austin who is a junior at Loy Norrix High School. She loves all fiction and her favorite book is Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows, by J. K. Rowling (another of my favorite books).
Overall the read-a-thon was a success, bringing food to people and people to books, something everyone can enjoy.
As the end of another school year approaches, you might be wondering what you are going to do with yourself during the summer months to prevent mind-numbing boredom. Allow me to throw out a few suggestions.
If you are inclined toward volunteer/service-oriented pastimes and you spend even a little time each day online, you might look at some of the following websites to inspire you:
DoSomething.org - powering offline action
. Using the power of
online to get teens to do good stuff
offline.
Care2 make a difference - the largest online community for healthy and green living, human rights, and animal welfare.
- FreeRice - For each answer you get right, they donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. (Subjects include: art history, chemistry, English, geography, languages and math)
Jumo - connecting individuals and organizations working to change the world. (One of the co-founders of this site was also a co-founder of Facebook. The site doesn't officially go "live" until the fall, but they're doing a lot of legwork now, and your responses to their survey will help guide them)
Of course, if you like to read, we would love to see you here at the library where, as soon as school gets out, you can sign up for the Summer Reading program. Just as in past years, the game specifically designed for teens will challenge and inspire you to read not only your favorite authors and/or genres but also to go outside your comfort zone and try something new. There will also be raffle drawings for additional prizes. The more you read, the more raffle chances you can earn.
Whatever you do, have fun and be safe!