We have a lot of new and exciting activities going on in the Sweetwater County Library Teen Program! Because I am new to the area, I wanted to get a better idea of what the local teens were looking for in a public library teen program. So in January, we surveyed students at Green River High School to see what kinds of programs they would be interested in getting involved in. We received responses from 425 students, which helped us understand what a variety of students were passionate about and wanted to see available at the library as teen activities.
We have been implementing these ideas into our programs gradually. One of the most requested activities was video games, so we began the GGWP club (Good Game, Well Played). It’s a video game club that meets once a month to talk about the game (or games) of the month, meet other gamers, and to play games. Something that is unique about this club is that it is similar to a book club. We select interesting games that inspire thoughtful discussion, such as “Never Alone.” We then get together to talk about the game and our experience playing it. “Never Alone” is a puzzle game that also introduces the player to the Alaska Native culture and art. The game is complex; it’s beautiful, frustrating, heartbreaking, and uplifting. The perfect kind of game to get together with other game enthusiasts to talk about. Of course, after all this discussion, we also find time to play games. We usually meet the fourth Thursday of the month, unless something changes the schedule. For instance, because of Spring Break, we’ll meet on March 31.
Another common teen request was for a cooking program. We decided to include cooking in our Valentine’s Day Sweet and Sour party, and it was quite popular. We made chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate covered Twinkies. We also created fruit roll-up fortune cookies. Our goals include making fun food creations as well as exploring new flavor combinations, such as our upcoming recipe, goat cheese stuffed dates wrapped in bacon. Yum.
The teens also expressed an interest in filmmaking, which is exciting for me since I have a Master’s degree in Film Production and have worked in the industry. They started working on videos last week during our Thursday night program, and the teens have shown a lot of passion and talent. I expect to see some great movies made, and I hope that even more teens get involved.
While we have been busy creating new programs, we also have Anytime Activities available in the Teen Space for teens who don’t have time to attend the Thursday evening programs. We’ve had brainteasers for International Brainteaser Month (the correct answer earned you a piece of candy), romantic verses for Valentine’s Day (reciting or singing them earned you a piece of candy), word hunts (finding the word in the library earned you a piece of candy), and an origami station (not everything gets you a piece of candy!).
Not everything we do is fun and games though. We also have an ACT Prep evening coming up on March 17 from 6-7:30 p.m. We’ll be showing the teens the two different online ACT prep services the library offers as well as share tips to help them do their best on this important test. The teens have also given back to others by designing and making stuffed monsters to donate to Primary Children’s Hospital in Utah.
We always have something going on, so check out the events calendar online at http://www.sweetwaterlibraries.com or give us a call at 875-3615.
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