Library Council’s aim: programming and services by teens, for teens and with teens

Teens who want to dive into reading, writing or just being enthusiastic about books have an outlet in the Johnson County Library’s Young Adult Literary Council. Part of the program has even seen them reviewing advance copies of books for publishers.

The book reviewing is part of a national program through the Young Adult Library Services Association. Libraries have to apply to be part of it and can participate for two years in a row before taking the next two off.

There’s more to the council than just reading books, however. They have had question and answer sessions with authors, facilitated writing workshops, redesigned the library’s teen webpage and even made voice-overs for library videos.

Activities on the schedule largely come from what the teens decide to do.

“I love that it gives the teens so much agency to determine how they want it to be,” said Tiffany Rinne, a youth information specialist at the library.

That focus on teen involvement in programming is an intentional plan from the library.

“We’re always trying to think about how to do programming and teen services by teens, for teens and with teens instead of some adult planning things that they think teens might want,” said Tricia Suellentrop, deputy director of the library system.

The council would normally meet in smaller groups at the Blue Valley, Lenexa City Center and Monticello branches, but with the pandemic, all activities have been online for the past year. The Gardner branch had a group as well, but it hasn’t been meeting during this time.

Some activities work well, even with the added distance. Some of the participants made bookmarks for HomeConnect service for housebound residents that the library sent out along with their regular library materials.

In the past they’ve done things like a tasting event, where the teens get food but also get exposed to new authors or genres. Sometimes it’s crafts, such as book folding, or even a performance art like slam poetry.

Because they review books and help with projects like the library’s website, attendees can get volunteer credit for coming to meetings.

Rinne thought the teens might struggle with a round robin storytelling event, with each person adding one line before passing it to the next, but, “it was a crazy good story,” she said.

That spirit comes out in a lot of the group’s events.

“Before I worked with teens, I didn’t realize the amount of creativity that naturally comes out of somebody that age. I really learned how compassionate they are toward their fellow peers,” Rinne said. “YALC has been a safe harbor, where they don’t have to experience bullying, and they know that the people that come to the group are going to be open to their ideas. I don’t think anybody feels like they have to be quiet or hide themselves in the group.”

Overland Park resident Neha Sridhar, 17, has been part of the council for the past four years.

“It’s nice to have a group of my peers who are also passionate about books,” she said.

If someone’s not as big a reader as she is, that’s fine with Neha.

“Maybe you just like comic books. You don’t have to be a big reader to be in the group. You just have to have an appreciation for culture and art,” she said.

As a result of her involvement with the council, Neha has gotten involved with other related projects.

“Two to three years ago, one of the librarians, she brought in a flier for a book festival in Independence. Now I’m one of the advisers for that book festival,” she said.

The council meets twice a month. To join a meeting, go to jocolibrary.org and search for it under events. The next meetings are May 16, June 6 and June 20 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.