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Best
Practices
Assignment
Opinion
Post
#2
Teen-­‐Led
Story
Times
in
the
Library
By
Rebecca
Buckley
LIS
506
Issues Related to Research
I wasn’t all that surprised by the research and articles I came across in the
databases for the topic of Teen-led Story Times in the Library. I didn’t come
across a lot, but had no problem finding ten nice articles for this assignment. I
was really surprised that I didn’t find more on the internet, though. I used all
sorts of keyword searching on Google and didn’t find much at all to include in
my annotated citations list. I even did some searching for programs specifically
mentioned in the articles, for example the Book Buddies program with the San
Francisco Public Library or the Literacy Lifeguard program with the Chappaqua
New York Public Library and the KidWorks program at the Eldersburg Public
Library branch in Maryland. I was surprised that there was very little web
presence for these programs, in spite of having articles written about them. It
appeared that those three programs are still ongoing, which I was glad to
discover, but the only things I could really find on the internet were
announcements of the next library meetings, etc. on the library website
calendars. I was really glad to see that the Book Buddies program was still
ongoing, as that article was written in 1988. That program trains volunteers of all
ages, teens through the elderly, to read to small children in the San Francisco
Children’s Hospital. I love that idea!
Most of the articles that I read featured programs that were somewhat similar
to my own Teen-led Story Times, although all of the library programs featured in
the articles were sponsored by public libraries and not school libraries. There
were several programs that featured one-on-one tutoring or story reading rather
than group read-alouds and I thought those programs were interesting as well.
All of the articles stressed the importance of training and giving teens strict
guidelines to follow. I couldn’t agree with this more. I find that when I just have

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kids show up “to help” they tend to just hang in groups with the other teens and
are hesitant to join in and really lead or interact with the preschoolers. When
those teens are given a specific, detailed duty they are more apt to become
positively involved. Some teens are shy, even with little preschoolers, and if they
are given direct instructions and a task to accomplish, they are much happier and
willing to participate.
Most of the articles also mentioned how much teens personally tend to get out
of Teen-led Story Times. Teens learn so much by planning and implementing
programming for young children, but they also learn self-esteem and work skills
that they can take with them to future employment opportunities. Most of the
articles also mentioned that students become better library patrons and take
ownership and pride in their involvement in the public library. Tuccillo writes
in “Teens Take the Stage” about teen-led theater performances for young
children: “The teens themselves realize that they are doing the very important
task of promoting a love of reading by !bringing children's books to life through
theatre! and offering a great time at the library.” (Tuccillo 349) The young
children also benefit greatly from having teens involved in their programming.
In the same article, the author writes: “Young! children love to see older kids
perform.! They are taken with the three-!dimensional characters bringing a story!
to life right in front of them, and look! up to these teenage role models. “ (Tuccillo
349) By being involved in community service opportunities in their public
library, teens are also doing a lot to improve their own image in the minds of
parents, library staff and other adults. “By collaborating with the children’s
department, and presenting programs for younger kids, the teens are able to
show library patrons and staff that they have something valuable to offer
others.” (THOMPSON 29)
Volunteer opportunities in libraries for teens, whether for story times or
shelving or cleaning, etc. can benefit both libraries and teens. “With
unemployment numbers rising, teenagers are having more trouble than ever
finding summer jobs. At the same time, the local high schools require that
students participate in community service. Addressing both of these concerns

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became the perfect opportunity to reach out to teens and talk to them about the
value of volunteer experience.” (Colvin 130) Teen-led Story Times in Libraries
can serve as the perfect opportunity to encourage service, literacy and fun for all
involved!