1. Best
Practices
Assignment
Topic
Introduction
Teen-­‐Led
Story
Times
in
the
Library
By
Rebecca
Buckley
LIS
506
As my Best Practices assignment topic I decided to choose Teen-Led Story
Times in the Library because I have recently started one of these programs in my
own high school library. My Student Library Advisory Council (SLACkers) and
I came up with the idea to serve the preschoolers in my campus’ Childhood
Development Center. I had really done no research or reading about other
library initiatives and was curious as to what other librarians were doing in
similar programs. I was pleased to find so many articles in the databases about
programs like my own and am excited about implementing some of the new
program ideas I read about with my students.
Teen-led Story Times with preschoolers is an ideal way to get adolescents
involved in library programming, whether in their school library or public
library. I have found from my own experience of 15 years as a high school
librarian that teens are often hesitant to get involved in library programming,
especially in the public library where they may not know a lot of people. I have
asked my students why they are hesitant and they have told me that they often
don’t know what to expect or what will be expected of them during an event;
some say that they are shy around new environments and new people; others
say they aren’t really interested in more social engagements as they have enough
friends and social events from school already. I have found that I get the most
interest in involvement from my students when I offer them a service
opportunity. This is surprising to some adults but many students are very
willing to serve in their community; they find it rewarding and fun and less
awkward than participation in a social gathering. Many high school students are
in need of community service hours for National Honor Society, Key Club or
even for graduation requirements in some school districts. If libraries offer teens
training, are clear about expectations and give teens well-defined duties,

2. students are often very excited about serving their community on or off their
high school campus.
My program for Teen-led Story Times started with a Children’s Library Book
Drive last January. My Student Library Advisory Council (which consists of
nearly 100 students) and I came up with the idea for the Children’s Library and
we hung flyers around school, promoted the drive on the school announcements
and with the PTSO and were excited to receive over 400 children’s books
donated! The next step was to get the books sorted, cataloged and labeled. I
recruited a group of about 15 students from the SLACker Leadership Panel and
they cataloged and labeled the books during their lunch hours and before or after
school in the library. Once we had a good set of books ready for circulation, I
started to schedule in the four preschool classes from our campus’ Child
Development Center. Each of those four classes consisted of about 20 kids, so
my students and I were serving around 80 preschoolers with book circulation
and Story Time programming.
After we got the Children’s Library started, I decided to reach out to my
community’s area public library for assistance. My local branch’s Youth Services
person was excited to get involved. Jennifer was willing to help with some of the
Story Times and even provided a Storytelling Workshop to 16 teens this school
year! Those teens now know some of the basics of the benefits of reading stories
aloud to preschoolers and ways to make a Story Time session fun and
educational by using music, dance, vocabulary, games, etc. The end goal is for
those students to take over the planning and implementation of some of the after
school Story Time sessions later this school year. They are excited to do so!
Most of the articles I read for this assignment point to the benefits of having
teens take ownership in library programming by taking the lead in preschool
Story Times or other events. Almost all of the articles examined programming in
public libraries and I was pleased to see that much of the research fell in line with
my own findings with my SLACkers and my high school’s Children’s Library.
Teens really blossom when given some authority and ownership. Two of the
students involved in our Storytelling Workshop were students receiving Special

3. Education services and I could see that they were so excited about reading to the
preschoolers and taking a leadership role in the program. Those two students
even arrived early to re-read their book selections ahead of time so that they
could pronounce all of the words correctly. That was touching and heart-
warming to see!
I have seen such good come about from my own high school library’s Teen-led
Story Time programming and can definitely see why this type of initiative is
positive on so many levels. Teens get a huge benefit by taking leadership roles,
learning about early education, being involved in community service,
blossoming with new social interactions and having some great fun with cute
preschoolers. Preschoolers benefit by having teens get involved in reading to
them, playing with them, singing to them, dancing with them…all in the
promotion of literacy. Librarians benefit by having the opportunity to train and
educate teens, build relationships with them and by allowing teens to serve and
volunteer in their libraries. My own students love the Story Times, but they
want to help with basic library duties as well. It is inspiring to see them take a
personal stake in their library. My Student Library Advisory Council is
constantly giving me book and programming suggestions, fundraising ideas, re-
decorating ideas, etc. They have taken ownership of their school library and I
have many, many students that return often after graduation to tell me how
much they were impacted by my small, under-funded school library. They
remember the books I introduced them to and the fun we all had in clubs and at
events, but most of all they remember the friends they made and the
relationships they built. My new Children’s Library initiative is just another way
for kids to make connections and have impactful experiences. I am excited about
what the future holds for my high school library’s Teen-led Story Time program.