This presentation was given as a breakout session at the 2013 Teen Volume Conference at Chicago Public Library.

1. Unprogramming for Teens:
Offering Engaging, Teen-Centered
Programs
Amy Koester | The Show Me Librarian
St. Charles City-County Library District
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2. What is unprogramming?
And how does it fit with teens at CPL?
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3. What is unprogramming?
And how does it fit with teens at CPL?
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4. From CPL’s Mission:
Working together, we strive to provide equal
access to information, ideas and knowledge
through books, programs and other
resources.
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5. From CPL’s Vision for our Future:
Create a variety of new high-quality
educational and cultural programming
according to community interest and
library capacity.
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6. Why do YOU program with teens?
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7. The Unprogramming Potion
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Ice breaker
Library tie-in
Stations of stuff
Social time
Food
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8. Teen Unprograms
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Chat & Chew
Open Afternoons
Theme Clubs
Movie Events
Zombie Homecoming

9. Chat & Chew
● Ice breaker: Guess genre by cover
● Library tie-in: Lots of books on view
● Stations of stuff: Sticky note reading recs,
book speed dating
● Social time: Round robin book talks
● Food: Coffee & donuts, Soda & chips
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10. Open Afternoons
● Ice breaker: Favorite YouTube videos
● Library tie-in: Books on crafting, videogames
● Stations of stuff: Duct tape crafts, board
games, videogames
● Social time
● Food: Soda, chips & cookies
Images from Flickr users ryanoshea and benjamin-nagel,
creative commons licensed

11. Theme Clubs
● Ice breaker: Memory game, Mad Libs prompt
● Library tie-in: Plenty of materials on view
● Stations of stuff: Watching/listening area,
board game, candy sushi, music bingo
● Social time
● Food: Ramen & poky, Drinks & snacks
Images from Anime Outsiders blog, Flickr users JennaLouisp and
Keith Williamson, creative commons licensed

12. Movie Events
● Ice breaker: Movie quotes, Cornucopia game
● Library tie-in: View-alikes, soundtracks
● Stations of stuff: Cups stacking, Hunger
Games tasks, Fan art
● Social time
● Food: Soda, popcorn & cookies
Images from Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB

13. Zombie Homecoming
● Ice breaker: Favorite zombie movies/stories
● Library tie-in: Zombie books for checkout
● Stations of stuff: Facepainting, zombie felts,
dance floor, “Thriller”
● Social time
● Food: Punch, soda, gummy brains & snacks
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14. Getting in the Mindset
● Continual idea-gathering
● Talk with teens -- Teen Advisory Board
● Get comfortable with informality
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15. Start with Your Own Programs
● What worked?
● What did teens like?
● What will you keep
in mind for future
programs?
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16. What’s in your basket of
programming tricks?
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17. Resources to Get Started

18. Resources to Get Started

19. Resources to Get Started

20. Resources to Get Started

21. Resources to Get Started

22. Share your ideas & successes!
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23. Questions?
akoester@stchlibrary.org
@amyeileenk
http://showmelibrarian.blogspot.com
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creative commons licensed