Teen Services Development Day

TBD

A Deep Dive into the Alex Award: Titles to Recommend for Adults AND Teens
Presenters: Cathy Andronik

Each year, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) honors ten outstanding books published in the past year for adults but with high teen appeal with the Alex Award; there is also a "longlist" of an additional twenty vetted titles.  While the award is intended to help librarians recommend adult books for mature teen readers, it is also worth mining for Readers' Advisory for discerning grown-ups.  This workshop will examine the history of the award, highlight some of its outstanding recent recipients, and include discussion of its more controversial recommendations.  The presenter has been an Alex Award chairperson.

Building Year-Round Connections Through Dynamic Teen Programming
Presenters: Nicole Rambo, Kristine Tanzi

Looking for new ways to grow your teen audience and deepen their engagement with the library? Learn about three unique program offerings at the Middle Country Public Library – Friday Teen Night, Media Teens and Teens Tech 4 Good, that continue to evolve in response to the needs of teens in the community. Discover how year-round programs, offered in both formal and informal learning settings, help keep teens involved and break down barriers to library services. By providing teens with ongoing opportunities to socialize and explore, participate in meaningful volunteer work, and expose to new technology and library resources, these intentionally designed programs foster relationships and establish the library as a safe, welcoming space. You will leave this session with practical tips on designing sustainable, creative teen programming at your library. We'll cover how to adapt to changes, retain teen participation, and brainstorm strategies for library staff to connect with and support teens.

Don't leave tweens stuck in between!
Presenters: Dania Souid

Planning and leading programming for tweens is essential for bridging the gap between the storytime crowd and the older teens. Welcoming and creating space for tweens is essential to maintain lifelong library users. Learn about creating engaging tween programs that will help these young patrons feel seen, valued and prioritized at your library.

From Conflict to Connection: Lessons from Buffalo’s Central Library Teen Transformation
Presenters: Taylor Harding

In recent years, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library’s Central Library experienced disruptive behavior and occasional conflicts among teen patrons—symptoms not of “problem teens,” but of unmet needs. This session shares the practical evolution of Central Library’s new Teen Space—from concept to furniture to culture. Attendees will learn how involving teens in design decisions, prioritizing comfort and identity, and creating interest-driven programming transformed our environment. We will explore how ownership over the space reduced behavioral issues, and how ongoing feedback continues to shape programming. Whether your library is planning a new teen area or working to reimagine an existing one, this session will provide realistic, youth-centered tools and help teens feel seen, valued, and welcome in the library.

Helping Youth Lead the Way to a More Sustainable Future
Presenters: Keturah Cappadona, Lisa Gangemi Kropp, Michelle Muller 

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the current state of the world? This program will uplift you and provide concrete examples of ways youth services librarians involved in the Sustainable Libraries Certification Program are providing learning opportunities to children and teens in their communities to empower both library staff and the audience they serve to become leaders in sustainable thinking. Programming and collection development examples will be shared, including community service opportunities for both children and teens. Elevator speech examples to help advocate for strong youth services programs to assist in sharing the importance of this work to other leaders in a community, like service organizations, municipal government leaders, etc. will be explored. The concept of sustainability shared will include the "triple-bottom line" definition of work that is both environmentally friendly while also being financially and socially equitable - particularly in underserved communities and those that experience the effects of climate change more so than others. 

Include Con: A Comic Con for Everyone
Presenters: Laura Indick

Many neurodivergent people (those with brain differences affecting processing, like autism and ADHD) love comics and graphic novels, and visual mediums support literacy, especially for those with learning differences. However, typical comic conventions are often sensory nightmares, with crowded, loud, and bright convention centers creating a hostile or outright exclusionary environment for neurodivergent attendees. Because of this, many interested patrons have never been able to attend a con.

Inspired by a suggestion from a patron and funded by a Brooklyn Incubator grant, Inclusive Services at Brooklyn Public Library designed Include Con, a first-of-its-kind library comic convention with sensory needs considered at every stage. By taking major steps to manage the sensory experience of the event and providing a range of sensory tools, we allowed many neurodivergent patrons to attend and/or enjoy their first convention.

In this presentation, public and school librarians alike will learn about the barriers that typically exclude people with sensory-processing issues from comic conventions and feel empowered to create their own sensory-friendly conventions, as well as sensory-friendly teen programming more generally. 

The Lost Art of the Booktalk
Presenters: Scot Smith

Booktalking is an important part of active programming for tweens and teens. Join Scot Smith as he discusses the hows and the whys of booktalking. Included in this fast-paced and informative session are techniques to motivate reluctant and potential readers, different styles of booktalks, and recent research on adolescent literacy.

Manga from the Mouths of Teens
Presenters: Alicia Abdul

Manga (and anime) has become mainstream. However, whether librarians are catering to the otakus or the casual readers, it's best to have foundational knowledge ourselves to blend with student recommendations and what's appearing in pop culture while adhering to our district's collection development policies and freedom to read. The session will help secondary librarians curate a collection and build resources to continually feed (and weed) it including avenues to solicit feedback from our students. 

Middle Grade Grows Up: Making Room for Young Teen Experiences in Literature
Presenters: Catherine Boddie, Erica Schimmel

Are you struggling to find engaging books that are developmentally appropriate for young teens? Where have all the 12-15 year old protagonists gone? They’ve moved to middle grade, a category traditionally targeted at 8-12 year olds, and it’s time to talk about why. This interactive session explores the shifting landscape of literature for younger teens, including the recent aging up of middle grade and young adult, current trends, and what this means for readers, writers, and librarians. We’ll share standout titles, discuss how these books resonate beyond their target age group, and invite you to join our conversation about common challenges in reader’s advisory for young teens.

Navigating the Library with Generative AI
Presenters: Georgette Spratling

Generative AI tools are transforming the way people search for, process, and create information. But what role can these tools play in libraries, where trust, equity, and access are central values? This session will explore how children’s and youth services librarians can teach patrons, of all ages and backgrounds, to use AI responsibly as a tool for navigating library resources.

Participants will learn how AI can serve as a creative partner for discovery, helping patrons generate book recommendations, summarize complex texts, and brainstorm research topics, while also reinforcing the importance of verifying information with trusted library sources. The presentation will demonstrate real-world applications, including sample prompts for common library questions, ways to integrate AI into literacy and learning, and strategies for bridging language and accessibility barriers.

Attendees will walk away with practical frameworks, activity ideas, and patron-facing messaging that positions librarians as both trusted guides and technology mentors. This session emphasizes the balance between innovation and critical thinking, empowering libraries to be safe, inclusive spaces where patrons can explore new AI tools with confidence.

No More Empty Rooms
Presenters: Prairie Hanson

Are your teen programs missing their target audience? If you've ever planned an event only to have low (or no) attendance, you're not alone! This session will focus on designing programs that actually appeal to teens by centering their interests, removing barriers to participation, and using creative marketing strategies. Learn how to balance structured and casual programming, harness teen input, and make your events the place to be. Walk away with fresh ideas, real-world examples, and a renewed approach to teen programming that works.

All participants understand that individual presentations are the presenters' original work and do not necessarily represent the views of ALSC or ALA. To the best of the presenters' knowledge, ALSC conference presentations are factually accurate at the time of presentation and contain no obscene, libelous, or defamatory content. It is the presenters' responsibility to ensure use of copyrighted material is consistent with U.S. law. 

ALSC takes no part in developing, creating, or organizing individual presentations and disclaims any responsibility for their contents, or for procuring third-party permissions necessary to offer them to this audience.