Teen Buddies with Teen Council

What do you get when you mix a bunch of caring and dedicated teens with a bunch of adorable and enthusiastic little kids? Teen Buddies!

Teen Buddies is a venture of Kentville Library’s Teen Council, a group that meets every other Sunday afternoon to brainstorm, plan and carry out projects of benefit to the library, its patrons and the town of Kentville as a whole. Teen Council has picked up trash at Miner’s Marsh and around the library grounds (not once, but twice this year!), has thrown parties for younger children, has produced a promotional video for and consulted on details of the Annapolis Valley Regional Library’s summer STREAM program, and has just completed a trial run of Teen Buddies, a program matching Teen Councillors with kids between the ages of three and eight. 

The teens’ goals for Teen Buddies are simple: fun and friendship. For one exciting hour on Tuesday evenings, the teens welcomed their new young friends to the library and read stories together, assembled puzzles, coloured pictures, played games, put on puppet shows and learned a lot about (and from) each other. The smiles and squeals of laughter and promises of “See you next week!” said it all – Teen Buddies was a hit with everyone involved.

So here’s to the teens of Kentville’s Teen Council for devoting their Tuesday evenings to building bridges and for recognising that the library – haven, heart and hub of the community – is the perfect place to do it. Teen Buddies will return! 

If you'd like to get in on the Teen Council, you'll need to be between the ages of 13-17. Find more details on the Teen Council blog. Join us!

--Lori Cameron, Teen Council Leader, Kentville Library

Teen Read Week

Annapolis Valley Regional Library (AVRL) branches will celebrate Teen Read Week October 28-November 2, 2013 with special events and programs aimed at encouraging teens around the area to read for the fun of it. Teen Read Week is a time to celebrate reading for fun while encouraging teens to take advantage of reading in all its forms —books, magazines, e-books, audiobooks and more! It is also a great opportunity to encourage teens to become regular library users.

The libraries at AVRL  have some great events planned, including a Carnival just for teens at our Annapolis Royal, Berwick, Middleton, and Port Williams libraries. Games, photo booth, prizes, and snacks await! GirlPower, a program for girls ages 10-15, will be held at four of our library branches. Our Bridgetown branch is throwing a Harry Potter Party, and in Kentville teens are invited to A Night in Paris. There’s also a contest planned for the week—check out a Teen Read Week display book and be entered to win a “Big Bag o’ YA” books and treats.  And starting November 1, we will offer LIVE online Homework Help from Tutor.com. Teens can get help with Math, English, Science and more from expert tutors online. 

Stop by your local library this week to see what's going on! You can print out the week's activities here.