10 Coloring Pages Inspired by YA Lit

Looking for a passive program that's easy and affordable? Coloring pages are fun and can help calm the mind of even the most energetic teen.  Check out these coloring sheets inspired by YA titles and drawn by my amazing co-worker and artist Alma Chavarria!

Inspired by Seriously Wicked by Tina Connolly

Inspired by The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Inspired by Beautiful Broken Girls by Kim Savage

Click here for links to PDFs.

Stick a Pin in It: Pinterest Program for Teens

This is an inexpensive, passive program that engages teens' imaginations

 and encourages social media participation.

5 Easy Steps:

I'm a QR code!

1. Set up a Pinterest profile for your library.
2. Create a QR code that links to your Pinterest page. Free QR codes can be created at a number of websites such as QR Stuff or Go QR.
3. Print out quarter-sheet fliers advertising the activity. Include the QR code on flier and the instructions for getting approved to pin on specific boards (see below).
4. Advertise your program on social media sights and wait for the follows.
5. When a teen follows your library's Pinterest board invite them to pin on YA specific boards to create YA lit collages.

Instructions for program flier:

• Follow *Pinterest Profile Name* on Pinterest
• Accept the invitation to pin that *Pinterest Profile Name* will send you
• Pin YA Literature related items to appropriate boards. Note: Pinning of inappropriate materials will result in Pinner's account being blocked and reported.

Don't know how to invite people to pin on a group board?  Check out Pinterest's Help page.

Suggested Ideas/Themes for YA Group Boards:

• Dystopian Future
• Favorite Teen Reads or Favorite Authors
• Hunger Games
• Manga
• Mortal Instruments
• Paranormal
• Percy Jackson
• Program Ideas/Suggestions
• First Love

Art-A-Love-It Challenge

This summer, I am trying to run several passive programs to reach teens that are too busy (or otherwise unable) to attend active programs at the library.  Since art is a big part of my life, I decided to create the Art-A-Love-It Challenge to encourage teens to begin to notice and appreciate the beauty in their own communities.

What You Need
Signage
Mini-fliers with information
Email that someone checks regularly
Tumblr account

How It Works
Each week has a new "inspiration word" to focus the teens' art search.  Teens will keep their eyes peeled for something that matches the theme then snap a photo and email it to a predetermined email address.  Once the photos have been approved (no nudity, gang signs etc) the photos will be loaded onto our Art-A-Love-It Tumblr so the world can view the teens' photos.

My "inspiration words" this year are: LIQUID, GREEN, MOVEMENT, NATURAL, LIGHT, LOVE, REBELLION, OLD, TRANSITION and SUMMER.  These words are deliberately vague and open to interpretation; I want teens to think outside the box. :)

Beyond Digital
Depending on the number of pictures submitted, I may print several of the images and post them in the teen area.

Passive Program: Button Wars

Do you own or have access to a button machine? 

Then you are minutes away from a fantastic passive program for teens!

Example: Pirates vs. Ninjas
Have the teens choose sides in the Button Wars by coming to the Reference Desk and asking for a button supporting a specific side. It's simple, quick and painless for the staff! And the best part? All you need is to count your buttons before hand and then count how many are left at the end of your "war" and there you go, instant stats!

Supplies:
Button Maker
Buttons
Facebook Flair (or you can make your own)
Poster to spread the word

Suggestions for "Wars":
Fang vs. Fur
Twilight vs. Mortal Instruments
Star Wars vs. Star Trek
Nerd vs. Geek
Spy vs. Spy
Magic vs. Tech
Harry vs. Percy
Cats vs. Dogs

*Special thanks to Kimberly, fellow YA Librarian, for coming up with Button Wars!*

Passive Program: Read the Rainbow Challenge

Getting teens to read outside their chosen genre can be difficult, but not impossible.  This is an easy, eye catching display sure to catch the interest of your teens and even encourage them to read outside their genre.

What to do:
Set up the challenge on one of your library's blogs (I recommend Tumblr since it is very easy to post photos).  Each week set the "color" challenge i.e. 'This week read something RED'.  Have teens submit photos of book covers they are reading for the challenge.  Simple, easy and reading based!

When you are finished you can use the images submitted to create a color wash "Reading Quilt" just for the teens at your library.  You could even go WAY over the top and have the covers printed on cloth and make them into a physical quilt to raffle off or give away as a prize to one of the participants.

Here's an example of a digital "Reading Quilt" using book cover art from titles mentioned on this blog:

Books to Movies for the YA: List 1

Looking to show some films at your library?  

It's a low-cost, easy program to run with almost guaranteed attendance.  

And here's a way to tie in reading!

Below is a list of books that have been adapted into films with teen appeal.

Please make sure your library has licensing to show films before screening.

MOVIE	BASED ON
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring	Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Hunger Games	Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe	The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Alice in Wonderland	Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
Howl's Moving Castle	Howl's Moving Castle by Diane Wynn Jones
Beastly	Beastly by Alex Flinn
Elektra	Elektra by Frank Miller
Clueless	Emma by Jane Austen
Race to Witch Mountain	Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key
Freaky Friday	Freaky Friday by Mary Rogers
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World	Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Stardust	Stardust by Neil Gaimon
The Three Musketeers	The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Teen Program: Reading Challenge

This is a fun, low-cost program that will have your teens talking, blogging and sharing reads!

The "challenge" aspect of this program makes it driven by an individual desire to participate, not by the desire to win a prize, so there is no monetary cost associated with this program.  When designing this challenge make sure to create gender neutral objectives that can be adapted to a variety of reading styles/levels.

Here are some ideas for a 10 Week Reading Challenge
Week 1: Read something blue
Week 2: Read something OTHER than a book
Week 3: Read outside
Week 4: Read a poem
Week 5: Read something without words
Week 6: Read something funny
Week 7: Read something solid
Week 8: Read something active
Week 9: Read a play
Week 10: Read at random

Using whichever Social Media works best for you (Twitter, Blogging, Tumblr, Facebook etc) to promote this program.  Have teens submit what they've read for each objective and watch the communication unfold.  Don't be afraid to start the discussion for each objective.

Before you start: If you want your teens more involved in the planning stages get them to submit ideas for possible challenge objectives.

Good Luck and Good Reading!

Passive Program: Yes, I'm Reading This

If your library is anything like mine, you are always trying to get customers to respond to you - often with limited success.  But I've come up with a fun, easy way for you to get some public reading recommendations AND grow your participation numbers!

Inspired by my love of Knock Knock's products I've made an interactive bookmark that our readers can fill out and give back to us (or not) to let us know what they're reading and how they like it.

The benefit of doing this as a bookmark program is:

1. Bookmarks travel in the books
2. It is quick and easy
3. Totally anonymous

What you need:

• Computer to design bookmark
• Colored cardstock (I recommend bright colors)
• Paper cutter or scissors
• Box to gather bookmarks as they're returned

At my branch, we are going to collect these bookmarks all summer and then use them in a Fall display as a sort of "Wall of Reads Recommended by Our Readers".

*If you would like a copy of the pub. file I made these bookmarks in please contact me.

ENJOY!

Teen Program: Prompting Creativity

An easy, fun passive program can be as easy as posting an image and asking a question:

What is this character's story?

Find an image that provokes thought and contemplation and pose a simple question:

• What is the emotion of this image?
• Where is this character from?
• What is the story behind this image?

Have teens submit their responses via Twitter, Blog comments, or in person.  This can even be a prompt for a Teen Writing Contest (see earlier post for contest 101).

Do your teens need an INCENTIVE?

Try offering tickets to an Art Museum, a community theatre, or even a Roller Derby meet!

Passive Program: Reel Them In

If your library is anything like mine during the summer, it is an absolute madhouse with teens attending events, checking out books and using computers. Here's a passive program you can put together to reach out to your teens when they are hanging out in your teen area!*

Reel to Read - Celebrating the books that inspire the movies.

This summer has a slew of amazing titles that are based on books that can probably be found in your library. I have chosen SIX of these titles with Teen Appeal:

The Avengers - May 4
Snow White and the Huntsman - June 1
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer - June 22
Amazing Spiderman - July 3
Dark Knight Rises - July 20
The Bourne Legacy - August 3

Step 1: Fashion a display or create a poster in your YA Area.  Make sure to link the films back to the novels/graphic novel/fairytale where they were first created - mine looks something like this ---->

Step 2: Make a limited number of buttons for each movie release.

Step 3: As teens ask for the buttons hand them out (the limited number makes them special).

Step 4: Teens who collect all 6 buttons get a entered into a chance to win a fab bit o' SWAG!

Teens love buttons - especially when they have a neat quote or cool graphic.  Tailor your buttons to reflect each specific movie.  Since your buttons can also be used to promote library programs make sure that your library's name or logo appears on there somewhere.

Easy peasy! And, should you actually have some buttons left over, they can go into your Swag Stash for future giveaways.

*This program may even make sure that teens take the time to READ the signage you put up in the YA Area. :)