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The Massachusetts Library System (MLS) and Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services (RIOLIS) are committed to making Teen Summit a safe space free from discrimination, intimidation, and harassment of any kind. Teen Summit is a welcoming and inclusive professional event and harassment at Teen Summit will not be tolerated. Please see any event staff with questions and concerns.
9:30 am Registration. Coffee sponsored by Novelist (Please note there will be no breakfast served this year)
10:00 am Welcome from MLS & RIOLIS
10:15-11:15 am Morning Keynote & Book Signing
11:30 - 12:30 pm Breakout Session One
12:30-1:30 pm Lunch (cost of lunch is included in your registration fee)
1:30-2:30 pm Breakout Session Two
2:45- 4:00 pm Afternoon Keynote & Book Signing
Fandom in any field is an opportunity to reach teens, expand their horizons, and get them excited about libraries and learning. But at a moment when so many of our teens want to confront challenging issues in their lives, fandom can also be a powerful tool to educate outside of school curriculums, explore social justice issues, encourage community engagement, and promote critical media consumption. Over three years as Teen Specialist at the Waltham Public Library, Luke Kirkland has used library programs and collaborations with Waltham High School to turn interest in subjects like modern art and rap music into dialogue about racism, housing inequality, consumerism, and more. Join us to explore how you might use your expertise as a transformative vehicle for your teens and your community.
Presenter: Luke Kirkland - Waltham Public Library
Fandom taps into so many important for young readers. Teen fans find creative outlets, engage with communities, learn to critique media, and how to navigate shipping wars and blowouts amongst fans. With more and more fandom related titles hitting our library shelves, like Britta Lundin’s Ship It and Mark Oshiro’s Anger is a Gift, librarians need to know how to use fandom as inspiration for reader’s advisory, events, clubs, and creativity. In this program we’ll learn all of the key terms and ideas that sync with traditional reader’s advisory tactics, tap into how to turn fandom likes (and dislikes) into new recommendations, and share tips on how to host programs that tap into fan enthusiasm.
Presenter: Robin Brenner - Brookline Public Library
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.The man who never reads lives only once.” --George R. R. Martin. Since September 2015, High School English Teacher Barbara Mahoney, and Public Library Young Adult Librarian Kim Claire, have collaborated each school semester on a one-semester English Department elective that gives students the chance to read self-selected books during class time. A tenet, underpinning the course, borrowed from Betty Rosenberg's First Law of Reading, is: "Never apologize for your reading tastes.". Barbara and Kim will present: how and why the course was created; methods of developing a reading goal and assessing student progress; books and genres favored by teens taking the course; tools introduced to assist teens in finding their next favorite read; and activities selected to spark interest in exploring new subjects, genres, or formats.
Presenters: Kim Claire - Hamilton-Wenham Public Library & Barbara Mahoney - Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School
Since 2015, the Peabody Institute Library has offered a 2-week summer "camp" for teens, incorporating multiple STEAM competencies in a program that encourages collaboration through character development, costume making, and comic creation. Teens entering grades 6-12 utilize makerspace technology like sewing machines, 3D printers, green screen technology and Adobe Photoshop to create completely original photo comic stories starring themselves! While the Peabody Library works with makerspace technology and outside presenters, and provides all teens with a printed copy of their comic, character creation, costume making/cosplay, and photo comic creation can easily be replicated using inexpensive tools and free technology. Cate Merlin, the Peabody Institute Library’s Teen Librarian, will give an overview of the yearly Panels program, including examples of what Peabody teens have created over the past 4 summers, and will give step-by-step directions and tips that can help you adapt this photo comic program (or aspects of it) to your own library, no matter the size of your staff, the time your have to devote to such a program, or your programming budget!
Presenter: Cate Merlin - Peabody Institute Library, Peabody MA
Modeled after events like San Diego Comic-Con, the Townsend Public Library’s FanFest is a celebration of comics, books, movies, TV, video games and all things nerdy. This panel discussion led by Stacy Schuttler, Library Director, will delve into how we execute this program and what it’s impact has been in our community over the 4 years we’ve coordinated it. With fan-booths, costume contests, obstacle courses, professional artists and cosplayers, a mobile video-game truck, prizes to win and beyond, FanFest engages patrons of all ages and interest levels. For those considering putting on their own Library FanFests or looking for fresh ways to engage fandoms within their communities, this panel will spark ideas and communicate useful strategies for making your fest fan-tastic.
Presenters: Stacy Schuttler, Molly Benevides, Allie Thiel, Elise Johnson - Townsend Public Library, MA
Have you ever wondered what it might be like to take on a different persona? To be a character in one of the epic fantasy stories you love to read? We bet the teens at your library have. Dungeons & Dragons, at its core, is a form of collaborative storytelling. Through the game, players practice social skills, critical thinking, problem solving, and even a little bit of math. It provides the scaffolding to let your creativity flow and, in all likelihood, to learn something new about yourself. Join us to hear insights into starting up a library D&D club, from two librarians with very different experiences with the game. We’ll discuss what you need to start, obstacles to look out for, and the value that this game can bring to your programming lineup. Then we’ll wrap things up with a little hands-on experience.
Presenters: Jonathan Schmidt - Emily Williston Memorial Library, Easthampton MA & Alyssa Lapierre - Thomas Memorial Library Cape Elizabeth ME
How do you serve and make space for queer teens in your library? Expand your knowledge to make queer tweens/teens a priority! We'll mostly talk about Drag Prom, our premier queer teen event, to demonstrate the importance of making time and space for an underserved population. Drag Prom is an annual LGBTQIA+ prom for ages 12 to 19 for the teens of Arlington and the surrounding areas! In speaking about Drag Prom, we'll talk about planning, partnerships, implementation, collaboration, how other area libraries can get involved in our Drag Prom, and feedback from our most important audience, the teens! The latter part of our presentation will also include starting queer programming for teens - drop-ins, book clubs, crafts etc as well as developing community partnerships with queer organizations and municipalities. The library is now open, and we're ready to take your questions!
Presenters: Megan Coffey (she/her) - Newton Free Library & Rob Lorino (they/them) - Robbins Library, Arlington MA