Tween Programming 101, 102, and 103

On Sunday I attended a program that focused on well you guessed it "Tweens". So what is a tween? I found it interesting that the term Tween was invented as an alternative term to "teenybopper". Teenybopper is a negative term designed for girls and is pejorative. It has a negative connotation and mainly speaks to all pop culture and no substance. However the term Tween was created by marketing companies as a positive term to define a target segment. The term is used for both boys and girls and it covers not only pop culture but anything appealing to that age group.

A Tween is between the ages of 9-12 or in grades 4-7.

The first speaker was Jeanne O'Grady from Santa Cruz. She spoke about the need for tween programming in her community which became noticeable when tweens started asking for book discussion groups. Given the age range it is understandable that children's books do not necessarily get them excited and teen books are too mature.

The second speaker Julie Zeoli from Yorba Linda Public expanded on the idea of why libraries need tween programming. She pointed out that most libraries are already serving this age group but by providing defined services for tweens librarians are encouraging focusing on this age range at a very important time in their lives.

Here are the reasons to focus on tweens:

*They need defined services tailored to their needs (a 7 year old is not as mature as a nine year old)

*Tweens may not feel comfortable interacting with older teens (they may feel intimidated)

*Parents of Tweens may not want their children interacting with older teens (for obvious reasons)

*We need to keep the momentum going and continue encouraging library habits all the way through to adulthood (I think it may be the last stand before they turn to the dark side-High school Teenagers)

*Finally, Tweens become taxpayers!

The next speaker was Penny Peck. She gave ideas for movie programs and book parties. She has some great ideas such as an origami party for the "Strange Case of Origami Yoda" and the food based program for Hunger Games (what kind of food would they eat in the arena). She also talked about having musical Sing-along ideas such as showing "The Sound of Music" and having a yodeling or Waltz contest. I will probably use some of the book tie-ins but I think a good chunk of the time (maybe 5minutes) will be used explaining what the book is about and in DC every minute is precious. All in all great ideas.

Anna Hartman from SD County gave the next presentation on offering science based programs for tweens such as making rock crystal gardens and exploding volcanos. Also, marshmellow stacking contests and making invisible ink. I enjoyed this segment and may take a few ideas (probably not the marshmellow idea; recipe=disaster, remember I am working with 6 year olds).

On the tech side of things, Yemila Alvarez a Technology Librarian (currently between libraries) gave out some statistics about why tween tech programming is useful. I think it is great that a tech librarian found a way to bridge her love of technology with children's programming. From some research she found that most kids own a phone by age 11 and 67% of tweens have a portable gaming device. She also stated that tweens aspire to use technology and by providing these types of programs we are helping them prepare to use a library's technological resources.

Some of the programs she offered in her library include:

*Creating Digital Book Covers

*Avatar Creation Station

*Picasa Photo Collage

The highlight of the program was a presentation by Joanna Axelrod. She is a youth services librarian at Escondido Public Library and I have seen her present many times at SRP and other programs. She is currently offering tweens an opportunity to acquire community service hours. She has developed a review crew program where tweens go online (with a parent waiver already signed) and create book reviews. The kids have to follow a book review format and every 3 reviews = 1 hour of community service. She also started a craft volunteer project that allows tweens to make crafts for good causes such as chemo caps for cancer patients. I love the idea of providing opportunities to tweens to volunteer. By creating programs for them to participate in she is offering a chance for them to help other people. It is not easy for children under age 12 to find volunteer opportunities and this is a great way to promote lifelong volunteerism. I feel this is something that needs to be instilled in children at a young age and I will probably contact Joanna to learn more about the program.

So how does this fit in with Rancho? I think Discovery Club is a great program and could it be split in two age ranges. Regarding the maturity and the difference in developed skills this is a no brainer. I cannot tell you how many six year olds still have trouble cutting paper. I would love to hand out scissors for free but we don't have a grant for that yet. The program was interesting and I have a lot of new ideas that need to be tweaked for DC.