Tweens have plenty to read at Winter Park Library

Oh the tween years, those strange times generally considered to be between the ages of eight and 12, when young people are living in transition – definitely not babies or “little kids” but not quite teenagers. As an organization that meets the needs of residents of every age, serving the unique needs of these energetic young people has been both a challenge and a success for the Winter Park Public Library over the last 18 months.

The WPPL’s new Tween Area is tucked between the Children’s Room and the Teen Lounge. Using recycled shelving in a repurposed corridor, library staff carved out a space and spruced it up with comfy seating and chalkboard-painted surfaces to welcome the tweens in. Fiction favorites like “Harry Potter” and “Percy Jackson” are some of the stars of the Tween Collection. But far more than an improvised addition, WPPL Tween services are the result of careful planning and an intentional evaluation of how we serve all aspects of our community.

Research tells us that the tween and teen years are a crucial time for cementing a positive relationship with pleasure reading and feeling at home in the library. Experience tells us that this is when young people begin exercising individuality and developing interests that compete with the library and reading for time and attention. These years are an important bridge on the journey to lifelong learning. Staying current for young people in these transitional years is vital, but doing it well is tough.

In 1995, we became the first library in Florida to hire a full-time young adult librarian specializing in services for young people ages 12 to 18. Two decades of these efforts yielded tremendous results, but it became evident that youngsters in the middle grades were falling through the cracks. No longer interested in “babyish” crafts and programs but not old enough to be interacting with high school students and materials with more mature content, our patrons in grades five through seven needed more targeted materials.

In order to strategically meet these needs, we conducted internal surveys and program evaluations that yielded unsurprising results: teens didn’t want tweens in their programs; tweens didn’t want to be with early elementary-age children; parents of tweens were concerned about the age-appropriateness of materials geared toward teens but wanted more challenging reads than the Children’s Collection offered.

In January 2015, we hired Florida’s first full-time Tween Librarian, Grace Moore. As a Winter Park native, Grace was able to immediately dive in and begin developing space, collections and programming for community tweens. Using feedback from parents and working with the WPPL’s team of librarians, Grace created tween spaces and programming that are inviting and safe in every way.

Two crucial components of the WPPL tween efforts include opportunities for leadership and volunteerism. Our tween offerings now include a Tween Advisory Board, an opportunity for tweens to give input on how the library plans and purchases for their age group. Old enough to volunteer, our tweens also give back. During the summer, WPPL tweens offer a Books Buddies program where they read with younger children and do crafts with them.

Grace established Ravenous Readers, a tween book club that uses its monthly meetings during the school year to help members conquer the Sunshine State Book List, required reading by many local schools. Using input from the Tween Advisory Board, we started a monthly Pokémon Gym during which tweens can play the popular card and video games in a nurturing, noncommercial environment.

Other recent tween offerings have also been successful. Tweens loved a very popular manga drawing class that allowed them to experiment with a popular art form, use with professional design software and create on their own. At the Mad Science event, they interacted with hands-on experiments demonstrating states of matter featuring dry ice and bubbles.

One of the year’s most successful tween efforts was the Write On Tween Short Story contest. Working with teachers in local public and private schools, we received 2,500-word stories from over three dozen tweens. Each entry was carefully evaluated by professional writers and each entrant received praise, critique and personalized feedback.

This summer, tween events and classes are going strong during the Summer Reading Challenge, when we encourage tweens to make reading a part of their daily summer routine.

Devoting resources to services for our tween-age patrons is yet another way we make a long-term investment in the young people of our community and support a life-long love of reading and learning. A full schedule of tween events is available at wppl.org/classes-events/tween.