New programs coming up for teens at library
COSHOCTON – Teens have a lot to be excited about this year at the Coshocton Public Library.
A new book club just for teens will meet for the first time at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 14. Participants in the Winter Reads for Teens program will discuss a pre-selected book, share a snack, and enjoy themed activities.
“For several years we have had a kid’s book club and some in it begged for a teen one to get started,” said Deborah Crowdy from the library’s youth services department.
The plan is for the group to meet for three months and then pick up again in the summer. The first three books selected to read are: Jan. 14 – “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” by Mark Haddon; Feb. 11 – “Counting by 7s” by Holly Goldberg Sloan; and March 10 – “Okay for Now” by Gary D Schmidt.
“We are trying to engage the teenage group and do different things that we haven’t tried before,” Crowdy said.
This winter teens in grades seven to 12 also are invited to a mystery dinner theatre from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22. A three-course dinner will be served while teens try to figure out who committed the crime.
“Mystery dinners are always fun and teens like to eat so we decided to try a dinner theatre,” Crowdy said.
Library staff member Amanda Gress, who has done plays with the Footlight Players, will lead participants through the evening.
“When the teens arrive they can sit anywhere they want,” Crowdy said. “At each place setting will be a plain white envelope. When they open those they will find the name of their character and questions they can ask.”
Gress will play a lawyer who is reading the will of a person who was murdered. The teens will have to decide who committed the crime and is the heir to the artifacts left behind by the deceased.
“They will all have a role to play,” Crowdy said.
The event will be held in the downstairs meeting room. Library staff is preparing the meal which will consist of salad and bread sticks, lasagna, and chocolate mousse.
Registration is required for the mystery dinner theatre and is due by Monday, Jan. 20. Sign up online at www.coshoctonlibrary.org, or call the library at 740-622-0956.
The mystery dinner theatre is being held on a Wednesday to coincide with the library’s Plugged & Unplugged program for teens, which takes place from 2:30 to 5 p.m.
“That way if they are already here they can just stay,” Crowdy said. “We usually see an average of 25 kids for that program.”
Teens also are being encouraged to start preparing for the poetry and short story slam scheduled for Wednesday, April 15.
“Our poetry slam has been very popular for many years, but I felt like not everyone can write poetry so we expanded it to be a short story slam also,” Crowdy said.
Participants can read an original piece or recite one of their favorites for the chance to win cash prizes. Judges from outside the library will evaluate them on content and presentation. Contestants do not have to have their pieces memorized.
Crowdy noted that the youth services department is a new concept libraries are moving toward.
“I do the children and teens department now,” she said. “We want continuation of who the kids see with programs. That way we can develop relationships with them and when we see them know what to recommend to them. Places that have already made the change really like it.”
For more on upcoming programs at the library, visit www.coshoctonlibrary.org.
Category: People & Places
