Pittsfield Library Launches Teen Advisory Board
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Athenaeum is establishing a Teen Advisory Board to facilitate the involvement of young residents in their community.
The panel of 13- to 18-year-old volunteers will take the lead on generating ideas, implementing programs, and promoting youth library services. Meetings will begin in September.
Currently in the planning stages, the board was prioritized in the library's strategic plan. Young Adult Librarian Vanessa Justice, who has been at the library for about a month, found it an important item to address.
"This is the first thing that I wanted to start focusing on because I am new to Pittsfield and I need to get to know the teenagers who I'm going to be working with and what better way than hearing what they have for ideas and what they want from a library?" she explained.
"A teen advisory board, I've done some in the past and in other libraries where I've worked and it has been really fulfilling and rewarding and I've really loved working with the teenagers so I wanted to do that here."
The goal is to make the teens feel welcomed and listened to while providing real-world leadership experience.
Justice said it is a chance for youth to gain a sense of agency for themselves and explore the effects they can have in their community.
Interested teens can apply through an online form and the first meeting will be held on Sept. 13 in the young adult section of the library from 3 to 4 p.m.
Meetings will be bi-monthly and members will complete specific projects in workgroups and independently.
Justice sees a Halloween-themed project for the group's first, though they will decide exactly what it looks like.
"I want this group to be successful," she explained. "And really, I want the teenagers to be heard and listened to and I want them to feel welcomed in the library and have a stake in what we do because I'm here to serve them."
The board is open to as many youth who want to join. If needed, the group can be split into smaller groups to ensure the best collaboration.
"I know sometimes big groups can be a little challenging but I want as many voices as I can possibly get," Justice said.
Tags: berkshire athenaeum, youth empowerment,
