FAIRHOPE, Ala.– On Sept. 29., at the Fairhope Public Library, the teen volunteer program held its monthly Teen Advisory Board (TAB) meeting in the recently-renovated Teen Space. Members discussed upcoming library events and trained new volunteers.
The group also helped train a new volunteer, Quinn Roberts.
“The main reason I joined was volunteer hours for college and the required [hours] for IB. Also, I like the library… It’s quiet in here, and I also want to read more books,” Roberts said.
Sophomore Olivia Goodin has been a volunteer for three years, and emphasized the important role the library plays in aid to connect the Fairhope community.
“I think specifically with this space upstairs, it gives teens a [place] to just be themselves,” Goodin said.
With each fall season comes a fresh start for the program. Teens from various schools in the Fairhope area apply to be volunteers, often to complete the required amount of hours for school-related activities.
“The TAB meeting is almost always my biggest program of the month because it’s general,” said Allyson Russell, teen services librarian. “So once I started doing [the TAB meetings], everybody would come.”
New participants train at one of the fall TAB meetings. Training includes a tour of the library and a tutorial by Russell. She teaches the use of alphabetical order and the Dewey Decimal System to shelve books.
During the meeting, Russell discussed upcoming library events, including plans for the Teen Halloween Party on Oct. 29. Several teens ate complimentary doughnuts as well as voted on which movie to watch during the upcoming Halloween party.
The movie options included: “Spawn,” “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” “Masque of the Red Death,” “Warm Bodies,” “Coco.” Participants received a ticket to vote by signing in to the meeting.
