Teen Book Tasting

Teen Book Clubs can be tricky things.  Many librarians struggle with getting teens to regular events that require no prep on the teen's part, so asking middle and high schoolers to read a book that they may not be that into, especially when they already have 8.1 million commitments, 2 books to read and analyze for English class, and calculus homework to finish after play practice or a basketball game can be a little much.

Don't let these calm photos fool you,
most of our Book Tastings include lots of laughs!

Our solution was the Book Tasting.  Think of it as a drop-in Book Club that has no pressure to read anything ahead of time, a casual atmosphere, and snacks.

My Inspiration

This original idea came from The Gnoming Librarian (thank you!).  We've structured ours in a very similar way with the only big difference being is that I actively encourage teens to talk during and after their Tastings (whispering during, and regular volume after).

What you will need:

• Books varying in length, level (reading & interest), genre, format, and anything else you can think of.  I usually grab about 20 books (average attendance is about 10 teens).
• Tables/chairs
• DIY snacks/snack ingrediants
• Plates
• Napkins (teens are incredibly messy!) 
• Printed menus (images and downloadables below)

That's it!

Structure

We set our books out on the tables directly in front of the chairs with extras in the middle, but let the teens know they can trade books between seats and tables freely.

Dab for books!

After a very brief introduction of how the event will work, I pass out the menus and pens, then let the teens read and discuss.  Attendees usually need 10-15 minutes tops to get through two books, rate them, and discuss a little in between.

Teens then bring up their menus so I can see what everyone selected, then they collect their snack ingredients and build their dessert.  Discussion begins on books everyone tried, but always migrates between other topics such as fandoms and school.  I float around and join conversations around the room and keep everyone entertained until the end of the hour.

While most of the teens will choose not to check out books, we've had great successes in the past!  About 1/3 of our attendees will leave with a book and quite a few have returned to tell us how much they loved the story.  One girl even got her entire class reading Keeper of Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger, a book featured in our December Book Tasting, after doing her book report on it and zipping through the first three books in a month.

Snack Ideas

The hardest part has been coming up with DIY snack ideas that allows teens to be a little creative, but doesn't require a lot of money or a stove/oven.  So far we've done:

• Candy sushi
• Indoor s'mores
• Ice cream sandwhiches
• Caramel apples (dipping station)

Menus

 The menus include two sections for book reviews (the "Appetizer" and "Entree"), then instructions on creating the final course; we review how to make our desserts during the event, but this is handy in case any of the teens want to take the recipes home to share.

If you would like to try this in your own library, you can download the our .Pub file for our Indoor S'more event (download now and ease your mind as you know that this will be a low-prep event). EDIT: I've also added a downloadable PDF version for those who do not have Publisher.

Page 1 of our menu

Page 2 leaves room for written and emoji reviews.

Going Forward

Each book tasting has a small core group and a few rotating teens who visit when they can.  We currently host this bi-monthly, due to staffing issues, but I would love to have it more often.  What ideas would you implement?  What snacks do you think would be popular with your own teens?  Feel free to try this yourself and/or leave ideas in the comments!