Make a Difference on the Teen Advisory Board

Our Teen Advisory Boards are an awesome way for teens to develop leadership skills and help the library at the same time. They promote library services, develop programs for families with librarians, give input on teen collection, run annual charity drives, and create youth-led service projects. Read on to learn about the exciting projects we’ve done in the past!

Every year TAB sponsors two major library events, the Christmas Mother Book Drive in November and LibraryCon in June. During the book drive, each library collects new books for children and teens and sorts them by age group for donation to Henrico County’s Christmas Mother. At LibraryCon, TAB members create memorable experiences for attendees by hosting escape rooms and demonstrating crafts. Mark your calendar for June 20th from 1-5 at the Libbie Mill Library to see all of the incredible TAB work at our annual LibraryCon.

Participating in TAB not only gets you volunteer hours for school, but you get to work with your peers and develop leadership skills. The yearly TAB Summit is a great opportunity to learn about leadership from members of the community. All of these experiences are great to add to your resume or college application.

TAB meets once a month and is open to teens in 7th-12th grade and 12-18 years old. While all the TAB members work together on these larger projects, local groups develop their own special projects that reflect the unique interests of their members. There are five TAB groups: North Side, Northwest, East End, West End, and Varina. Let’s take a closer look at what each TAB has been up to during the past year.

North Side TAB meets at Libbie Mill and North Park. In 2019, TAB members planned and hosted the Cupcake Race where families of all ages played a life-sized game making paper cupcakes, and Family Fall Fest, which featured games, crafts, story time, and a green screen photo booth. For Community Service Night, they made bookmarks for Noah’s Children, a pediatric palliative and hospice care program, goody bags for residents at the Doorways, a temporary housing facility for family members of people receiving medical care, and holiday cards for several senior living facilities, delivered by our Mobile Library Services.

Northwest TAB meets at Twin Hickory and Glen Allen. This year, TAB members helped the Children’s librarians with our Summer Reading Finale: Astronaut Academy. This fun program featured STEM and space related games such as Fun with Flags, Catch a Star, and Quick Thinking, and a green screen photo booth.

East End TAB meets at Fairfield. Fairfield Library has a brand new teen space, so TAB members created a mood board to give input on how the space could be adapted to the teen community. For Community Service night, they designed holiday card for the Richmond YWCA. They are also welcoming new members this year!

West End TAB meets at Tuckahoe and Gayton. The 2019 Halloween Fair was planned and hosted by the West End TAB. It featured face painting, a spooky story time, and coloring pages. They also had games such as boo bowling, pin the nose on the pumpkin, spider toss, and treat bags for all.

Varina TAB meets at Varina and Sandston. TAB members had a lot of fun this year creating a Stranger Things themed escape room and a Star Wars event! During the Star Wars event they make Yoda ears or Princess Leia head bands, and a built their own droids. For their Community Service Night, they wrote letters to military and first responders, and made cards for kids currently staying in the hospital.

Contact your library to learn more about what projects your local TAB group is currently working on!

Download the TAB application.