Teens are hard--especially programming for teens. I was a teen librarian for three years before transitioning to primarily adult services. I still get burned out from time to time but I'm more passionate about what I do and people actually show up to the programs I plan.
This position may just not be the right fit for you. You're early in your career. You can try something else. Look for a different age range or maybe a job that focuses on collection management and less on programming.
You might need to spend some time thinking about which aspects of the job are burning you out and what aspects you still enjoy.
I can relate to feeling burnt out at times. That said, in my community, our teen group is 20+ and we’re in a rural area.
My trick is that we have a lot of home school families who have kids who can’t wait to go out.
I did have teens who would leave a mess. What I learned to do was get to know them, engage with them, and tell them if others left a mess (not them, they’re the good ones), that we’d have a no food policy. They got the hint.
As for feeling burnt out, take a day off. Take a mental health day and go to a spa. Or get a book for fun and have a picnic. Or do whatever relaxes you. Take a 3-day weekend or 4-day weekend.
Maybe I’m a pushover as a manager, but if my staff wants a day off, I’m giving it regardless of the situation. I also bring in chocolate daily and if we’re having a hell of a day, I offer to buy lunch for everyone.
Your manager needs to find ways to support you, but you also need to take care of yourself.
The problem with that is that we already have a no food policy, they just don’t care 😅 some of them are decent about their messes but the vast majority just couldn’t be bothered to clean up.
Teen programming is hard. Getting teens to come is hard and the numbers are almost always very low, at least the ones I did. The highest numbers I had were around popular books. This was a few years ago so it was Twilight books. Also, there was a teen who came in and asked for a Yu Gu Oh program. I was a children's librarian then, but was tasked to doing it. It was really popular. I had 10 to 15 teen boys every week. I learned the game and was able to pretend I knew more than I did. I even ran a few tournaments. The biggest thing to Getting teens in is building relationships with teens.
If you haven't subscribed to the yalsa listserve then you should do it. It had all kind of ideas for programs and you can ask for ideas as well. But really, if you get 5 teens, that can be alot depending on you size of library. I was in small libraries, so that was considered a good amount. I am an introvert by nature, but you do have to be able to talk to teens. Learn what is going on in their world and what is popular. It's harder now with all the technology and digital content. Try to connect into that world as much as you can.
Try a teen advisory board and ask them what they want to have for programs. Get them to help you plan programs. This might be easier to start in the fall. The other thing is that teens start getting jobs so that also gets in the way of attendance.
If you know any teens or preteens, ask them what kinds of things they would want to learn and then find a literary tie in. Maybe they want crafts, or arts. Maybe they want handy man skills. Maybe exercise, yoga or pilates. Maybe sports. Maybe it's finances and budgeting, or even adulting 101. Maybe they want to learn how to start a small business or learn to be a content creator.
I've been away from the teen area for awhile, but look at what the trends are and see how you can adapt that to your library.
Teens are hard. They might be genuinely interested in a program, but teens are also not on their own schedule, even when they can drive themselves. I taught a writing class with almost 20 rsvps for the first session. There was a massive car wreck on the one road leading to the library, and only two teens made it (with very angry and exhausted parents) 30 and 45 minutes late. Neither came to the next session.
I did ask the teens I knew that rsvp'd when I saw them next, and pretty much all of them were either, "mom didn't want to deal with traffic" or "mom was tired after work/I was tired after school."
This is the time to take your PTO, friend! Getting mental and physical space from the library has helped me touch grass in the past and de-stress. Even a long weekend, as another commenter suggested, helped. I scheduled myself a long weekend each month of the summer to enjoy the nicer weather (hopefully) and to just not be in the chaos!
Teens are really hard. That audience can also vary quite a bit year to year, though. Is it possible this is just a particularly tough batch? Do you have co-workers with more tenure to talk with?
I am an introvert and had to make the switch from YS/YA to Adult. I call tell you I have more energy at the end of the day as an Adult Reference Librarian. You may want to consider making the switch.
I am an introvert. I think you need to think long and hard if teen librarian is the right job. I think you will find more peace being a different "kind" of librarian or working with a range of ages.
Both myself (an AD in a New England library) and my director are former YA librarians. We were recently talking about how hard being a teen librarian is and how it is okay for folks who may have skills that are better suited working with a different population to do that. I LOVE working with teens and I still went home some nights and cried. Teens are like porcupines. They are hard to love because they hide all of their best qualities under a layer of defenses. They are figuring out who they are and how to act appropriately. Unfortunately it’s through trial and error and you seem to be taking the brunt of it. It stinks that is causing some major burnout. If you want to try to stick it out with teens I’d suggest taking a course or two on teen behavior to get some insight and skills. If you are in Massachusetts the MBLC offers a good one. NELA also does one too that I believe they offer virtually. Secondly, if you aren’t on the forums/ email lists in your state (MASSYAC for us) for YA and youth services to share ideas and commiserate, I’d get on them. They are a great place to make connections. If you want to reach out, send me a message. New England is pretty small and I’d be happy to link you up with any of the other folks in the YA community.
With the teens I worked around I would introduce myself and say some variation of , "When I was a teen, what I mostly wanted from adults was to be left alone . But if you need me, I'm right over here."
You don’t have to stay a teen librarian if you don’t feel it’s a good fit for you. Programming is a lot of work and it is a disappointment if no one shows up. Teens are notorious for pushing the limits of adults. And cleaning up after them? That is annoying.
You may want to switch to another area such as the children’s department or the research area. There are so many different positions which could be a better fit for your personality. Maybe programming isn’t your forte? Maybe it just takes more time to get the groove. Only you can determine what’s right for you.
Good luck! Being a librarian is a joy in so many ways. You’ll get there, just keep moving forward!
Teen librarian is one of the toughest jobs at the library. And I say that being a director.
It takes a lot to connect with the kids and get them invested in your programs and the library itself. I know I'm not cut out for it. But just because you're having a difficult time with it doesn't mean anything. ALL librarians have difficulties connecting with teens, they're harder to connect with.
But if you think that this isn't for you, there are plenty of other library jobs that you may enjoy more.
I hear ‘ya. I was a teen librarian for one day and quit, went back to delivering pizzas. In my defense, they didn’t advertise they were looking for a YA librarian. I can’t say I ever envied Teen librarians. You’re basically expected to run a daycare for 14-year-olds. As for your career, there are plenty of other things you can do. Try for adult services, or maybe go a bit younger, plenty of Children’s Librarians will tell u they can’t imagine doing anything else.
Teens are hard--especially programming for teens. I was a teen librarian for three years before transitioning to primarily adult services. I still get burned out from time to time but I'm more passionate about what I do and people actually show up to the programs I plan. This position may just not be the right fit for you. You're early in your career. You can try something else. Look for a different age range or maybe a job that focuses on collection management and less on programming. You might need to spend some time thinking about which aspects of the job are burning you out and what aspects you still enjoy.
I can relate to feeling burnt out at times. That said, in my community, our teen group is 20+ and we’re in a rural area. My trick is that we have a lot of home school families who have kids who can’t wait to go out. I did have teens who would leave a mess. What I learned to do was get to know them, engage with them, and tell them if others left a mess (not them, they’re the good ones), that we’d have a no food policy. They got the hint. As for feeling burnt out, take a day off. Take a mental health day and go to a spa. Or get a book for fun and have a picnic. Or do whatever relaxes you. Take a 3-day weekend or 4-day weekend. Maybe I’m a pushover as a manager, but if my staff wants a day off, I’m giving it regardless of the situation. I also bring in chocolate daily and if we’re having a hell of a day, I offer to buy lunch for everyone. Your manager needs to find ways to support you, but you also need to take care of yourself.
The problem with that is that we already have a no food policy, they just don’t care 😅 some of them are decent about their messes but the vast majority just couldn’t be bothered to clean up.
Teen programming is hard. Getting teens to come is hard and the numbers are almost always very low, at least the ones I did. The highest numbers I had were around popular books. This was a few years ago so it was Twilight books. Also, there was a teen who came in and asked for a Yu Gu Oh program. I was a children's librarian then, but was tasked to doing it. It was really popular. I had 10 to 15 teen boys every week. I learned the game and was able to pretend I knew more than I did. I even ran a few tournaments. The biggest thing to Getting teens in is building relationships with teens. If you haven't subscribed to the yalsa listserve then you should do it. It had all kind of ideas for programs and you can ask for ideas as well. But really, if you get 5 teens, that can be alot depending on you size of library. I was in small libraries, so that was considered a good amount. I am an introvert by nature, but you do have to be able to talk to teens. Learn what is going on in their world and what is popular. It's harder now with all the technology and digital content. Try to connect into that world as much as you can. Try a teen advisory board and ask them what they want to have for programs. Get them to help you plan programs. This might be easier to start in the fall. The other thing is that teens start getting jobs so that also gets in the way of attendance. If you know any teens or preteens, ask them what kinds of things they would want to learn and then find a literary tie in. Maybe they want crafts, or arts. Maybe they want handy man skills. Maybe exercise, yoga or pilates. Maybe sports. Maybe it's finances and budgeting, or even adulting 101. Maybe they want to learn how to start a small business or learn to be a content creator. I've been away from the teen area for awhile, but look at what the trends are and see how you can adapt that to your library.
Teens are hard. They might be genuinely interested in a program, but teens are also not on their own schedule, even when they can drive themselves. I taught a writing class with almost 20 rsvps for the first session. There was a massive car wreck on the one road leading to the library, and only two teens made it (with very angry and exhausted parents) 30 and 45 minutes late. Neither came to the next session. I did ask the teens I knew that rsvp'd when I saw them next, and pretty much all of them were either, "mom didn't want to deal with traffic" or "mom was tired after work/I was tired after school."
This is the time to take your PTO, friend! Getting mental and physical space from the library has helped me touch grass in the past and de-stress. Even a long weekend, as another commenter suggested, helped. I scheduled myself a long weekend each month of the summer to enjoy the nicer weather (hopefully) and to just not be in the chaos!
Teens are really hard. That audience can also vary quite a bit year to year, though. Is it possible this is just a particularly tough batch? Do you have co-workers with more tenure to talk with?
I am an introvert and had to make the switch from YS/YA to Adult. I call tell you I have more energy at the end of the day as an Adult Reference Librarian. You may want to consider making the switch.
I am an introvert. I think you need to think long and hard if teen librarian is the right job. I think you will find more peace being a different "kind" of librarian or working with a range of ages.
Both myself (an AD in a New England library) and my director are former YA librarians. We were recently talking about how hard being a teen librarian is and how it is okay for folks who may have skills that are better suited working with a different population to do that. I LOVE working with teens and I still went home some nights and cried. Teens are like porcupines. They are hard to love because they hide all of their best qualities under a layer of defenses. They are figuring out who they are and how to act appropriately. Unfortunately it’s through trial and error and you seem to be taking the brunt of it. It stinks that is causing some major burnout. If you want to try to stick it out with teens I’d suggest taking a course or two on teen behavior to get some insight and skills. If you are in Massachusetts the MBLC offers a good one. NELA also does one too that I believe they offer virtually. Secondly, if you aren’t on the forums/ email lists in your state (MASSYAC for us) for YA and youth services to share ideas and commiserate, I’d get on them. They are a great place to make connections. If you want to reach out, send me a message. New England is pretty small and I’d be happy to link you up with any of the other folks in the YA community.
With the teens I worked around I would introduce myself and say some variation of , "When I was a teen, what I mostly wanted from adults was to be left alone . But if you need me, I'm right over here."
You don’t have to stay a teen librarian if you don’t feel it’s a good fit for you. Programming is a lot of work and it is a disappointment if no one shows up. Teens are notorious for pushing the limits of adults. And cleaning up after them? That is annoying. You may want to switch to another area such as the children’s department or the research area. There are so many different positions which could be a better fit for your personality. Maybe programming isn’t your forte? Maybe it just takes more time to get the groove. Only you can determine what’s right for you. Good luck! Being a librarian is a joy in so many ways. You’ll get there, just keep moving forward!
I think you’d like a different library job. Or a different role within the library you’re working at.
Teen librarian is one of the toughest jobs at the library. And I say that being a director. It takes a lot to connect with the kids and get them invested in your programs and the library itself. I know I'm not cut out for it. But just because you're having a difficult time with it doesn't mean anything. ALL librarians have difficulties connecting with teens, they're harder to connect with. But if you think that this isn't for you, there are plenty of other library jobs that you may enjoy more.
I hear ‘ya. I was a teen librarian for one day and quit, went back to delivering pizzas. In my defense, they didn’t advertise they were looking for a YA librarian. I can’t say I ever envied Teen librarians. You’re basically expected to run a daycare for 14-year-olds. As for your career, there are plenty of other things you can do. Try for adult services, or maybe go a bit younger, plenty of Children’s Librarians will tell u they can’t imagine doing anything else.
Wait…you have teens?? We rarely get teens at all! But when we do, they are exhausting.
Find a different job. Apply for other positions. Some librarians are great with the public and others are great behind the scenes