Teen Summer Library Program

by Heather Miller, Homewood Public Library

Libraries all around Jefferson County are rockin’ this summer with fabulous programming for young adults in grades 6-12. Homewood Library is kicking off its summer on June 1 with radio station personalities Tuttle and Kline from 107.7 FM the X and a live remote broadcast from the library parking lot. The Hoover Library is hosting a Battle of the Bands for local teen bands. The free concert will be on June 5, but teen bands need to get their demo tape and application in by May 15 to be considered for the final concert. Are you a singer without a band? You can karaoke your heart out at the Bessemer Library. Are you more of a dancer than a singer? Drop by the Five Points West Library to see the M.A.D. Skillz dance performance. If you’ve gotten tired of your old books and CDs but can’t afford to buy new ones, look out for Springville Road Library’s CD and Book Swap.

It’s not all about music this summer. Ride Skateboards will be doing demonstrations at Bessemer, Homewood, Hoover, and other libraries around the county. The Five Points West Library will have a creative scrapbooking workshop and will also show movies each week. Come by the Springville Road Library and have airbrush tattoo artist Matthew Renda create a masterpiece on you. The Homewood Library is having a Monopoly tournament and a no-bake snack workshop. The Leeds-Jane Culbreth Library has booked the McWane Center to do an interactive crime scene program where you solve the crime…plus a self-defense class taught by local police officers. Join the Leeds and the Sloss Furnaces staff to share the history and supernatural tales of the Birmingham landmark.

Of course, reading is always a big part of every library’s summer programming.  While you’re enjoying books such as Tribute to Another Dead Rock Star by Randy Powell and The Rose That Grew From Concrete by Tupac Shakur, or even one of those books your school is requiring you to read over the summer, keep in mind that reading can earn you incentives at some libraries. Like at the Homewood Library, where you will be able to enter weekly drawings based on the amount of time you read each week. At other libraries reading can put you on the guest list for the grand finale of the summer. At the Hoover Library, for instance, reaching a set reading goal gets you a ticket to a sock hop complete with a DJ, airbrush tattoo artist Matthew Renda, and Elvis - who will be available for photos.

Most Jefferson County libraries’ summer library programs end in July, but not without one final blast. In addition to Hoover’s sock hop, Bessemer will be hosting it’s annual bingo and pizza party, Leeds will have its annual scavenger hunt, and Homewood will have a DJ spinning today’s hit music while participants compete for prizes and snack on goodies.

Any public library you visit this summer will be rockin’ while you are readin’! Whether it’s good reading or good times, you’ll find them at your local public library this summer.