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07/26/2023 08:30 AMBeing a teenager can be a very confusing time. It is a time when people are discovering who they are, what their interests are, and where they belong. Some of them may find that their place is at the North Haven Memorial Library. That’s when one of its librarians, Emily Tomlin, is there to help.
“There are a lot of kids that play sports, a lot of kids that have their clubs at school, but then there are some kids that really just find their place at the library, and I feel like it’s my job to be here for those kids.”
Emily was previously a librarian in the same department at a library in her hometown in New Jersey but found that the library in North Haven was offering a position for its first-ever teen librarian.
“I wanted to find a full-time position somewhere else, where I could move out of my hometown and start a new department and bring teen services to a different town,” says Emily. “I found this library was hiring their first ever teen librarian…It was a good opportunity, and so far, it’s worked out.”
Emily says she was interested in working in teen services because she feels she can identify with them.
“I want to be an advocate for teenagers because not a lot of people are. So if I can do little by little to help let teams develop into the world, I think that’s important,” she says.
Emily says it can be tricky but interesting to find ways to connect with and provide services to the teen demographic, partly because they are in “the gray area of like figuring out who they are, figuring out what they like, who their friend group is.”
“But when you find someone who really can benefit from your programming or if you find that you have someone who’s really interested, it’s really rewarding.”
Emily describes her usual day at the library, which consists of taking the lead in all things teen-related, from making the department look good to creating programming.
“Typically, I’ll come in and I will kind of go through our books and straighten everything, make sure everything’s good to go for the day. I set up a lot of the programming for our teenagers. I am in charge of our summer reading programs.”
She says the “huge” aspect of teen-oriented activities at the library includes its volunteer programs, which she is constantly looking to expand. The programs bring in students from North Haven High School in need of fulfilling community service hours.
“I’m working on giving them more opportunities to do that. Along the way, I also like to make sure that they’re getting enough leadership experience and they’re also trying to explore things that they’re interested in. I want them to feel like they are connected to the library with something that is in their wheelhouse, but also that they’re coming to the library and getting experience for the future.”
One program Emily started at the library was the Teen Advisory Board, which gives teens a platform to talk about the ways they can “help make the library a better place for their friends. She invites teens to help out with the planning of future programs at the library, prepare for special events, and to bridge any gaps between the middle and high schools.
She is also a resource for social media promotion of the teen department and new reading and audiobook recommendations to which teens can relate. The heavy presence of teens on social media platforms inspires Emily to suggest they use digital applications to listen to audiobooks, while physical book recommendations could include current reads that are popular with the demographic for reasons related to other media.
“[They] are constantly requesting anything that was turned into some sort of show or movie on Netflix. The Heartstopper series is always going away; I keep trying to find copies of it to put out on display, but they’re just always gone. Shadow and Bone, which was also turned into a show on Netflix, [and] all of the Jenny Han books like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, those ones are really popular.”
Even older series that were turned into visual media, such as the Twilight series, are still proving to be popular with teens in North Haven, says Emily.
When it comes to her favorite authors, Emily is a fan of Mackenzi Lee, who has also written books that have a film or series presentation. They include literary tellings on the lives of Marvel Comics characters Loki, Gamora, and Nebula.
“I always recommend those types of things to teens because it’s not something totally new to them. They kind of know the characters already, and then hopefully, it gets them more into reading,” she says.