Teenagers made the world a happier place for me yesterday, so I have decided to thank them here!

As a relatively new "real" librarian, a shy-quiet-weird-introverted person, and a perpetually sleepy--despite all the vitamin B-- lazy-bones, I've been having doubts about my ability to show these kids a good time when they come to my library programs. Yesterday was no exception. I arrived at work and began pondering decoration ideas for Teen Read Week. The Teens of the Round Table (a.k.a. the teen advisory group) was scheduled to arrive at 4:30, and I told them we would be decorating, so I had to think of some ideas quickly! An hour later, I had a giant sheet of black butcher paper, shoddily cut into my interpretation of a black doorway-vortex to another dimension with the words "Read Beyond Reality" glued to the top. Would this masterpiece appeal to teens? More doubts bubbled to the surface.

Remembering how teens enjoyed stealing the kiddy coloring papers we made available at SRP kickoff, I decided to pass out the crayons and some paper, and ask them to make drawings that represent their favorite Beyond Reality books. Thank goodness, they LOVED this activity! Everyone had a book in mind, and hilarity ensued while they made fun of each other's crayon renderings and trash talked Twilight. When they settled down enough to walk through the library, we stapled the shoddy vortex to the wall in the Teen Lounge, and on top, we displayed all the awesome crayon art. On the way out, everyone danced quietly, obeying my request that they keep the volume down.

So far, the teen area doesn't exactly look cutting-edge for Teen Read Week. The vortex is really a figment of my imagination: I'm sure it just looks like a giant sheet of black butcher paper to the uninformed eye. Despite these facts, I am so happy that the Teens of the Round Table finally had a 100 percent successful meeting. Maybe the key to boosting my librarian energy isn't more vitamin B, but just a little more teen time every day.