Beth Kairush, Teen Advisory Board
Coordinator
Back row, left to right: Himanshu Biradar, Rachel Graham, Erin Banda, Sakina Goawala, Madison Mollico,
Jacob Schoeler, and Gretchen Gramm
Front row, left to right: Brant Purcell, Atharv Bhave, Donnie Finney, Rebecca Gramm, and Attikin Rothacher
Not pictured: Keegan Adreon, Esmee de Cortie, Karli Lutton, Henry Mongrain, Kayla Ruslavage, Angela
Rusnak, and Rachel Trossman.
Frank Sarris Public Library
Teen Advisory Board
T
he Teen Advisory Board (TAB) at the Frank Sarris Public Library is
comprised of 19 students, from four schools, in grades 8 - 12 who
are interested in making a difference at their library and in their
community. TAB members plan, organize and lead activities that will
engage and benefit library patrons and members of our community.
Their activities and events can be fun, educational or service related and
they can be for anyone of any age. Typically, the TAB meets monthly at
the library. When planning an activity, however, meetings may be more
frequent. As the coordinator, my role is to encourage, guide and support
the students while allowing them the freedom to use their creativity,
interests and excitement to drive the group.
Two of our TAB members, Gretchen Gramm and Attikin Rothacher,
established Page Turners, a high school book club. The book club met
monthly during the summer and now meets every other month at the
library during the school year. Club members suggest books they are
interested in reading and vote to select their next book. The titles read by
the club to date include “The Princess Bride,” “The Book Thief” and “Uncle
Tom’s Cabin.” For the December meeting, they are reading “All the Light
We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr.
On October 29, the TAB members held a Halloween Bash at the library.
Left to right: Attikin Rothacher and
Gretchen Gramm.
There was a large turnout even with the unseasonably warm day. Bats
were hung, a cemetery was erected and spiders spun their webs
throughout the second floor of the library. Halloween revelers tried
their hands at witch hat ring toss, pumpkin patch bean bag toss, a
spider web walk and mummy bowling. At eight stations, children
were able to create monster puppets, bookmarks, skeleton necklaces
and other Halloween crafts. Over 70 pumpkins were painted that day!
While rotating through the craft stations and games, attendees could
stop by the Storytime room for a snack or visit our gross body part
station complete with squishy eyeballs, teeth, intestines and more.
Costumes abounded and we had approximately 60 entries in the
costume contest. Prizes were awarded for 12 categories, such as Best
Homemade, Best Community Hero, Cutest, etc. Children also
participated in a scavenger hunt on the second floor, looking for
Halloween-themed pictures.
The TAB members were excited to have their first event as a group
under their belt and they are looking forward to their next activity!
For more information about TAB or the Page Turners book club,
contact Beth Kairush at 724.745.1308 or email her at
[email protected].
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