Local teens are encouraged to take advantage of a wide range of great services and collections offered at all branches of the library. Such includes a popular collection of books and graphic novels, as well as a great digital collection to support our print resources. Additionally, young adults may take advantage of specialized programs including movie showings, fandom clubs, Dungeons & Dragons gaming, the annual Lib-Con festivities and more. Learn more about our teen department.

Regular Programs & Services for Teens

Your Abilene Public Library offers a wide range of programs and events for teens to take advantage of. All programming offered is provided free of charge and the library will supply any materials needed during events.

Below you will find a listing of the types of events we host on a regular basis.  Remember, to see all of our offerings, visit our Events Calendar Online for the current month's lineup.

Coding & Technology Sessions

All locations have access to a mobile lab of laptops and a host of educational tools to help teens in learning the ins & outs of coding and electronics. Youth staff regularly hosts workshops at each location to get teens hands-on with a host of fun items including Cue Bots, Ozobots, Snap Circuits, and more. Through the use of these, teens will learn how to code robots to perform functions and make simple electronics that run and work based on set patterns.

Craft Sessions

Crafting is our most popular activity to offer across all library locations. It's just not for youth as teens love getting hands-on with various projects too. All materials are supplied for each craft activity and youth staff will walk youth through the steps of making them from start to finish. Popular projects have included painting murals, making fake scars, creating temporary tattoos, making spray paint, and so much more.

Educational Workshops

Teens are in a great transition in their lives as they grow older into young adulthood, leaving the nest, and entering the world on their own be it college or directly into the the workforce. The library offers teens the chance to engage in workshops to help them prepare for adulthood including resume workshops, finding jobs, going through interviews, and more. Although not hosted on a frequent basis, the library schedules them as needed or requested.

Gaming Sessions

Your library is also a great place for teens to get their game on.  Your library houses many gaming consoles including the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 4, XBox, and more, plus we also have a host of traditional board games and card games too.  Although not hosted as frequently as other programming, we do have events that focus on teens coming out to just have youth come out to have a little fun with friends, including a frequent Dungeons & Dragons gaming club.

Lib-Con @ Your Library

This is one of the premier annual events targeting teens and young adults in the community. It's a mini-con at the library where we host a ton of events including panel discussions, contests, craft sessions, a cosplay contest, gaming sessions, escape rooms and more all celebrating all who love anime, comics, superheroes, fandoms, manga, and more!

Movie Showings

Your library has a movie license to be able to show hit movies from the past and present at all locations. Movie sessions are hosted for teens and adults on a regular basis showing the movies you wouldn't mind watching again. There's no need to buy a ticket as admission is free, so just get your friends together, feel free to bring outside food and drinks to the movie showings, and enjoy a movie outing that certainly won't hurt your wallets.

Tween Activities

As youth get older, we offer tween activities to help them better transition to teen program offerings. These include coding and technology-related activities such as working with our Cue Bots, Snap Circuits, and Ozobots, learning basic coding on our mobile lab, 3D Printing, and a host of more technically sophisticated activities designed for growing youth.

Volunteering

All library branches offer teens a chance to get involved in what your library is doing by serving as volunteers. You must be at least 16-years-old to volunteer and help is needed in a variety of areas including shelf-reading our library stacks, assisting at programming, prepping materials for programs, and more. For more information, feel free to visit our Volunteer Page.