nonfiction/professional development (teen library programming). I liked some of these ideas a lot (bad poetry slam, extreme gingerbread houses, learning to juggle?) but diagrams/photos would be helpful for some of the more complicated things, like the spiral t-shirt scarf varieties. *Probably* an internet search would come up with some more details if needed, but that's not always the case--and if you really want to save me some time and work, you can write up full instruction sheets w/diagrams that I can then copy and pass out.
Certain other tasks, like learning how to make pie crust from scratch, might be pretty frustrating without an expert on hand.

A good resource for your staff development shelf, provided there are multiple staff who'd be able to access it--not sure I'd buy it just for one or two librarians, depending on the librarians. I.e., most of these projects would be a bit too ambitious for someone who also has to manage storytimes and children's programs and school visits and adult programs and volunteers in addition to the usual desk duties, but a dedicated teen librarian with perhaps more staffing help might have no trouble finding the time. It looks like something that would come in handy when one of your introvert teens finally feels comfortable enough to suggest a program idea, and then you've got two months or so to figure out how to make it happen--this book could tell you how to make it work, or probably at least it could point you in the right direction to get started.

The other thing I'd like to note is that some of the projects contain a lot of URLs (which are likely to become obsolete after a couple years or so), so check for a newer edition if one exists, or maybe just borrow it through LINK if you're not sure.


REVISIT (2018): some ideas if you are looking to change up your teen programs, though at this point (having done several years of teen programs that may or may not be tired/worn-out) I can't imagine trying these out. Perhaps if I were less burnt out, or perhaps if I worked with different teens... I was also hoping to get more teen service ideas (since my teens always need hours but rarely volunteer ideas for service projects)--I may just ask some colleagues for ideas to refresh since I didn't pick up much here. ( )