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Unsurprisingly, this month's searches of #yalibrarian, #schoollibrarian, and #teenlit turn up two main themes: Teen Read Week and Halloween. I sought a sub-theme that could neatly demonstrate passive programming, but it felt forced. Instead of fabricating a unifying theme of the week, I decided to zoom out and identify some October trends.

• Displays are easy and plentiful in October

Between Teen Read Week and Halloween, teen services librarians and library workers easily come up with some of the most creative displays of the year. Fall is also a prevalant theme. Additionally, book awards begin announcing finalists (hello National Book Awards) that can be incorporated into displays.

• Book talks - also easy

"Easy" meaning "lots of bookish ideas to work with". (If you are like me and get stage fright, book talks are always a *gulp* moment and never "easy".) Summer blockbusters are finished and we are approaching the season of franchise and Oscar-bait films. Considering how many book-to-film adaptations just left theaters, are in theaters, or coming-soon, librarians and library workers are more likely to find a common ground with teens. I tried pushing The Martian several times in the past, with marginal success. Now, it can't stay on the shelf.

• Passive and active programming - plenty of options for both

The school I work for does not allow for tons of "active" programming time. There are challenging months that don't mesh well with passive programs. However, the features of October mentioned above allow for creative passive programming ideas. If you are a school librarian with little time for active programming, or October is too busy for involved programs, peruse the Instagram posts below for excellent passive program ideas.

I hope your October was busy and fun. Please share your programs and book displays/talks below!

A brief look at 'grams of interest to engage teens and librarians navigating this social media platform.

The week of Sunday, October 18 through Saturday, October 24 marked YALSA's 2015 Teen Read Week. With a "Get Away @ your library" theme, libraries were encouraged to showcase resources and activities to the teen community and support reading for fun. This year's theme was selected to "help teens escape from the day to day grind of school, homework, family responsibilities, part time jobs and so on by picking up something to read." Started in 1998, Teen Read Week is held every October to encourage teen reading and library use.

From author visits and in-house or social media contests to book giveaways and food, libraries spotlighted a number of creative ways to bring teens into the library. Maintaining connections with current teen library users and reaching out to new, potential users through both physical and digital library channels is important in light of comparisons provided in The Future of Library Services for and with Teens report. Whereas youth participation in libraries was previously a formal library-driven activity to gain feedback on collections or space, the envisioned future of youth participation is much more flexible and informal, with all teens in both the physical and digital library space receiving an opportunity to develop, implement, and evaluate programs and services. Encouraging teens to engage in the library events such as Teen Read Week may be the perfect way to gain insight from those hard to reach teens!

Did you celebrate Teen Read Week at your library? We want to hear from you! Share with us in the comments section below.

For more information on Teen Read Week, please visit the Teen Read Week website.

More information on the envisioned future of youth participation in libraries, please see The Future of Library Services for and with Teens report.

[View the story "Instagram of the Week - October 26" on Storify]

A brief look at 'grams of interest to engage teens and librarians navigating this social media platform.

Banned Books Week kicked off yesterday, Sunday, September 27 and Instagram users are posting photos in celebration of their fREADom to read. Running from September 27 through Saturday, October 3, this year's Banned Books Week focuses on young adult books. It may be easy to call to mind cases of challenged books and censorship that made their way to media outlets, but both the YALSA wiki and the American Library Association's Challenges to Library Materials page remind us that a challenge can also include a patron expressing concern over an item or requesting that it be shelved in another collection. YALSA's The Future of Library Services for and with Teens report lists intellectual freedom as one of the core values librarians should hold as they protect the rights of teens to access information and educate the community about intellectual freedom.

Are you doing something to celebrate Banned Books Week? Book lists, displays, games, posters? We want to know! Share with us in the comments section below.

For more information on Banned Books week, please visit the Banned Books Week website and this year's ALA press release which discusses the focus on young adult books.

For more information on intellectual freedom, please visit the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom webpage.

A brief look at 'grams of interest to engage teens and librarians navigating this social media platform.

As a school librarian, I cannot resist the opportunity to feature a "snapshot" of school libraries across the country in the midst of the opening weeks of the 2015/16 school year. I remain hopeful that this will be an exciting year for school libraries. This week's storify montage features makerspaces, exciting academic tech, and various types of literacies (research, reading, digital, media, etc.). Exploring what other school librarians are up to can help inform your own 2015/16 school year goals. Do you want to take your makerspace to the next level? Establish more collaborative relationships with teachers? Incorporate yourself into an oft elusive discipline? Up fiction reading? Amp up your book club? Revitalize research literacy instruction? Establish self-checkout? Create a lego wall?

Sometimes it's hard to see the opportunities available in the school library because of budget and staffing issues; however, I challenge all school librarians (including myself) to choose a small innovation that can be achieved regardless of available money, time, or man power. If you need ideas, check out some of these resources to get started: AASL Best Websites for Teaching and Learning and Maker Ed Tools & Materials. Please leave your ideas, goals, and questions in the comments. And of course, good luck this year!

A brief look at 'grams of interest to engage teens and librarians navigating this social media platform.

While the most popular of public library summer programs, Summer Reading/Learning is only one of many activities that benefits and serves teen communities. Tapping into the various motivations within your own teen community are crucial to creating and implementing a well-received passive or active teen program. Are there other creative and publicly available spaces in your community, or does your library provide the only opportunity for free creative exploration? Does your library serve teens who seek to advance themselves academically during the summer months? Is there an independent maker space in your town or city, or is the library the sole source of maker activities? Do the teens in your community attend magnet schools or schools with advanced tech programs? Do those schools offer opportunities for summer tech projects, or does the library have a unique opportunity to provide the space and tools for coding, movie-making, and more? Exploring what teens already have free access to (and use!) and identifying what service and material/supply vacuums exist in your wider community will teen services librarians create and implement effective programming.

What research do you do before implementing a new program or innovating an existing program? Do you research other offerings in your town/city to prevent overlap or identify potential collaborative opportunities? How does the summer closure of schools affect programming opportunities in your pulic library? Please discuss in the comments below!

For more information, please see the Summer Reading/Learning section of the YALSA wiki, as well as the YALSA Teen Programming Guidelines.

A brief look at 'grams of interest to engage teens and librarians navigating this social media platform.

My school celebrates the conclusion of another school year with graduation tomorrow (by the time this is posted, it will be "last Friday"!). We have been celebrating our teens all week with awards, farewells, yearbooks, and more. Since I am in the celebratory mood, I thought it would be appropriate to close the academic calendar with a celebration of teen contribution to their libraries. We know that teens contribute in a myriad ways, but one of my personal favorites is with artwork and crafts. Nothing livens up a school library or teen section of the public library more than art created by the very teens we serve.

How is teen art incorporated into your space? Is it commissioned through official programs and their participants, or is it a casual collection of work given by various teens? If you are looking for new ways to incorporate teen art into your space, look at the 'grams below for ideas and inspiration. If you have a fun and creative way to get teens (and their art!) into the library, please share in the comments!