Club Programs for Teens: 101 Activities for the Entire Year. By Amy J. Alessio and Heather Booth. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2015. 192 p. Paper $49.00 (ISBN: 978-0-8389-1334-5).

Club Programs for Teens is a fun, informative book that provides a variety of options for librarians who are interested in creating “club” programs for their teens—programs that occur regularly and appeal to teens with common interests. The authors base the idea of clubs around the fact that some teen librarians are experiencing increasing program numbers and a lack of resources to manage those growing numbers. One valid reason for focusing on club programs is that many teens today are busy with overbooked schedules, so offering library programs that occur regularly at the same time each week or month will help them remember to attend. But the authors miss the mark when they imply that the “problem” of large program numbers can be fixed by offering more focused club programs. This is not a solution for libraries whose teens who will come to anything.

The introduction gives tips on how to build clubs and develop them over time, as well as how to proceed when they stop working. The authors rightly criticize the attitude often expressed by teen librarians: “I tried a teen group for a while, but no one came, so I canceled it”; they point out that teen programming requires “constant feedback and adjustment” (xvii). The book itself is organized around thirteen types of clubs, including those focusing on reading, crafting, fitness, entertainment, food, fashion, science, and more. Within the individual chapters are ideas for various activities, along with shopping lists of materials, instructions getting started, and ideas for expanding the club’s activities online. Some favorite program suggestions include self-defense basics, a decades-of-dance moves party, “Color a Smile” (coloring pictures to be sent to people who need a pick-me-up), a mashup of board games (using old parts of classic games to create a new game), and a squishy circuits programs. The book offers several activities to choose from, in both the “very affordable” category and the “will cost a little bit” category. Overall, many of these programs will appeal to teens with a variety of interests. I recommend this book for librarians who are interested in spicing up their teen programs.—Lindsey Tomsu, Teen Coordinator, La Vista Public Library, La Vista, Nebraska