80+ attendees, including public librarians and library specialists, school librarians, and teens, joined speakers Lori Droege with Pioneers in Violence Prevention (Green Dot Bystander Intervention) and Lauren Litton with Revive Civility for the 7th annual Take 5 event at the Loudonville Public Library, May 4, 2018.
This day of listening, sharing, and experiencing took the theme For Teens, With Teens. Participants enjoyed an Activity Fair full of hands-on/experiential learning and networking opportunities, including drones, virtual reality, crafts, an attendee-led poster session, library tours, and a visit with a service dog in training with 4 Paws For Ability. The nearby Cleo Redd Fisher Museum of the Mohican Historical Society was open to Take 5 attendees for docent-led tours.
A World Café session invited attendees to enter into dialogue around timely questions and to report out from small groups to the entire assembly.
Throughout the event, participants were encouraged to consider ways to support, protect, and empower the teens with whom they work.
In keeping with the “For Teens, With Teens” theme, the planning team invited several teens to attend. This is the first time that teens have attended Take 5 (though several previous Take 5 events have included teens as part of the planning/set-up process).
The teens actively participated in the Green Dot and Revive Civility sessions, Activity Fair, and World Café dialogue. Then they finished the day in the spotlight, as a panel, to share their wisdom on having an impact and making positive change – and how adults can support and facilitate without being in the way. Their advice included:
- Libraries can help teens with mental health issues by creating safe spaces, with tools to help with coping skills.
- Meaningful support is people giving up time to help others.
- Librarians can best serve teens by being positive and engaging, finding ways to include all age groups (children through elders) in programs to help build respect, treating teens as individuals instead of as a stereotypical group, and listening.
Many thanks to teen panelists Alex, Ava, Ben, and Jenn, and to tween Activity Fair presenter Jaren for taking the time to join us and inspire us to be helpful, relevant, supportive, respectful, and collaborative!
Downloads and links
- Lori Droege’s presentation, Pioneers in Violence Prevention (PDF, 2.3MB)
- What’s with Green Dot? flyer (PDF, 387KB)
- Responding to Disclosures of Abuse helpsheet from RAINN (PDF, 125KB)
- Lauren Litton’s presentation, Building Connections & Opportunities through Civil Discourse (PDF, 5.3MB)
- The Election Effect – Videos and Discussion Guide
- Video: Make Calls, Not Comments
- Revive Civility Ohio flyer (PDF, 313KB)
- Text, Talk, Revive Civility (PDF, 196KB) – script for text messaging activity to enhance civil discourse and listening skills in middle and high school students
Also find discussion and training guides, activities, infographics and other tools to promote respect, empathy, and positive dialogue on the Revive Civility website.
Visit the Take 5 Facebook page for photos and commentary from Take 5: For Teens, With Teens.
Speaker bios
Lori Droege has been working with teens to prevent violence for the last 7 years in Kentucky. She believes in the power of our choices and individual actions, the power of stories, and the power of a really good cookie.
Lauren Litton is a social justice consultant and serves as the Ohio Coordinator of NICD’s Initiative to Revive Civility. For more than 20 years, she has worked on human rights issues in capacities ranging from legal advocacy, public policy analysis, and provision of technical assistance and training. Lauren has helped transform some of the most complex and change-resistant institutions despite entrenchment in antiquated ideas and legal structures.
Deanna Pina (World Café facilitator) is the Continuing Education Coordinator for SWON Libraries Consortium in Cincinnati, OH. She achieved her MSLS from the University of Kentucky in 2016 with a focus on youth services. She’s worked in and around public libraries for more than 5 years with an emphasis on bringing quality programs to teens and new adults. When she isn’t at the library, she enjoys playing D&D and reading graphic novels.
Support
This event was made possible by our host site, Loudonville Public Library, and by the Take 5: For Teens, With Teens planning team:
Luke Bentley, Chillicothe-Ross County Public Library
Laura Hanby, Pickerington Public Library
Janet Ingraham Dwyer, State Library of Ohio
Valerie Laukhuf, Putnam County District Library
Sharon Leali, Jackson City Library
Amanda Marquart, Greene County Public Library
Steve Moser, Dayton Metro Library
Mary Anne Nichols, The iSchool at Kent State University
Deanna Pina, SWON Libraries
Missy Rivera, Anna City Schools
Mandy R. Simon, State Library of Ohio
Ruby Smart, Chillicothe – Ross County Public Library
Evan T. Struble, State Library of Ohio
Tracy Thomas, Louisville Free Public Library (KY)
Jennifer Wiezbiski, Columbus Metropolitan Library
Kristin Wilson, Loudonville Public Library
This event was also supported in part by federal Institute of Museum and Library Services funds, granted through the State Library of Ohio.