Teens, I’m aware that many of you will be heading back to school in the very near future. I’m excited for you! But, I’m also sad. I will miss seeing you at the library when your busy back-to-school lives take over. My first instinct is to encourage you to quit school, reject all of your extracurricular obligations, and free up your schedule for more library visits. Unfortunately, such a suggestion is slightly out of alignment with my professional conscience, so that is NOT my advice to you today. Go to school, everybody!
Before I get to my real (unsolicited) advice for you, allow me a moment to reminisce about this summer. So many of you participated in our 2026 “Plant a Seed, Read!” Summer Reading Program and it was so much fun. You made stuff in our Teen Makers’ Labs, read in our Teen Summer Book Club, played in our Smiley Gamers’ Society Video Game Tournament, created in our Teen Summer Reading Challenge, wrote in our Teen Writers’ Club, earned community service with our Teen Volunteer Summer Squad, and more. We’ve loved having you around!
Here’s my advice: you should keep coming to the library. The library is open year-round! The library is a wonderful place to study! Nothing will get you in the zone better than these 128-year-old walls. Think of all the scholars who have sat at these tables! Brain vapors abound.
We have air conditioning!
We offer free things all the time: books, video games, eBooks, magazines, and more for checkout, access to reliable databases for homework, events, activities, and clubs to get your creative juices flowing, and more. Our goal in life is to support you in meaningful ways that honor your individuality and show off your importance to our library community. We hope that every time you enter, you feel simultaneously energized and valued and inspired.
Is this asking too much from 128-year-old walls? We don’t think so. So, keep coming to the library (AFTER school…no need to quit school, let me reiterate). Check the teens’ page of our website for all of our upcoming events (www.akspl.org/teens) or follow us on Instagram at akspl_teens.
And what is an (unsolicited) advice column from a librarian without a book recommendation? Here goes…
My latest favorite is a Young Adult title that may already be on your radar: “Better Than the Movies,” by Lynn Painter. The book was published in 2021, but it’s consistently checked out so I’m just finally getting my hands on it. If you love rom-coms (like the protagonist of this book), you will fall head over heels for this book. Liz (the aforementioned protagonist) loves love stories. It’s something she inherited from her mom, the biggest rom-com fan of all time. After her mom dies, it’s the one thing that keeps Liz feeling connected—watching all of her mom’s favorite movies feels like a hug…and kind of becomes Liz’s personality.
So imagine twelfth-grade Liz’s excitement when her real life starts morphing into one of the movies she’s so obsessed with. Her fifth-grade crush moves back to town and she’s convinced this is her shot at a happy ending. But she’ll need help from her insufferable neighbor to get the romance rolling. Liz can scheme with the best of them, but will she become the leading lady in the love story she’s always dreamed of?
Of course, I can’t tell you. One, because I haven’t finished the book. And two, because I want you to have yet another reason to come to the library. See you here (after school, of course)!
Kristina Naftzger is a Youth Services librarian at A.K. Smiley Public Library, where she genuinely enjoys being around her patrons.