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Great Expectations for At-Risk Teens

For at-risk teenagers, finding books that recreate their life experiences can be a challenge. When a teen is exposed to drugs and crime, is doing time in a detention home or has parents who are incarcerated, many of the popular young adult titles just don’t cut it.

But, regardless of a person’s background, veteran librarian Mike Mabe observes that all teens “Want to feel things, they want to do things.” Knowing this, Mike—along with the American Library Association and libraries across the country—is dedicated to bringing relevant and meaningful books into the lives of at-risk kids.

A Great Club in Virginia

To make sure underserved, at-risk teens have access to relevant books, the American Library Association (ALA) started the Great Stories CLUB in 2006. A reading and discussion program, the Great Stories CLUB is trying to show this special population what many already know—that aside from just being an enjoyable thing to do, reading can be a tool for self-exploration and a meaningful way to connect to the wider world.

Library director Mike Mabe leads a book club for at-risk teens in Chesterfield County, Virginia.

Photo courtesy of the Chesterfield County Public Library

Mike has been a librarian for more than 30 years, and since 2002, has been the director of the public library in Chesterfield County, Virginia. In 2002, four years before the ALA’s Great Stories CLUB program launched, he started a book club for young people doing time at the county’s juvenile detention home. Mike had led book clubs for troubled teens before coming to Chesterfield, so he knew firsthand of the importance of reaching this population.

Over the years, the book club has become one of the most popular programs at the home. Good behavior and a sincere interest in participating in the discussion earns teens the right to participate.

The club, which meets about once a month at the detention home, discusses a new book at each meeting. Recommendations from staff at his library and Mike’s own knowledge of young adult literature guides the choice of books. When the library was accepted to participate in the Great Stories CLUB program in 2006, Mike started incorporating those selections.

Making Connections

Because club members vary from meeting to meeting, Mike begins each session by introducing himself and setting expectations for the group. After that, the group proceeds just like any other other book club—they read passages from the book, talk about the characters and discuss key parts of the story.

Discussing the characters’ choices helps the teens reason out actions and consequences. By having access to relevant and meaningful books, the teens can reflect on what their life might be like if they continue on a certain path, or find inspiration to make changes. At the very least, the teens might relate to a character in the story, proving they’re not alone in life’s challenges.

Mike ends each club meeting by telling the group a personal story from his own life. As a librarian, Mike knows the power of storytelling and says he’s heard from teens that it’s often his personal story that helps tie everything together and helps the story’s message sink in.

Because teens move out of the detention home just as quickly as they come in, Mike can’t say what has become of many of his former book club members. Even though he spends only a short amount of time with many of the teens, he still tries to make an impact. According to Mike, if the teens “make a sincere commitment to apply what they’ve learned to their own situations,” then he knows that the program has made an impact.