Three teenagers will have an opportunity to serve as interns this summer at the Great Bend Public Library, thanks to a grant from the Young Adult Library Services Association.
Jennifer King, the YA librarian in Great Bend, was one of 20 recipients of YALSA’s 2015 Summer Teen Intern grant.
The grant will allow libraries to hire teen interns to assist in the implementation of their summer reading/learning programs, while also helping teens gain real world work experience and develop professional skills. While they won’t be paid a salary, they will receive a small stipend, King said. Each grant is worth $1,000.
Great Bend Public Library was the only Kansas library chosen for this grant.
“I’m so excited about it,” King said. She talked to her Teen Advisory Group, TAG, about the grant when she applied.
King said she is still working out the details with the human resources department, but by April 1 she hopes to have applications available for teens to pick up at the library. They will go through an interview and the selected teens will have varying responsibilities at the library.
The grant is possible through sponsorship from The Dollar General Literacy Foundation. For more information about Dollar General and its Youth Literacy Grants, visit www.dollargeneral.com. For more information about YALSA or to access national guidelines and other resources go to www.ala.org/yalsa, or contact the YALSA office by phone, 800-545-2433, ext. 4390; or email: yalsa@ala.org.