Lunch Bunch

Working with your local school system can often be challenging. So when you find something that works, stick with it! One of the programs that we’ve been doing for the last three and a half years is Lunch Bunch, held monthly at our local middle school.   Middle School students can bring their lunch to their media center on the scheduled day of Lunch Bunch to listen to a public librarian talk about new books available at the library, upcoming events, and do a simple craft or activity.

Teen programming has never really been an easy feat in my library. Teens tend to like the lock-ins, but also want volunteer hours.  So this is a great way to reach them.

My part-time librarian, Linda, and I usually alternate going to the middle school for this program and we usually get anywhere from 30-70 students who attend (over the course of four lunch periods, not per lunch!)

The May Lunch Bunch is usually dedicated to talking about volunteering for the summer and to promote our summer reading program.  Many of our teen volunteers are Lunch Bunch alumni.

I have also dedicated entire Lunch Bunch programs to promoting the Garden State Teen Book Awards by book talking the nominees and bringing ballots with me for students to take and to keep in the middle school library.

One thing I learned very quickly is that middle schoolers need very simple crafts. Using scissors and even doing origami are sometimes out of the question.   One craft that worked well were felt locker magnets where we pre-cut the felt using our Ellison machine and then they decorate with wiggle eyes and rhinestones. (Below is a picture of the Husky paw print felt magnet; the husky is the school mascot).

We have also made paper airplanes with the students, but lines were on the paper so they knew where to fold.

For more information on Lunch Bunch, feel free to shoot me an email or check out this article the local newspaper wrote a few years ago!