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Teen Clothing Swap
by Jennifer Ulmer, Orange County Library System
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Jennifer at the swap. |
During the recent clothing swap, teens brought in gently-used clothing and accessories and swapped them for new-to-them items.
The idea for the swap originated after several staff members attended community swaps aimed at adults. Just within the past year staff who attended adult swaps noticed attendance growing from a handful of people to over a hundred per event. The thought: Why not a swap for teens? Swaps are environmentally-friendly programs...plus what teen isn't interested in getting clothes for free?
The library promoted the swap on Facebook, published it in the monthly newsletter and sent out flyers to all branch locations and to local high schools. Teens left comments on the Facebook event wall, including one volunteer wanting to know if she could help set up and then shop the event. Several parents who saw flyers at branch locations called to find out more information. Between Facebook and the branch promotion there was a lot of buzz for the event. Photos of the swap are posted on the library's Facebook page.
Two staff members, Brittany Nethers and me, planned the event and hosted the program. Library staff brought in items prior to the swap so that enough clothing would be available at the start of the program. Volunteers helped fold and set out the clothing on the tables.  | |
Notice the teen's shopping bag. |
The event was held in the teen area. A banner was hung at the entrance and a small welsome table was set up. Prior to the beginning of the program, four long tables were set up along with some smaller tables from the teen area. Labels were printed for each of the six different clothing categories: tops, jeans, other bottoms, shoes & accessories, dresses and outerwear. As teens came in, they sorted their items onto the tables prior to shopping for themselves. Teens were able to browse at their leisure and leave when they were finished shopping. All of the teens enjoyed the swap, took home some great clothes, and were excited to come back for another swap. After the program, staff bagged up and donated the remaining items. The event was held at 6:00 p.m. on a Thursday night. There were 18 attendees. The program was an opportunity to market other teen library programs. As the teens shopped, staff handed out event calendars and highlighted some upcoming programs. Staff is excited by the success of this event and plan to host another in August to coincide with teens heading back to school. Interested in planning an event? Just email ulmer.jennifer@ocls.info and I'll send you the templates for a banner, table cards and a flyer plus five tips for success that we learned during our first event. | 
Linda Golf, Lake County Library System and 2012 FLYP workshop host, had a unique door prize. She gave one lucky attendee at the February 16 FLYP workshop a five-minute back massage session using her personal "super-awesome massaging machine."