The Very Busy Spider

I've been trying to update about my programs as they happen, but this week has been super busy.  Monday went well, with about 15 teens coming to hang out and/or play D&D all day.  They actually really buckled down and played--usually there's a fair amount of wandering the library, but it seems that the most serious players were the ones who showed up for the marathon.   I left them in one conference room while I hung out in the other with the ladies, who proposed a new club based on an idea I had a while ago.  They have been discouraged by Anime Club lately, and want something a little broader.  I told them, jokingly, that we should just have a Nerd Club for all nerdy teens to gather and geek out.  They ran with it, and created a FB event for The Especially Great Club for Geeks and gave it the following description:

"This is a club for nerds and geeks of all kinds! Whether you're into anime, comics, video games, or British television; we want you here.
Bring your friends! There will be contests, trivia, and many more fun activities. Yes, there will be food. (Feel free to bring your own beverages and snacks. The more the merrier!)"

The club had their first meeting Wednesday, since I had already booked the auditorium for that evening.  From 4-6 about 20 teens hung out eating chips and playing Apples to Apples while this video played on a loop.  Sometimes the teens really just need a space, and they really will make their own fun.  It's so important to give them some breathing room--many of my programs are pretty unstructured, because I've found that when I expect them to sit down and do something specific they often lose interest pretty quickly. 

I had the auditorium reserved for Wednesday evening because it was supposed to be Young Adult Trivia Night.   I have started doing "Young Adult" programs (for ages 18-29) at the request of the people who USED to be teens but have since grown up.  Unfortunately, they haven't been as popular as I'd have hoped.  I ended up opening trivia night up to all ages, and a lively group of about a dozen teens and young adults had a great time.

TRIVIA NIGHT SPECIFICS:
We play pub style.  Usually 8-10 rounds, with 3 questions in each round.  I ask a question, and they write down the answer on a slip of paper and assign it either 1, 2, or 3 points.  You can only use each point value once per round.  They have the length of one song to answer the question and bring me the paper.  Simple!  I write the questions myself and try to use a wide variety of topics.  It is important that you tell them before you start that they have to put their phones away, or one team will raaaather suspiciously know that the 13th president was Millard Fillmore.