National Youth Week is an annual celebration of youth and their active participation in their community. One of the ways that Brampton youth can connect with their community is through the Library’s Teen Leadership Community (aka TLC).

Our Teen Leadership Community groups meet weekly at each of Brampton Library’s 7 branches from September to June to advise the library on what they and other youth would like to see from us. We rely on this youth advisory to let us know what kind of activities and programs they’d like to try out and to help us plan and develop new and exciting offerings from the library.

TLC is also a place for Brampton’s youth to work in a collaborative environment to develop their personal leadership and communication skills. TLC members come to the library from a variety of schools and backgrounds and work together to help the library plan our teen programs and to find ways to give back to the larger Brampton community.

Since September 2018, our TLC groups have: sought out donations for food banks, animal shelters, and organized hat & mitten donation campaigns; visited a retirement home for seniors; picked up litter in their communities; expressed their opinions, shared their time and so much more.

They have also organized library activities like button making, post-it art, paint nights, and Wii gaming. They’ve created and exchanged mini Escape Rooms with one another. They’ve organized debates, movie nights and learned how to use 3D printers and vinyl cutters. They’ve contributed book reviews to the Brampton Guardian and Desi News. They’ve made new friends and learned how to work as a team at their branch.

In their own words, here are some highlights of the past year…

• Being part of TLC has brought joy and opportunities for me.  I have gained knowledge from other volunteers, leadership and collaborative skill by working with people.  Attending TLC has opened doors for me and give the confidence to take risks. Every time I enter the doors to the program room, I feel motivated to express my ideas and the environment is very welcoming.
• We like being TLC members because we do so many interesting and fun activities together. We stepped out of our comfort zones and sang in front of an audience. We began to socialize and make new friends. And it allowed us to expand our horizons and interact with new people allowing us to portray various different skills and learn new things. This helps us as individuals because we succeed and test our abilities. Being a TLC member is a very exciting experience that helps us learn how to cooperate and communicate with different people.
• Learning more about our community
• Meeting new people and making new friends
• Learning new skills and new forms of technology
• Making people’s days brighter

So, as we near the end of the 2018-19 TLC year, we want to make sure that this National Youth Week (and the rest of the year, too!) we’re honouring all the hard work and dedication of our TLC volunteers. You are such bright, caring, open people and we can’t wait to see what you do next!

If you’re interested in joining Brampton Library’s Teen Leadership Community this fall, please complete our volunteer application form online or at your local branch.