Every month, a group of teens gathers after hours at the Coralville Public Library. Known as the Teen Advisory Board, they volunteer and plan events like the summer reading program. The TAB opens up a door to new opportunities and provides its members with a sense of connection to the community and each other.

Karen Stierler serves as the advisor of the board and has been working with it since its beginning around three decades ago. She believed in the importance of having teen voices at the library and gathered a small group of teens who liked to hang out at the library.

Now, multiple West High students are part of the TAB. Some are new to the board, but others have been a part of the planning and community work for up to six years. Their reasons for joining range from older siblings and a love of the library to a lack of similar programs where they grew up.

At their December meeting, the TAB gift-wrapped books to give out at the community meal on Friday, Dec. 8, hosted by the Coralville Community Food Pantry. With the $1,000 donated by Friends of the Library, the board bought books to hand out a couple of days before. 

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Karen Stierler

Members of the TAB went and bought books to hand out to kids at the community meal.

The TAB runs many events throughout the year like this that are fun for them to host and allow kids and teens to connect.

“I ran this really cool [event] last summer where we made band instruments from junk and then we made music. I really like getting kids together who don’t know each other and [are from] different grades and just have fun,” said Carly Ephraim ‘24.

Arguably, the most important thing the TAB does is organize the Summer Reading Program. Open to people of all ages, the program encourages people to read through fun activities and prize offerings. There are also a lot of events that often go with the theme of the program that year, such as craft workshops and movie nights.

The board is in charge of planning those events that are offered as a part of the program. While taking on a big responsibility like this is scary at first, all of the programs they’ve planned have been successful.

One of the events offered is a book talk, which is hosted by Grace Bartlett ’24.

“I always run the book talk program every year which is just like, people come and I bring my favorite books and I talk about them and people like bring their like favorite books and talk about them … that’s like my favorite event.”

Another one of their recent projects was a hygiene drive. With a $250 grant, the TAB purchased supplies for the drive and the library had donations open to the general public. After the drive was over, all of the supplies were taken to the Coralville Community Food Pantry.

Volunteering at the food pantry is the highlight of multiple members’ experiences with the board. “It really makes you see like how much need there is in the community and it makes you feel a lot more connected to your community,” said Aahana Gupta ‘27.

Along with volunteering at the food pantry, the board has also done things such as making tie blankets for homeless children and giving books to the Ronald McDonald House. They end their year of hard work with a holiday party, where they have a potluck and play capture the flag in the dark.

The TAB accepts applications in June and July and is open to teens in grades 7 through 12. To apply, you can go pick up a paper application from the library or find the online application on the library’s website when the application is open.