{"id":88011,"date":"2025-07-24T13:32:50","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T18:32:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=88011"},"modified":"2025-07-24T13:33:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T18:33:42","slug":"tabs-program-allows-teens-to-build-community-and-creativity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=88011","title":{"rendered":"TABs program allows teens to build community and creativity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>By LAURA DANIEL<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Hays Public Library is empowering local teens to take charge and give back through its dynamic Teen Advisory Board (TABs) program. Meeting twice a month\u2014on the first and third Thursdays at 5:00 p.m. in the Trish Davies Room\u2014TABs offers teens a chance to be heard, get involved, and make a real difference in their community.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Teen Advisory Board functions much like a school club,\u201d said HPL Young Adult Coordinator Cheyenne Rowe. \u201cIts mission is to assist with a variety of library programs\u2014not just those geared toward teens. Members contribute to children\u2019s events, adult programs, and help organize library-wide activities like Frost Fest and Community Threads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But TABs do more than plan events. They&#8217;re also committed to community service, creating hygiene and winter survival kits for those in need.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTheir main goal is to increase awareness of the library\u2019s role in the community and to volunteer their time and talents,\u201d Rowe said. \u201cFirst-time attendees can expect a warm, welcoming environment full of laughs, creativity, and meaningful planning. We start each meeting with fun icebreakers to help everyone feel at home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Teen Advisory Board has a long-standing tradition at Hays Public Library and continues to evolve to meet the interests of today\u2019s teens. In addition to regular meetings, TABs also gather every Friday at 1:00 p.m. for \u2018TAB Time\u2019 in the Children\u2019s Department. This relaxed hangout includes games, coloring, kindness rock painting, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Much of the teen programming takes place in the Trish Davies Room, a versatile space outfitted with couches, high-top tables, rolling chairs, and even a functional arcade machine. Board and card games are always available, making it a favorite spot for teens to connect and collaborate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One highlight of the year is the group\u2019s participation in Frost Fest, where TAB members design and build a float that captures the parade\u2019s annual theme with creativity and flair. This year, a TAB volunteer is even illustrating the \u201cChilly Books\u201d\u2014a project that originated with the library director\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From crafting community projects to inspiring peer involvement, the TABs program continues to be a cornerstone of teen engagement at Hays Public Library\u2014proving that when given the opportunity, teens don\u2019t just show up, they lead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By LAURA DANIEL Tiger Media Network The Hays Public Library is empowering local teens to take charge and give back through its dynamic Teen Advisory&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":73221,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":false,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3397,11],"tags":[3126,16256,1607],"class_list":["post-88011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-area-news","category-news","tag-hays-public-library","tag-laura-daniel","tag-library"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Hays-Public-Library.png?fit=752%2C458&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=88011"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88014,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88011\/revisions\/88014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/73221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=88011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=88011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=88011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}