One of my small claims to YA Librarian fame within my library system is the teen Battle of the Bands program I created last year. The ‘08 theme for Teen Tech Week was “Tune In @ Your Library”, so some of my colleagues and I held a planning meeting to put together some possible system-wide programs. Someone suggested a “Rock Band” (as in, the video game) Battle of the Bands. We agreed that this would be lots of fun, but then it hit me…How about a REAL Battle of the Bands? As in, real teens rocking out? I knew that other libraries, community centers, radio stations, etc. have done this type of thing, but I began to think about how we could incorporate Teen Tech Week into it.

I thought about the ways that teens are using technology to self-promote their music, find out about new bands, share their playlists, etc. So how about an online Battle of the Bands hosted by the library, where teen bands could post and share their music online (with the help of librarians, if needed), and voters could choose who they wanted to see at a live concert finale?

With the help of some great colleagues and community partners, it all came together successfully! We had 16 bands compete in our online voting round, and around 1700 votes were cast. Based on ages provided, they were primarily teens voting for their fellow teens. The five finalists rocked an awesome live event in front of an audience of 300 and a panel of judges, with prizes including professional studio recording time and music gear gift certificates. Local media covered the event, and overall the program was a smash hit!

Thanks to support from my library’s administration, helpful colleagues, and some more help from community partners, we are now offering this as an annual program for our teens in conjunction with Teen Tech Week. The theme this year, “Press Play @ Your Library”, was another great musical tie-in. Around 1900 votes were cast this year for our 15 contestants during the online voting round in February, and we celebrated our 2nd annual Battle of the Bands finale last weekend for a packed crowd with a fresh new crop of local teen talent!

Music is a personal passion of mine, and it makes me so happy to combine it with my love for libraries and serving teens. I played in a garage band called “Lily Liver” with my friends when I  was 13. We played school festivals and backyard parties, and I’d like to think that we would’ve been excited to rock the library.

You can check out more photos from the 1st and 2nd annual Battle of the Bands on our Flickr page.