Youth Services: Teens
Welcome to the Teen Page
SOPL is open in our temporary locations! The main library on Scotland Road is closed for construction. You can learn more about the Building Construction Project here.
Programs & Events
Click Teen Programming to see activities for teens in grades 6 & up.
All programs and events will require registration (unless otherwise noted). Residency is not required to attend or participate in programs; however, under the library policy children under the age of 10 must be accompanied by an adult 18 or older.
Teen Programming
Library Policy: Unattended Youth
The mission of South Orange Public Library is to provide a welcoming space for everyone. Acceptable behavior in the library allows us to uphold the mission where patrons can learn and be creative in a safe environment. Click on the tab below to read the library policy in completion.
Library Policy on Unattended Children/YouthReading Recommendations for Teens
What’s your literary appetite?
Click the tab for reading recommendations curated by public and school librarians.
Recommendations for readers entering Middle School Grades 6-8
Recommendations for readers entering High School Grades 9-12
VolunTEENs a the South Orange Community Garden (2023)
Click image to read op-ed piece by Teen Library Advocate, published April 2024.
VolunTEENs at a Teen X Change Workshop (2023)
Teen Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteering during the School Year
Students interested in continuing community service during the school year are encouraged to sign up to be a TEEN LIBRARY ADVOCATE (TLA), a teen advisory group that meets during the school year once a month.
TLA meets once a month. Volunteer opportunities are available for those TLA Advocates who have completed an application and attends meetings. We’ll begin TLA in October 2025; complete the application and plan to attend at least (4) TLA meetings this school year.
2025-2026 Teen Library Advocates Application
Summer Volunteering
Teens interested in volunteering over the summer months can participate in the annual VolunTEEN Program. This is held from the end of the South Orange-Maplewood district school year until mid-August, or 6-7 weeks. Started in 2009, this program has provided community service opportunities to students in middle school and high school, which equipping them with leadership and communication skills and building their confidence.
Check back for the meeting schedule in June 2026 for the summer application. All of those interested should complete an application AND attended ONE orientation session to participate.
Questions?
Young Adult Titles
Layers: a Memoir
Artifacts of An Ex
Two Tribes
Fault Lines
The Blackwoods
Phoebe's Diary
The Brothers Hawthorne
My Hero Academia, Vol. 32
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 9: Operation: Entertainment District
Emmett
Lore Olympus: Volume one
Foul Heart Huntsman
This Winter
Families of All Kinds
Clap When You Land
My Sister's Big Fat Indian Wedding
Fangirl
Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating
A Snake Falls to Earth
Caraval
With the Fire on High
Everything Sad Is Untrue
Parachutes
Some Mistakes Were Made
Cemetery Boys
