Over 800,000 youth aged 10 to 24 years old live in Los Angeles. Over 200,000 of them live in poverty, 81% are youth of color and over 3,000 are homeless. By training staff to mentor and collaborate with library Teen Council volunteers on community empowerment projects, the library’s Teens Leading Change initiative augments capacity to help teens become successful, civically engaged and empowered adults who can help the city better prepare for the future.

TLC is built on the success of Los Angeles Public Library's Teen Council and teen volunteer programs, which have hosted 3,000 teen volunteers this year. Teen Councils at eight branches received TLC grants and completed community projects, such as Platt’s “Natural Disaster Preparedness” project, where teens curated a series of programs and hosted a Natural Disaster Preparedness Day to help community members prepare for emergency situations, including how to create an emergency kit and an evacuation/emergency response plan.

So far, 129 teens across 24 branch libraries have participated in planning and coordinating 321 programs for more than 1,200 attendees. They have logged 21,325 volunteer hours working on Teens Leading Change projects. With our next cycle of projects, we plan to implement a TLC alumni mentoring program, where alumni students and staff members mentor the incoming group of student and staff participants, fostering a broader network of library changemakers throughout the city and nation.