Discover Summer for Teens
Discover Summer for Teens
Teens are invited to go, find and explore with DC Public Library this summer!
Discover Summer Prizes | Be A Super Reader | Know Your Power | Discover Summer Events | Read, Watch and Listen with the Library | Summer Learning
This summer, DC Public Library invites you to a city-wide celebration of reading and learning at home, at the library and out in your community! In addition to reading for 20 minutes each day, Discover Summer's 13 - 19 program is designed to help you have fun this summer while continuing to learn and grow your skills. You can find everything you need for Discover Summer at your neighborhood library! We have special reading lists, great events and so much more for you to enjoy.
Discover Summer Prizes
Bring your paper gameboard to your neighborhood library or ensure you have marked at least four activities complete in Beanstack by the last day of each month to be in the running for monthly prize drawings. This year's prizes for teens are:
- June: $35 Regal Gift Card
- July: $30 Busboys and Poets Gift Card
- August:
- Tickets to a Washington Nationals Game
- $50 &Pizza Gift Card
- A free book of your choice!
Click here to get started by registering for Discover Summer 2022!
Be A Super Reader
Share Your Creative Vision
Pepco, the DC Public Library Foundation and DC Public Library invite you to find your power and use it to creatively address a topic that is important to you. What change would you like to see in the world? We are calling on youth between the ages of 13 - 19 to use their creative voice to make a difference.
Between May 16 and Aug. 16, submit an original work of writing, photography, illustration, or music that expresses your feelings on a social issue that matters to you. We’re looking for pieces that are not only well-crafted but have a strong voice and perspective on a subject pertaining to civic engagement.
Four winners will be selected in the categories of Illustration, Writing, Music, and Photography. Each winner will receive a prize that will help them further their creative endeavors. Learn more and submit your entry!
Discover Summer Events at Your Neighborhood Library
DC Punk Archive MLK Library Rooftop Shows
DC Punk Archive presents a summer series of rooftop shows featuring local bands. This series is sponsored by the MLK Library Friends.
- Wednesday, June 8, 6:30 p.m. | Library Rooftop Show Featuring Faunas and Lightmare- Wednesday, July 13, 6:30 p.m. | Library Rooftop Show Featuring Featuring Cinema Hearts and Continuals
- Wednesday, Aug. 10, 6:30 p.m. | Library Rooftop Show Featuring Featuring Big Cry Country and Prude
Black on Both Sides Series: A Celebration of Black Music at MLK Library
Black in Space and DC Public Library presents the Black on Both Sides Series: A Celebration of Black Music.
- Saturday, June 4, Noon | DJ Experience Featuring Baronhawk
- Saturday, June 11, Noon | DJ Masterclass Featuring Asha "BOOMCLAK" Santee
- Saturday, June 18, Noon | Juneteenth Celebration Featuring Diyanna Monet
Tuesday, June 14, 4:30 p.m. | Know Your Power Writopia Workshop at Tenley-Friendship Library
Sign up for a creative writing workshop for young people between the ages of 13 - 19 provided by Writopia Lab. In these hour-long workshops held published authors, poets and playwrights will guide youth in authoring their own work of creative writing based on a social issue that they are passionate about.
Saturday, June 18, 1 p.m. | Woodridge Library Pride Festival
This Pride Month, DC Public Library is throwing an all-ages, family-friendly party for LGBTQ+ youth and families. Join us on the lawn in front of Woodridge Neighborhood Library for crafts, games, food, and community!
Saturday, June 18, 2 p.m. | Virtual Author Talk: Alicia Cunningham
Join the Francis Gregory Library online for a virtual author talk by local filmmaker and photographer, Alyscia Cunningham. I Am More Than My Hair--a companion film and coffee table book--features conversations with women living with alopecia (hair loss). The project sheds light on their experiences in a culture that often pressures women to conform to narrow beauty standards. Learn about their journeys to self-acceptance and empowerment as they challenge and redefine society’s limited ideals of beauty.
Saturday, June 18, 1 p.m. | Maker Talk at MLK Library: Creating "Sadie's Home" With Hope and Faith♡
Featured in the Salon of the Refused and now owned by DC's Commission of the Arts and Humanities, the wall-sized collage Sadie's Home is a loving snapshot Black life in DC. In this online lecture, Eleisha Faith and Tonisha Hope McCorkle will talk about how they created this wall-sized collage and their two-person artist collective, Hope & Faith♡.
Tuesday, June 28, 3 p.m. | I'm Sold! Virtual Workshop With the Planet Word Museum
In this one-hour-long interactive virtual workshop, a Planet Word educator will guide youth ages 13 - 19 through advertising copywriting techniques that make ads memorable and persuasive. The program will finish with students writing their own copy, while discussion centers the idea of being a savvy consumer.
Check out the DC Public Library events calendar to see what is coming up this month at your library!
Read, Listen, Watch and Learn With the Library
There are so many ways to keep up your healthy habit of reading for 20 minutes each day:
- Check out some recommended titles organized by grade and theme.
- Elevate your classic beach read by checking out Youth Media Award Winning and honor titles.
- Going on a road trip? Download some amazing YA audiobooks. The miles toward your destination will fly by!
- Browse magazines by the pool. The Library has titles for every interest whether you want the latest celebrity gossip, are an avid foodie or you want to learn about the hottest in tech.
- Classic D.C. afternoon summer rain got you indoors? (We get it!) Binge popular and award-winning movies and shows with Kanopy!
Find even more things to read, watch, listen and learn in the library’s catalog and in goDigital.
Summer Learning with the Library
Participating in summer learning this year? You aren’t alone! Students across the city are extending their learning through school, summer camp and at home.
The Library is here for you as you do research, write papers and complete assignments. With Brainfuse HelpNow, you have access to live tutoring in English and Spanish from 1 p.m. - 10 p.m. each day. Tutors can help you in many core subjects, including math, science and English language arts. In addition, you can submit papers to HelpNow’s Writing Lab for expert assistance and feedback, or collaborate with peers in virtual study spaces.
Learn more about HelpNow and other learning resources at the Library’s Homework Help for Teens page.
For more teen opportunities year-round, follow @dclibraryteens on Instagram.
DC Public Library Summer Challenge is supported by:
