Teens Lead Internship at the La Grange Public Library
By Bess Peacock, Branch Manager of the La Grange Public Library
As the school year comes to a close, the Teens Lead internship program is wrapping up after another successful year. While this was the first year the La Grange Public Library had a teen intern, the Neuse Regional Libraries have had multiple successful cohorts.
Our intern, Ja’Meshia Norwood, participated in the Teens Lead internship program while completing her junior year at the Lenoir County Early College High School. During her time at the La Grange Public Library, she has gained experience in customer service, library circulation, and library programming in addition to building her technology and computer skills. She served as a program assistant during storytime, worked the public service desk between programs, and created her capstone project. Ja’Meshia volunteered her time outside of her internship as well through assisting with programming at the library, picking up trash around the town of La Grange, and assisting with our Digital Resource Rover at the Touch-A-Truck For A Treat event at the Grainger Stadium in Kinston, NC.
For her capstone project, Ja’Meshia decided to create and implement a teen-based program series, entitled “Treat Yourself to a Game Night”. Once a month, teens are invited to the library to learn how to make a dessert that is inspired by a board game. Participants made parfaits for UNO cards, chocolate-covered pretzels for Chutes & Ladders, blondie brownies for Jenga, and will be making book-shaped sugar cookies inspired by the board game Ja’Meshia created for the La Grange Public Library titled “LibraryLand”. LibraryLand is a multiplayer board game set in a library, but the player is the library book! The players travel through the various sections, answering riddles and taking different actions to see if they will be checked out in the end!
Ja’Meshia describes her time during the internship: “My time as a Teen Lead Intern at the La Grange Library has been truly enjoyable. I've had the pleasure of meeting many wonderful people who have helped me develop valuable skills and become a more confident person.
One of my key contributions was leading a teen-based program where I taught teens the importance of cooking. We made fun treats inspired by their favorite board games, and I had a great time teaching essential skills like proper fruit-cutting and accurate temperature measurement.
Overall, the Teen Lead program successfully helped me break out of my shell, significantly boosting my self-confidence and belief in my own abilities.”
The next Teens Lead cohort begins in Fall 2026. Applications will open mid-April to all Lenoir, Jones, and Greene County students entering the 11th or 12th grade. For more information, call the Youth Services Department at the Kinston Public Library at 252-527-7066 ext 133 or email ahargett@neuselibrary.org.
