ABOVE: With laughter, Violet Olson, Ivory Haugen, Neela Nigon and Claire Olsen clink plastic cups with Mountain Dew soda during the Taste Testing activity at the Teen/Tween After Hours event on Tuesday evening in the lounge area at the Martin County Library in Fairmont. Nine children were present to celebrate the final Teen/Tween After Hours event of 2025. The program is expected to return in January 2026. Photo by Vanessa Schultze.

FAIRMONT – Taking advantage of the library’s closing time, the Fairmont Library is providing a space for teens and tweens to hang out and spend time with other youths with the Teen/Tween After Hours program.

Children and Youth Librarian Michelle Nelson said the program is done once a month on Tuesdays from 5:30 to 7 p.m., as Tuesday is the only day, other than Friday, that the library closes at 5 p.m. It generally follows the same format.

“We always order pizza and then have some sort of an activity like crafts, taste testing, candy sushi, murder mystery,” she said. “We always end with hide and seek in the dark, which is their favorite.”

The program started in the spring of 2024. Nelson said it was inspired by the actions of other area libraries.

“There had been a couple other libraries that had done something similar to it,” she said. “They said they had a good attendance from teens and tweens because being able to be here when the library is closed was appealing to them and made it a little bit extra special.”

While there are other clubs and activities the library offers to youths, Nelson said there are multiple reasons that distinguish this program from others.

“It lasts a little bit longer than a lot of the other ones do,” she said. “It’s nice because it’s upstairs. Normally, we do them down in the basement, so this just has a different atmosphere to it. We have our routine where we start with the pizza and end with the hide and seek, which the kids look forward to, and kind of know how that goes.”

Currently, each session has around eight to 15 teens and tweens attending. Nelson said the most they have had is 23, and while the event is free and open to attend, they are happy with their current attendance numbers.

By having this program, Nelson said she has seen increased socialization amongst youths who attend that spreads beyond the program itself.

“We’ve seen a lot of kids that didn’t know each other that have become friends,” she said. “There’s a lot more interaction, especially with the hide and seek, and it’s a little bit longer than some of our other teens and tweens programs. They get to know each other, and it’s fun to see them when they’re exchanging phone numbers and making plans outside of the program.”

While it does take place a few hours after school ends, Nelson said it has filled that time gap some students have where nothing is going on.

The program has received positive reception from the students, and Nelson said she does take feedback on what should be done next with the program.

“We definitely ask them what they like to do and have them tell me what they’d like to see in the future,” she said. “Anything with food they want to bring back. They’ve given some other suggestions too, that they have wanted to see or repeat stuff. Then they want to come back because they are choosing what we’re going to do next time.”

Moving forward, Nelson said they are planning to continue with the same format due to the variety within it and its continued success with attendees.

There is not a Teen/Tween After Hours for December, but there will be one for Jan 2026. Date and time will be posted on the Fairmont Library’s website at martincountylibrary.org and Facebook page at facebook.com/martincolibrary. For questions, call (507) 238-4207.