Wixom Public Library

On Halloween weekend 2011, the Wixom Public Library hosted a teen lock-in from 6 to 10PM, offering a myriad of activities. The event was well supervised and regulated, with required written parental registration, strict arrival and departure rules, and several senior library staff present. While these safeguards were set in place to ensure responsible behavior from the attendees, the event still felt fun and open. There was supervision, but it wasn’t structured like a school environment. show more Teens could wander about the library freely, with planned activities throughout the building. There was fortune telling, games, a movie, séances to bring back famous recently deceased pop stars, and more than enough food to go around, although the food was of course kept to a contained area. One of the prizes of the evening was a decoration which had adorned the teen section for well over a year, and was a well-known character who teens love, hate, or love to hate. The Lock-In was a social event where various groups could hang out and spend the evening together. Costumes were optional but not required, and there was strong involvement on behalf of the teen advisory board in setting up for the Lock-in. Four hours may have been about an hour too long, but overall throughout the evening the attendees’ energy was high, and they appeared to be enjoying themselves. This program is highly recommended for teens ages eleven to seventeen, although most of the participants tend to be in the younger half of that age spectrum. show less