Teen Internship Grant Program

WSL Teen Internship Grant Program


Supported by funding provided by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.

Internship Timeline: Your intern should work between when school ends in June 2025 and August 31, 2025. Interns should work between 100-300 hours in 6-10 weeks, depending on scheduling and availability. In your application, you will submit a total estimated budget for the entire internship, including wages and benefits, not to exceed $5,000. 

Internship Tasks: While your intern is welcome to help with/learn about library tasks such as shelving, circulation, collection development, displays, working at the reference desk, helping at programs, staffing the summer reading desk, etc., these should not be the only tasks the intern completes. The purpose of the internship is to give your teen meaningful skills. Work with your teen to discover what skills and aspects of library work they are most interested in learning about, and give them the opportunity to work on those tasks. Make sure you're balancing library needs with the needs of the teen you are mentoring. To this end, each intern must work with the lead mentor to develop, plan, and implement a Connected Learning project over the course of their internship. For examples of teen Connected Learning projects, see the the State Library of Oregon's Teen Internship Grant final share out video from 2024!

Connected Learning Project: Your teen's Connected Learning Project must fit the following criteria:
1. Led by your teen intern's interests -- While you as a mentor can help a teen conceptualize a project, it must come from their interests and passions. You, as the mentor, shouldn't design the project alone; this should be a co-creation process. 
2. Relationship-focused -- This project should be a collaborative experience! Use your own knowledge and expertise, connect your intern with other community members who might be able to support them and give them the knowledge needed to create their project, or have them work with like-minded friends.
3. Provide opportunities -- Help your teen intern create a project that will give them the chance to shine. The project could help them teach skills to others, give them chance to be a leader, create a resource that will benefit the community, and more. 

Learning Opportunities for Teen Interns: The Washington State Library will provide synchronous and asynchronous learning opportunities/virtual meetings for the Teen Interns throughout the summer. Once the schedule for these is finalized, we will ask you to provide time in your intern's schedule and a computer to use to participate. During these learning sessions, teens will have the opportunity to meet each other, share their projects, and gain job skills.