At Hewitt (Tex.) Public Library (HPL), teens enthusiastically shared slideshows on the history of roads and the comparative merits of doors and wheels. None of this was schoolwork.
PowerPoint is finding new life among young people as a tool to share humorous, creative, and niche slideshows with friends on TikTok and other social media platforms. Now libraries across the country are hosting their own PowerPoint Parties, using the events to engage a younger crowd.
Eighth graders at Vestavia Hills (Ala.) Library’s (VHL) summer 2024 PowerPoint Party presented deep dives on folk-punk music (complete with embedded YouTube videos), a breakdown of the Warrior Cats books, and the history of basketball. One participant focused on a very narrow audience: She presented a case for why her parents should buy her a Nintendo Switch gaming console.
At the start of the event, Lexie Rueve, VHL’s teen services clerk, and a colleague set the tone by creating and delivering example presentations before letting the group craft their own on laptops from the library’s makerspace.
“The teens were a little shy, as public speaking is always intimidating, but the smaller space and group helped them feel more comfortable,” says Rueve, who threw the party. This is especially true, she adds, when giving them space to speak about something they are passionate about.
Nerding out
At Denver Public Library’s Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library (BCAARL), PowerPoint Party attendees delivered presentations based on a blerd—or Black nerd—theme. The presenters, mostly ages 20–35, looked at anime characters that could pass in Black culture and which Black TV characters could survive in a horror movie.
It created a really good atmosphere where they could be goofy together just for that hour.—Madelyn Treat, youth services specialist at Hewitt (Tex.) Public Library
One participant presented her theory on why many Black comic book characters have lightning-based superpowers, laying out how the powers are an homage to Black Lightning—the first African American DC superhero to have a standalone series—while also exploring other explanations, such as lightning’s contrast with dark skin and the trope that Black people are closer to nature.
“[The presenter] had panels and panels of different comic book characters all using lightning, but then also panels of characters describing how their lightning feels warm instead of horrific,” says Emanni Butler, library program associate at BCAARL. “It was an interesting perspective that I would have never considered.”
Butler hosted the PowerPoint Party program in January 2024 after hearing patrons express interest. Having attended a similar event a few months prior, Butler saw its potential to attract older members of Gen Z, a group that tends to be the least active in library programming. Only a few resources were needed for the event: a community room equipped with a TV and laptop and refreshments.
Butler plans to revamp the program with a focus on teens, seeing it as a chance for them to build public speaking and technology skills. They hope to use the events to promote the library as a fun, social space, especially for young people, where they can relax, unwind, and connect with others.
Bringing Teens Closer
Since January 2025, HPL has hosted monthly PowerPoint nights, encouraging young people ages 12–18 to create a 5- to 10-minute presentation on anything from favorite fun facts to fandoms to memes. Most of the attendees so far have been from the library’s teen advisory board, says Youth Services Specialist Madelyn Treat.
“I really like to emphasize community building and relationship building, and I have noticed that this is a great opportunity for the kids to get more comfortable with each other,” Treat says. “They’re creating memories together and talking to each other, and I think that is super important for this age.”
The attendees were apprehensive at the start, Treat notes, but relaxed after the first presenter playfully recounted their 14th birthday. Soon, participants started playing TikTok sounds on their phones as reactions to facts or memes.
“It created a really good atmosphere where they could be goofy together just for that hour,” Treat says. “I think that atmosphere has carried over into other events that they’ll do. When they come to the advisory board meeting, I’ve noticed they are a lot more comfortable with each other.”
Treat says the program’s main challenges have been promotion and turnout, with only four to six attendees at each event. To address both issues, she’s visited schools and community spaces, engaging people directly by asking if there’s a particular anime or book series they’d be excited to discuss.
When promoting these events, VHL’s Rueve also suggests including graphics from videogames and movies, or of actors. “The trick of creating and marketing a program like this is to make sure it doesn’t seem like schoolwork; teens do enough of that,” Rueve says.
Despite the challenges, Treat says the program is budget-friendly and that teens can grow by facing their fears of public speaking.
“The kids are really enthusiastic about it, especially if you emphasize [that] this is a night for you,” says Treat. “You get to talk about whatever you want. You can be as serious or unserious as you want.”
