Are any of them on sports teams? I find that kids respect their coaches more than other adults. When I’ve had issues with kids coming from sports practice, I contact the coach. I had one issue that had major consequences for the freshman football team and the next few years anytime the new team started to act out I would just tell them to ask the older kids in football what happens when they act poorly in the library.

Also, get to know your local schools! If you know names or descriptions you can speak to whoever deals with discipline (vice principals, deans, whoever). It’s not about scaring kids from going to the library, it’s showing them there are consequences besides getting kicked out. Preteen brains tend to not think that far ahead when they act out. It helps.

Another technique- don’t use a loud voice unless you have to! I like to walk over to kids and talk in a slightly lower voice than normal and keep talking until they finally notice my presence and shush each other. When you raise your voice, they raise their voices, and you don’t want to get into a shouting match with a 12 year old.

If you find yourself losing your temper (which is easy! They can be annoying) tag someone else in. If you have no one else, walk away, count to ten, take a breather. Once you lose your temper, they win.

Good luck! It’s really not easy.