PLA 2006: You are But IM: Connecting Young Adults and Libraries

Patrick Jones, Tricia Suellentrop, and Michele Gorman—authors of Connecting Young Adults and Libraries: A How-To-Do-It Manual .

This was, by far, the most dynamic session I attended at the whole conference. I left inspired to work much harder from my position as a technology librarian to advocate for teen programming, resources, and services in the library. As a result, this session write-up is crazy long. 

They started off the session with “The Ten Values We Share.”

1. Youth      Development—brain research tells us that teenagers are works in progress      and their brains are not fully developed yet. We can’t change the way teenagers are      going to act or think. We need to      change the way we react to the things they do and think.
2. Developmental      Needs—Teens will be teens—embrace it. Patrick then discussed the bias librarians show when they kick      teenagers off the computer when they’re gaming so that adult users can do      something “important.” He drew a      parallel to how we do not assign importance levels to the materials people      are checking out, so we should not assign importance levels to the things      people choose to do with our other resources (computers).
3. Development      Assets—What is it that kids have and how do we build on them? What can we do for them to help them      succeed later in life.
4. Youth      Advocacy—Teens are not at the table, so we need to advocate on their      behalf. Patrick criticized the teen      advocacy in libraries that claims we should treat them well because they turn      into taxpayers and voters and we will need for them to vote for our bonds      in the future. The message that      sends is that they don’t matter to us as teens, just as adults. This is the wrong message to send. Period.
5. Youth      Participation—Meaningful participation is key—not token participation      opportunities. Give them      responsibility, the ability to make significant decisions.
6. Collaboration—The      collaboration can be amongst teens or between teens and adults, inside or      outside the library. Communicate      with the teens—ask them for something (information, participation). Collaborate with the teens—create new      goals together to make a new service or resource. 
7. Information      Literacy—Think about why we do this. Why do we want teens to be information literate? Patrick encourages us to always turn the      screen around and phrase the search process as “here’s how we’re going to      find this information.”
8. Adolescent      Literacy—Get the kids to read what they want to read. Reading serials (repetitive text) is not      a bad thing. It is not lesser      reading. 

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        horror and tragedy novels is not a bad thing. Teens read about the feelings they’re      having, the things they’re experiencing. Give them what they need. Librarians need to know about these books and be familiar with their      content. 
9. Learning      and Achievement—Patrick then responded that libraries offer many formats      that are geared toward certain age groups based on their physical and      developmental needs: large print for seniors board books for      toddlers. So why do we not offer      comic books in all of our libraries, which are geared specifically toward      teens? Reading a lot recreationally      affects how well students do on reading tests. Get them to read—whatever they will      read… Whatever they read will      impact their education in a positive way.
10. Equity      of Access / Intellectual Freedom—Users have the right to access all types      of information from all points of view without restriction. Our job is to provide information, not      how we feel about it. Serving      people of every age, income level, ethnicity, etc. is our job. We do not have the right to determine      what is appropriate for a young person. As a private individual, you may not like the material. But as a professional librarian, it is      not your right nor your place to express that in the work place. In terms of equity of access, she cited      an example of a librarian going out of her way to find books on a topic      for an adult patron on a subject which that branch did not have covered. The same librarian simply said “sorry we      don’t have any books here on that” when a teen asked for the same type of      books. 

Patrick then talked about the difficulty in dealing with teens when we are adults. He advises that we remember what it is like to be 15. Accept that teens are the way they are.  Project and realize that the teen you’re dealing with is probably a whole lot like you were at that age—they’re not that different from you.

Michele encouraged us to stop reinventing the wheel. Find out what libraries have tried this project before you have. Call them. Ask them what worked and what didn’t work. We are a profession of sharers—take advantage of that.
 
The ten trends that drive us (best practices of offering services to teens):

1. Digital      Divide and Diversity—Old school digital divide is a low income issue. New digital divide issues relate to      digital natives and digital immigrants. Users who are digital immigrants were not born with technology. Digital natives were raised with      computers in the household, computers in the classroom, and technology      affecting all aspects of life. Most      librarians are digital immigrants—we need to learn the language of digital      natives. Go out and experience      technology hands-on. Learn how to      IM. Learn to text-message.  Try Wikipedia. Use Flickr. In

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   a library is podcasting      library content. MyOwnCafe.org is a      dynamic website done by a library in

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        that gives teens a place to interact, post, and communicate with each      other. Some libraries offer music      editing software on their public computers. Homer Township Public Library has been      offering IM reference for some time. Libraries are creating MySpace accounts. The Denver Public Library went live with      eFlicks: downloadable movies. 
2. Format      Explosion—Formats have really taken off lately: graphic novels, anime,      audio books on iPods, video games (Baker & Taylor is now carrying      video games). 
3. Information      Literacy—You want to empower teens to access the information      themselves. By putting a reference      desk between you and your user, you’re saying “I’m qualified to find      things and you’re qualified to stand there and watch me.” Michele’s reference desk is a pod in the      middle of the room where teens can walk up and stand right next to her      during the search process. Don’t      build barriers between you and your users. Hennepin County Library has partnered with local schools to create      an education program to teach teachers how to teach information literacy      to their students. Another library      offers a self-paced online tutorial about how to find valid information      online. The Internet Public      Library’s teen space has various modules teaching teens how to be skilled      information researchers.
4. New      Spaces—Physical space is a precious commodity in libraries. Teen spaces are usually in the corner,      small, and distant from the rest of the library. That tells teens right away that the      library does not value them or welcome them as customers. VOYA contains a regular column about good      teen spaces in libraries that you can watch for ideas. Phoenix Public Library is held up as a      gold standard of ideal teen spaces if you have the money to invest in      it. If you can’t have a service      desk in the teen area, it needs to be close by. The teens won’t walk clear across the      library to access the reference desk or the circulation desk. Make yourself accessible to them.
5. Outcome      Measurement—The highest circulation in most public libraries is teen if      you divide it by budget, square foot, or staff. On a cost-benefit basis, teen materials      are HUGE. Limit events to smaller groups      so that you can connect to teens on an individual basis and they can      connect with each other. Get rid of      the standard evaluation cards for events, and ask them how they found out      about the event, what they learned, and what else they want to know.  That’s it.
6. Outreach      In the Community—Outreach = Face time. Teens in the community who know your face are much more likely to      come in to your library. Take the      library out of the library with Teen Read Week talks in schools, Banned      Books Week talks in schools, book talks, programs that you take to the      high schools or juvenile correctional facilities. You can ‘t get teens into the library      during your regular work-day (9-5) because they’re in school. But you can visit them on their turf at      school during those hours.
7. Programming      Returns—Gaming nights, “on the edge” book clubs where teens. discuss books      about sensitive topics,

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        (rockets, catapults, tying in science). If the program is educational but on the outside looks like “just a      bunch of fun,” you’re on the right track.
8. Teen      Volunteers / Interns—Volunteer opportunities for teens have to be      meaningful. Cleaning and shelving      books is often not meaningful. Having a work experience, working with an adult outside of their family,      negotiating a workplace atmosphere helps teens become more competent as      functioning members of society. Having teen volunteers requires librarians letting go of some of      our control. We don’t like to let      them do anything independent (like creating bulletin boards for other      teens, collection development, participating with programming). Get beyond the fluff task. If you give them what you consider a      fluff task, they will consider their whole experience to be “fluff” as      well. Not all teens are created      equally. If the kids are chatty,      let them be the greeter at children’s programs. If the kids are shy and antisocial, let      them do quiet tasks in the back room. Match the kids to an appropriate task for them.
9. Youth      Development—Our work is not an end, it is a means, and our end is to      create more effective youth in our communities. It’s not about the stats, it’s about how      many lives we change.
10. Youth      Involvement Plus Programming—Don’t do programming for teens—but with      teens. Have teens create      programming for children or programming for other teens. Let go of a little control. Give teens a voice in the library and      actually follow through on what they suggest. Get them to participate in the Library      Board or the Friends of the Library. It tells teens that we care what they have to say…that we care      about what they can contribute to our community. Have teens intern with IT or marketing      departments in the library. Show      them what real librarians do: collection development, reference, project      planning. When you have focus      groups for future planning at the library, have a teen focus group as      well. Involve them in website      design. Give them a chance to use      their skills and become meaningfully involved.