PLA Blog

I walked in to hear Mary K. Chelton say “The ideal user doesn’t exist” and that we need to stop expecting perfect patrons.

“Creating libraries that are not social spaces for this age group are doomed to fail.” We let the young adults have their own separate room (jail) and they are social animals.

She also said that there is a research deficit on how teens use information, because again, we are holding them to adult standards.

Virtual Reference - Angela Pfliel, Henderson District, NV

Teenagers are an oppotuniry VR is an opportunity to talk one on one with a teen

http://vrd.org/
Marie Radford at Rutgers has a $700,00 IMLS grant for Virtual Reference Grant to examine the transactions – polite rituals online

Neal Schuman book on Virtual Reference is recommended

Teens do not have us as role models in their digital lives, and we need to become that.

You probably have a space for teens – your website,” said Angela. Virtual reference can connect a reference librarian to teens it breachs a gap. Teenagers are noctural – libraries are closed at 10 o’clock at night.

Some Stats:
CO 18% of the virtual reference use teens in grades 9-12
MD 38% of VR users are teens
NJ 50-60% of VR reference users are teens

“We don’t want to leave our building, w e don’t want to work online, we dpon’t want to do all these things… we have to do what they need us to do be there for them where they need us when they need us.”

Having a Phone — Aaron Schmidt, Thomas Ford Memorial Library, IL
Not having IM to communicate with teens is like not having a telephone to communicate with adults

http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/162/report_display.asp
Teens & Technology
Teens consider email a way to talk with old people

53% of Americans are
Telephone ->fax -> email -> IM

Our users are online, they’re IMing and we should be too.

The buddy list is where there social life lives.

The library is a “buddy” of teens. They see thommyford come online and send welcoming messages. It allows libraries to connect with teens on an emotional level

Re MySpace: it’s HUGE.

MySpace is a like a bike – they can be dangerous, kids get killed riding them –
and we don’t prevent kids from riding bikes

250,000 new accounts every day
more traffic than google
freak youself out – it can be a scary place, but at least 16 libraries have accounts, and they are getting “friended” by young patrons

Aaron promoted gaming at the library too – We have other social programs – book groups – knitting circle – film discussion – media age at those programs at
http://www.walkingpaper.org/pla

Librarians more interested in gaming at the library should check out the article Video Games as a Service: Hosting Tournaments at your library
http://pdfs.voya.com/VO/YA2/VOYA200502VideoGames.pdf

Beyond Space and Resources – Dawn Busey, River Forest Public Library
River Forest is in a residential Chicago suburbm 12K pop, 14400 sq ft building
The library had a history of fighting – youth intervention people policing the building and kicking out kids. The YA library worked 15 hr a week and built a small collection. A “Latchkey Lab” was started, with intentions to be staffed by a “friendly police officer” monitor. Manpower disappeared after the Homeland Security Act

You have to invite them in… AND not be ready to throw them back out again.
Create a space simply by turning a bookcase and adding bean bag chairs
The first 10-20 minutes are a little loud- they need some down time, they settle in.

Creating a space is not enough
Service desk treatment and staff response to other patrons’s problems with teen is an issue
Explaining to staff and patrons that the teens have to work together for assignments and
Teens are people too and have a right to be in the library
All patrons are held to the same code of conduct as everyone.

Educate your board members as well. Having a consistent message is key.

ASK After School Kids
ASK@riverforestlibrary
Cost: $9000 – library provides room, community funds

Be Prepared for:
Teens come with accessories
Group work (assigned to work together)
Group play (computers)
Noise
Social Mixing (different schools & age groups)
The Latest Computer Craze
Communicate (uniform responses)

Tags: conferences, PLA, PLA2006

This entry was posted on Friday, March 24th, 2006 at 9:25 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.