Good morning it’s the last day and I for one will enjoy sleeping in tomorrow! Minneapolis has been a great host, sessions have been inspirational, I’ve met interesting people but it’s time to go home and put it all into proctice!

Homework Help more info at www.jocolibrary.org/homework

• Technology is an important partner for Homework Help
• Some called them coaches as not guaranteeing the results (Gosh do we usually garantee our reference work?)
• If you start slow with one day or few hours expect to get negative comments from kids who when they find help want it when they need it
• We are all over the map on this one with some paying retired teachers, others training ‘volunteens’ to help others get onto professional help site, a paid coordinator who trains volunteers… The solutions are as varied as we are and as our budgets can be streached.
• All contributing to the session were on Tutor.com and really liked it, partly because the kids who use it are often needing help with calculus. (Got to admit mine is rusty too!)
• If you just can’t afford the expensive link then trying anything will help our kids, invite a local who is great at matha nd have a math evening once a week – do the same for science. Expect to have kids complain that it just isn’t enough!
• Tudor.com comes with help given in Spanish for all subjects it helps in English - except English (You don’t say!)

So okay I hit the exhibts again and had to miss two sessions getting ‘stuff’ to the postoffice!

Making Space for Teens in Libraries No real surprises here it is the hot topic around the country howver the session gave some great tips – some that don’t cost an arm and a leg!

• Get teens involved in everything you are planning for them – or rather plan with teens
• Use agressive weeding to keep shelves fresh and interesting – you can have just the most imteresting and newest matterials in the teen area and shelve the rest interfiled with the adult collection. This later idea gets their space more inviting and gets them using the rest of the collection when they find they have further needs we can meet.
• Decoration: Make their space inviting, wrap shelves in their interest matterial, or just in loud colours to attract attention, put papers and posters all over the back of shelving – get inspired from looking at their bedrooms and how they creat their own identity. Yup they like it all out there!
• Makeover : If you can’t aford much of this one go small and keep changing and adding – start with the seating you offer – teens are not into 4 straight chairs around a table! There is lots of new ways to offer seating – get teens to research it and tell you what they would like. Be honest here and let them know what you can offer in the way of budget for changes and other limitations – this gains you trust and respect!
• New Design not many of us can afford this, there is professional help just don’t forget the main point involve the teens.
• Let teens brand their spaces with their own chosen name – you will have to change it every couple of years.
• If you are worried about noise add nonreflective absorbing matterials
• Creat a format for the people you are serving
• Have zones of interest – for the individual and for the social
• Be strategic – spines out, or as they put it ‘book butts out’ - the publishers spend dollars putting attractive covers on books and we tend to hide them all!