The Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Teens
Regina Minudri & Francisca Goldsmith -- School Library Journal, 1/1/1999
Consider this somber factoid: according to a report of the U.S. Department of Education, scarcely over 10 percent of the nation's 15,000 public libraries employ a young adult specialist, trained to work with teens. So what's a poor library generalist to do when it comes to serving adolescents? And what kinds of programs and approaches do real-life teens respond to? Based on a decade of experience working with teens at the Berkeley (CA) Public Library, we've developed a set of guidelines that can help generalists, reference and children's librarians, and others meet young adults' needs and interests. Much like the teenagers we serve, young adult services are continuously growing and changing, but these 10 tips remain our touchstones.
illustration by Lou Beach
1. Go fishing
To find out the identities of teens who use your library, bait the hook: leave lists of helpful resources lying around your library. We've found that high-interest bibliographies on well-defined topics-such as the titles of books published by authors before their 21st birthdays, the Holocaust, or college preparatory materials-encourage teens to ask librarians for help with other topics as well. It's also a good idea to post the lists on your Web site, thereby increasing the odds of attracting teens to your library.
2. Advertise
When planning a library event for teens, such as a job clinic or an open-mike poetry reading, make sure you advertise the event in venues that appeal to teens-rather than to the adults in their lives. We've occasionally advertised events on a local radio station that we know is popular with young adults. And we've distributed event flyers designed by teen artists. We've even tacked flyers to telephone poles (which is a very Berkeley kind of thing to do). We've also fed news to the school newspaper, and we've broadcast on the high school's public address system. And we always remember to post the information on our Web site. Whatever works.
3. Talk to (not through) teens
Let's say a mother and son have just approached the reference desk with a question about a high school homework assignment. As a librarian, whom should you address? Make sure you direct your response to the teen, rather than the adult. After all, it's his need for information that should be addressed here, not Mom's interpretation of it. We always encourage our public service desk staff to interact directly with teens.
4. Seek advice
Set up a teen advisory council that provides you with a steady stream of information about teen users' needs and interests. (See "Buy More Books! And Other Bright Ideas from a Teen Advisory Board," SLJ, July 1996, p. 26.) Providing a forum for teens shows you're serious about wanting to meet their needs. Don't expect a horde of advisors, but do expect to feed them. Before meeting with your teen advisors, prepare a few questions: ask them what they think about a specific aspect of your collection, or what topics they think their peers are most interested in finding out about-and then listen to (and act on) what they say. Schedule regular meetings to evaluate how well your teen services are doing. And be sure to give your teen advisory board members some interesting proj- ects to work on-projects that can yield meaningful results. Eight years ago, our teen board created a highly successful summer reading program (which undergoes an annual overhaul by our current teen board advisors). And this year, the members of the San Francisco Public Library's teen board planned a citywide teen talent show that filled every seat in the main library's 250-seat auditorium.
5. R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Aretha sang about it. Adults demand it. And teens crave it. We're talking, of course, about respect. Teens are intellectually and emotionally more mature than children. Treat them like the young adults they are, but expect occasional lapses in maturity.
6. Don't panic
Every now and then, expect to remind teens of the library's rules. Also expect to discuss the perceived fairness of the rules. When working with teens, there will be awkward moments or brief periods of turbulence. But don't panic. If, for instance, you discover some teens munching on snacks, remind them that they are welcome to return to the library after they have finished eating. Or, if a pair of teens are too noisy, you may want to ask them to take a 15-minute break outside and come back when they've settled down. (That's usually all it takes.) Remind teens that nobody (not even an adult) is permitted to drink beverages in the stacks or play loud music in the reference room.
7. Keep in touch
It's important to know what's going on in teens' lives. Young adults often are deeply affected by school and community events surrounding their lives. The death of one of their classmates, say, or an evening curfew will affect teens' behaviors and their information needs. To stay abreast of significant occurrences, appoint a teen-friendly staffer to monitor what's happening in the community. The staffer should check school and local newspapers, and keep in touch with the local youth commission. Make it easy for your teen advisors to reach you throughout the month with news of significant events in their worlds. Let them help you stay in the loop.
8. Anticipate
Keep track of perennial high school homework assignments (such as the Harlem Renaissance, imperialism, and Shakespeare) and provide teens with easy-to-use guides to your library's resources. The public library's collection can't (and shouldn't) replace the school library as the primary provider of curriculum-related materials, but remember: homework is a significant part of teens' lives and assignments often motivate students to use the library. That said, put together bibliographies, or pathfinders, that can help teens quickly find the information they need. Share these pathfinders with the children's room staff and branch librarians as well. And add pathfinders and links to the "best of the best" Web sites to your site. It's also a good idea to stay in contact with high school librarians and teachers whose assignments rely heavily on the public library's collections.
9. Everyone wants real estate
Many public libraries don't have floor space to set aside for teen seating and materials. But at least give young adults some vertical space-bulletin boards, the side of a bookcase, part of a wall-to post messages, suggestions (and responses to those suggestions), community news and events, and teen- appropriate job listings. If you simply don't have any wall space to spare, then try taping notices on a highly visible windowpane. Make sure these notices are facing the street or sidewalk, so that passing teens can read them and know there's a place inside where they're welcome.
10. Be quick, be cool
Be quick to resolve clashes between teens and other library users before disagreements escalate. For example, if a group of noisy teens is making it impossible for a toddler to hear the story her mother is reading aloud, enlist those same teens to help keep the room quiet. Or, if two teens are beginning to get frustrated with a research assignment, ask another staff member to cover the reference desk so that you can help the teens before they become disruptive. It's also important to understand the difference between a teen who may be potentially dangerous (say, one who is involved in a gang) and a teen who is just being a teen.
Lead by example and encourage teens to serve as positive role models for others in the library. And above all, encourage everyone around you to continue to learn from one another.
