Why We Are Kids Best Assets

I have been working in libraries for more than half of my life, with a good portion of that time dedicated to serving youth. And like you, I sometimes ask myself, why? What is it about working in libraries with young people that draws so many of us to it? Is it the books? The programs? The kids? And once we understand why we value our work, the larger question still lingers: What value does this work really have?

It's a question that needs answering now more than ever, as the Internet and book superstores and school computer labs strike many people-students, administrators, government officials-as being able to take the place of traditional public and school libraries. But I think we must answer that question in a new way, by talking not about 'output measures,' but about outcomes that matter for kids. We are tired, we are burnt out, we are underappreciated, yet we continue, not just to draw that low salary, but because we believe that our work makes kids' lives better. That's the message we must take to public and private funders, and it should be the guiding principle of all our work.

That sounds nice, of course, but how can we prove our value in children's lives? How can we measure it? Well, we may not be able to put a numerical value on it, but recently, I've discovered an impressive research framework that indeed 'proves' the value of our work with kids. The research comes from the Search Institute, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit group that has studied the factors that go into creating healthy kids. One result has been a list of 40 developmental assets, essentially a series of social bonds, community resources, and activities that young people need to inculcate in order to become responsible, successful, caring adults. They are the foundation kids need in order to survive. When you go on a trip, you pack the things you'll need to make your journey safe and satisfying. Developmental assets are the luggage of young adulthood. (For a complete list of assets, see below .)

Once we understand and embrace this framework, then answers to the question of our value to the community will shine through like a beacon. The citizens of your city or school don't pay you to check out books, to answer reference questions, or to perform puppet shows. They pay you to make kids' lives better. The assets framework can help us show exactly how we do it.

We know intuitively how important our work is to children, but so far we haven't done much to document it. And that is a problem, because public and private funders are asking the question: What is the impact of your work on the lives of your customers? For years, we've tried to answer that question with output measures: how many people used the library; how many books were checked out, etc. But continuing to invest in circulation as a measure of worth is akin to buying a commodity that is sure to decline as we move more information resources into electronic format. We are no longer the only game in town: funders and even our beloved public are wondering why they need school and public libraries when kids have the Internet. Given competing demands, our public wants to see what effect we really have; they are wondering if we really make children's lives better. Soon, they will demand to know what changes are wrought on the lives of young people who participate in a library after-school program, a summer reading program, or an information literacy effort.

We are better at counting numbers of books checked out than lives changed. The linking of student achievement to the power of the school library is a start, but the research is still accessible from only a few states.

The key research finding is this: the more assets young people have, the less likely they are to engage in a wide range of risky behaviors and the more likely they are to engage in positive behaviors. Those positive behaviors include: succeeding in school; helping others; valuing diversity; maintaining good health; resisting danger; exhibiting leadership; delaying gratification; and overcoming adversity.

The risky behaviors you can guess: suicide, drug abuse, violence, etc. Sadly, the research also shows that many kids do not possess most assets. Research reported in the Search Institute's 'A Fragile Foundation: the State of Developmental Assets Among Youth' shows that only 38 percent of kids report having at least 20 of the 40 assets. In fact, one of the least reported of all the assets is reading for pleasure: less than a quarter of youth surveyed reported having this asset. While the assets framework is expanding, the research is currently based on young adults, students in grades six through twelve.

Great stuff, but what does it have to do with serving youth in school and public libraries? Everything. The library as the center of the school or community is its strongest selling point. Assets give us a way back to the center, at a time when many libraries are finding themselves headed toward the margins, pushed there by the welcoming and social environs of Barnes & Noble or the instant gratification of the Internet. Yet we offer things those other places cannot provide: quality customer service, expertise. Libraries are not in the information business or the book business, but in the people business.

What we do all day is solve problems and in doing so, provide our customers with good feelings. That is what teens want on visits to a library; it is what they want out of their lives-solutions to problems and good feelings. And we do that through relationships: short ones that take place during a reference interview, longer-term relationships that develop through programming or readers' advisory, or just in how we smile at kids every day. From the telephone reference interview to the book talk to kicking out the rowdies, we get to know kids and thus build relationships with them. When young adults are treated as customers to be served, not problems to be solved, then relationships will flourish that much more.

Relationships are also the key to asset building. As we encounter kids, we need to learn their names, support them, encourage them, and empower them. We are not talking social work, we are talking people work; we are talking library work. When we form relationships, we help kids succeed, but we also help libraries thrive. Relationships can pay off immediately for youth. They can even pay off for the library community as a whole, once that youth reaches adulthood and decides to give back to the community.

Still, it's important to remember that relationships are not about the payoff for us, but for teens. For years we have justified youth services to administrators by saying, 'Be nice to them now' and these kids will remember us later when it comes time to vote or pay taxes. That is true, and something to keep in mind, but be careful not to view young people as merely the means to an end. Kids are the ends.

The assets framework looks at an activity like recreational reading in much the same way. Reading is good, not just in and of itself, but because it is one of the assets. The more assets kids develop, the healthier they are. The purpose of the summer reading program isn't to collect prizes, but to help kids thrive. That is the asset vision: the vision that those working with youth in libraries need to share. Our real goal isn't to increase circulation, but to help kids thrive.

We can now go to our funding institutions and say that we know through research the 40 factors that create healthy youth. We can then show them how our programs, services, collections, facilities, and technology build those 40 assets. If libraries build assets, we build healthy youth. If we build healthy youth, we build healthy community. This is not a theory, this is not a guess, this is a research framework about what works with kids.

Examples abound throughout the daily workings in every school and public library in the nation. Written examples can be found in documents like the third edition of Excellence in Library Services to Young Adults (ALA, 2000). The term 'development assets' isn't used once in the description of the 50 top programs for teenagers in the country, but asset building is integral to every program. The ASPIRE after-school program at the Houston Public Library builds assets such as positive peer influence, bonding to school, and reading for pleasure. The program also provides adult role models and demonstrates that the community values youth. The Bits and Bytes Tech Team Assistant Program at the Philadelphia Free Library and the Page Fellow Program from the Queens Borough (NY) Public Library cultivate a variety of assets including honesty, responsibility, interpersonal competence, and caring. Every program discussed in the book builds assets because libraries are perfectly set up to help kids develop their assets by providing access to information, to responsive programs, and to caring adults.

The public libraries involved in the Urban Libraries Council's Partners in Positive Youth Development project, funded by the DeWitt Wallace Foundation, are putting assets into action. These model programs are building assets but, in particular, are helping teens learn about empowerment, constructive use of time, positive values, and social competencies.

But you don't need the DeWitt Wallace Foundation to build assets. Chances are you are asset building and don't realize it. The key is not so much adding new programs, services, after-school projects, teen volunteers, teen advisory councils, or even changing collections. The key is to integrate the stuff you do every day into the asset framework; it's an easy fit. Look through the list of 40 assets and relate them back to your programs, services, collections, and even the day-to-day work at your desk and you'll find that you're already an asset builder.

School libraries can also easily do this, and probably are already doing it. According to Judy Taccogna, director of the Search Institute's Education Sector, 'the school librarian can be the central person to whom everyone in the school feels connected and can be the main assets' messenger and mover.' The school library environment, she believes, can create a climate 'where students feel supported, feel they have connections, and feel positive.' Finally, she adds, school librarians can support asset-building programs and practices by applying their 'knowledge about resources, about teacher needs, about the processes of instruction, and about technology.' Librarians can help kids bond with the school, motivate them to achieve, and offer a positive role model. From telling stories to teaching information literacy, school librarians deliver services that make kids stronger.

The quickest way to prove your mettle as an asset builder is to involve youth in your discussions. They know best what works for them and what doesn't. The research supports youth involvement as a predictor of the success of services to teenagers. But more than our successes, think of what such involvement does for kids. Again, consider the list of development assets. A teen advisory board, a junior friends group, a science-fiction book-selection team, a cadre of teen volunteers working with computers or working with younger kids-all of these are examples of how youth involvement builds assets. Such activities empower kids, they are constructive uses of time, they promote positive values like teamwork and responsibility, they help kids learn social competencies, and they help youth develop a positive identity.

Adopting the asset vision is easy, in fact, it becomes almost addictive as you realize that the small things you do make a big difference in the lives of young people. Adopting an asset vision will help you answer your funders' and your public's questions about the role of libraries in the Internet age. Adopting an asset vision will help you plan programs and services that are built around not just the 13 service responses of the public library or the nine information literacy standards for school libraries, but around the 40 assets. But mostly, adopting the asset vision should help youth librarians realize the value in helping kids thrive, and in doing so, I believe, remind us of the value of our work.

I was speaking during a training session with a children's librarian who seemed rather discouraged. She told me that she once loved her job, but she didn't get to do that job anymore: she was now the Internet cop, the meeting maven, and a programming workhorse. As we talked about what she liked about that old job, the conversation came back to interacting with kids in a positive manner, and it came back to relationships. Anyone who has worked in a library for more than five years knows how, sometimes dramatically, their job and even the library's role can change. So what is our new role? Is it about computers? Is it about collections? Let's make it about relationships.

When you put down this article, do this: think about the adults in your life who have supported you and, even though they didn't know they were doing it, were helping you build assets. Then, think about the kids in your library who need you to help them do the same. Our slogan is wrong: libraries don't change lives; librarians do. Building assets, creating healthy youth, strengthening communities, and cultivating student achievement are the core values and vital roles for youth librarians to play in the 21st century.