Preparing Teens for the Future

But are job referrals, open-mike nights, and the like straying too far from the library's central mission of promoting literacy? Melanie Huggins, the youth services director at the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, doesn't think so. "Libraries and their programs for teens serve a much broader purpose," she says. "We want teens to feel a part of a community, to obtain leadership skills, to be culturally aware, and to be advocates of the library." The following programs exemplify all of those goals and, in so doing, ensure that libraries will remain relevant for a generation to come.

Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County (PLCMC), Charlotte, NC
Library Initiative for Youth in Busines
www.commerceconnection.org

What's the trickiest part of running a successful teen program? Just getting kids in the door, says the staff of the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County (PLCMC). And the best way to do that, adds Melanie Huggins, PLCMC's youth services director, is to give teens what they want. To that end, the library has discovered a simple solution. "We've learned that anything job related [attracts] tons of kids," says Huggins.

In April 2002 PLCMC launched the Library Initiative for Youth in Business (LIYB), an after-school career development program aimed at attracting high school students. LIYB offers teens a wide range of job-training opportunities—everything from computer skills to advice for future entrepreneurs—along with job-referral services at all 22 of PLCMC's branches. This year, LIYB added an eight-week series of personal finance workshops entitled "Teens Getting Down to Business." Funded by a $10,000 grant from the Bank of America Foundation, the workshops advise youth on real-life concerns, including how to buy a first car, manage a checking account, and lay the foundation for a future career.

The need for such practical information became apparent after the staff consulted the teens themselves. "The kids asked for finance programs, internships, job shadowing, and other what-can-you-do-for-me services," says LIYB Director Susan Harden. Along the way, the staff also learned what turns teens off. Book clubs, for example, were at the bottom of many teens' wish lists. Young people like to read, but actually calling a program a book club is the kiss of death, according to Harden. "We've changed our attitudes about serving teens, not assuming we know what they need—asking them what they need—and developing ways to work with them to develop services," says Huggins.

One of LIYB's most successful offerings is the Mayor's Youth Employment Program, which provides job-hungry kids with referrals for part-time employment. The program is a cooperative venture between PLCMC and the city of Charlotte. "The library provides employability skills training," explains Harden. "Then the mayor's office provides job counselors and the corporate contacts." Teens also receive advice on how to write a résumé and how to take advantage of the library's career resources. Last summer, the program helped more than 500 young people find employment.

LIYB's 80 teen programs cost about $50,000 a year, with the majority of funds coming from corporate sponsors. Harden is hopeful LIYB's successful track record will ensure continued corporate support. Yet LIYB hasn't escaped the pinch of tough financial times. County budget cuts have recently forced the library to scale back LIYB teen coordinators from one in every branch to just three systemwide.

Even so, PLCMC views the program as an integral component of its mission to help kids develop the skills they'll need in later life, says Huggins. And the program's statistics bode well for its future: Harden reports that teen usage of the library has risen dramatically—as high as 30 percent in branches where LIYB has offered programs. And this summer, the youth initiative is expecting a record 2,000 participants.

Program organizers have also learned an important lesson from the teens they serve. Although job-related programs get kids in the door, it's the relationships that keep them coming back. Indeed, Harden says, building relationships " 'is what these programs are all about."

Laurelton Branch, Queens Borough Public
Library, Laurelton, NY
Laurelton Youth Empowerment Initiative
www.queenslibrary.org

Just three years ago, the Queens Borough Public Library's (QBPL) Laurelton Branch was a hangout for unruly kids with little to do and nowhere to go. Dozens of teens arrived each afternoon, but instead of using the library's resources responsibly, they horsed around, shattered glass, or picked fights. The library staff filed incident reports and the branch beefed up its security, but nothing seemed to help.

Today, thanks to the Laurelton Youth Empowerment Initiative, the branch attracts many of the same kids as before, but without the headaches. The innovative program—a partnership between the library and the local community—has totally turned things around. "It's a different culture," explains Nick Buron, QBPL's coordinator of young adult services, describing a newly revitalized branch that hosts scores of youngsters aged 7 to 15 at its 14-computer cyber center, open-mike evenings, health and career seminars, and other popular offerings. "People are now coming to the library to do something [positive]."

Laurelton's transformation began in September 2001, when the library received a federal three-year juvenile justice grant to fund the new initiative. The federal grant, which amounts to about $180,000 a year, was the first such grant given to a library, says Buron.

One of the first things the library did was to hire a youth counselor, Lambert Shell, to advise teens during after-school hours. With a master's degree in education, Shell is experienced in working with high-risk kids and serves as a mentor, helping teens sort out their problems and guiding them to library programs sponsored by the initiative. The offerings have ranged from science-oriented videoconferences (including a session with the director of the Melbourne Zoo in Australia) to workshops on community activism, creative-writing classes, and tips on how to manage stress and anxiety. But the Brooklyn-bred Shell, who once pursued a career in the National Basketball Association, says he's there mainly to listen. "Kids need someone to communicate with," he says. "When a kid enters the library, the first thing I do is ask, 'How was your day? What's going on?'"

Shell works closely with Alyssa MacDonald, a part-time social worker who was brought aboard to assess individual cases (making home visits when necessary), and secure the appropriate social services for needy or troubled teens. MacDonald also holds a weekly Boys and Girls Discussion Group, a popular forum which explores a variety of adolescent issues, including body image.

It helps, of course, that Laurelton has a caring and supportive community. A steering committee, composed of members of local churches, health and community organizations, and the District Attorney's office, meets monthly to assess the initiative's programs and suggest improvements. All of this attention has transformed the library into a truly happening place. Up to 100 kids attend the program each week, and more than 80 percent of them are regulars. Since the initiative began, circulation has also soared, rising by nearly 30 percent.

And those troublesome incidents? They've ceased almost entirely. In fact, the program has been so successful that QBPL has expanded it to include the nearby Rosedale branch, a library that shares many of Laurelton's previous problems. But funding for Rosedale's teen program will have to come from outside sources, given QBPL's recent loss of $12 million due to New York City's budget cuts. Buron and QBPL's development staff plan to pursue federal, state, and private grants to ensure that the initiative keeps running. "Teens need to know that there's a place in their community for them, where there are positive adults, and where the resources are there to help them along," says Buron.

Valencia Branch, Tucson-Pima Public Library, Valencia, AZ
E-journalism Program
aleyda3.tripod.com

Budding reporters in Valencia, AZ, look forward to their days at the Valencia branch of the Tucson-Pima Public Library, where an e-journalism program has given teens a taste of life in a newsroom. For the last three years, groups of up to 20 students, aged 11 to 18, have journeyed to the library to attend Sofia Clements's weekly, two-hour, after-school workshop. Make no mistake, Clements doesn't take her editor-in-chief title lightly. The library associate, who works under Young Adult Librarian Joanna Peled, schedules news meetings, sets deadlines, and edits copy for the teen zine VT Webscraps and the four-page Valencia Teen Journal, a monthly newsletter that's distributed in the library and at nearby schools.

While the e-journalism program isn't exactly the New York Times , it does teach students the fundamentals of journalism and proper research skills. Armed with their notebooks and digital cameras, students pitch story ideas, write articles, and take photographs to accompany their work. "This is a much better way to learn because they're doing something for themselves," says Clements, who reviews news ethics, including how to avoid plagiarism, and teaches computer skills and online safety practices. "They learn about confidence, as well as social skills and writing skills."

With an 85-percent Hispanic population in Valencia, the influence of the community has certainly crept in to the students' coverage. For example, one teen wrote a poem about racism against Mexicans. Plus, the program's events are publicized in both English and Spanish. At the beginning of each month, Clements and her students spread a large piece of paper on a table to map out the contents of the next newsletter and Web-site posting. VT Webscraps offers articles on community events, and students conduct in-house polls based on interviews with library patrons on subjects ranging from support for the war in Iraq to great holiday gifts. Visitors to the site will also find student fiction and nonfiction, in addition to teen drawings, and movie, music, fashion, and book reviews. "Teens use the library's resources to write their articles," Clements says. "They mostly use the Internet and databases like EBSCO, and they'll also grab the encyclopedia and dictionary."

E-journalism has been so popular that Clements launched another teen zine in March at the nearby Santa Rosa Learning Center Library, located next to public housing projects. More than a dozen students have already signed up, and that number is expected to rise now that summer has arrived. Funded by a $35,000 corporate grant from Qwest Communications, the Valencia and Santa Rosa teen-zine programs are part of the Youth Access e-journalism program launched by Libraries for the Future. The project operates in a half dozen cities, including San Francisco and Detroit, and attracts hundreds of teens.

"It's important for libraries to see themselves as playing a definite role in youth development," says Megan Kinney, national youth access coordinator for Libraries for the Future. "If these youth are exposed to what the library has to offer, it will become second nature for them to use the library, particularly for immigrants who don't necessarily value the library."