Providing teens with controversial materials is easier than you think

Everyone knows that a library’s main mission is to provide access to information. But what happens when a young adult librarian wants to supply materials that address controversial themes like sex, suicide, and teen pregnancy?

I developed a plan to encourage teens and the community to talk about these important issues by organizing a 10-day event at my library that examined the inner lives of young people. Inspired by David Levithan’s book, The Realm of Possibility (Knopf, 2004), a collection of poems by 20 teens, the program included a PG-13 play called The Wrestling Season, a visit from Levithan, a teen art exhibit, and a community resource fair.

Although the local school district didn’t want us to promote a play about sexuality in its schools, we spread the word by contacting our library’s more than 1,000 friends on MySpace.com, sending out e-mail blasts to teens in the community, and handing out thousands of flyers to local youth organizations.

The goal of the event was to encourage conversations about self-awareness, coming-of-age, identity, and self-expression from a young adult perspective. And it went off without a hitch—teens ended up talking openly and passionately about these subjects from beginning to end.

On the last day, many parents came up to tell me how much they appreciated the opportunity to talk with their teens. And all the adults who attended agreed that this was a perfect way to get teens talking in a meaningful way about real-life issues.

Yes, you can plan an event like this, too. Here are tips to help get you started:

Don’t shy away from adding controversial materials to your collection or planning programs that deal with hot-button topics. Instead, create displays that highlight common teen issues like eating disorders. Educate your community about the developmental appropriateness of these materials, displays, and programs.

Include your library’s vision into your planning and promotion. Most library mission statements address themes like lifelong learning, empowerment, and access to information. Capitalize on the fact that you’re turning these abstract ideas into concrete realities by planning programs and building collections that will help teens make informed decisions.

Align your collection development policies and your teen programs with the 40 Developmental Assets defined by the Search Institute as “positive experiences and qualities essential to raising successful young people.” To find out more abut this nonprofit organization, check out the Search Institute’s Web site.

Do your research. We used our county’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s 2005 National School Climate Survey to assess trends and determine areas where teens needed to engage in more meaningful dialogue. Use this information to defend the need for objective, easily accessible information in your library.

Draft talking points about upcoming events or displays, and incorporate them into a press release. We added statistical data, including the percentage of teens harassed in school due to their sexual orientation, and both local and national statistics about depression, teen suicide, and domestic violence.

I knew the program was all worth it when I overheard a teen on his way out the door, say, “This isn’t controversial, Mom, this is real life.”