Libraries + Teens

why libraries need teenswhy teens need libraries

Angie Manfredi Los Alamos County Library System

Who Am I? Why Am I Here?

Member of YALSA since 2006. Head of Youth Services in Los Alamos, New

Mexico. Los Alamos was interested in pursuing a teen

program, basically from scratch. Not a lot of dedicated teen services staff in

NM libraries.

Teens Need Libraries

Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets are “ positive experiences and qualities that help influence choices young people make and help them become caring, responsible adults.”

A Sample

Search Institute’s Developmental Assets Young person receives support from three or

more nonparent adults. Young person perceives that adults in the

community value youth. Young person reads for pleasure three or

more hours per week.

Blah-Blah-Blah

The Developmental Assets are a great way to build community support.

They are nationally recognized, well-known, and have research to back them up.

They are an easy way to make a case for teen services to reluctant community members, even outside your library.

Teens Need Libraries Because..

We bridge their digital divides. We help them make sense of information

overload. We provide access to popular materials. We advocate for them within the community.

Digital Divide

NY Times article (6-17-11) about the digital divide in the Hispanic community in California: “at a recent neighborhood [the Mission district in SF] event for sixth to eighth graders, 30 percent didn’t have e-mail addresses.”

July 2010 Pew Internet poll: “Fifty-one percent of Hispanics and 46 percent of blacks use their phones to access the Internet, compared with 33 percent of whites.”

Information Literacy

Digital natives still need road-maps. The “Doesn’t Google mean we don’t need

libraries?” issue. Not only do all students and teens need

information literacy skills but they continue to need them at a younger age.

www.martinlutherking.org

“Teens Don’t Read”

New York Public Library Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

4 holds on 308 copies Divergent by Veronica Roth

3 holds on 67 copies Salt Lake City Public Library

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins 2 holds on 57 copies

Divergent by Veronica Roth 30 holds on 2 copies

It costs money to buy…

50+ volumes of a manga series. DVDs, musical CDs, magazine subscriptions. The sheer number of YA books being

published and sold. Pretty Little Liars sold 2.4 million copies Last Sacrifice sold 484,849 copies The Necromancer sold 202,614 copies

Teens + Libraries

YOU must advocate for teens in your library. YOU must share your enthusiasm and first hand

experience. You would never “give up” on programming for any

other age group. Teens need YOU to not give up on them. If you don’t like the tone, YOU have the power

to change the tone.