Teen_Libraries

 Budgeting for young adult services is critical. We need to bring our youth into our public libraries and give them the opportunity to discover all that a public library has to offer. If we are unable to entice young adults into our libraries, our community will suffer. Those that do not use the library as adolescents are not as likely to use libraries as adults. In addition, as adults, these non-users will be less likely to support and fund a public library as voters. A public library’s mission is to provide teens with information and reading services to allow them to transition to productive, educated adults within our society. As noted in “Bare Bones Young Adult Services: Tips For Public Generalists” by Renee Vaillancourt: For many people, adolescence is the first time they begin to think about the “big issues” that will affect their future. They begin to question their parents and other authority figures who have taught them what to believe and how to behave. They start to form opinions for themselves. For this reason, libraries need to provide unbiased information on a wide variety of topics so that young adults can gather the knowledge they so desperately need to develop and grown (2). In 1803, Caleb Bingham donated 150 books to the town of Salisbury, Connecticut. These books were for children between the ages of nine and sixteen and in 1810, the Bingham Library for Youth was established by the citizens (Cramer, 61). This was the first instance where books in a public library were noted as being available for adolescents. From then on, adolescents as library patrons have been an integral part of many public libraries. However, only in recent decades have some public libraries attempted to make libraries a welcome place for adolescents by providing them with an inviting area that allows them to develop and grow. The design aspect for adolescent areas in libraries has changed along with our understanding of the adolescent brain. It was previously believed that the physical development of the human brain was complete by adolescence. However, recent studies done by Dr. Jay Giedd with the National Institute of Health showed that this was not the case. He studied MRI scans of 145 teenage brains at two year intervals. Dr. Giedd’s studies showed that unlike adults, the pre-frontal cortex in adolescents has not yet matured. The pre-frontal cortex is the portion of the brain that controls such functions as planning and suppressing impulses. In addition, the adolescent brain still has some “plasticity” to it and will be programmed during the adolescent years. (Jones 37). This “plasticity” of the adolescent brain provides libraries with the chance to “imprint” or hard wire these teenage brains and helps create devoted library patrons. Since this is the demographic that will soon making policy decisions for our world, including voting on measures to financially support local libraries, there is an obvious mutual benefit for providing library services to young adults. In 2006, Kimberly Bolan noted that “during the last ten years, many libraries have transformed their young adult areas into more efficient, innovative, and inspirational spaces” (44). Teens tend to be self-conscious and, by creating a secure learning environment, these areas will serve the recreational reading and information needs of the public. Providing an environment conducive to adolescents should be a primary objective for a public library. A young adult area should be an environment created with the adolescent in mind. Comfortable furniture, large areas for group studies, cool lighting and colors are important to creating this environment. Although at first, to me, it seems counter-intuitive, many library professionals recommend that gaming and relaxed rules concerning talking and drinking to be incorporated into young adult spaces at public libraries. Setting up sites for gaming has proven to be an attractive draw for young adults to come to libraries. “Teens are more likely to use other library resources and services when there is an activity such as gaming that interests them” (Czarnecki 23). This incentive brings young adults in the door to the library when they might otherwise not show up. Gaming hours are usually strictly limited. During those non-gaming times or while waiting for gaming, teens will then check out books and use the other resources that public library provides. Budgeting for young adult services and areas would be difficult in these economic times. Money would have to be spent changing/adding infrastructure to the public library. New furniture, lighting, and game consoles would need to be acquired. There may be some additional training costs to bring staff up to speed on how to handle the new young adult services area. It would be difficult to pass these costs on the patrons. Nevertheless, the need to attract new library patrons for the future is critical. Granted, some of this money could be spent on purchasing books. However, if we do not have the patrons for the future because we have neglected our youth, these newly purchased books will sit idle, collecting dust on the stacks. Works Cited Bolan, Kimberly. “Looks Like Teen Spirit: Libraries for Youth are Changing – Thanks to Teen Input” School Library Journal, 52.11 (2006): 44-48. MasterFILE Premier, EBSCO, Cuesta College Library, San Luis Obispo, CA. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. This article discusses the ways libraries can create spaces that will attract young adults to use their libraries. The author is a member of ALA and has been a public library administrator. She is the author of several books concerning libraries and is currently a consultant. I would consider this a scholarly work. Cramer, Clarence H. “Open Shelves and Open Minds: A History of the Cleveland Public Library.” Cleveland: Case Western Reserve University Press, 1972. Print. Although this book is primarily focused on the Cleveland Public Library, it does detail the history of public libraries in general. The author was a history and business professor at Case Western University and I would consider this a scholarly work. Czarnecki, Kelly. “Public Libraries by Design.” School Library Journal, 56.11 (2010): 23-25. MasterFILE Premier, EBSCO, Cuesta College Library, San Luis Obispo, CA. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. This article gives examples of teen friendly spaces that have been created in some public libraries across the United States. The examples are from libraries in New York, Wisconsin, Colorado, New Jersey, and California. The examples illustrate how creating teen friendly spaces in libraries will contribute to teens using the resources and services of libraries and thus creating a new generation of library patrons. The author is technology education librarian in North Carolina and I would consider this a scholarly work. Jones, Jami. “Teens Will Be Teens.” School Library Journal, 51.1 (2005): 37. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Cuesta College Library, San Luis Obispo, CA. Web. 9 Feb 2011. This brief article summarizes the latest discoveries done by Dr. Jay Giedd concerning the development of the adolescent brain. I would consider this a scholarly article. I would recommend this article to any librarian involved dealing with teenagers. Vaillancourt, Renee. “Bare Bones Young Adult Services: Tips For Public Generalists.” Chicago, American Library Association, 2002. Print. This book gives advice to librarians on creating and managing young adult services at their public library. The author is a writer, editor, and consultant. She has been a library administrator and the editor of the journal, “Public Libraries.” I would consider this a scholarly book.