Library News, by Pamela Comello, Youth Services Librarian
Red Rock News
Date: October 19, 2007
Teens and Libraries
Teens and libraries seemed like an appropriate topic being that the week of October 14-20 is National Teen Read Week at libraries across the country. Teens that check out items from Sedona Public Library this week have the opportunity to put their name in a drawing to win a free book! However, I imagine Teens and Libraries may not be a topic to draw interest from the majority of our community. But, being the Librarian in charge of Youth Services, several articles I read recently definitely caught my interest, and some interesting research and findings that are relative to the present and future state of libraries I felt warranted sharing.
“Tweens” is a term that refers to early teens between the ages of eight and fourteen. In 1999, this age group encompassed approximately twenty-seven million kids and represented the largest number of this age group in twenty years as quoted from Barbara Kantrowitz in the Jan. 18, 1999 article “The Truth about Tweens” written in Newsweek. The article points out that these early teens are generally extremely well –educated, optimistic in their approaches to life, have expectations of going on to college, hold their parents as the most important influencers in terms of morals and life goals, and represent approximately $14 billion per year in spending power. A 1996 study conducted by the Benton and Kellogg foundations examined attitudes of potential patrons of public libraries. Some of their findings were warning signs to public libraries of the dangers of continuing with their current strategies and demonstrated how it is vital that libraries pay attention to the opinions of younger users if libraries want these individuals to become long-term users of library services.
In 1999, Elaine Meyers wrote “The Coolness Factor: Ten Libraries Listen to Youth” published in American Libraries. Described in this article were reports from surveys conducted of young people in an attempt to reveal their views regarding public libraries. Some of the research cited in this study and other studies suggested that many public libraries are perceived negatively by teens. Many of these perceptions were based on stereotypes held by teens or by stereotypes of what librarians think tweens think. Some of these stereotypes included perceptions that libraries are “unwelcoming and uncool” locations that store books, have long tables or dreary physical spaces and the majority of library staff is not helpful or friendly. However, the overall attitudes that early teens hold in terms of their view of the public library system shows libraries meet the needs of the vast majority of teens that responded to the study. Survey project leaders suggested “teens want a multiple-use library space offering both a place for quiet study and space to socialize. The majority of the teens surveyed said they came to the library to study, to do assignments, and to use the Internet.” Surveys also showed teens wanted more welcoming space, more access to higher-end technology, more help with their homework, and better books and magazines. Teens seem to respond positively to libraries that have addressed these negative stereotypes and updated libraries that have created inviting spaces and specialized teen areas and activities with places for teens to have social interaction with their peers or entertainment without disturbing patrons in other parts of the library.
In this digital age that we live in and with technology continuing to change, results showed that technology plays a major role in young people’s lives. Research demonstrated that young teens have not given up on older technologies, such as watching television or using VCR and DVD equipment to view movies or video game equipment, but they have added new technologies as they have come along, such as text messaging and IPODs. This is of particular importance in designing strategies for libraries, because if early teens are currently using technology to locate information, and if they don’t view the public library on their list as an informational source, then librarians must take new approaches and attitudes towards actively marketing their libraries as well as updating their strategies. In fact, the majority of early teen respondents reported that they use the Internet on a daily basis, like to surf the Web, and like to get e-mail. A study in 2004 done by Stephanie Azzarone, president of Child’s Play Communications found that teens in the U.S. spent approximately 16.7 hours a week on the Internet.
At Sedona Public Library, we use teen volunteers to assist with programs, shelve books, read stories to younger children, and design arts and crafts projects for pre-school storytimes. We offer programs for teens, and have fun and informative links on the teen page on the Library’s newly designed website. Last year, we hosted a database workshop for the entire freshman class at Red Rock High School. We have many current teen magazines, anime books, and fiction book series of interest to teens. We continue to strive to meet the needs of our changing and growing youth population, and we welcome new ideas and comments from youth in our community of ways we can better serve the teen population.
On another note, If you haven’t seen the exceptional photography exhibit by the Sedona Camera Club on display in the Library’s center stacks, be sure to come in to see it before the end of the month. There are dozens of outstanding photographs on display that you won’t want to miss!
