Library Service for Teens: Who Are We? What Are We? and, Where Are We Going?

Did you miss it? We hope not. January 2013 marked a momentous occasion. It was the first step in a sea change for library teen services. You might ask, what happened? YALSA hosted the first-ever Future of Teens in Libraries summit, which led to a comprehensive report entitled The Future of Library Services for and with Teens: A Call to Action. This report brought about a wide array of discussions in libraries big and small and library associations across the country. It's a big deal. If you did miss it, this is your opportunity to catch up. What does the report say? First, it focuses on connected learning. Connected learning is the idea that young people--in this case, teens--learn best by focusing on topics that they are passionate about. For example, a teen will easily learn about Japan because of a personal interest in manga. Libraries have a strong role in connected learning because they can help teens connect to people and resources that support their personal formal and informal learning interests. Second, technology plays a huge role--a different role--as a learning tool. Thanks to the Internet and a variety of digital tools, youth can find virtually any information they need anywhere. Up until the dawn of social web-based tools, youth in high-needs environments or from low-income families may not have had the money, support, or awareness to connect with other youth with similar interests and likes that were outside of their immediate physical environment. Now, with technology and the Internet, armed with an array of devices, youth can connect with peers and adults across the globe. We know that youth are learning all over the place in a variety of forms including fan fiction, Twitter, blogging, and YouTube. But youth need support and guidance on how to best use the tools available, and this is where libraries must play a vital role. Third, libraries need to shift in scope from being a repository of information to a place where teens come together, think together, do stuff together, make stuff together, and learn together. As a result, the physical library is not transaction based--reference question asked and answered, book sought and found, and so on. Instead, it's activity based, where library staff and teens work together to learn and create and make meaning out of the world we all live in. Fourth, the YALSA report points to a paradigm shift as a result of technological, sociological, and economic factors that bring society into a new age where 21st century skills--both soft and hard--are in demand. With this new age, literacies are expanding and libraries must support literacy and learning in new ways to best meet the needs of learners. The literacies that teens need are not just print reading and writing-based but include media literacies, information literacies, digital literacies, and so on. What Does It Mean to Libraries and Teens? As libraries begin to engage with the ideas and practices of future library service for teens, it's easy to get nervous about what it means for your professional practice. Is YALSA suggesting you toss your books and study AutoCAD instead? Hardly. But that doesn't mean you don't need to reexamine the core values of teen library services. Our goal is to transform the library into a place where teens, as stated on page 18 of the report, "become who they want and need to be." We do that by embracing the library services values discussed in the report. The values we must hold in library service to teens include adaptability, respect, and collaboration. Holding these values as a part of the service provided gives libraries serving teens the framework to address the interests and needs of the audience. For example, if we value and respect what teens are interested in, then we will be sure to work with them to develop programs and services that support their interests. To do this, library staff do need to be able to learn with teens and facilitate that learning as a guide, not as an expert. …