As the Community Librarian in Teen Services at Edmonton Public Library, I am expected to spend 50% of my time outside of the library working with community groups who deal with all types of teens. But since coming to EPL in October, I haven’t gone outside much at all and that’s not just because it’s always minus 30! I find that many of the community groups I would reach out to in the community (such as the YMCA, John Howard Society, Native Counselling Services and the City of Edmonton drop in centre) have already identified Stanley Milner Library (the downtown branch of EPL) as a place where many of their inner city teens congregate, thus making it a great location for their programs. In the past few months I have formed some strong connections with the staff at these various agencies, and been involved in their programs that mostly target the large inner city youth population.
(more…)

I work for the Weber County Library, a 5-library system in Utah, 45 minutes north of Salt Lake City.  In 2008 we started a One Community, One Book program called Weber Reads.  We’ve read Beowulf, Frankenstein, Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. Our 2011 program focuses on the Slave Narratives of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs.

My library system focuses on learning rather than entertainment, so I was not surprised when I was asked to combine our 2011 Teen Tech Week program with our Weber Reads program.  The question was HOW? Lucky for me I listen to NPR on my 30-minute daily commute, and as I was listening one day, I heard about StoryCorps.  StoryCorps is all about collecting and sharing people’s stories, and this struck a resonating chord with me. Regardless of our personal histories, we all have our stories to share. (more…)

Title: Jot Not Pro 

Platform: Works with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.2 or later and integrated camera for real functionality.

Cost: $0.99 (February release month special)

Anyone with a camera phone has likely done it — snapped a photo of a flyer or note for later consultation, instead of creating a text note with the virtual keyboard.  The Jot Not app allows you to extract text scanned with your camera or from saved images, using the draggable graphing options to limit the scan to the applicable text.

(more…)

This episode continues the podcast’s coverage of YALSA’s 2011 elections.  The guests this time are Jerene Battisti and Penny Johnson, who are both running this year for Fiscal Officer of YALSA’s Board of Directors.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

If you prefer, you may download the podcast at the YALSA Podcast site and transfer the file to the mp3 player of your choice.

Dear YALSA:

All of the information you’ve been sharing has been wonderful. I can see so much potential. The problem? I’m in a rural community without broadband. We have one public access computer with dial-up.  Sometimes I feel like I’m failing my teen patrons when I can’t do all of these exciting things I see on the YALSA and other blogs. What’s a country librarian to do?

– No Tech in the Country

Dear NTIC:

Thank you for a great question. Location and economics are still barriers to tech access in the United States, and it impacts teens in rural as well as urban areas. According to a recent FCC report, ten percent of US homes have no access to broadband whether they can afford it or not. As the Washington Post reported, only 68% of American homes have access and “low-income and minority groups are less likely to have a broadband Internet connection in their homes.”

(more…)

For years, my library system has used what we call ‘Teen Take Out Kits’. The kits are meant to circulate around the system for branches to have programs, using the materials provided. Over the years, we have added more technology as part of the kits and are looking forward to kicking them off for Teen Tech Week. (more…)

For months now, School Librarian and SLJ blogger, Joyce Valenza, has been raving about Cengage Gale’s iPhone app “Access My Library,”  which allows students and other library users access to their library’s Gale subscription databases.

But Cengage Gale is not the only vendor in the mobile marketplace.  Other library reference services are also available on mobile devices. These services may not have “apps” per se, but they often provide a version of their resources that is more accessible to users on the go.

Here are some of the subscription services with mobile offerings:

• EBSCO
• JSTOR (beta)
• LibGuides
• Wilson Web

Have you made sure your library is set up to take advantage of these great resources? If your library pays for this service, make sure you get your full money’s worth! Then, once you’ve contacted your customer support services and improved your mobility, don’t forget to spread the word to your teens via email, QR codes, facebook, twitter, etc.  And if you want to get your own library mobile, you can check this blog post for more suggestions.

I’m sure I’ve missed some other mobile reference tools, so what else is out there? Does your library have a mobile presence?  Tell us: How have you shared the great news of library mobility with your teens?

It’s no secret that the teens we work with are born digital. 13 to 19 year olds have had technology in their lives every day of their lives. And, they have had the web as a tool for viewing, using, and finding content every day of their lives.

What does it really mean to be born digital?

Does it mean that teens are unaware of how to manage their privacy and identity in only environments?

(more…)

How are your preparations for Teen Tech Week 2011 coming? With budget and staffing strain it can be difficult to find the resources to plan events for teens in your libraries. However, the teens can be your biggest asset when it comes to program planning and presentation. Find out what they’re interested in and help bring their ideas to life. It will increase program attendance and could develop into an active Teen Advisory Group.

In case you’re still making arrangements for your event, here are some low cost Teen Tech Week programming ideas.
(more…)

A short list of tweets posted over the last week that librarians and the teens that they serve may find interesting:

• Authors catch fire with self-published e-books – USATODAY.com http://usat.ly/gceMkF #teens #ebooks – @gcaserotti
• The Four Habits of Highly Effective Librarians – Do Your Job Better – The Chronicle of Higher Education http://ow.ly/3V7WV #in – @shereads
• Great article: RT @MoodleMcKean Teaching the iGeneration http://t.co/0kvTAwU #elearning #edtech #tlchat #edchat – @janelibrarian
• Startup Lets You Scan & Decode Barcodes Without an App – http://on.mash.to/hF9jhj
• Smartphone App Makes Book Citations a Snap – Wired Campus – The Chronicle of Higher Education http://t.co/roDgrpA Love it! #fb #in – @millerlibrarian (more…)