I’m really excited to be participating in a National Afterschool Matters fellowship that gives practitioners in the out-of-school time (OST) field an opportunity to investigate and write, for an academic journal, about an OST issue in their profession/workplace. This program was running in NYC for a few years and last expanded to Philadelphia and the Bay Area, and this year it’s Minneapolis’ turn.

I’m the only library person, but it’s fascinating to talk with my colleagues in the field. We’ve only met once but I’m looking forward to the year and getting some time to write about where libraries fit into this important area. Has anyone else participated in this or similar fellowships in other parts of the country? We have so much in common with other OST providers, but so much that’s different, too. What has been your experience working with other youth-serving providers in your area?

My library, and perhaps many of yours, has made some serious cuts to our training, travel and professional development budgets. Ironically, I keep hearing about amazing non-library conferences I’d like to attend. Has anyone attended the BOOST conference? It’s one of the biggest conference for out-of-school time providers, and they’re currently accepting program proposals for their April 2010 conference in Palm Springs. If your program proposal is accepted, you get free registration! When I’ve talked with OST professionals, they’re always very interested in how to partner with the library.

Are there other non-library-specific conferences that you’d recommend to others?

Over the last 4 years at Red Deer Public Library, I have found that there is a fine line between social work and teen librarianship. I am quite comfortable with the tweeny boppers plunking themselves down in a chair every day after school (or during if they are skipping) and telling me all about their lives.  This I can handle, as usually they just want someone to nod and smile and offer the occasional bit of advice.

The problem has arisen with the high contingent of at-risk street teens using the library who inform me of serious problems such as addictions, pregnancies and suicidal thoughts. With these teens I try to refer them to someone more qualified in the area – a doctor, counsellor, specialist, etc, but follow through is limited and/ or non existent with many of them and I am left torn between the fact that A) I know they have not sought help and B) I know it is not my responsibility as a librarian to get them that help.

Or is it? It may not be in my job description, but to have a pregnant, drug addicted 14 year old that you know has fallen through the cracks of the system, one cannot help but feel a little responsible. Have my other fellow librarians found a way of successfully dealing with these issues?

As some people know, I am very interested in finding ways to successfully use technology with teens and figuring out ways to help librarians use technology in order to connect with teens. And, as some people know, I think Twitter is a really powerful technology that librarians should use. But, when I read reports that have been published recently saying that teens don’t tweet I think, “so what?”

Yes, it is interesting that teens haven’t taken to Twitter in the mass numbers we’ve seen for MySpace and Facebook. That doesn’t mean there aren’t teens who are using Twitter (and we should count that use as valid) and it doesn’t mean that librarians shouldn’t use Twitter in their library and professional lives. For example Twitter is an amazing tool for:

• Keeping up with news about the world and the library profession. You can subscribe to School Library Journal’s Twitter (@Sljournal), posts by school librarian Joyce Valenza (@joycevalenza), and posts from The New York Times (@NyTimes) and Mashable (@mashable).
• Getting feedback from other professionals on everything including what to name a program, how to go about organizing a new service, what to include in a training, or how to handle a challenging situation.
• Keeping up with authors writing for teens and books that people are reading. A wide-array of teen authors are on Twitter and many of them post regularly about what they are working on and sometimes even sponsor contests so readers can win a copy of one of their books. Lots of librarians post information about what they are reading, link to reviews of books, and rate the books they and the teens they work with read.
• Know what’s going on in libraries. Public and school libraries have Twitter accounts on which they post everything from their daily hours to announcements of programs and even live Tweet what’s happening during TAB meetings (@TnCntrl).

These are just a very few examples of why and how librarians are using Twitter, even if masses of the teens they serve are not. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t pay attention to what teens do and don’t use. But, I think we need to put it in perspective. Even if Twitter isn’t something teens use, to repeat myself, that doesn’t mean it’s not a technology that librarians shouldn’t consider for their own work and professional development. (As suggested by the examples above.)

Beyond that, maybe this is an opportunity for librarians to be proactive in working with teens to teach them about tools like Twitter and how these tools can be used to learn about authors, music, celebrities, and other topics of interest. I think sometimes we think that if teens don’t use a technology that means there is no value in teaching them about. (Or even that there is no value in the technology) But, I would say, at least sometimes, that this is an opportunity to expand teen technology horizons. For example, since Twitter is an excellent source of information related to current events it can be something teens might want to use in school related and personal research. Now that Twitter is starting to show up in search results lists, even if teens don’t use Twitter to post content, they may end up using Twitter to find information. We need to help teens therefore learn how to evaluate and use Twitter search results effectively.

Ultimately I’d say the headline shouldn’t be teens don’t tweet. Instead:

• Why teens don’t tweet.
• What librarians should tweet.
• What teens need to know about Twitter as an information source.

It’s not really as black and white as any headline might make it. If teens don’t tweet, so what? If teens don’t tweet, how are we going to use and analyze that information? If teens don’t tweet, does that mean I shouldn’t? So many questions, maybe I’ll find the answers on Twitter. (Or in the comments to this blog post.)

The YALSA Research Committee has completed an annotated bibliography entitled “Current Research Related to Young Adult Services, 2006-2009.” The articles included in the bibliography are listed under seven subject headings: 1) information seeking behavior, 2) intellectual freedom, 3) the Internet and other electronic resources, 4) public library services to teens, 5) school library services to teens, 6) young adult literature and teen’s reading, and 7) major non-LIS research studies related to teens.

The bibliography can be found at: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/research/09researchbibliograp.pdf

Yesterday the Pew Internet in American Life project released a report on wireless Internet use. When I first heard about the report I didn’t think very broadly about what the data might have to say about the impact of access for teens (and for libraries for that matter). But, when I read several news reports that highlighted findings that wireless access, particularly on mobile devices, is serving to lessen the digital divide I started thinking about teens. While not everyone has what some might consider traditional internet access at home – a wired or wireless connection that is used with a laptop or desktop – that doesn’t mean that the Internet isn’t available in the home. People are accessing the Internet with laptops and desktops and they are using game consoles and handheld devices for their access.

If outside of the school teens use handheld devices and gaming consoles to access the Internet, we need to look at how our resources are provided to the age group. We need to make sure to provide access to programs and services in ways that work well for someone using an Internet enabled device. For example:

• It’s clearer now than ever before that we need to provide mobile versions of web pages, catalogs, and databases so that they display successfully on small screens. This is already something that libraries are doing, but perhaps we have to make this a bigger priority. (Mobile versions of library sites include New York Public Library and Skokie Public Library). If our web pages and databases aren’t easily read and scanned on the device someone is using at home, it’s likely that they will just look elsewhere, a place where the information is more easily read via the Internet enabled tool they use.
• We need to embrace the kinds of technologies that teens use via their cell phones, including SMS. This includes text messaging ask a librarian services. On a handheld device this is probably the easiest and quickest way for teens to get answers. Again, if we aren’t providing the answers on these devices in this way perhaps a teen will go somewhere else that is.
• Attention should be paid to developing and promoting applications for devices that support reading, searching, listening, viewing, and so on. Can teens download books, articles, audiobooks and read them on their handheld device or on a screen attached to a gaming console? Can they download a widget or application to their Internet enabled device in order to quickly call up the library catalog, a database, homework help tools, and so on? If this is how teens are accessing the Internet outside of school, shouldn’t these be tools the library provides?
• If teens are using their devices as a main way to connect to the Internet, the school and public library needs to develop opportunities to use these devices in order to learn safe and smart use. Instead of banning mobile devices in schools, teens should have the chance to use them in the school setting for research, collaboration, and content creation. By providing teens that opportunity in the school setting we give them the chance to learn, with adults, how to critically think about their use of the device. Similarly, if public libraries provide programs and services that support and even embrace mobile technologies, librarians have an opportunity to embed within those programs and services discussions with teens of positive use of the technologies.

For a long time librarians and educators have said that teens don’t have Internet access at home, and have suggested that because of that the educational and leisure programs, services, and resources provided by the library should not focus too heavily on using the Internet in order to take part. Can we really continue to say and believe this if teens are accessing the Internet outside of school, just not in traditional ways? While the Pew Internet in American Life research was collected by surveying adults 18 and older, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t relate to teens 12 to 18. I’d even venture to guess that it might be more true of teenagers.

If you offer me a choice between going to a conference program and observing the work of a committee or board…I’ll pick the committee  and board stuff almost every time. You’ll find debate, controversy, and loads of interesting discussions.

Yesterday, I observed the ALA Executive Board. They had a pretty interesting agenda, including a report on librarian demographics. It was fascinating stuff and merits discussion amongst a wider audience.

The demographers have not compiled their findings into a final report, and it will probably be a while before we see their interpretations. I’ll walk you through the slides, but keep in mind…while the numbers aren’t completely raw, you might consider them still medium-rare. As such I defer to the ALA Office for Research & Statistics when it comes to explaining all the charts and graphs. And keep in mind these caveats: this data represents particular snapshots and projections. It can be difficult to predict trends.

[Update: I hope you'll open the exec board doc with the charts and look at it alongside my comments. There's a lot more to see than what I mention.]

Slide 3: Credentialed Librarians by Age, 2005

These numbers are from census data, meaning this represents librarians throughout the US. There is an obvious bubble in the Baby Boomer age group, but interestingly, the numbers are concentrated in the first half of the Baby Boom. One of the demographers mentioned that the number of MLS degrees issued peaked in the 1970s. As the Boomers aged, they continued to join our profession, so the number of librarians in this age group continued to grow across the next thirty years. Note these numbers are for  2005, so projecting forward, 40% of librarians are age 54-63.

Slide 4: GM Auto Workers by Age and Sex, 2006

This is here as a comparison to other professions and industries. The same Baby Boom bubble is apparent, but you’ll also notice the steep decline around age 45. Seniority rules mean that workers under 45 are most likely to be laid off, so they’re simply not present in the GM workforce.

Slide 5: Credentialed Librarians by Gender and Age, 1980 & 1990

These are snapshots of the profession in 1980 and 1990. In 1980, the Boomer bubble occurs around age 30, and overall the profession appears fairly young. In 1990, the Boomer bubble has moved to age 40 and grown a bit in the meantime.

Slide 6: Credentialed Librarians by Gender and Age, 2000 & 2005

By 2000, the Boomer bubble has reached 50, and in 2005, it’s at 55. Since 1980, the profession has aged significantly.

Slide 8: Credentialed Librarians by Gender and Age, 1995

Same stuff we just saw, this is here to make the next couple of slides possible. Can you spot the Boomer bubble?

Slide 9: Credentialed Librarians Growth 1995-2005

Alrighty. The light blue represents the 1995 numbers aged forward 10 years.  The purple shows  people who have entered the profession since 1995. Remember, this represents a sample, so it doesn’t mean that there were no 39 year old males or 54 year old females who became librarians from 1995-2005, it just means there weren’t any in this sample. If you look past the choppiness, you can still get a general idea of what is going on…librarians enter the profession at many different ages.

Slide 10: 1995 Credentialed Librarians Aged to 2005

Once again, same data from slide 8 aged to 2005, but this time (represented in light green) we’re looking at individuals who have left the profession (through retirement, death, career change, etc). The demographers mentioned that men tend to enter the profession earlier, and they follow more traditional (i.e. earlier) retirement patterns than women.

Intermission. Switch gears, we’re blazing ahead to the future.

Slide 11: Number of Credentialed Librarians by Age 1980-2006

Once again, we’re looking at snapshots of the profession at particular moments in time. This chart shows quite clearly that young librarians were prevalent in 1980, and we can watch the Boomer bubble (and the profession overall) age as we progress to 2005.

Slide 13: Projected 2015 Data

There’s the 2005 data from the last slide, alongside three different versions of what 2015 might look like. The first is based on the changes that occurred from 1980 to 1990, the second on 1990-2000, and the third on 1995-2005. While the projections are generally similar, note the differences in the 65-70 and 70+ categories. (There’s a funny dip in the 50-54s for the set on the right. Yup, it’s weird, and nope, the demographers aren’t really sure what’s going on.)

Slide 14: Percent of Credentialed Librarians Age 60+

The left half of the graph represents actual numbers, the right half are all 2015 projections, based on different rates as in slide 13. From what the demographers said, I got the impression that the 1995-2005 scenario is mostly likely. You can see that from 1980-2000, the number of librarians aged 60+ was fairly constant at 10%. In 2005, it jumps to a little over 15%, but in 2015, we’re looking at 27-30% at age 60+.

Slide 15: Estimated and Projected Credentialed Librarian Retirements by Decade

This chart illustrates the impending wave of librarian retirements that we’ve been hearing about for a while. We’re already four years into the 2005-2015 projections. Of course, in recent years we’ve witnessed that Boomers are delaying retirement.

Slide 17: Projected Retirements of 2009 Domestic Working ALA Members

This slide represents just ALA members.

Slide 18: Anticipated Member Retirements 2009–2020

More ALA member-only data. The graph on the left is actual 2009 numbers, while the middle and right graphs are projections. Like slide 10, the projections show 2009 members aged forward to 2015 and 2020, with light green representing anticipated retirements (or people leaving the profession for other reasons). Notice the growth in the 70+ category.

Slide 19: Credentialed Librarians: Hours Worked by Age and Gender

I think we’re back to census data, but don’t quote me on that. This slide shows a general trend towards part-time work as librarians age. (Again, this is a sample, not everybody, so there’s potential for a certain choppiness. Yes, there are  probably 70+ year old males somewhere who worked 33 hours a week, it just happens that there weren’t any in this sample.)

Slide 20: Census Credentialed Librarian vs. ALA Membership Age Distributions

This might be one of the most interesting charts, but also the hardest to interpret. Here we compare total librarians compared to ALA members. My notes say that this is data for 2005. I think the member data used is from 2009, adjusted backwards for 2005. Note these are percentages; I’d like to see the actual numbers. At first glance, it looks like younger librarians are more likely to be ALA members. Of course, students enrolled in library degree programs aren’t credentialed, and therefore not included in the census numbers  (those are the blue bars). I’d like to see library school students included in this data somehow. The difference between ALA members and total librarians might also be affected by the definition of credentialed librarian. It looks like the turnaround point for ALA membership is age 40, but when asked about this, the demographers mentioned that ALA’s drop in market share with regards to membership begins around age 30. (I’d really like to see more data there.)

Alright, that’s a lot to digest. Interesting to consider it alongside discussions about how to make ALA more responsive to younger members. What do you think?

Over the past week I’ve been reading about teens and technology and about the media’s handling of major news events. A theme running through the reading I’ve been doing is that critical thinking is an important part of what adults and teens need to do in order to make good technology decisions. For example:

• I’m not sure why I didn’t start following @larrymagid (Larry Magid) on Twitter until a couple of weeks ago, but now that I am following him, I’ve discovered three recent articles by Magid that serve to highlight the important role critical thinking plays when it comes to teens and technology.

  On June 22 Magid wrote on his blog about the need to give students a chance to use technology as a critical thinking tool and not simply outlaw devices because students might use them to cheat. He quotes librarians in his post and makes a very strong case for teaching technology in order to use technology wisely.

  Then, on June 24, Magid wrote about recent research that shows teens are technology savvy and not likely to thoughtlessly get involved in dangerous situations as some regularly fear. (This most recent research follows-up on earlier data that showed the same thing and this new research also shows that sexting is not something that teens fall into mindlessly.) Teens often make informed decisions about how to use technology and even if they know certain behaviors are not the “right” way to go they still decide to go-ahead with that behavior. Of course this isn’t new that teens sometimes make bad decisions. Technology gives them another opportunity to do that and we can help mitigate those by giving teens the chance to make good choices with technology.

  Magid’s column on C|Net on June 22 highlights the importance of helping teens to think about what decisions they make but not simply expecting every teen to need the same support when it comes to decision-making. In this column Magid asks readers to realize that a one-size-fits all approach to helping young people think critically in order to make good decisions about technology use does not work. He highlights that adults have to look at risk factors in a variety of situations and provide tips and tools for teens to support the specific risks they face within their home and community.

• In today’s New York Times there is an article that discusses Brigham Young University’s (BYU) decision to no longer block YouTube. One of the reasons cited for this decision is that there is a wide-array of educational content on the site. Not only does this demonstrate that BYU spent time critically thinking about why they banned YouTube in the first place, and compared their earlier reasoning to the benefits of use of the site, it also demonstrates that it’s important to continually evaluate decisions in order to best serve a specific population. BYU’s change of heart serves as a model for institutions to continually analyze and re-think decisions and not simply assume that what once was continues to be.
• The death of Michael Jackson and the way Twitter, Wikipedia, and traditional news media handled the event provides lots of future opportunities for helping teens understand how to crtically evaluate and use information.

  Consider the fact that TMZ reported Jackson’s death before any of the more traditional news outlets. We might ask teens to think about whether or not TMZ’s report should have been trusted at the moment it appeared, or, because they are non-traditional in the news media world. was it appropriate to wait until a more traditional source reported Jackson’s death to believe that it was true?

  It would also be good to ask teens to consider that Wikipedia had to shut down editing of the Michael Jackson page for a time because of all of the information people wanted to post when they heard of his death. It was the biggest traffic day for Wikipedia in it’s eight-year history. Teens might consider whether or not they should trust what Wikipedia had to say about Jackson just because it was current? How could they know what was true on Wikipedia and what wasn’t? These are just some of the things teens might think about as they consider the event and the information explosion that followed it.

  The life and death of Michael Jackson is a real story that teens can relate to and a perfect way to have them initiate real-life investigation about accuracy of information presented in different resources. While school librarians will hate me thinking this, part of me wishes that we were still in the midst of the school year so this real-life real-world information evaluation example could be integrated into teaching and learning immediately.

What I keep thinking about is the dynamic nature of technology, of information, and of the ways we can help teens learn to think critically about how they use technology and the information they find via technology.

In one week I found a lot to think about. Imagine the questions teens might have going through their brains in just one week of virtual and face-to-face conversations with friends, family, and librarians. Think about all of the information they’ve gathered via the Internet, newspapers, books, magazines, and so on. Why not ask them to talk with you about it and see if there are ways you can promote critical thinking during the conversations you have?

I attended the rollout of Best Buy’s @15 TeenVoice 2009 study on Monday, July [correction: June] 8.  Best Buy built the @15 website as a place for teens to find each other and express themselves and their concerns for the world, as well as suggest where Best Buy should donate its money to truly make a difference.  Best Buy tapped experts from around the country to mentor the teens and study their feedback.

With the weather changing (and changing again, and changing back, etc.) and the adrenaline rush of finals starting to subside, it’s time to think about teen health.

Whether teens have been chronically ill all their life or are just starting to get that weird tingle in the back of their throat, there are reasons to make sure that they get the kind of health care they need. Unfortunately, there are some traps that can keep them from visiting a doctor:

• No health care - According to the 2007 Census, 11% of all minors are without health coverage. While many teens might take for granted that they can cheaply see a doctor for a stomach ache, it’s sadly not the case for everyone.
• Busyness and presenteeism – Even if teens have access to health care, they might feel like they don’t have the time — or inclination — to use it. Their parents might be too busy to take them to the doctor for “little things,” or their coaches might tell them to “be a man” and fight through sickness.

A number of great online resources exist to get teens through cold season, as well as any other health issues they might be battling. Of course, no online resource is a good substitute for a doctor, but it is a start.

Insure Kids Now! – If a teen doesn’t currently have health insurance, a recent government bill might make them eligible for free or low-cost coverage.  They can use this program to find their state’s program and start their parents on the path toward applying.

TeensHealth - TeensHealth is part of the award-winning KidsHealth Network, a project of the Nemours Center.  The center was founded as a place where pediatricians and other medical experts develop health media free of “doctor speak,” and is reviewed regularly for accuracy.  It also has a Spanish-language componenent por la salud de los jovenes!

TeenHealthFX - TeenHealthFX is a nationally-renowned teen health site funded by Atlantic Health’s – Morristown Memorial Hospital and Overlook Hospital.  The site has it’s own Teen Advisory Board and aims to be a comprehensive place where general health info exists side-by-side with the “traditionally teen.”

MedlinePlus - MedlinePlus is a service of the National Library of Medicine and has two teen-specific pages: Teen Health and Teens’ Page are specific (though slightly redundant) pathfinders that lead teens to a number of specific health issues and various bits of research.  It also scrapes articles from PubMed related to teen health.

Adolescent Health Transition Project - This important resource from Center on Human Development and Disability (CHDD) at the University of Washington gives teens with special health care needs due to chronic disease, disability, or developmental issues a resource to help them transition into independent young adulthood.

TeenGrowth  - TeenGrowth is a simple, yet effective Q&A site from the Pediatric Health Alliance.  It’s easy to navigate and includes some sections that you might not usually find on teen health pages, like information on sports injuries and doctor visits.

~Joseph Wilk
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh