Hello again to our presidential candidates!
We’ve heard from you about your skills and strengths and your thoughts about our organization. This time, please tell us about your experiences serving teens, including in your current position. Please tell us also about one of your favorite teen-focused or teen-created program/event which you helped to develop. Why was it a favorite?
And, please tell us a little bit about what you like to do outside of library work.
Thank you,
Sarah Debraski
President-Elect
Please tell us about your experiences serving teens, including in your current position.
My first permanent library position was as a Young Adult Services Librarian. I did selection, programs, booktalking, etc. in that position for a couple of years. All of my positions since then have been supervisor positions. In my first full-time job, I was a supervisor over adult and teen services in a library, then I was the manager of that library, and now I am the Deputy County Librarian in the same system. As a first-line supervisor, I hired and trained several new teen librarians. In my manager positions, my key role in serving teens has been to make sure that teens are in fact being served in our libraries, and to make sure that the teen services librarians have the tools, the training, and the encouragement they need to do what they do. In my current position, I work with all levels of staff, as well as with local staff and elected officials. There my role is often to remind these people that serving teens is an important part of what we do in the library, and that when, for example, we’re building new buildings, we need to plan for teen spaces and teen programs. And that we need to ask the teens what it is that they want in those spaces and programs.
Please tell us also about one of your favorite teen-focused or teen-created program/event which you helped to develop. Why was it a favorite?
I do like working directly with teens, and one of my favorites was a program I did where I worked with a group of teens for several weeks and helped them put on a program for younger kids in the library. They did some reader’s theatre, and they also performed several of Paul Fleischman’s poems for two voices from “Joyful Noise.” I just really enjoyed watching them work together as a group for the benefit of younger kids. I always like to see teens taking charge and spreading their wings a little bit.
And, please tell us a little bit about what you like to do outside of library work.
Unsurprisingly, I read quite a bit, and also I love audio books. I also really enjoy knitting, and I’m almost always working on at least two projects at once–a bigger one, like a sweater, and a smaller one that I can take with me, like socks. My husband and I have three adult sons, two of whom are married. We all (including the daughters-in-law) like to talk about books and politics and religion, and now we also have a two-year-old granddaughter and another granddaughter on the way who do a pretty good job of asserting their place in the center of the universe.
Sarah Flowers
Candidate for YALSA Vice-President/President-Elect
Please tell us about your experiences serving teens, including in your current position.
My first experience working with teens came when a library director said to me, “We notice that you aren’t just good with children, you are good with teens too. Would you like to be our YA librarian?” My response, “Sure.” I quickly discovered that good relationships with children did not a YA librarian make. I also quickly learned that working with teens was more fun, interesting, and exciting than anything I’d ever experienced before in the world of libraries. Then I realized that I loved the opportunity to plan, organize, and implement programs and services with teens. And, I discovered that I love having conversations with teens about a wide-variety of topics – books, movies, TV, music, history, etc. When I worked in libraries these conversations, along with more formal teen advisory meetings, led to improved collections and programs designed by teens. Programs developed by teens included workshops led by the teens for younger children.
Currently I am fortunate that people hire me to work with teens in a variety of capacities. This includes presenting workshops on technology related topics such as building web pages and creating podcasts. I also am hired to interview teens in order to find out what they need and want from their library. And, some clients hire me to plan programs with teens and at the same time model the youth participation process for librarians.
Please tell us also about one of your favorite teen-focused or teen-created program/event which you helped to develop. Why was it a favorite?
I can’t just pick one. There are two that I am particularly proud of. The first is the development of the My Own Cafe web site. I managed the project for the Southeast MA Regional Library System. What was truly exciting about this was that teens were involved in all aspects of the development of the web site. Teens participated in meetings with web development firms interested in working on the project, they took part in chat sessions in which content of the site was determined, and they provided feedback on all aspects of the design of the site. To this day teens participate in the site by moderating discussion boards and advising librarians about enhancements to content and design.
The second project that I’m very excited about is one that I just finished working on. I worked with the 3 library systems in New York City (Manhattan/Bronx/Staten Island, Queens, and Brooklyn) to determine how tweens and teens use the web for homework and to learn what they need from libraries in the area of online homework support. As a part of this project I facilitated focus groups with tweens and teens and was able to uncover some very interesting information related to homework, libraries, and the web. The findings from these focus groups were included in an IMLS grant application that, if funded, will lead to making some important changes in the way libraries provide online homework support to teens. (It’s also important to note that if the grant is funded tweens and teens will continue to be an integral part of what the libraries develop.)
Please tell us a little bit about what you like to do outside of library work.
When I’m not working I have to admit that I watch a lot of TV, go to the movies, read blogs and such, and listen to podcasts. As I mentioned in a previous comment, I really like teen TV and teen movies. I find that having access to video content online, with technology such as Apple TV, and in DVD format through Net Flix makes it very easy for me to keep up with my outside of work interest in media. I particularly like finding TV shows that I watched as a teen, watching them again, and seeing how well the program holds up.
One of the things I realized several years ago was that since I spend a lot of time looking at text on a computer screen, when I’m not working I don’t tend to want to spend time in front of text. That has definitely changed my reading life. I spend a good deal of time reading – both for pleasure and work – but the format is different. Reading now takes place with Twitter, blogs, online news, RSS feeds, etc.
Please tell us about your experiences serving teens, including in your current position.
I have been serving teens in libraries since the first day of my first job 14 1/2 years ago and have done so, in some capacity, ever day since. Being a YA librarian gave me the insight of providing specific information request as well as programming. Once I became a manager, I was able to see what had worked and direct staff to respond in a similar, positive manner. In 1999, I became the YA Coordinator of the Queens Library, a system that serves 230,000 teens and was responsible for their programming and training staff that worked with them. It was a great experience as I felt I was able to have impact, albeit indirectly, with so many teens through their YA librarians and other staff who were trained by me. Last year, I took the position of Assistant Director and I am now responsible for the service to all of our public in the eastern part of Queens. Although I interact with fewer teens, I have moved from a consulting role with staff to a supervisory one, thereby allowing me to have more direct responsibility for the service we provide all customers.
Please tell us also about one of your favorite teen-focused or teen-created program/event which you helped to develop. Why was it a favorite?
Any great program requires the assistance, in some way, from many people. The Teen Empowerment Program was no exception. The Queens Library, like many libraries systems, knew that we were not reaching some of the teens in our communities, especially those who were getting in trouble with the police. With the assistance of our security department, we approached the Queens District Attorney’s office about setting up a program in coordination with their Second Chance program. Their Second Chance program was an opportunity for young people convicted of low level crime to do community service and thereby dismiss the charges against them. This could be cleaning parks or painting over graffiti. We asked them, why not allow them to attend library programming directed at them on a weekly basis, including, career counseling, self esteem workshops, financial literacy, computer programming, etc, and have them gain knowledge in a positive setting? They loved the idea and it soon grew to a 12-week program with a graduation ceremony where we heard directly from the participants. After a few years, the DA’s office told us the rate of recidivism was lower then their traditional Second Chance program and we were able to bring a couple of hundred young people through the program and give them the tools they needed to help themselves.
Please tell us a little bit about what you like to do outside of library work.
There are times when life outside the library is more challenging then inside. My wife and I have a new baby boy, now four months old, and that is consuming a lot of what used to be free time. He brings us great joy. I also love spending time with my nine year old son and the fun that brings. When I can find a moment for myself, I love mountain biking (or running in the gym during the colder months) cooking a new vegetarian recipe and finding some rare quiet time.