What do YALSA’s December and January webinars have in common? They each focus on how a #teensfirst approach to teen services is important . Both the December webinar on user-centered teen spaces, and the January session on supporting teen social justice and equity conversations, look at how to provide library services by paying attention to teen specific interests and needs.
On December 15 YALSA hosts, What Do You Want to Do Here? Designing Teen Library Spaces that Work, San Antonio, TX, teen librarian Jennifer Velázquez and Lee VanOrsdel, Dean of University Libraries at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan will discuss how their new spaces support the activities that teens and students want to participate in in library environments. Each has taken an innovative approach to creating user-centered spaces. You can learn more about the spaces Jennifer and Lee have developed in American Libraries and Jennifer’s space in the fall 2016 issue of YALS. (Login required)
The December Snack Break, produced by teens at the Hartford (CT) Public Library, provides examples of what teens like to do in library spaces.
January 26, 2017 is the date of YALSA’s first webinar of the new year. The session is titled Let’s Keep it Real: Library Staff Helping Teens Examine Issues of Race, Social Justice, and Equity. Renee F. Hill, will talk with webinar participants about how to help teens gain confidence and comfort in participating in discussions and activities related to social justice, race, and equity. Resources to check-out prior to the webinar include YALSA’s wiki page on Supporting Youth in the Post-2016 Election Climate and Deborah Takahasi’s YALSAblog post titled When Libraries Become a Refuge for Youth in a Post-Election World.
Both webinars (hosted using the Zoom platform) will include 30 minutes of speaker presentations followed by 30 minutes of discussion between the presenters and the participants.
All YALSA webinars are free to members with registration available on YALSA’s Members Only web page. (Login required) Non-Members may purchase the webinar on the Webinars On Demand page 24 hours after the live recording.
