With Thanksgiving over, winter break is fast approaching, and for most of us, that means an influx of teen patrons and their younger siblings. ‘ So, what’s a librarian to do with all these kids and teens? Frequently, winter wonderland story times and activities that are geared toward younger siblings are much too childish to interest our teen patrons, and holiday crafting programs that would interest teens are far too complicated for their younger brothers and sisters. Here are some fun activities that will have both your teen patrons and their younger siblings coming back for more. Read More →
As a summer project we read Steven Johnson’s book Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation. It’s a book that while not at all focused on libraries, gave both us a lot of really good ideas about how librarians working with teens can be innovative and work towards innovative practices in their libraries. Below you can read about some of our favorite ideas and how we see connections between them and teen library services.
Error = Insight
Error as key in innovation comes across loud and clear in Johnson’s book. He asks readers to consider that it’s possible to “transform error into insight†and that “innovative environments thrive on useful mistakes.†Read More →
In the workroom in my library, we keep ongoing lists to generate ideas for programs. It’s kind of a catch all for those moments we think, wouldn’t that be great if. . . .but we can’t do it right now. Instead of just sending the idea away to never be heard from again, we keep it alive by writing it down (and of course with the ladder of youth participation underneath the lists). While this might not be very web 2.0, it works for us right now. What about sharing a list of ideas for social networking programs at your library-especially for teens to teach? Even if you’ve just read about a new software you want to try out but haven’t been able to, sometimes putting it on the list of programs to do, will encourage one to learn how to use the technology. Generating program ideas about connecting people can be a bit contagious. . .and fun. 🙂
Posted by Kelly Czarnecki