NNLM and SciStarter Present Virtual Citizen Science Workshops!

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Is your library searching for virtual engagement opportunities? Are you interested in citizen science and crowdsourcing? Are you looking for more ways to supplement your #SummerReading programming? The Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) and SciStarter have collaborated on a series of workshops that you will certainly want to check out!

Imagine Your Story

SciStarter is an online platform for those who want to explore and engage with citizen science. With their Project Finder, users can filter through thousands of ongoing projects, and discover ways to contribute. Starting with Citizen Science Month 2020, the NNLM has paired up with SciStarter to promote several health-related projects, which can be found on the NLM page of their website.

Each of the upcoming virtual citizen science workshops in this exciting series is graciously hosted by a public library, and features a researcher whose work directly impacts an NLM-supported citizen science project. After a short introduction to citizen science from SciStarter, the researcher offers their perspective, and the workshop ends with an interactive Q&A session facilitated by public library staff. These events are designed for a public library NNLM and All of Us Research Program logos

audience of teens and adults.

In July, with support from the All of Us Research Program, the series kicked off with two workshops. The first featured Dr. Connie Walker, who directs the Globe At Night research project. This project uses crowdsourcing to “raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution.” She was interviewed by Michelle Lesniak, Director of the South Butler Community Library in Saxonburg, PA. The second of these workshops was hosted by Tredyffrin Township Libraries in eastern Pennsylvania. This time, the Stall Catchers research program was featured, and Children’s Librarian Angie Andre interviewed Dr. Pietro Michelucci. This projectSciStarter logo is especially suited for engaging families because of its interactive and gamified approach to Alzheimer’s research!

Keep an eye out for the rest of workshops in this series, and encourage your communities to register! Check out the links below for more information about upcoming webinars:

Watch the Recording: Globe at Night with South Butler Community Library in Saxonburg, PA on 7/9

Watch the Recording: Alzheimer’s Research Online Q&A with Tredyffrin Township Libraries – Paoli Library in Paoli, PA on 7/23

Free Registration: Help Develop RNA-based Medicines Online Q&A with the Newton Public Library in Newton, KS at 1 PM CT on 7/31

Free Registration: How to Measure Light in the Night Online Q&A with Riverside Regional Library in Jackson, MO at 10:30 AM CT in on 8/4

Free Registration: Investigating Weather and Climate Online Q&A with San Benito County Free Library in Hollister, CA at 2 PM PT on 8/4

Free Registration: Fight Plastic Pollution Online Q&A with Glendora Public Library in Glendora, CA at 4 PM PT on 8/12

Free Registration: Alzheimer’s Research Online Q&A with Olathe Public Library in Olathe, KS at 5:30 PM CT on 8/17

Free Registration: Protect Tap Water Online Q&A with the Studio City Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library in Studio City, CA at 4 PM PT on 8/19

Free Registration: Discover New Antiviral Drugs Online Q&A with the Watts Branch Library at the Los Angeles Public Library in Los Angeles, CA at 1 PM PT on 8/25

Free Registration: Investigating Weather and Climate Online Q&A with Howe Library in Hanover, NH at 7 PM ET on 8/26

Free Registration: Protect Tap Water Online Q&A with Torrance Public Library in Torrance, CA at 4 PM PT on 8/27

Free Registration: Help Track the Flu Online Q&A with Scotch Plains Public Library in Scotch Plains, NJ at 2 PM ET on 8/28

Free Registration: Fight Plastic Pollution Online Q&A with the County of San Luis Obispo Public Libraries in San Luis Obispo, CA at 3 PM PT on 9/3

 

This blog post originally appeared on the NNLM MARquee Blog on July 29. Re-posted with permission from the author.

Teen Services Competencies for Library Staff Webinar: Continuous Learning

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cover of YALSA's Teen Services Competencies for Library StaffThe final webinar in our series related to the Teen Services Competencies for Library Staff took place on December 13. The theme was continuous learning and it was facilitated by Casey Rawson and Ness Shortley. Casey and Ness are two of the authors of the book Instruction and Pedagogy for Youth in Public Libraries.

In the webinar Casey and Ness discussed how through co-learning with teens and through a focus on outcomes library staff can continue their own learning while providing meaningful services for and with teens.

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Teen Services Competencies for Library Staff Webinar: Teen Growth and Development

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cover of the teen services competencies for library staffEach month, through December, YALSA is sponsoring free webinars (for members and non-members) on topics related to the Teen Services Competencies for Library Staff.

The March webinar kicked-off the series (the full video recording is available after the break). Led by Jutta Dotterweich, the Director of Training and Technical Assistance, ACT for Youth Project at Cornell University. This session focused on positive youth development with particular attention to how adolescent’s brains develop and how youth engagement can be and is an important aspect of positive youth development.

YALSA will host a follow-up Twitter chat on youth development on Thursday, March 22, at 7PM Eastern. Use the hashtag #yalsace to participate.
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What is Youth Voice?

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On October 19 at 2PM Eastern YALSA’s webinar will be on the topic of youth voice. Juan Rubio, author of the chapter “Working Together: Youth-Adult Partnerships to Enhance Youth Voice,” in YALSA’s book, Putting Teens First in Library Services: A Roadmap, will facilitate the session. This will be a highly participatory webinar that will include time for talking about challenges and opportunities that youth voice brings to teen library services. Participants will hear about real-life examples of youth voice in libraries and get to brainstorm ways to bring it to their own institutions.

Quotes from Rubio’s Putting Teens First chapter provide a good idea of what will be covered in the webinar:

Unless learning institutions such as libraries begin to incorporate youth voice
as an integral part of their offerings, youth, and especially minority youth, will continue consuming and producing media that frequently has nothing to do with how they conceive of their world and their community.

The best way to achieve outcomes that incorporate a strong youth voice component are library programs that take place through a series of workshops where teens and adults come together for several sessions. Meaningful social bonds are more likely to develop if young people are engaged in a series taking place over longer periods of time. When this occurs, teens develop affinity with the adult facilitator(s) and with the institution as a whole. Creating an opportunity to connect in these ways provides youth with an implicit incentive to be part of the program and to fully engage, which will enable a richer and more productive experience.

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Summer Learning for Library Staff Working with Teens – YALSA Has You Covered

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drawing of raised hands of different colors The official start of summer is four weeks away but it’s definitely not too early to plan what your going to take part in for professional learning over the summer months. YALSA’s webinars, self-paced eLearning, Snack Breaks, and Annual Conference programs might be just right for your summer learning needs.

Creative Youth Development: a Three Part Series

In June, July, and August YALSA’s monthly webinars have a singular focus, Creative Youth Development (CYD). Each webinar brings together teen library staff, IMLS staff, and staff of the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards to talk about what CYD is, how it can be integrated into library programs and services for and with teens, and how to secure funds for CYD library activities. The webinars take place on the third Thursday of each month at 2PM Eastern. Members can reserve a seat (it’s free) for each of the webinars. Non-members can purchase the webinar within 24 hours of the live recording. Groups may purchase seats to attend the live session. Learn more about the series and how to access the content on the YALSA website.
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YALSA Winter CE Not to Be Missed

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There’s lots of opportunities this winter to take advantage of YALSA CE that focuses on making sure teens in your community have access to materials and services that meet their specific needs. Here’s what’s on our lineup:

Let’s Keep it Real: Library Staff Helping Teens Examine Issues of Race, Social Justice, and Equity
January 26, 2017, 2PM Eastern
Library staff play an important role in helping teens to gain skills, comfort, and confidence in making decisions and having discussions related to social justice, equity, and race. In this webinar you’ll have the chance to learn about how to help teens recognize their abilities in this area. Library Journal Mover and Shaker Amita Lomial will facilitate the webinar. Check out a portion of Amita’s 2015 webinar for YALSA on libraries and cultural competence.

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#TeensFirst the Focus of YALSA’s Early Winter Webinars

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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.

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YALSA’s Fall Webinars: Learning Together

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photo of feet in red sneakers surrounded by pencils, notebooks, books, tabletYALSA’s webinars this fall cover a variety of topics from school library partnerships to coding as a learning activity to transitioning from summer reading to summer learning. Along with these new webinar topics YALSA is moving to a new webinar platform and format. Starting in September webinars will be hosted using Zoom and instead of 50 minutes of presentation and 10 minutes of Q&A we are going to focus on 30 minutes of presentation and 30 minutes in which attendees get to talk with each other, and the presenters, about the topic. Here’s a brief overview of what’s coming this fall: Read More →

Teen Services Amplified with Everyday Advocacy

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On November 12, YALSA held a free webinar for members on the topic of Teen Services Amplified with Everyday Advocacy.’ I facilitated this webinar, which drew over 40 engaged YALSA members in real time, and many more who have listened to the archived version. Because the topic of advocacy is such a big one, I wanted to focus on the ways any of us can use easily available resources, like YALSA’s Advocacy Toolkit, to amplify our message that library services are important to teens and to communities.

After some quick definitions–talking about how marketing, advocacy, and lobbying differ, for example–we got into the heart of the matter by sharing examples of ways we can advocate on a daily basis. We started by talking about WHO we advocate with: administrators, co-workers, parents, community members. Attendees gave examples of times they had been able to show their bosses or co-workers how library programs and services were valuable to the teens in their communities.

We also talked about the HOW of advocacy:

  • focus on the value of programs and services
  • keep it simple
  • talk about needs, not just desires
  • stay positive
  • tell stories
  • listen, and find out what your audience cares about

Finally, I shared some of YALSA’s great resources for advocacy, and encouraged members to take advantage of the advice, talking points, hints, and tools that YALSA has developed over the years. There’s no need to re-invent the wheel when it comes to advocacy!

The archived version of the webinar is free to YALSA members, available on the YeLL (YALSA e-Learning Library) page.

Sarah Flowers